American may be thought of as the world's 'melting pot', but my part of the country doesn't see much diversity. I enjoyed that part of living in a capital city in Europe - hearing different languages, meeting people from different cultures. In fact, my friends included people from Poland, Germany, Russia, Canada, and the UK! I loved hearing their view points and ideas about lifeit was often completely different from mine! But we also had things in common. For instance, my Polish friend and I are both big sports fans. She loves football (what we Americans call soccer), and I love American sports like baseball and football (the one with the egg-shaped ball). We both wanted to learn about the other's sport, so I watched football matches with her, and she watched baseball and American football games with me! My Russian friend and I come from two totally different worlds, but we were good friends from the start. She questioned and challenged my thoughts and ideas more than any person I've ever known. And despite English being her second language, we understood each other on a heart-level I rarely reach with my friends. What blessings my friends have been!