All right. Happy 4th everyone! I'm kind of ambivalent about this holiday as a whole, mostly because when you're a kid in the summer it's just another day of vacation, punctuated by things like watermelon and turning your skin blue with crepe paper. Then, supposedly, you become an adult and you start working and the 4th of July means a day off!
Well, last year that was a no-go because the senior citizens liked to see their plays, even on holidays. This year it's a no-go because, yes, I am in France. I'll get the 14th off, though, which is even better since that will be a full day off and this would have been just a half day off since I only work 10-2 on Saturdays anyway.
So, in order to try and get myself in a patriotic mood (which I have attained once, from about October 2008 to February 2009), I present you with a list.

Ten Things I Love About the United States:
1) The fact that I can have this blog at all. And that on it, if I so desired, I could complain all the live long day about the government, my friends, neighbors, other countries, the weather, etc. without getting shut down.
2) The fact that we elected Obama. Good job, us. The man's administration is far from perfect, but I'm still a huge fan.
3) Five Guys, Steak 'n' Shake, In 'n' Out Burger. You see where I'm going with this. I.e. a delicious way to find your way to an early death.
4) Entertainment. I talk enough about TV shows, movies, and books on here without going into more detail. Still, this is one of my quality of life things and watching horribly depressing and sometimes violent shows on HBO makes me proud to be an American.
5) Princeton, Damn Big Midwestern University Town, Iowa City, and (so the on-campus signs informed us upon our visit) Baltimore: College towns.
6) Chicago, L.A., New York: the big three.
7) The Midwest. Seriously. I love having grown up there (albeit growing up in a college town is a must; see #5), and not just because it gives me the coveted ability to bash it and defend it at the same time. More and more I believe in the cringingly trite saying, "In the Midwest it's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice." I hate that phrase--hate it, hate it, hate it--because it makes us sound like yokels. But, I also have found it to be true. As true as any generalization that broad can be.
8) A history of trying to correct mistakes. See #2.
9) The melting pot.
10) The thing I love most about the United States is that that is where the people I love (with a handful of exceptions) live. So I'm glad that I live in the United States, but (Mom, Dad, Subcontinent, HarvardGirl, Ex-Neighbors, Roommate J, CC, HaHa, CornellBoy, StOlafBoy, BrandeisGirl, Interns T & N, Flatmate M, Neighbor C, and all the rest of you) I'm glad I live with you more.