Aix-en-Provence 2013: ADVENTURES ABROAD!!!!: Colorado? That's on the West Coast, Right?

One of the central questions that any study abroad student will receive (and ask) is, "So, where are you from?" I mean, it's probably one of the most routine questions when trying to get to know someone you've just met.

Seems like one of the easiest questions to answer and proceed into the rest of the conversation, right?

WRONG.

Let me give you a rundown of how one such interaction occurred a little over a week ago. The name of the person I had the conversation with has been changed to avoid embarrassing a friend...

Martha - "So, Nick, where are you from?"
Me - "Denver, Colorado."
Martha - "Oh!! Colorado! You have all the mountains and the skiing, right?"
Me - "You're spot on!"
Martha - "I've never been. Is the skiing good?"
Me - "Oh man, you have no idea. I've been spoiled for the past 17 winters of my life."
Martha - "That's awesome! I've always wanted to see what west-coast skiing is like!"
Me - "What do you mean?"
Martha - "Colorado? That's on the West Coast, right?"
Me - "NO. NO IT'S NOT."
Martha - "Well it's west, so it's basically on the West Coast."
Me - "There are THREE states between Colorado and the Pacific Ocean. We are NOT on the coast."
Martha - "Oh, whatever. You're not in the east, so you're on the West Coast."
Me - "This conversation is over."

First, I think this says more about how ineffective American geography classes are. I mean, as far as geographical knowledge goes, Americans are the laughing stock of the world. I have met far too many Europeans who know more about the geography of America than many of my fellow American students do...and that is quite embarrassing, if you ask me.

I wish I could say that I embellished parts of that conversation. I mean, it'd be one thing if this conversation was with someone from Europe, but this was a conversation with someone from the Northeast; someone who presumably should know their American geography.

Sadly, there have been multiple interactions like that one since I've been here. I am much more accepting of geographical mistakes when I'm speaking with a European who hasn't been to the United States.

There are no excuses, however, for someone who was born and raised in the USA.

So just to clear things up, let's have a quick western-USA geography lesson:

States that border the Pacific Ocean:
- California
- Oregon
- Washington

Believe it or not, but these are the ONLY states that make up the West Coast.

Utah? Nope. Nevada? Try Again. Wyoming? Way off. Colorado? Hell no.

Now that this has been cleared up, it does beg the question: in what region of the USA is Colorado? This is a question that has infected my soul, curved my spine, and has kept the country from winning the war (if you got the George Carlin reference, you have become one of the coolest people I have ever met....or not met, depending on the current state of our relationship).

Colorado isn't on the West Coast, as we have very obviously cleared up; it's not in the southwest (but, is it?); and it certainly isn't in the midwest (we're a bit too far west). So where does that put us?

As a solution to this conundrum, I've simply told people that we're just in the West. It has been the easiest solution to the problem while also giving people the sense of where Colorado is.

At least for those from America....

What about for the Europeans who have no idea that there is a difference between California and Kansas?

To solve this problem, generally, I give them a quick crash course in western USA geography. Everyone knows where California is, so I just walk them through the fact that there are two states between California and Colorado. That usually clears all the confusion right up.

Anyway, enough of my rant about the lack of knowledge of USA geography...allow me to update you on my life here in Aix-en-Provence.

As I alluded to last week, over the weekend, I went to Nice with a friend of mine. Unfortunately, the weather didn't really cooperate too well with what we had planned: a weekend spent on the beach. Thankfully, it didn't rain until the day we left (and boy did it rain hard).

That didn't derail much in the way of fun, though. We still spent a few hours at the beach on Saturday and that evening, we walked throughout the city, she shopped for some boots, we stopped for a cocktail at a nice bar, and then ended the night with dinner on the beach.

I must say, the highlight of the trip was dinner on the beach. It was a lot like any meal on the beach in Southern California, but it was a French meal, so the food was MUCH better. I had the "Penne au 2 saumons." That translates to Penne with 2 salmons, as I'm sure you guessed. It was a pasta with a creamy sauce topped with both grilled and fresh salmon. It was one of the best meals I've had since coming to France.

I greatly enjoyed the weekend away with a friend in a gorgeous and upscale city.

However, that pales in comparison to my excitement for this weekend as I'm heading to Amsterdam tomorrow with a fairly large group. Among the huge list of things we're going to try to cram into one weekend are visiting the Heineken factory, seeing The Anne Frank House, visiting the Van Gogh Museum, and of course trying some of the Amsterdam delicacies...safely of course.

That being said, I think I'm going to sign off and start to pack for my trip tomorrow. I can't wait to update you on everything we do this weekend in my next post!! See you all next week!!! Well....sort of....