Tomorrow is the 4th of July. I believe it is my third "Independence Day" not in America. I rotate inside of the disdain for being an American every few days or hours here.

Green, green grass. All can seem mundane on other shores.

My brain expands based on my tried and true work environment--the French countryside. Survival wears a new hat for this New Yorker--gratitude and greetings in other languages and the varying systems of etiquette that incorporate the strange dance of traditions and colorings, certainly not mutually exclusive to this country. One of my hometown's finest--No shirt. No shoes. No service. One must make attempts to truly enjoy your experience and, in my opinion, display some visitor humility.

I choose to frantically assimilate--foolish in my need to feel "experienced and knowledgeable". This resulting in some example of humiliation, zipping me back to outsider posture.

Truly, to respect and enjoy yourself and others--taste, try, temper all that is available to you, remaining grateful of any invitation. Some places will suit you better than others--and remaining within the sunlight of travel experimentation is allowed to those that never master the formula of location.

Keep testing.