Europeans often make fun of the American tendency to see Europe in five days ( “If it is Tuesday, this must be Paris”). Of course you cannot fully appreciate the complexity and nuances of a country in such short a time, but in the meantime I know why one would still want to do it. And Europeans usually have more than two weeks worth of holidays per year…
If you have only a restricted time, you try to cram as much into it as possible―if you like to travel, countries, if you like people, meetings.
Over the last two weeks I have had a meeting marathon which sometime got me quite dizzy ( “If I meet X today, it must be Tuesday”), and still I did not manage to see everyone I wanted. A fortnight is far too short a time for all the wonderful people you meet over almost three decades…
This always leaves the feeling, though, to just scrape at the surface and not do everyone justice. You can not fully appreciate the complexity and nuances of a person in such short a time, and still you try. Because even a brief meeting is better than none. And you take home so much more than Facebook or Skype could ever tell you.
To those I met: Thanks for the time with you, it was great to see you again! And to those I did not manage to meet: Please don’t hold it against me, it was not on purpose. Just on a tight schedule…
In any case I would be stoked to see you in LA at one point. Maybe if you are on a US trip? In that case, why not make it a Tuesday?