B E B E R E

Was I a citizen diplomat?

Granted, I'm only one person who came into contact with a few individuals, but my experiences in France a couple weeks ago fly in the face of the "unprecedented anti-americanism" that is the result of George Bush's "unilateralist and arrogant" policies.

Of course, it is largely the media stirring things up: I didn't have much desire to return to France based on a lot of what I've read, so I can completely understand a lot of reticence on the part of many Europeans given the garbage that's printed about us there. How to get past this, though? How to get people to read beyond the "news," learn a bit more about their world, and engage?

I tried, and I was charmed by the warmth of welcome. Hopefully the feeling was mutual.