I get this question a lot.
I’ve been living outside the States for 18 years, and, to answer the question I’m so often asked, I’ve never felt more American than I do today.
Living in the States (I lived in Baltimore, Maryland, for my first 35 years), we Americans take being American for granted.Every year since I left Baltimore, I’ve been more aware of my American-ness.
Thinking superficially, this is easy to understand. My husband and I, along with our children, lived in Ireland for seven years, long enough to acquire Irish passports even. But we’re not Irish… not really.
We were in Paris for four years, and both our children think of that city as home. It’s where our blended family bonded, where my son, Jackson, started school, and from where my daughter, Kaitlin, left our nest to start college.
We still have the apartment where we four lived together. In fact, it’s from this apartment that I write today…
Here, in storage, we keep plastic tubs containing school report cards and gifts the kids made for me for Mother’s Days. Seated at my little desk in the living room, as I am right now, everywhere I look brings back more memories from when my children were young.
We love being here in Paris and look forward to returning. But we’re surely not French.
In Panama, where we’ve been living now for eight years, as in Ireland and in Paris, we’ve put down roots. We have friends, our son is in school, and we’re building a house on the beach at Los Islotes that is part of our long-term plan. We’re in Panama for the long haul… but we’ll never be Panamanian.
No… we’re American, from our accents to our Levi’s.
And in less obvious ways, too.
When I sit down in a business meeting anywhere in the world, I’m the American at the table. I could be negotiating the cost of an apartment for sale in Buenos Aires, Argentina… considering a new business idea in Panama City, Panama… meeting with a new writer in Paris, France… or discussing residency visa options with an attorney in Medellín, Colombia. On the other end of the conversation is an Argentine, a Panamanian, a Frenchman, a Colombian… what have you. I’m the American. And to the table I bring the American perspective.
The longer I’m outside the States, the greater has grown my appreciation for what that means and also for how unique our American perspective is.
The rest of the world doesn’t think like we Americans think. That’s neither good nor bad. It just is. And it creates an opportunity.
I have the chance, every time I engage with some non-American anywhere in the world, to learn from his non-American ways… and to put my American ways to good use.
We Americans are the world’s optimists. We believe in ourselves and in our collective ability to figure things out… to make things better… to make things work. We’re dreamers… and wanderers. We value hard work, we like efficiency, and we pride ourselves on our willingness to act on opportunity when we perceive one.
What’s over the next hill? Let’s go find out. What could we do tomorrow that we didn’t do today? Let’s get up early in the morning and figure that out. How can we make this thing, this idea, this effort better? Let’s roll up our sleeves and see where a little elbow grease leads us…
Those are American sentiments. Wherever we travel in the world, whoever we encounter, personally or in business, these are the attitudes that we bring to the table.
So, yes, living overseas I feel more American than ever. In a good way.
Kathleen Peddicord
