Travels in Education
Dear Diane,
When you read this, I'll be in South Africa; maybe already at the university in Bloemfontein. That wonderful evening in your honor will be over. Did you enjoy it?
I have done very little research about education in South Africa. Mostly I prepare for trips by reading novels and recalling stories from history—including myths—that I read over the years. Naturally, that led me to traveling mostly in England and Western Europe. Then South America. But in the last decade I've been catching up with the "rest" (!) of the world and have visited China, Russia, Japan, and now South Africa. That leaves two continents to go. I may not make Antarctica, but Australia. Maybe.
Does it matter to travel? My grandmother, who came to the United States from the Ukraine in the 1880s (at age 17) had one big regret in life, she explained to my cousin in an interview before she died in 1968. She said she was still mad that she never had the opportunities her children did to get educated. My cousin Jeremy asked her what she imagines she'd have done if she had had more schooling. She said: "I'd have traveled." (I still have the tape.)
She doesn't explore what that meant to her, and I'm truly not sure. But it's worth exploring. Education, perhaps,
When you read this, I'll be in South Africa; maybe already at the university in Bloemfontein. That wonderful evening in your honor will be over. Did you enjoy it?
I have done very little research about education in South Africa. Mostly I prepare for trips by reading novels and recalling stories from history—including myths—that I read over the years. Naturally, that led me to traveling mostly in England and Western Europe. Then South America. But in the last decade I've been catching up with the "rest" (!) of the world and have visited China, Russia, Japan, and now South Africa. That leaves two continents to go. I may not make Antarctica, but Australia. Maybe.
Does it matter to travel? My grandmother, who came to the United States from the Ukraine in the 1880s (at age 17) had one big regret in life, she explained to my cousin in an interview before she died in 1968. She said she was still mad that she never had the opportunities her children did to get educated. My cousin Jeremy asked her what she imagines she'd have done if she had had more schooling. She said: "I'd have traveled." (I still have the tape.)
She doesn't explore what that meant to her, and I'm truly not sure. But it's worth exploring. Education, perhaps,
