During my hand fellowship and initial years of clinical practice I viewed the Bunnell Fellowship as a prestigious but very distant award. At the urging of my teacher and friend, Dr. George Orner, I began the application process while diligently pursuing my academic activities. In September 1988, in Baltimore, I was fortunate enough to receive this award. It was truly one of the most exciting moments of my life. Literally within hours of receiving the award, it began to take on the more weighty appearance of a commitment and significant responsibility. Its many facets were clearly the predominant feature of my life during late 1988 and the spring and summer of 1989. My goal when applying for the fellowship was to gain an international overview of hand surgery, with an emphasis on rheumatoid arthritis. After consulting other members of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) and previous Bunnell Fellowship recipients, I organized a two-part trip. I wrote to my potential hosts, and ASSH President, David Green, provided a supplementary letter of introduction from our Society. With the help of a local travel agent, I planned every detail of the itinerary and obtained as many reservations as possible in advance. The first part of the trip was in western Europe. I departed for Copenhagen February 16, 1989. My sister, now a Danish citizen, met me and began the faltering process of orienting me to European customs. From Denmark I traveled south, to visit nine cities in four countries. I traveled exclusively by Eurail, because the system is affordable, dependable, and very punctual. As I arrived in each city, I found my hosts to be, without