An American Traveler Remembers the ‘Ugly’ Years

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  05.05.10 | 1:56 PM ET

Perceptive Travel has a thoughtful essay from Theresa Dowell Blackinton, looking back at her overseas reception across several years of travel—from the ’90s to 9/11, the Bush Years and the election of President Obama. Here’s a sample from her 2004 stint as an expat in Greece:

As a teacher, I found that America worked itself into every lesson plan, whether I wanted it to or not. “What do you think the main themes of To Kill a Mockingbird are?” I asked.

“That Americans are racist,” a student replied.

“Do you think that’s true?” I asked. “Are all Americans racist?” I wanted to dig deeper, to explore an issue that affects their culture as much as it does mine.

“Well they hate Muslims,” another student responded. The others nodded their heads in agreement.

Tags: Americans Abroad, Nation Branding, Politics, News and Briefs

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


1 Comment for An American Traveler Remembers the ‘Ugly’ Years

Tim L. 05.05.10 | 3:40 PM ET

Thanks for linking to that Eva! I’m showing my age, but I’ve traveled under Clinton, then Bush 2, then Obama. It is indeed a dramatic change in the tone of the conversations depending who is in office, whether we’ve changed or not.

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