First Day

Ok, first ever blog post - with a new computer - what is that saying?... "patience is a virture...."
With just one minor meltdown to get out the door with everything on time, I have arrived in DC to begin this amazing journey.  We began our day with a wonderful dicussion around European culture.  An interesting question was posed - What is American Culture? 
We are so diverse - a tapestry of humanity - what is our culture?  I will not do the discussion justice, but an interesting point was made about our country's European settlers and their desires to withdraw from the European society they knew to create their on unique society.  The early immigrants who came were willing to take risk knowing that only 20% of those who took the trip would make it.  All this translates into a country that was set by European values and beliefs with the mindset of capitalism and individualism. Europeans embrace their heritage providing a sense of reliance and stability.  We are a very young country, with much room to grow, and always looking for the next great thing.  We are culture heavily focued on independence and self-reliance - dependency can be viewed as a sign of weakness. 
One question I will take with me throughout my trip:  In this fast paced world we (the US) have created - are we better off professionally, emotionally, spiritually - or are we going too fast, shooting too far in the future that we miss out on lessons we should have learned and living today?
I cannot find spell check at the moment, but much more to come....