Esperanto and the Hitch-hiker
I turned up at the 3rd International Hitch-Hikers Conference with only a few days advance notice. Arriving on site I found my name on the program, not simply in the list of participants, but as a presenter. Nothing like having plenty of notice, and time to prepare!
In making the acquaintance of some of the delegates, someone asked about my web-site and whether he could have the address. I have a card for just such occasions, and when, on that card, my fellow delegate read "I speak English, German, French and Esperanto", I was asked of course, about Esperanto. The idea was known, as it is in many places, among many people, as kind of a flop.
"No, no, it's spoken more or less world-wide by a small yet rather active minority of enthusiasts", I ventured, "in fact Esperantists and hitch-hikers have got a lot in common." Needless to say that drew a curious, slightly skeptical "how?".
Well, I was on the program, and there I thought, was my talk. "I think I'll talk about that later", I said, and we let the subject rest for the moment, with a wink and a mutual smile of understanding.
The talk was well received. Delivered in slow, considered English for an audience not well versed in my language (if only I spoke Russian!) and a handful of interpreters working full time in my pauses for those who expressed interest but couldn't quite follow my erudite tongue. Ironic I thought, though hardly surprising, that I should be talking about a language designed to solve just this problem.
So what do Esperanto and Hitch-hiking have in common? Well, to begin with they are both minority movements, and I was drawn to both at least in part on account of that, in my youthful rejection of bourgeois values. But that's hardly all. They come together in the spheres of travel, and community. Indeed I've spent some four years on the road over the past eight I guess, and the two most useful tools of the trade I acquired were Esperanto and the use of my thumb.
My focus in uncovering the world was not its mountains, forests, rivers and lakes. Nor was my focus its architecture, churches, museums and sights. To be sure, I've sampled all of these, and enjoyed the taste, but they weren't very long (if ever) at the heart of my passions. It was the people that drew me -- the people, their values and cultures. I wanted to see the world through other's eyes I guess -- what made us all so similar and yet so different, wherein were the seeds of understanding?
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