In Switzerland they have a high standard of living but people don't flaunt it. The government is made up of 7 elected officials (currently 6 men and I woman) that decide things without the cult of personality that passes for politics in most places--these 7 officials are civil servants, untempted by glory or fame. What I liked most about Switzerland though was their aesthetic sense, which isn't compromised by their passion for utility and simplicity.

After decompressing in Europe a while, I stopped in Washington DC to visit my ever-suffering worried Mom. And then back to start my new life in San Francisco.

Culture shock is the realization that no one cares where you've been and what it's like in Cambodia, and that you have no idea what version of Microsoft Word people are using or who the happening dj's are.

But you *will* know, and soon, you will be totally wrapped up in all of it, so that your trip seems more and more like a dream. But from time to time you close your eyes and you can remember what it's like to be in a place where ox carts pass you in the street, and nobody commutes, and time passes more slowly.

The End
June 1997