Could You Call Another Country Home?

Radio comedian Garrison Keillor up and quit his job 30 years and moved to Denmark.

Within a couple of years he was back in Minnesota and back at his old radio gig.  Shortly thereafter he was a commencement speaker at a college near where I was working.  After his remarks I was doing a brief interview with the man when a woman suddenly burst through the crowd.

“Why did you leave Denmark?” she shouted.  “Mam,” he replied.  “Do you speak Danish?”  The woman backed up a step and answered in a much less intrusive voice.  “No,” she sputtered.

“Neither do I,” he deadpanned.

I’ve got nothing against foreign languages but unlike a brother who was fluent in seven, including his native tongue, I’m bedeviled by words I don’t understand.  I wouldn’t mind living other places but I’d be at a disadvantage.

The Washington Post is featuring several cities around the world many Americans are now calling home.  People move looking for inexpensive experiences.  Some never return.  They must have the better language skills.