A Weekend in Switzerland

Last weekend I went with a friend of mine to Switzerland and had a really nice time. I believe that the trip, although short and spontaneous, was very enlightening in two ways:
1) I met Kiantki
2) I met my Swiss family after five years of not seeing them.

When I first met Kiantki, it was a this tennis court where my friend, Sebastian Fitz, was going to meet his time in order to train. That day Kiantki and I talked about a few old political stories (Nicaragua, Reagan, the Contras, the Sandinistas) and how some of those events influenced us.
However, the most interesting talks we had were on Saturday when the team had their games. We talked from philosophy, beliefs, people's motives, Iraq, Afghanistan, oil, child upbringing and politics. I think we talked about so many different issues that I felt that time flew by really fast and it was a great time to be able to talk to someone about all these issues where they also have an opinion, and a well educated opinion at that.
The most funny moment I think (at least for me) was when I told Kiantki about the Swiss Army and their military bases being well hidden "you know where". No worries Swiss Army, your secret is well hidden with the Mexicans.

Another issue we talked about, that is a very touchy issue to Americans, was 9/11. I gave him my point of view and as well tried to explained why it happened. I'm not saying that I know facts or have evidence, but many past historic events have similar backgrounds and if you have read enough (and studied, if you're lucky) then you can start seeing patterns within contemporary world events. I cannot emphasize the saying "he who forgets his past, is deemed to repeat it".
Remember Pearl Harbour and how that took the USA by surprise? We all know how that ended.

In essence, in order to understand why such a tragic event took place, one must understand the motives behind it, the materialistic gains that are to be achieved and the long-term results that such an event will lead to. If you do not understand the basics in politics, human motivation, strategy and the principles of power, then you will always have questions like "how can a person (or a group of people) mastermind or plan such awful attacks?".
A better question to be asked would be "Why was it done in this way and how do they (our enemies) want us to react?"
You could understand that anybody, when attacked, will immediately want to retaliate. This is the hard part in controlling our anger because we tend to attack the first thing that crosses us may it be a friend or foe. It can send us on a wild goose hunt where we end up wasting our time and energies. In the worst case, it can lead us to a trap.

Anyway, these are many things to ponder and discuss about in a round of chess with a good beer. I would really want to thank Kiantki and letting me see the side of an American citizen about the whole issue. It isn't something that is easy to talk about.

Last but not least, visiting my Swiss family (they used to be our neighbors back in 1985 when we lived in Switzerland). My parents are the Godparents to a girl and a boy (now in their 20s) and their mom and step dad are family friends. Reuniting with them was a lot of fun. The funny part is that we ended up talking on the night that I stayed about philosophy and human behaviour.
I'm starting to think that I should have studied philosophy and political science. Maybe I should still do it. We shall see.

Oh, and this might be my last post from Reutlingen since I'm moving to Munich this weekend!
Interesting times are up ahead!

Have a nice weekend wherever you might be.
Peace.