Quick Observation

In the US, they sell Christmas cards that say Merry Christmas in many languages. Adds a cosmopolitan flair.

Yesterday I got an email card from a friend here. She wrote, "BUON NATALE, FROHE WEIHNACHTEN, JOYEUX NOEL, MERRY CHRISTMAS."

What makes it meaningful, to me, is that she wasn't showing off. She is Italian, lives in Germany, works in an English-speaking office, and converses with her husband primarily in French.

As Eddie Izzard says, "I think if we can make it work in Europe, it's almost a blueprint for the future of the world. If we can get all these countries, with all their languages, coming together to work in some shape or form, then the whole world can work. And if we can't get it working in Europe, the world has got no chance. Those are the stakes."

My friend is certainly trying her best!