Daedalian Adventures

The road ahead is rarely straight…

By Lynelle Barrett

Double Dutch Jeopardy

As far back as I can remember, one of my favorite daydream fantasies was to travel back in time to another era and share the wonders of daily life in my time. It’s probably a safe bet that I will never be a time traveler, but it has just occurred to me that, in a way, I am living this fantasy today. The difference is that I am not a representative of a period in time, but of a place.

Last night, I was sitting in a neighborhood Italian restaurant by myself with my journal. It has been my experience that a woman out alone writing in a journal is mysterious and intriguing to others. I never get much writing done before someone starts up a conversation. It’s becoming a running joke that I only ever have to buy my first drink because people are always offering to buy them for me.

On this particular evening, two Dutch men were dining at the table next to mine. They started by asking me where I was from, since they weren’t sure by my accent. When I said America, that was all the bait they needed. It ended up that they were Political Science graduate students and to talk to an American who choose to leave the US and live in The Netherlands was a unique opportunity. These conversations with strangers are always more like interrogations or game show quizzes. I spend most of the time answering questions. Last night I was asked an interesting question, “Do I feel that I am always representing America?”

I have often felt that way, but no one has ever asked me about it.  In answering the question, I realized that it had been very different to represent America when I was living in Prague a year and a half ago than it is today in Holland. Many of the Czechs know very little about the American lifestyle. Some Czechs I talked to had never met an American before. The Dutch, on the other hand, are quite savvy about the American way of life. They watch MTV and CNN. TV shows like CSI and Sex and the City are popular here. American movies are shown on TV and in the cinema (in English with Dutch subtitles). They carry ipods, drink Coke and eat at McDonald’s. The Dutch seem very confident that they understand what it means to be American.

And yet, I can tell they don’t truly grasp what life is like in America. Even though they speak English and can sing along with the words to popular songs, they don’t understand the meaning behind many of the songs. They don’t know all the slang and figures of speech, and  don’t understand many of the references. It is the same with television. Now that I am starting to understand some Dutch, I often see that the subtitles on TV shows in English say something completely different than what was said in the show. I have noticed this is usually when the original line would not mean anything to someone outside America. I can tell by the questions people ask me that they have no idea how we really live daily life. Here’s a rough summary of what I often hear: They imagine us all living in places like New York City or California. We drive REALLY big cars, drink Coke or bad-tasting beer and eat McDonald’s all the time. We are loud and demanding. We all have lots of money that we throw around buying anything our hearts desire. My Political Science friends from last night compared the US and its excesses to the Roman Empire just before the fall. It’s a scary thought, but on reflection, I found it hard to be offended.

So, in a way, I do feel like an ambassador. Not of America and its politics, but a representative of what it’s like to grow up and live an average life in America. Not how life looks on Sex and the City or Baywatch or MTV, but real life. I never felt so conscious of being American until I left America.

Lynelle Barrett is residing in The Netherlands, where she is the proud owner of a shiny new residence visa. It remains to be seen whether anyone will hire this wacky American whose limited Dutch vocabulary includes words like SNORHAAR (whiskers) and KOPPENSNELLEN (headhunting). Check out photos and notes of her adventures on her website at: http://spaces.msn.com/lynelleinholland