Great BIG? World

On my way to take a TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) Certificate course at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

“It’s a great big world out there,” we were told back in the days of 55 mph speed limits, broadcast television, and green and black computer screens. Heck, it wasn’t long ago that most people believed the earth was flat and the universe revolved around the flat Earth. Oh my, how things have changed.

Just after flying over Duluth, Minnesota and Lake Superior, which holds about one-fifth of the planets fresh water, I was served up a nice hot meal. (yes, international flights still serve food…for free!) I had chosen a Korean dish since I was flying Korean airlines, and settled in for the 14-hour trip from Atlanta to Seoul.

On the side of the tray, holding several small covered dishes, I was humored to see a single pad of Land O’ Lakes butter. The Native American Indian maiden on the front of the red, yellow and green label was very familiar to this Minnesota boy.

The organization was incorporated on July 8, 1921, as the Minnesota Cooperative Creameries Association. In 1924, the association decided to expand its butter market, and a search was made for an appropriate brand name and trademark. A contest was announced to choose a name. To tie in with the golden color of butter, $500 in gold was offered as prize money.(www.landolakes.com)

I chuckled how this little pad of butter from Minnesota, and a Minnesota native, were flying over Duluth, where my mother was raised, on their way to South Korea.

As I panned further around the array of food, I found several countries were sharing my plate. Japan had the seaweed soup. Korea had the hot sauce. China had the dinner wear. America had the water and butter, and I guessed the bread. Columbia had the coffee.

The well-kept and polite Korean stewardess smiled and asked (in English) if I would like some wine, (from Italy), or tea (from India). I stuck with the Americas and had a coffee and Sprite.

The native Thai man next to me asked the stewardess for a wine, (in Korean) then looked at me and said, “Cheers, here’s to a short flight.”

I assumed the plane would handle enough Middle Eastern fuel to get this hodge-podge of passengers to wherever it was we were all going. It seemed most ethnicities were represented on this 747 jumbo jet. And like the little pad of Land O’ Lakes butter, we were all crossing this ever-shrinking planet sharing little bits of our cultures.