For years I was discouraged by these problems, but then I ran into
Esperanto:  a language specifically designed to facilitate
international communication.  It has been a practical tool for
addressing the language barrier in tourism for decades.   There are
currently over a million speakers all over the world.  (We don't hear
much about it in the US, where language problems pale in comparison to
the problems in Europe, Africa, and India.)  Unfortunately, it has not
yet met its potential for facilitating international conferences and
negotiations, but that is mostly a political issue, and is the topic of
another discussion.

Last summer I spent 3 weeks in Europe, and used Esperanto most of the
time.  First, I took part in the "International Youth Congress"
of Esperanto, which took place this year in Eringerfeld, Germany.  I
lived for a week in dormitories with hundreds of people, mostly in
their 20's, from 35 different countries.  There were lots of organized
activities (listening to lectures on everything from the Cherokee
Indians to the history of the Esperanto movement, singing songs,
dancing, juggling, playing volleyball, etc), but most of all we talked
to each other and got to know one another.  I met a Bulgarian who has
since sent me some records of Bulgarian folk music, a Dutch girl in
high school who has already studied 5 languages, a woman from Prague
who displayed a surprisingly good grasp of American politics, one
German who was about to come to study in the US, and another who wanted
to know more about a particular brand of recumbent bicycle made in
Boulder.  Five minutes after I had met one Hungarian, he urged me to
come visit his home in a village near Lake Baloton.  (Unfortunately,
because of problems with the telegraph system later on in Hungary, I
missed that opportunity.)

The following week, I attended a cybernetics conference in Budapest.
About 70 people attended.  There were 3 working languages: (in order of
popularity) Esperanto, English, and French.  I presented a talk in
Esperanto on a computer project of mine:  the "Ilaro por Esperantaj
Redaktoroj" ("Toolchest for Esperanto Editors").  In general the level
of the conference was not as high as ones I've been to in the US, but I
did meet several talented and interesting people.

As for Budapest itself, I loved it.  I did learn one lesson the hard
way, though: don't change too much money into forints.  You can't
change them back into western currency.  I couldn't even pay for the
conference with forints!  Public transportation is very good, and
prices are inexpensive (a delicious dinner for three was $2, bus tickets
are 6 cents!).  One night I went out in search of some Hungarian folk
dancing (now very popular in Boulder), but instead found international
folk dancing, just like here in the US.  Most interesting of all was
the night I stayed with two local esperantists.  We discussed
philosophy, relationships, whether to have children, Hungarian politics
and lifestyles: it was wonderful.

The third week of my stay in Europe was again in Germany, this time in
the Bavarian town of Augsburg.  2300 people from 57 countries had come
for the Universal Congress of Esperanto.  The atmosphere was more
conservative than the first congress, but once again I had the
opportunity to meet people from all over the world, and talk to them in
a single language.  This proved to be quite useful during lunch one day
in a Chinese restaurant.  The menu was in both German and Chinese, but
that did us no good at all.  Fortunately, sitting next to us was a
foursome from China who spoke Esperanto, and they helped us with
everything from ordering to getting a "doggie bag" after the meal.

I was surprised by the lack of much of a problem with accents in
Esperanto.  Given our everyday experience with accent problems in the
English-speaking world, I assumed that it might be difficult to
understand the Esperanto accent of someone from Japan or China, but in
fact the problems were minor.  One major reason is that Esperanto uses
only 5 different vowel sounds, compared to about 12 in English.
(Japanese, Spanish, Serbo-Croatian, and many other languages use the
same vowel sounds that Esperanto does.)

When I plan other vacations in the future, my membership in the
Universal Esperanto Association will permit me to look up "delegates"
wherever I want to go who will meet with me, advise me about where to
go and what to see, put me in contact with other local esperantists,
etc.  There are over 3800 delegates in 70 countries listed in the 1985
Esperanto "yearbook".  I find that esperantists are unusually
interesting people with interests similar to mine, but different
cultural viewpoints.  They are also inclined to be more friendly to me
because I'm not one of "those arrogant Americans who expect everyone to
talk to them in English."

Next year I hope to go to a folkdancing festival in Bulgaria and the
International Youth Congress in Israel.  I've already met some
Bulgarians who are eager to help me find esperantists to visit.

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Here is a brief overview of Esperanto:
   It is easy to learn (no exceptions to the rules, based on romance
        languages).  Studies have shown a year of Esperanto to be
        equivalent to 4 years of Spanish (another "easy" language).
   It is used a lot in Europe and is gaining strength in the far east
        and the third world. (200,000 Chinese are taking courses now!)
   The European Economic Community is funding a large effort to semi-
        automatically translate among their 9 languages using
        Esperanto as an intermediate language.
   It has millions of speakers, tens of thousands of books, and a
        hundred periodicals.
   Bulgaria just started requiring the study of both Esperanto and
        English in one of their high schools as an experiment (it has
        been an optional subject for several years in many schools.)
   Each year there is a world congress attended by thousands.  It will
        be in China in '86 and Poland in '87.
   You will not feel either lost and bewildered speaking other peoples'
        languages, or put them at a disadvantage by making them
        speak English: you meet as equals!
   You can learn it from books (like I did: in a few months I could
        understand relatively quickly spoken Esperanto, and
        could read anything at all with a dictionary).
   There is also a "Free 10 Lesson Postal Course": you send in the first
        lesson (which I can send you); they correct it
        and send you the next lesson.
   The time you spend learning it will also help you learn other
        romance languages.
   The documentary "The World of Esperanto" with Steve Allen may be
        coming to a public TV station near you: tell them you want it!

Ask me for more info, or contact
   Esperanto League for North America, Box 1129, El Cerrito CA 94530
   415-643-0998

I would also agree that Englsh speakers are more likely to be found in most
cities than Esperantists, but
        1) Either they are from an English-speaking country, and thus
                won't necessarily lend the cultural variety to my travel
                that I search, or their English is likely to be sufficiently
                worse than mine that our conversation will be strained.
        2) I don't have an address book for them.
        3) They are less likely to be interested in meeting me than
                esperantists almost invariably are.
In particular, Bulgaria is my next goal, and Esperanto is frequently
taught there, while English is rare.  I have friends who have suggested
that Esperanto is in fact more widely known than English: I'll see.

Learning Esperanto also helps me to pronounce other languages better.  In
particular it teaches me a rolled "r", and how to avoid those insidious
diphthongs in English vowels.  I always shudder when I remember the story
I heard in Japan about a lady who didn't understand why the stupid man at
the train station didn't know where "cay-yow-tow" (Kyoto) was.

You're right that Esperanto suffers from a lack of recognition, especially
in this insulated country.  I have found, though, that it really is a
huge movement, both broad and deep.  The problem is, the world is a huge
place, in which many significant movements can be lost.