Germans wear 'Lederhosen,' drink beer and eat sausages, are always on time, humourless and cold blooded. The French eat croissants and baguette, wear berets and are lazy to speak another language. Italians eat Pizza and Pasta, talk loudly and are chaotic. Sweden is the country of Pippi Langstrumpf and blond girls. The British have a queen, love football and eat fish and chips. In Holland everybody wears wooden shoes, eats cheese and rides a bike through the flat countryside with its windmills. The Spanish enjoy bull fights, eat paella and take siesta while the Austrians live in the mountains, wear a Tiroler hat and listen to Mozart.
Many languages, many voices, many attitudes, many different opinions, national histories and cultures. What is typical European? A complex topic which is shaped by contr adictions and conflicts. Nevertheless, thinking about Europe has a long tradition. It reveals a European self-conception and its dependency on the cultural, socio-political and ethical developments. But how is Europe going to look like? Is it possible to unite people from different countries and with different histories? Every country possesses its individual charm which they want to keep. But does an alliance of countries need to include containment or a decrease of cons isting rights and situations? Should Europe not be a meeting point of different nationalities that are open for learning new languages and discovering the beauty of other cultures? A meeting point where humans exchange experiences and opinions, where you profit from each others heritage and learn to help one another to grow together to something bigger? European countries should not see themselves apart from the rest. People should discover that there are more advantages than open borders when going on holiday. They have to experience Europe as a community and a unit, not only in an economic sense. They need to see the positive effects and opportunities that are offered. Europe should not be just a point in the discussions of politicians but a project which is taken forward. It is nothing static but can be seen as work in progress. The only question is where to start. We all have different traditions, a different past and different climates and landscapes. We have different life styles and all speak a different language. How are we supposed to communicate? But is it really necessary to have one common language and one common tradition? Is being European not looking beyond our own nose and experience new things?
Times have changed, havent they? People are not spending their lives in one place anymore. They take their traditions and ideals with them and mingle with other people and their attitudes. That leads to a development of new commonalities and new opinions. Nowadays communities are mobile and mixed and not static anymore. You can find Italian and Greek restaurants in nearly every part of the world. Everybody eats French cheese and drinks French wine. Radios play worldly music and we learn different languages at school. We have to open our minds and see that we are not loosing anything from our history and our past but that we gain a part of another history and another past. But do we built up a unit or can we find a common identity if people in one country are already prejudiced towards each other? Take East and West Germany! After now 17 years of unification there are still conflicts and big differences in thinking and behaviour. We see that we cannot create feeling of a European community and force people to accept it. It has to develop by making clear that tolerance and a view on others are necessary and that Europe does not destroy the diversity of culture but tries to improve the interpersonal relationships. Somebody once said that Europe is a phase; it is progress, movement and standstill at the same time. It creates possibil ities and chances. It is a feeling and somehow like a rainbow presenting a richness of different colours in one single thing or like a salad bowl where all ingredients are mixed together but still keep their originality.
(resource: http://www.tobook.com)
Nadja Pollack has studied comunication sciences in Germany. Works as editor at http://www.tobook.com
Author:: Nadja Pollack
Keywords:: Europe, European culture
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