Post 1

I am the worst American. I don't like football and I can't eat apple pie. I don't have cable TV and I've never been to a tailgate party. I love the States but really don't live there very often. I spent my childhood and most of adult life with one foot in American culture and the other wherever I happened to be living (Costa Rica, Mexico, Boulder Colorado {it's like its own special country} , England, Iraq, Afghanistan). So this is the story about balancing between being the "ugly" American and maybe just the worst one.

I make cultural observations.   I am American by birth/passport  and my "American" culture is often out of step with my fellow countryman.  With frequent self-effacing humor I will share these stories as I recall them...  And I like trying to blend in wherever I am at.  That means blending in suburbia just as well as some remote village in the Hindu Kush.

Anyway, I try to blend in wherever I am and that's why I started the blog, because life is about to take a new cultural turn.  I am in the military and just got picked to be something of a "cultural warrior."  The job involves language training and cultural training which is a first for me in my military career.  The plan is to use the lang/culture training to get "outside the wire" amongst the population.  I am hoping to use this blog platform to capture some of the stories and keep a record.  

---Ground rules*-----
- I'll try and be more honest than eloquent
- I won't post everyday, I get worn out writing.  And sometimes I do really short posts.
- I have thick skin, but if you're going to be jerk in the comments leave solutions not just complaints
*Ground rules subject to change at my discretion...