For our assignment last week we were instructed to do some free writing based off of a gasoline list of thing we enjoy, which we created in class last week. This class is about learning how to write a memoir and/or better non-fiction. We were told to pick two items from our gasoline list and write a two page story that ties them together. Here is my first stab at it. My two items that I decided to write about were travel and live music. It's unpolished, but free form writing is suppose to be.
Gasoline List Free Writing
Before going away to college, I never really had the desire to see the world or experience different cultures. Growing up in a small Indiana town nestled inside the shadow of a slowly dying steel industry didn't provide me with a very worldly upbringing. It instead lead me to be mostly apathetic and ignorant to the world beyond my small town until I headed away to college. However, my apathy for traveling was profoundly decimated my sophomore year when I began reading “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac. This one book opened my eyes to the America that I had never seen or experienced. Reading about the ideals that drove the “beat” generation ignited some dormant passion inside of me to explore everything that all these distant places had to offer. Since the fateful day I closed the frayed and torn pages of the “On the Road” book, which I borrowed from the University library, I've made it my mission to see as much of the world as I can. I love the sublime wave of adventure and freedom that washes over me as I'm shifting my car into reverse and pulling out of my stuffy garage before a long road trip to a destination I've never seen. Or the over joyous feeling of excitement and wonder as I board a flight to a country whose culture is completely different than my own. Traveling for me is about the journey. The journey that you take which could potentially change your perspective on the world and the people in your life. I feel like every place I have had the privilege of visiting has left a little piece of it's culture and history inside of me. Those piles of pieces help me to better understand this world and the people that live in it.
I recently took a trip to Germany that epitomizes everything I enjoy about traveling. One evening while wandering the streets of old town Dusseldorf, my travel companion and I came across a small hole in the wall bar called “Da Spiegel”. “Da Spiegel” was similar to a lot of dive bars in America except for the fact that they had an exceptional breadth of amazingly good German beer available on tap. Upon entering this fine establishment, I was overwhelmed by the shear number of people that managed to cram into this tiny multi level pub. The bar was packed to the brim with a variety of locals as well as tourists. On the first floor was an ornate mahogany wooden bar that spanned almost the entire length of the place. The smoked soaked walls were lined with random photographs and colorful paintings that showcased local artists and musicians. The second level was no larger than a city apartment. It had similar paintings as well as a smaller bar and a small wooden stage just above the stairwell. As we walked up the stairs to the second level, we were pleasantly surprised and excited to hear some great live rock and roll music being played by a local band from Dusseldorf. For as long as I can remember I've loved to watch and listen to live music. No matter what the genre of music may be, I've always been enamored by the visceral connection that a great live band can make with their audience. After listening to a few German rock songs and drinking several pints of a local Dusseldorf “Alt” beer, the band randomly broke into playing some American classic rock. So here I was, standing in the middle of the second floor at a German dive bar a few blocks away from the Rhine river listening to a spot on rendition of CCR's “Fortunate Son”. To my left were a group of asian tourists boisterously singing along and dancing what I can only describe as some type of mambo. To my right were a group of older german gentleman in sweaty de-shelved suits holding up their glasses of alt beer while doing some synchronized swaying as the drummer of the band rocked the bass drum louder and louder.
The band was connecting with everyone in the room and that's the moment you realize that despite all the cultural differences we may have between us, there are many more things that connect us together than drive us apart. That's one of the most important lessons I've learned in all my travels and I've found that live music is frequently the vehicle in which that lesson is conveyed. It's something I see continually over and over again no matter where my journey ends up taking me.
