Back in the U.S.S.A.

I returned from Europe Tuesday night and have spent the last day and a half resting in New York City, "the most relaxing place in the world" (Dept. of "Not True" Official Report). Given time to reflect on my month in Europe, I'm sure a whole series of insights about the nature of cultural identity will emerge from my skull. For the moment, however, I think "I'm glad to be back" is a fair sentiment. Setting aside where I was and what I did, I've been moving from bed to bed since June 14. A different bed every week, a different pillow with each bed, a different nutritional philosophy with each destination, and a different toilet, with its own special quirks, in every hostel.

I'm glad to be back.

I also had a great time.

To everyone who told me I'd love Europe, yup. I met a handful of really cool people, saw some truly incredible sites, and spent day after day just feeling pretty good.

OK, one cultural insight before I sign off. One thing I've always wondered was whether my sense of humor would work in other countries. I like to goof around, as some people may know, and I often fail miserably to elicit laughter. The most obvious explanation for these occasional missteps is that my jokes really are funny but their style is too "European" for anyone to understand. When I got to Europe, I was glad to see that my sense of humor did in fact translate. (Well, not in Scotland. I couldn't understand anything they said, so I didn't try any jokes.)

Surprisingly, people actually laughed at some of my jokes. Sometimes they were probably just laughing at me, but sometimes the humor did seem to translate. So to everyone who thinks I'm not funny, I'm gonna get a T-shirt or something that says "my jokes are funny in Europe." That'll show 'em. That'll show 'em real good.