More Paradise and Some Cultural Consciousness

Top: Me and FDR posing for a pic in Midelburg
Center: Bram getting ready to slug on of my pitches during a friendly BP session on the beach in Holland
Bottom: The condo on the Holland coast
Pictures courtesy of Reid Jackson


This will have to be a short post despite the many sweet things that I could elaborate on.

We spent Easter weekend on the Holland Coast at a condo that Bram's parents own. It was the four of us from "my house" and Bram's parents. In addition to quizzing me and Reid on new Dutch vocab, the Deny's generously showed us around Veer and Midelburg, two small cities in the Zeeland province of the Netherlands and fed us great meal after great meal. It wasn't a typical Easter, it was better (minus missing family). Maybe I'll start a tradition of heading to the Holland Coast on Easter instead of opening an Easter basket (and bring my family with me... to get the best of both worlds).

The second thing that has been in my mind constantly are just some of the cultural/stylistic differences between Belgium and the USA. I have been thinking about this a lot, but what made me want to write about it is this scenario...

Today at practice, and the other day at practice we finished up with conditioning. We ran 2 "Ws". This is where you start at home plate, run to the 3rd base side foul poll and back, then to the center field wall and back to home plate, and then to the 1st base side foul poll and back. During each practice we ran 2. Each time, I paced myself behind the lead runner(s) for most of the time and then sprinted ahead on the final leg or two of the last W. I ended up finishing ahead of everyone, but that is only a small part of the point of this story. I have always been one who prides myself on my effort and the amount of time I put into training for baseball or whatever else it might be that I am trying to do well. In the States, at least in athletics, this is a good thing and people/teammates appreciate you busting your ass to get better. It would be looked down upon if you didn't push yourself to get better/try your best and people would say you were dogging it.

Anyways, what I was thinking about for the first W and 3/4 or the second was this... In Belgium, would I be showing off or being too competitive by taking the lead in the end and finishing first? Would teammates think of me as a showoff or showing them up? Or would my teammates recognize that I am just trying to push myself to make myself the best player possible (and in doing so making the team better)?

This is just one example of how something seemingly obvious in the U.S. may have different implications over here. I try to be as aware of cultural differences as possible and tailor my normal habits according to what my hosts/host country deem most appropriate, but I do wonder how many times I have done what is "normal" and "right" for me and left locals thinking, "God, what a complete asshole," or "why is he always getting in the way."

I guess in the end it come down to striking a balance and being aware of your surroundings/having some social awareness. While it may seem somewhat easy, language barriers and comfort level may impede what would make things more comfortable for everyone. The bottom line is that the people here have all been very welcoming and supportive. I just hope that when I run as hard as I can, do the dishes, or (attempt) to do my own laundry, people at least recognize that I am trying to be helpful... even if the way they see it is as me getting in the way.

This turned out to be much longer than I anticipated, but check back later and I still might try to add in more details about our weekend in Holland, the baseball camp that we are running this week, or the million other things I could write about all KNIGHT. KnightTime at St. Mary's... get 'em boys.

First games for us this weekend against Namur.... stay tuned. Until next time, Peace.