Doctor John

Brother John Wells '98 is our blogger on the scene in London. While he earns a living in IT and web development, his free time is spent playing with light sabers, mobile clubbing, or twittering.

A post of John's from this past April:

I’m coming up on 3 years of living in London. I have two friends from Richmond that are living in Zurich for the next two years, and another friend from college who’s been in Singapore for well over a year now.

This morning my mom wrote me an email, saying:

“I totally get why you would want to stay in London (or Zurich?). I don’t have to like it, but I sure do understand. This is the new global community… my parents ate American food and stayed home. My generation learned to like authentic ethnic food and visited foreign countries. Our kids’ generation is LIVING in foreign countries.”

It’s an undeniable trend that, if you think about it, sure is happening fast. At least with things like Skype and the internet in your pocket, it’s becoming increasingly easier (and affordable) to keep in touch within this global community.

Still, nothing can replace proximity, or more importantly a hug. Just a few years ago when I was still in Richmond, my mom gave me a book titled Urban Tribes: Are Friends the New Family?, and it spoke to me on such a fundamental level: my Richmond friends really had become my extended family. Since then we’ve all jumped ship and spread our wings out into the world, and while it’s a wonderful adventure for each of us, we’re still missing each other dearly.

Whether or not you agree with Mama Wells, the fact is that since this blog went live 8 days ago, it's been visited by brothers from as far away as Argentina, Chile, Jordan, Bermuda and the UK.
Global community indeed.

And the next time someone sees John, please give him that hug.