Stupid American, encore

I'm happy to report that I am continuing to single-handedly uphold the stereotype of the Stupid American.

In my French class, we played a ‘game’. It was an exercise where one person leaves the room (I volunteered first because I had to go to the bathroom) and the others who are left in the room think of one word – it can be any person, place or thing – and the object of the game is to get the person who left the room (and then has come back) to say the word without realizing that they said it. This is all in French, of course, and the students are from all over - Japan, Tiawan, Brazil, Holland, Italy, Portugal, etc. etc.

OK... so they thought of a word... a person. Then they began to ask me questions... It went like this..

1. Do you like sports?
Yeah, some sports.

2. What sports do you like?
Well, not many, but I do like “la foot”.
(discussion follows about American football vs. European football,
known to us as soccer.)

3. Have you been to any soccer games?
I went to lots of soccer games when my son played soccer in High School!!

4. Have you gone to any soccer games here?
No

5. Have you watched soccer on TV?
Yes, occasionally (flipping channels...but I didn't say that!)

6. What team do you like best?
Olympic Lyonnaise (Nevermind that I really didn’t know many others...)

7. What French players do you like?
Oh… geez...I couldn’t name any...

8. WHATT?? YOU CAN’T NAME A SINGLE PLAYER????
Uh... non, je regrette(sorry).

The thought bubbles over their heads...
WHAT????? Not one single famous french football player??
Were you born yesterday?
Did you just get off the boat?
Have you been hiding under a rock?
Just fell off the turnip truck?
Had your head in the sand?
Ah, no... just stupid American.....bien sur.

End of game...the word they were thinking was ZIZOU.

Thought bubble over my head...Zizou? huh?? what's a zizou??
(Zizou is the nickname that his fans have given him)


So how bad was my faux pas?
Imagine living in America...or specifically Illinois... and not knowing who Michael Jordan is.

Imagine living in America, Texas, ...and not knowing who Roger Clemens is, or Lance Armstrong.

Imagine living in America in the 60’s and 70’s ... or specifically New York... And not knowing who Joe Namath is.


OK... guilty as charged... stupid American.

So in case you are a stupid American too, read here:

The village news said this about him...
The French have never been very passionate about football, but Zinedine Zidane is still the most popular man in France. It's partly because he is the only contemporary Frenchman who is both world famous and universally recognised as the outstanding genius in his field. It's partly because his way of playing the game is so stylish that even people who have no interest in football can immediately appreciate that Zidane is doing something extraordinary. He's also a nice guy.

And another article:

This Is Zidane:
An exquisite ball player who never stops working to improve his control and skills Zidane is the ultimate midfield soccer star. Posessed with an intuitive vision of the game in progress he is a play-maker 'extraordinaire?' Zidane is an extrovert on the playing field and a quiet family man off it. He is involved in charity work in France and North Africa.
Awards:
1996: European Super Cup and the World Club Cup with Juventus.
1998: World Cup with France.
1998: European Player of the Year award -- the Balon d'Or.
1999: FIFA 1998 World Player of the Year.
2000: Euro 2000 Championship with France. Named Player of the Tournament.
2000: FIFA World Player of the Year for the second time.
2002: European Champions League with Real Madrid.
2002: World Club Cup with Real Madrid.
2003: FIFA World Player of the Year for the Third time

Zinidine Zidane - simply the best!