White Noise from across the pond

In May, I traveled across the Atlantic with my band A.N.S. and our bros, I Object, from upstate New York for the European leg of our Barging Summer World Tour. We landed in France and trekked from Paris through Belgium, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary, eventually flying back to the United States via Vienna, Austria.

Leaving the United States, for some reason or another, always seems like a blessing. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy living in the self-proclaimed “greatest” country to ever grace man's oil-stained Earth, but the lure of other soils is something deep within my spirit — especially in environments that are generally characterized by the U.S. State Department as “hostile” or “at risk.” First off, travel expands horizons and opens new doors. So get lost and find something worth finding! Secondly, it is foolish to fear another people whom you have never met simply because of government-derived lines of demarcation. Fearing your fellow man never created wisdom; if anything, it perpetuated bigotry and nationalism over humanity.

One message that has taken over my thoughts is this: All men are my brothers. Governments and borders only serve as tools of segregation and division, turning brothers to enemies, love into fear, and unification to distrust. If anything, man would be better off serving his fellow man — void of all trifl ing allegiances to the unnecessary machine of government.

History is something Americans are still learning. The Anglo-American has colonized this awe-inspiring continent less than 500 years since its discovery; fighting only two substantial wars on its home soil since our government's inception. Whereas majestic Europe's past is substantially long-winded and ever more volatile than our own.

The rich history of our mother continent was written in blood and conquest, while wisdom and insight were burned at the stake. It would be hard to drift through such place and not come to the realization that history is everything. One evening we played in a lighthouse on the Baltic Sea dating back to the fourteenth century. During war times, it served as a hideout for soldiers — and I played there! Find me such a place in America.

In Tournai, Belgium, we played in the bakers kiln of an ancient castle — cobblestone walls and archways, water dripping from the ceiling onto pebbled floors, lit by candlelight, and more amazing than anything I've ever seen. THAT is Europe — the turnover of history. Graffitistained every building in every town, displaying some of the most magnificent art and creativity hidden in cryptic scripts, always vainly removed but persistently reappearing.

I saw stars of David on the Berlin Wall and swastikas in Poland; Nazis in Hamburg; and anti-fascists in Bremen. I stood at Checkpoint Charlie, where Russian and American soldiers stare no more. Now, Louis Vuitton now stares down Armanifrom lifeless granite skin.

Europe is more amazing and diverse than I could ever express to you. The magnitude of such an epicenter for the arts, culture and diversity can only truly be understood firsthand. As for myself, I had the pleasure of seeing Europe the way only I could see it; therefore, I brought home the message I wished to bring.

For your own personal enrichment, I beg you to travel and see the world while you can. Learn about culture beyond stereotypes and laugh tracks. Open your mind to diversity and live a life of meaning.

Embrace the drifter inside yourself and get lost.

— Chris Wall is a science student at North Lake and a contributing writer for the News-Register.