Since The Canterbury Tales are primarily travelers entertaining each other with stories along their journey, what story(ies) could you share with the class on this blog that would amusing or informative? Here's an example below.
In Vienna, Austria, August 14, 1977, my brothers Luke, age 9, and John, age 17, were imitating a little B.P. (British Petroleum) man stand-up advertising sign by turning their hat bills up like the figure and posing next to it. This figure was at the entrance to a number of parking garages and was making a gesture with its thumb (like a hitchhiker's) to turn in at that point. As our family would pass these signs, the two brothers would put on a playful little act with the figure, giving the family jollies.
There was a well-dressed, dignified man following us who was most amused when he saw young Luke and the other brothers' acting. He followed us a little farther and he caught our attention when we turned the corner. When we looked over at him, he put his finger in his mouth and blew so his cheeks puffed out and his hat started to rise. He did this trick by putting his umbrella behind his back to raise his hat. He got as much amusement out of surprising us as we got from his antics.
So, my American family had a positive, impromptu interaction with an otherwise unapproachable Austrian gentleman, who, for his part, made a lasting cross-cultural exchange of goodwill.
Bonus Post: What Have You Learned While Travelling?
Feb. 4, 1999—Crossing the Great Plains in a car is much better than by horse, but it's still a tedious trip. I've wondered how the pioneers maintained their sanity. Some years ago on a road trip back to the Midwest (with those wide-open spaces that give one time to think), I passed the time change line someplace in Nebraska and began to wonder when time zones were devised. I knew from a sunset table I had for bird hunting that each degree of longitude equated to 15 minutes of sunlight. Yet a degree of longitude was 30 or 60 miles and farther than anyone travelling by covered wagon could traverse in a day.
So when did time zones become necessary? About the time that one could notice a change in the sun--actually, lack of movement--if moving west. When did people start moving fast enough to be concerned if they were experiencing the day at the same rate as others? The earliest technology that transported people that fast was the train. So I figured time zones were instituted about 1860 when there was a transcontinental railroad moving people east to west or west to east faster than the sun moved across the sky and the day time would be noticeably different from the time one got on the train to the time one got off.
