Travelling is a great way to meet people different from you. With my trip to Cambodia and a trip planned to another developing region later this summer I'm getting to meet people much different from the people I know in America.
But maybe I just don't know the right people in America.
Today I stopped into a Subway near my job to pick up dinner. The place was nearly empty, so neither the sandwich preparer nor I was in a rush. As he made my sandwich he asked me if I wanted American cheese or provolone. This led to a conversation when he asked me what the difference was between them. I was sort of surprised he didn't know his own product, but I went along with it. He seemed to have a subtle foreign accent and it dawned on me that he might really not know too much about cheese.
"Provolone has more flavor than American. American is much more bland."
"Cheese is cheese to me," he said.
"Well, HERE," I said, pointing to the Subway cheese spread, "It may all taste the same, but the Europeans take their cheese very seriously. They have lots of different kinds and wouldn't like a bland cheese like American."
He laughed, finished making my sandwich, and then sat down at a table since there were no other customers. I filled my soda cup and went to put my sandwich in my backpack. "That's a heavy backpack," he marvelled.
"Oh this is nothing. I'm a law student and I've carried much bigger and heavier ones."
This led to a discussion on studying law. Apparently he had taken law class in school -- in Africa. His country was a former British colony - so we presume a common law country - where the legal education, like in many other countries other than the US, happens at the undergraduate level. So we talked for a bit comparing legal systems and education. It was like a mini global exchange.
In a Subway restaurant in DC.