"there is no such thing as a foreign land, it is the traveller who is foreign"

“We are torn between nostalgia for the familiar and an urge for the foreign and strange. As often as not we are homesick for the   places we have never known”-Carson McCullers.

When I was three I went on my first sun holiday with my parents. Ten years on, I don’t remember much about that particular holiday. Between then and now I have had the privilege of travelling all over my own country, Ireland, to over  five different EU countries  and to the U.S.A. it is through this exposure to these foreign countries that I have been able to base my opinion on what the REAL meaning of the word foreign is. To me, foreign means three major things; Opportunities,Experiences and Communities.

Firstly, foreign countries pose huge opportunities for the preservation of our plant. The European Union is a 28 country organisation. This means 28 different landscapes, 28 different sets of universities and 28 different workforces. This poses a huge opportunity for all EU countries. Infinite fuel and renewable resources are becoming more and more in demand as temperatures continue to rise due to global warming. Foreign countries have different resources to Ireland and Ireland is home to gas and turf as well as huge opportunities for wind turbine farms and hydroelectric power stations. This energy can be dispersed around the EU in the future. Energy from other countries can also be shared with Ireland in order to keep the E.U’s carbon footprint down and help save our environment. Foreign countries can offer opportunities for Ireland to help save our global environment in the future.

Also, as an E.U. citizen I have the right to study and/or work in any EU Country without obtaining a student/workers visa. This makes studying a particular speciality a lot easier than fifth years ago. For example the U.K. is well known for their excellence in universities specialising in the English language, such as Oxford and Cambridge. There is a gap in the workforce of the eu for newly graduated university students. Thanks to the right they have to work in any EU state, they can pack their bags and secure a job abroad as hassle free as possible. This gives young people opportunities to travel abroad study or work and experience new things. “Experience, Travel- these are an education in themselves”- Euripides.

Secondly, though one European Community, each country has a different identity. This is expressed through the culture, cuisine, language, animals, plants, architecture, history and climate associated with each of the different EU states. For example, the Frankfurter sausage is unique to Germany, the Eiffel tower is a landmark structure in France, the White Tailed Eagle and Wild Boar are animals indigenous to Poland and the Flamenco dance originated in Spain .Foreign means that I get to experience all these amazing cultures and customs and get to learn about how my fellow E.u citizens live in comparison to me. Mark Twain tells us to “Dream, Explore, Discover.” Foreign places make this possible.

Foreign also means different and it is through this exposure to foreign or different people and countries that I grow in social, political and general knowledge about the world. There is no foreign land; it is the traveller who is foreign. And so it is through being a foreign traveller that I learn and experience new things. “there is no such thing as a foreign land, it is the traveller who is foreign”-Robert Louis Stephenson.

Finally, Foreign to me means community. Foreign lands are getting nearer and less different as we all merge to become part of one E.U. Community. Foreign languages are being backed up by the more commonly used English. Many E.U. Countries now use one currency, the Euro which makes trade much easier.  And although monarchies, democracies and parliaments all exist in the E.U. we are all joined and become “on the same page” in the European parliament through our MEPs.

I have outlined above what foreign means to me.