Post by sistereurope on Apr 5, 2007 12:09:35 GMT -5
Hi everyone,
I thought I'd leave you with a great story ( I leave for CA tomorrow - yipee)!
Anyway, I have a dear friend who is French and who lives in Paris. We met him when he was living here in Baltimore as a post-doc and we became the best of friends. Anyway, he's back in Paris now
, but was in LA at a conference and decided to visit the Grand Canyon and Death Valley. So 2 of his friends (all early 30's) flew from Paris to LA, and the 3 of them rented a car to tour Arizona, Utah, Nevada and CA (needless to say, my friend LOVES to drive in the states - it's so spacious!! 
So they visited the Grand Canyon, and made their way into Utah. They stayed exclusively in "cheesy cheap American motels", which my friend loves, and tried to get as far off the beaten path as possible, which meant that they ended up spending the night in some very remote part of Utah - I forget the name of the town, but suffice it to say that I'd never heard of it...
Anyway, as my friend related in a phone call to me, they found this bar (the only bar in town), which he said in his ironic way that I would have LOVED, as it was decked out in yellow ribbons and many many tiny American flags.
They went in anyway... the bar was crowded. He then said that there was this black flag that said "POW-MIA", and asked me what that meant. I of course told him that it meant Prisoners of War, Missing in Action, and before I could say anything else he asked me what VFW meant. I said "oh my god, you were in a VFW hall!!" (for all of you who don't know, that stands for Veterans of Foreign Wars". He said "yes! Everyone there was in a war or a girlfriend of someone in a war". He said that the bartender told them that it was a "private" bar, and when my friend started to talk (and said where he was from), the bartender asked him "why do you French hate all Americans"
Well, my friend calmly explained that all French do not hate all Americans. He told him about spending a year in Baltimore, and about their trip. They ended up staying there for over an hour, talking to everyone and drinking, and when they left the bartender "asked me to sign some book - will my name show up on some list" my friend asked? No, I told him...I'm sure it was just the guest book. I doubt that they see all that many people from Paris in those parts.
I still have to smile-what a cultural juxtaposition!!
And now there is a VFW hall somewhere in Utah full of people with hopefully more open minds!!!
I thought I'd leave you with a great story ( I leave for CA tomorrow - yipee)!
Anyway, I have a dear friend who is French and who lives in Paris. We met him when he was living here in Baltimore as a post-doc and we became the best of friends. Anyway, he's back in Paris now
, but was in LA at a conference and decided to visit the Grand Canyon and Death Valley. So 2 of his friends (all early 30's) flew from Paris to LA, and the 3 of them rented a car to tour Arizona, Utah, Nevada and CA (needless to say, my friend LOVES to drive in the states - it's so spacious!! 
So they visited the Grand Canyon, and made their way into Utah. They stayed exclusively in "cheesy cheap American motels", which my friend loves, and tried to get as far off the beaten path as possible, which meant that they ended up spending the night in some very remote part of Utah - I forget the name of the town, but suffice it to say that I'd never heard of it...
Anyway, as my friend related in a phone call to me, they found this bar (the only bar in town), which he said in his ironic way that I would have LOVED, as it was decked out in yellow ribbons and many many tiny American flags.
They went in anyway... the bar was crowded. He then said that there was this black flag that said "POW-MIA", and asked me what that meant. I of course told him that it meant Prisoners of War, Missing in Action, and before I could say anything else he asked me what VFW meant. I said "oh my god, you were in a VFW hall!!" (for all of you who don't know, that stands for Veterans of Foreign Wars". He said "yes! Everyone there was in a war or a girlfriend of someone in a war". He said that the bartender told them that it was a "private" bar, and when my friend started to talk (and said where he was from), the bartender asked him "why do you French hate all Americans"
Well, my friend calmly explained that all French do not hate all Americans. He told him about spending a year in Baltimore, and about their trip. They ended up staying there for over an hour, talking to everyone and drinking, and when they left the bartender "asked me to sign some book - will my name show up on some list" my friend asked? No, I told him...I'm sure it was just the guest book. I doubt that they see all that many people from Paris in those parts.
I still have to smile-what a cultural juxtaposition!!
And now there is a VFW hall somewhere in Utah full of people with hopefully more open minds!!!
Let the riot begin! LOL - 
hahahha