Through the Looking Glass

One of the questions that obsesses me is "what is American?" I especially want to know what is American from the outside looking in - what do people from around the world consider American. I also want to know if it's a good thing, a bad thing, a selling point, a deterrent, an approbation, a moral indictment...

What is American?

So I'm always on the lookout for anything labeled "American" when I travel. I studied abroad in Ireland when I was in college and one of my favorite candies - purely for the name, I think - was a product called "American Hard Gums." They were like nothing I'd ever eaten in America. I suppose they most closely resembled gumdrops if you scraped the sugar off the sides, squashed them a bit, and made them slightly harder than stale jujubees. What made them American? I have no idea.

Here's something "American" I stumbled across while wandering around Paris. It hardly seems fair that the French get to the claim French tips and we get stuck with the airbrushed acrylic monstrosities. Which raises the question: are French tips really French?

Though I don't see a way of getting out of claiming acrylic nails as American. And I'm going to have to assume that in a stylish place like Paris, that is not a good thing...

Copyright 2010 Sara Harding