You may never know you are lost until you find yourself in another country. Perhaps life there is dramatically different, perhaps it is eerily familiar. Only one thing can you be certain of, when all is said and done, the life you knew will be forever changed.

Growing up with a name like Hogeboom in the United States, it was hard not to develop a thick skin along with some strong character. Which is why it was so difficult for me to understand why it was so normal for the Dutch, hogeboom, it just rolled off their tongues! And for the first time in my life, I felt like I was the one pronouncing it incorrectly all these years. After learning how to correctly enunciate my own last name, I learned much more.

I learned from the Dutch how to make a soft, guttural “g” sound in the back of my throat.
I learned from the Danish the tradition of an almond in a Christmas pudding.
I learned from the Spanish when best to eat, sleep and be merry.
I learned from the German efficiency is key.

I learned from the French that not everyone appreciates the light at the top of the Tower.

I learned from the Italian sometimes efficiency is not key.

And I taught all what an American Thanksgiving means to my family.

The composition of Maastricht, I believe, is a mystery even to the town itself. After attracting world travelers for its dynamic atmosphere, and being ruled by a handful of different countries, Maastricht seems to put together the best of two worlds. Maastricht is a city confidently saturated in its own rich history, while at the same time it surfs the wave of a modern era. I remember standing in the dark cold of mining caves used for refuge in World War II, staring up at the signature of Charlemagne etched in the sandstone. Or perhaps you’d like to hear of when I traveled to the only “beach” within miles, a grassy knoll masquerading in sand and volleyball nets, right on the Maas riverbank.

Regardless of which attraction is more appealing, it can not be denied that the opportunity for exploration is there. For example, I may have witnessed one of the most seemingly impossible acts of our time: a union of the Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin descendants to speak about the magnitude of their grandfather’s actions. The discussion was phenomenal, and it displayed perfectly for a conflict resolution major, the ways in which passions may continue to play a very major role in debate. I was so grateful to have been afforded the opportunity to sit and observe this, along with colleagues representing other countries who also had vested interests in the decisions made at Yalta.

It’s amazing to look back at such an international environment and realize that those moments spent will never happen again. And the bittersweet sorrow of it all is that you almost wish they wouldn’t, so you can look back and say, it was only I. It was only I who carved out that moment just as it should have been. So when I am old and have wrinkles on my hands, I can imagine back when they were young and shook the hands of those from across the globe.