It is funny about how at times I can feel competent and then when a few things are moved around I can quickly feel completely incompetent. On Sunday I led a bike trip along the Rheine River. We took the train on Sunday to Strasbourg France and after seeing Strasbourg on Sunday we rode along the Rheine Monday & Tuesday doing a combination of ridding our bikes and taking trains toward home. Although we had some fun adventures, I felt like I knew pretty much what I was doing. I knew how to read the bike map & the train schedule; I knew how to read and speak enough German that I was able to ask for help when help was needed.
I rode with two other men and I really enjoyed their company. Besides riding bikes and trains we spent a good deal of time reading our Bibles and talking about our lives. I was comfortable leading the discussions and I think we were all able to deepen our faith and take one more step toward Christian maturity.
On Wednesday evening we had a group over to plan for our Labor Day camping adventure. It was great to be home and with Friends.
On Thursday morning Debbie and I drove to Hann airport for a flight on Ryan Air to visit our friends and co workers in England. I had never been to Hann before although it is the closest airport to us, about 50 minutes away. Even though Hann was a new airport to us it was pretty easy to follow the signs and it only took us a few minutes to figure out the parking the find the check in counter; no problem.
On arriving in England we rented a car. Another first, until yesterday I had never rented a car in Europe, but I knew many others that had, how hard can this be? And sure enough, it was like falling off a log.
Of course leaving the airport I knew that I would be driving on the left side of the road instead of the right; once again, �how hard can this be�? I know that most of my colleagues can accomplish this task easily. We got out of the airport and found the freeway, a little stressful but I was getting the hang of being on the left side and had not crashed.
But once we got off the freeway it got much harder. The roads were narrow and I was keeping the car too far to the left (I hit the curb once). When I saw cars coming at me it looked like we are going to hit. What is wrong? When I come to intersections and there are other cars I can find �my side� of the road, but when I come to an intersection and there is no one there I freeze with fear I am going to be on the wrong side. Debbie was really frightened and she is never afraid when I drive. It was awful! It took us a couple of hours before we arrived at our destination (we got lost and had to call a couple of times). I have never been so happy to get out of a nice car.
I have brought my lap top computer with me. It is just always nice to have it to check e-mail and other useful stuff. The place where we are staying has wireless internet and they have given me the code, but my computer won�t hook up. What is up with that? This seems to happen to me. I feel like I am the only one who has trouble driving on the �wrong� side of the road. I feel like I am the only one who can�t get my computer to do what I want it to.
It is possible I am just like everyone else in this world. We learn how to do certain things and get pretty good at it. Is it possible that if any of us have a few pieces moved around we all become incompetent. I know an administrative assistant in Phoenix who is the best I have ever seen. Last year she was with her husband traveling overseas for the first time and was unexpectedly stranded in Frankfurt. When I picked them up they were experiencing this incompetency I am talking about. They didn�t know how to make a phone call (unless you have done it before you see these long numbers and you don�t know which ones to dial or where to put your coins), they couldn�t speak the language to ask questions, etc.
Maybe all of us have a narrow band of competence which is why we are a little uneasy to travel to far from what we are familiar with. I am thinking not only of physical travel, but exploring new ideas or disciplines. Or, maybe I am just particularly inept. Of course I don�t know for sure which is true but I am going with the former premise. And, I am getting better at being on the left side of the road and on my next trip to England I will probably be more on the competent side.
I think it is good to travel; both mentally and physically. But it is probably best to go in small steps and take a guide or some instructions when beginning.