The limits of stereotypes

Hello Everyone, When I was traveling for fencing, I noticed that each country's team exhibited the national stereotype for that country. The French were dicks, the Russians were unfashionable and emotionless, the Italians were fashionable drama queens, the British were funny, and the Canadians were ruggedly handsome. All, that is, except for the Americans. Far from the ignorant, pushy loudmouths that one can easily picture when you think of Americans abroad, these guys were respectful, intelligent and friendly. Last night I met a guy who embodied both version of this. He is bald, with a beer belly and a loud voice that carries across the campground. You can't get by him without him talking to you. Last night I sat around a campfire with him and a guy that was going to see a Phish concert in Denver and was staying in a Westfalia. Talk about stereotypes. This morning, the ur-American came over to chat, wearing a mesh back trucker's hat, checkered shirt, boxer shorts and crocs. He had a mug of coffee in his hand. He cut a striking image. But the thing is, he was coming over to make sure I knew it was a long weekend and that had my spot booked as it is going to be busy. And last night he was telling stories about travelling to different parts of the world and mountain biking. When I told him where I am from, he asked if I spoke French and told me about visiting Charlevoix, Quebec and all the unilingual francophones he met there. He wasn't complaining, he was telling the story as an adventure and related how interesting it was and how beautiful the scenery is. In fact, he didn't have a bad word to say about any of the places he'd been. Turns out he's a pilot, and uses his vacation to visit countries all over the world with his wife and do some biking. Past the loud, garrulous exterior was a smart person with an interest in seeing and learning about other people, and an endless positivity to boot. I have a lot of time for people like that. 

Wes

Photos 

I haven't been taking a ton of pictures the last few days. But I did take the opportunity of a recent ride to take a batch of selfies. I put one up here and another from the series on my Instagram. If you really want to see another similar picture of Arthur and I, you can find it there.