The Euro System

What I have learned these past few days:

I sometimes wish I was European.

                                                            A relaxing afternoon in the Schaubuhne waiting room 

I sometimes wish I was European because I enjoy the quality of life much better.

Why do Americans value the ideas that we constantly need to be busy, schedules filled so densely that spending time with friends, family, or self care needs to be planned in advance? Why can’t we take everything day by day and enjoy and be grateful for life, to be alive? I have let myself enjoy the days, enjoy the weather, and just sit an R E L A X, something I rarely do at home. Being here I am in a better state of mind, a happier and more excited energy which I don’t want to fade with my return to the states.

DPA, Wolfgang Ischinger. The local Germany.com. 2019

I sometimes wish I was European because I wish I was raised in a country where cultural importance goes beyond a national identity. I have noticed that Germans, whether it's Berliners specifically I don't know, are not only fluent in two or more languages, but they keep up with politics, music, and art outside for their own country/culture. Europeans have a certain cultural awareness that I wish most Americans had. I want to be a more worldly and knowledgeable person and I believe that a lot of my American centric ideas are because Americans like to boast the melting pot theory but I have learned in reality that Americanness is just neutralizing all other cultures in order to fit into the American standard.

                                                                     Berlin Wall Memorial

I wish sometimes I was European because I wish I grew up in a country/culture that isn’t trying to rewrite their history. At home I see that our own history is taught to us under a blanket of nationalism which attempts to justify past actions. I have been thinking about this a lot at home but with the culmination of the shows we have seen as well as visiting the Berlin Wall memorial, I found myself making connections without meaning to. With shows like Divadlo Na Zabradi’s production of EUROPEANA, the reflection of history calls to the audience to action, a theme I have found in almost all the works we have seen, in one way or another. This is where I want to take this post, to highlight that across the board there is a theme of theatre for some sort of change. I don't feel that way when I go to shows in New York or even in regional theater. I think that's why my aversion to American theatre has more to do with it leaving me unaffected. I have recently felt uninspired and almost lost with the theatre that I want to create and I believe that after this trip I won’t feel like that anymore. Fingers crossed.

Wow, I wish I was European.