Hey Ya'll, is that there London Bridge?

While perusing John Brown's blog a few days ago, I found a link he had posted to a traveling blog. Lindsey Douthit wrote on "How to beat the 'ugly American stereotype' overseas. In August of this past year I returned from a year and a half of living in Europe...and yes, the 'ugly American' is real and very much out there. In France I lived in a small city on the Mediterranean and had a lovely summer of language school and baguettes with cheese. On a few trips to bigger cities I would sometimes bump into some (ugly, is too harsh a word--maybe ignorant?) American tourists. Lovely as they were, it is no wonder the French do not always extend a baguette loaf to Americans...I would hear things like "What is on that?!" or "That cheese smells!" Yes, presumably very tasty cheese smells. However, that is no reason to announce to the world that you would never touch it because you would smell like the inside of a cow shed.

These tourists were few and far between and for the most part I met many lovely Americans abroad. I was a bit discouraged to see so many young Americans overseas and enjoying Europe like it was 1999 and they were reliving Eurotrip. Fellow students, you may drink anywhere, perhaps try not to look like intoxicated American fools stumbling around the Pantheon and instead have one glass of wine and think of the magnificent architectural and historical wonder you are next to!!! Exchange diplomacy is something near and dear to my heart. I believe it is an intrinsic part of PD efforts and that everyone should make at least one exchange and experience something new and life changing. Exchange diplomacy means that you bring some of your culture with you to your new culture, but also embrace the culture you are in...eat the food! speak the language! interact with the natives!!! Be the best American you can be--be patriotic if you are, but not be the loud, obnoxious American every foreign movie makes Americans out to be.

I digress... In conclusion, as Mark Twain wrote, "In twenty years you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Dream. Explore. Discover."

Explore. Dream. Discover, but be the best diplomat you can be...and leave the fanny pack at home.