Sometime tomorrow, Stefan and Nicole will head back to Switzerland. Switzerland is in the middle of Europe and has the Alps, cheese, chocolate and watches. Sweden is a Nordic country on the Atlantic Ocean and has surstromming, a world-famous bikini team and an immunity to snow.
They came to Ashburn at my request, extending a business trip stay in the US. I am so glad they did. I love meeting people from other countries and dearly wish I could visit where they are from.
Mark Twain famously said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." If you can't travel, you can read books about other places. If you can't travel and you have the chance to meet people from other countries, do it.
Travel has changed many people's lives. The late comedian Richard Pryor changed his routine after a visit to Africa. He no longer used a certain word in his stories and jokes because of how African changed him.
You will find we are all people. Our governments, whatever they may be, do not fully represent who we are, what we believe and what we do. On the person-to-person level, hate is hard to come by. On the nation-to-nation level, well, hate sometimes seems to be the default mode.
Talking with Stefan and Nicole online and with text messages, we discovered we have so much in common. We're pretty much the same, just living in different countries. Stefan says they are the Swiss version of rednecks. Yep. They would, if they chose, fit right into South Georgia if they moved here.
My (our, this, depending on where you read this missive) little community has welcomed people from around the world regularly. Our visitors are overwhelmed by the Southern Hospitality. They leave with memories and friendships to last a lifetime.
In Stefan & Nicole's case, they are coming back for the Fire Ant Festival, bringing their daughter Victoria with them. If you are at the FAF, I hope you get to meet them.
Saturday is the Christmas parade. After the parade, lunch is served in my office. All are welcome. Bring a dish if you like.
I am bringing my famous, or infamous, chili. Every year it has a secret ingredient, which I announce after people eat. I do not remember every secret ingredient from over the years. A few are: rattlesnake, gator, bison, fallow deer, buffalo and black ants. Staple ingredients are ground deer, ground wild hog and ground beef. Some years I add bacon, some years I don't.
The exact spice and herb mixture changes every year.
The only thing I promise with my Christmas Parade chili is, it is not hot. I bring peppers so those of us who want to feel the burn can. Aside from the physical temperature, the hottest thing in the Parade chili is black pepper and not much of that.
