Ellington

Greetings, all. It's my second week across the pond in the Czech Republic, and my body is still on Mississippi time. I've tried to intimate to people how physically demanding touring can be. Five shows in five days in five different cities. My muscles haven't ached this much since my football days.

However, the crowds have been great. The energy level is off the meter, and I've never taken so many pictures and been offered so many shots of liquor. I'm learning things about myself and my country, more than anything. My views of America have definitely been changed a little.

For instance, the food here is much healthier. Although McDonalds, Burger King and KFC have made their presence known, fast food is still not the dining of choice. The folks here are much more healthy than in the states. I've seen maybe four clinically obese people since I've been here.

The second thing that has opened my eyes is the country's inclusion of other cultures and languages here. I've run into folks from Great Britain, Africa, Germany, Russia and India. Most Czech citizens speak at least two languages, and that practice is encouraged. I only know one language proficiently.

When I look at it, we Americans are kind of like the dumb jocks of the world. We're popular; everyone wants to hang out with us; but they secretly talk about how dumb we are behind our backs. We are so arrogant and insular that we refuse to acknowledge or even encourage people to learn other languages.

Here, the menus, food products, even DVDs are in several different languages. And to think we're making a fuss about folks learning Spanish and having to accommodate the Spanish-speaking folks in the United States.

I was a little embarrassed actually.

So yes, Spanish is on my agenda and learning to better communicate in Czech will immediately follow. Ciao.

Kamikaze is blogging from the Czech Republic.