My daughter is about to fly to Costa Rica for half a year to do some social work with a youth organization.

To be able to go there, she had to do a lot of paperwork, get certain documents, get certain stamps on certain documents and then finally had to fly to Berlin to the embassy of Costa Rica to pick up her Visa.

I thought she would meet an office worker there, sign everything and that’s it.

But that wasn’t the case – in fact she had an appointement with the Consul personally and he took the time, interviewed her and asked why she wants to go to Costa Rica and what exactly she’s going to do.

And then he told her a bit about his country, the history, the things she needs to see, and I thought Wow– how beautiful is this–

And for my daughter it was an amazing experience as well as he was the first person from that country that she met and he kinda built a bridge to a land she had only heard about so far.

I think in a way, we do the same with our poetry– we represent a country– Germany in my case or Singapore or Canada, the UK, Sweden, India, Scotland, USA… and in a way, we act as ambassadors as well– and by reading your poetry, I also get a glimpse into the culture, history, beauty and and and– of your land and also into the life you live, the things that you believe, that are important to you, your values, dreams..

It lets the borders shrink a bit which is a good thing me thinks– smiles

Happy OLN everyone – my name is Claudia – it’s my pleasure to be your host tonite–
and if you’re here for the first time, this is how it works….

• Write a poem (free theme choice)

• Post it on your blog

• Link it up here by clicking the Mr. Linky button (insert the poem’s direct URL and your name)

• Don’t be shy – interact in the comment section and visit some of the others who are around

• If you like, share on the social media platforms of your choice