I used to spin the globe. Then I’d imagine living wherever my finger had landed.

I asked my Dad how to pronounce it. He stumbled with variations on “Massa-two-sets.” “Don’t worry, you’ll never live there,” he said. I asked him the same question when it was Czechoslovakia’s spin. His face winced, and another “Don’t worry, you’ll never live there” followed.

Maybe I didn’t choose the easiest places. But he still tells me it’s the best move I ever made.