California

"Merci, beaucoup!" I shouted after the teacher who dropped me off at the bus stop. As I ran off the bus in St Denis, I was hit by a wave of hot, sticky heat. Oh, will this ever end, I thought as I waited in the heat for the city bus. Looking around I almost laughed as I noticed everyone still wearing jeans, addidas runner pants, black long sleeve shirts....I hope I will survive in February!

I made it on time to the conference....just barely. It reminded me a little of a conference room at Lewis & Clark, except smaller, and in a high school. Oh yeah, and I was one of the speakers. Us three Americans had been roped into giving presentations on our "regions" in the US. While Seth tackled New York, Josh had the good fortune of being from Tennessee, which made his presentation more state specific. Then there's me....even though I spent the majority of my life, I can't say I'm 100% Californian anymore. Besides, I know Portland better than any other city on the planet. So, using lots of pictures on a powerpoint, I tried to conquer the west coast....in 30 minutes. Ironically, the best reactions came from the Washington state part, where I showed them where Forks, Washington is, along with a picture from the Twilight movie. Oh yeah, that's right, we've got vampires.

By the time we got to Q&As, I got the same questions as always: "Have you met movie stars?" and my all time favorite, "Are the girls pretty in California?" I love how these boys always ask the ONE girl from California if the girls are pretty there....how am I supposed to answer that one? This time I said, "Well you're asking a girl from California, so you tell me!" He gave no response, and just giggled with his friends, as if they had just told the funniest joke.

Then came the harder questions: Why did you come here? What will you do next year? And which do you prefer, Reunion Island or America? Finally, a girl asked a very interesting question: which region do you prefer in the US? I looked at the boys and thought, Seth and Josh must be very proud of their regions after such nice presentations, I'm sure they will give us good regions why they like their regions best. I was rather surprised when both shrugged and admitted that they liked California best, and that it was the only place they would consider living in the US. I guess it is true that after showing photos to my students of San Francisco, the beach, I find it rather funny that they find California so exciting. The beaches here are just as nice, and the water is way warmer than the Pacific will ever be...but I suppose the grass is always greener on the other side. I guess California is a pretty cool place though, even though I told the girl that Oregon is my favorite region. Sorry to disappoint.