Holland-Malaysia-Canada-Washington

And another RTW (round-the world-trip) in a short week!
That's right. I had the privilege to circumnavigate the globe, yet again. I had to fly to Kuala-Lumpur on short notice to work at multinational conference.
I first flew to Amsterdam, a short skip and a hop across the pond. The sound of the Dutch language, was familiar music to my ears. My stopover was long enough to allow me a walk down nostalgia lane, over the cobblestoned streets along the famous canals. The smell of greasy sausages in the early morning mist brought me back to my former life in the low countries.

A much longer stretch of 747 awaited me. I had the privilege of flying over Russia, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Gulf of Bengal, and Burma, before landing in steaming hot Malaysia 12 hours later. The sleek airport high-speed train whisked me to an inner city of contrasts. Part Malay, part Chinese, part muslim, part buddhist, KL , as it is called, is also a city that never sleeps. Downtown is a jumble of mosques, a monorail system, traditional malay rows of houses, and the tallest skyscraper in the world, the Petronas Towers.
Besides interpreting an interesting meeting on Pacific Ocean security, I had the pleasure of seeing former Vietnamese and Korean students of mine.
I thoroughly enjoyed Malaysian hospitality and food. Here is another vibrant, up and coming tiger economy brimming with eager young people, and boundless ambition.
The malays I was able to meet had low regard for Europe, and a tremendous admiration for America. Their muslim heritage, though, gave them an intensely negative view of US foreign policy.
A rush to KLIA airport, and up and away to Hong-Kong. it was my first visit since 1997, and my first use of the great new airport. So huge in fact, that I barely had time to browse its enormous shopping mall before I sat in Air Canada's Airbus A 340, bound for Vancouver BC.
The plane was full of ethnic Chinese. Vancouver has become a Chinese city, with numerous elected officials coming from Hong-Kong , thanks to the Commonwealth link.
Unlike Britain, scared of Asian hordes, Canada has followed a wise policy that has turned Vancouver into one of the most dynamic cities on the planet.
I had the opportunity to talk to my seatmate, a young Chinese lawyer, practicing in both Canada and Hong-Kong. She was the very proof of globalization. Daughter of poor Chinese farmers from Guandong, she now worked for a Shanghai firm selling software to the US.

I reluctantly parted from my new friend , admired the beautiful mountain backdrop of British Columbia, and psyched myself for the obstacle course TSA had prepared for me before I was allowed on the US side of the airport. After flying around the world, the routine of shoes off-open bags-coats in the bin-laptop and cell phone out, etc.. gets really old. It feels totally useless and a victory of sorts for the bad guys.
I spent my last loonies on a hardy Canadian breakfast and hopped on yet another airbus for the last stretch to old DC.
Any tour around the world today will confirm a few new truths: Europe has become a nice tourist park. Asia is the factory and the beehive of the world. The US are weary and universally feared. Most peple are remarkably alike. they want peace, a good job, and a future for their children. No country can hope of dominating the others. The word "superpower" is an illusion. The future will belong to the next generation of internet savvy jet setters who do not fret about 19th century patriotic visions nor about 20th century historical illusions.