She asked me why . . .

For love, that's why. That is my number one reason for going. My introduction to France was Aix-en-Provence, one of the sexiest cities in the world. It lures you in, intoxicates you and you never want to leave. Now I am off to Paris to teach and write and live free of American political blunderings. I have a deep admiration and respect for the French, their traditions and tenacious pride of their culture and lifestyle...

And socialized medicine and superior education available to everyone, social services for any and all who reside within their borders, their sincere appreciation for art, literature, language, cuisine, a job well done and above all, a deep understanding of the important things in life.

I couldn't think of any other place I would rather live than France. If I do not return to this precious hexagon of earth, my heart will break.

Baseball and Apple Pie

As an Assistante de langue vivante in France and as an American in Paris, I feel that my role, in part, is to serve as a sort of cultural ambassador, in the attempt to share my language more vividly and to shed a positive light on my country of origin, in the hopes of disspelling some of the negative sentiment that may filter into the classroom.

I consider myself a world citizen and I have an extremely liberal political point of view. And I am just as much against the current Bush administration as the next person. Actually, one of the reasons I am going back to France is to gain a broader understanding on my country's current political involvements. In this time of trouble and tremblings and warfare, I feel it is evermore important to remember the things that make our country unique and admirable, the beauty hidden in the American patchwork that makes one proud and grateful.

Like baseball and apple pie, I guess. And hip hop, jazz, the blues, gospel and spirituals, The Chicago Bulls and our beloved Michael Jordan, Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream, all the amazing Rock and Roll, R&B and rap artists, poetry beatniks, New York City, smiling at strangers, non-profit organizations galore, Broadway, The Grand Canyon and all our national parks, freedom of speech and religion, Emerson, Thoreau, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Edgar Allen Poe, Steinbeck, Michael Jackson (he is and will always be an icon of my youth!), Madonna, Paul Simon, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Prince, James Brown, Jackson Pollack, Emily Dickenson, Sojourner Truth, Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Sacagawea, Crazy Horse, Malcom X, Rosa Parks, Howard Zinn and his book The People's History of the United States, Michael Moore, Seinfeld, The Simpsons, soul food, Hair, Rent, Guys and Dolls, Porgy and Bess (Gershwin rocks!), Frank Sinatra, Richie Valens, the hispanic street vendors selling corn, mangos with lime juice or coco con leche ice cream, National Public Radio, Sesame Street (props to Jim Henson!), Lance Armstrong, Louis Armstrong, and the list goes on . . .

I want these kids to be left with a positive feeling for our country, or at least a more educated idea of who we are as a people. Our government has given us such a bad rap and a tough job living abroad. Why not take advantage of our role as ambassadors and our role as teachers by teaching some of the good stuff for a change! They have the nightly news to teach them the contrary . . .