Josephus

My friend Joseph is who I want to be when I grow up. In particular, I am trying to travel the way he does. I came across one of the emails he wrote to me from Angers, France, where he was doing a semester abroad to study the language. To me, it serves as a tutorial on how to look at traveling and overall life experience.

Busy in France? More like living my dreams. French culture is invigorating. The standard is this whole subtle game thing with meeting people. Then I come on the scene. Standing on my board, kicking and pushing, then the hill drops. I lower my bag, pull a cig to my lips and bend me knees until I'm literally sitting. There is lots of traffic downtown. I whiz by listening to Crookers, thinking about how amazing it's gonna be next Friday in Paris when I see them. My new Angers/France accomplice Jennifer and I have found a couch to crash on after the show. I get to the bottom of the hill and all eyes are on me from the top to the bottom, with families and teenagers cheering with wide smiles. I'm here. Welcome to Angers, welcome to my world. I thought about it for a long time the previous night. Am I here to blend in? Or engage the new town and give them a taste of my cultural expression - goofy shades, boat shorts, a tight tee, with a flannel over it. If I am deciding to support the tourism in Angers, they may feel insecure with my privileged travel, which is why I decide to give back. Hey there, Joseph here. C'est ca se ca?

e-mail from Joseph Cutler on June 6, 2008