"Oh, so you're not going to be here next week?"

"That's right." I reply. "Unfortunately, I will not be here next week."

"Where will you be, then?"

"I'll be at a conference for my work." I dig my hands in my pockets and avoid eye contact.

"Oh, I see. Where is the conference going to be held?"

"Umm... In Greece," I say, feeling myself start to blush a little bit.

"Greece! Very nice! It's a beautiful place. Have you ever been there before?"

"Well, no actually. But you know, I'm only going to be there for the week -- for that conference. Our organization got some great rates on a hotel and conference center down there, so this year we actually get to have our conference in Greece. It will be nice, but it won't be pure vacation. I'll be bringing some work along with me."

"Wait a second. Are you apologizing and offering excuses for a trip to Greece?!?" My European friend looks genuinely confused. "You know, you don't have to apologize for taking a nice trip to Greece!"

"Ah, but I do. Don't you know that I'm from the American Midwest?" I have to smile at the realization of this clash in cultures -- another one of those classic differences between Americans and Europeans. To Europeans, extended vacations and international travel are normal. In fact, anything less than four weeks of vacation per year is considered to be unhealthy. Europeans just can't understand the Americans' "nose-to-the-grindstone" way of living. Generally speaking, it is assumed that Americans live to work -- while Europeans work to live. And again, looking at things from a European perspective, if a person is going to take vacation, naturally it makes sense to try and get out to see some of the world -- whether that's Greece or Thailand or South Africa or Australia. Apologizing or offering excuses for a week-long get-away seems just silly.

But growing up in the American Midwest, I learned a very different approach to work, vacation, and travel. American Midwesterners are (generally speaking) very conservative, fiscally-frugal, down-to-earth, hard-working people. Two weeks of vacation per year is considered normal -- and even at that, international travel is almost never done, unless there's a darn good reason for doing so. Work trips and missions trips are generally considered OK. Visiting relatives who live in an "exotic" location is borderline. Going somewhere "just for the fun of it" or "just to see it" is considered pretentious, flaunty, and rude. It's like pretending to be someone you're not. I mean, why go to the Aegean Sea when you can just as easily go to Lake Erie? Midwesterners may not challenge each other directly on these points, but a joke will often be used to dispell the tension, "A conference in Greece, huh? Well, I guess it's a rough job -- but somebody's got to do it! Ha!"

I know that each side's perspective seems ridiculous to the other. But it's a tension I've been learning to navigate over the last eight years of living as a Midwesterner in Europe.

As sheepish as I can feel about it sometimes, I have to admit that I'm enthusiastic about the idea of getting to see Greece over the course of the coming week. Our hotel is supposed to be right along the Aegean Sea. On a clear day, we should be able to see Mount Olympus across the bay. Together with the rest of the missionaries from Great Commission Europe, we'll get to visit ancient Philippi, where the Gospel was presumably preached for the first time on European soil and where the Continent's first converts were baptized. We're going to have a good time reconnecting with old friends and associates. It's going to be nice.

But don't forget, it's also going to be a working trip. :-)