There's only two things I hate in this world...

1) People who are intolerant of other people's cultures, and
2) The Dutch.

(OK, I jest, but I do love this line from Austin Power's Goldmember (2002))

What was suppose to be a 10-month long cultural exchange experience, turned out to be a 3 1/2 week American vacation for our Dutch Foreign Exchange student.  It seems that homesickness got the best of her. My family is grateful for the experience, albeit short, because it brought us closer together. This was a trying experience for us all.  The student was on an emotional roller coaster half the time - going from being amazed at American high school football to being depressed about our food, our time spent in cars, and our amount of choices for anything.

Walking into any American supermarket and seeing entire aisles dedicated to breakfast cereals or salad dressings was a little overwhelming for her. Telling her that "Yes, it's true.  You can buy food, shoes, motor oil and guns in the same place" was a reflective moment for me. "Thank you, Walmart."

The Disease of More - see "The Paradox of Choice" has a basic premise that if we had to choose between three of four similar items, we would be much more happy than having to choose between five and fifteen items. Perhaps. But I think 'mericans are quite good at choice management. Sometimes I feel like a nut, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I like watching "Inside the Actors Studio", sometimes I prefer "Inside Edition".

And then there's the discussion we had about 'merican teens' (18 yrs +) ability to vote, smoke, go to war, but not drink alcohol. Wow! I'm not really sure what to do with that one. Lucky for me I have a 7-yr old daughter, so I have a few years to get my spiel together. It had better be water-tight or she will see through it just like the other 20 million teenagers in America do.

"Lacrosse Roads"

I grew up in the 70s and 80s, back when math was math and there was no such thing as "new math." But it seemed to work because I even remember The Transitive Property of Equality... If A = B and B = C, then A = C.



the daughter of a friend in full Cascadian lacrosse regalia

So let me posit the following: Preppy = Lacrosse and Lacrosse = a sport Cascadian kids now play, then Preppy = Cascadian kids . 

If lacrosse is like other preppy sports popularized in the Northeastern states, e.g., rowing, it will be adopted, played and improved upon by the Cascadian. (Side note: some of the best collegiate rowing teams in North America hail from the Pacific Northwest and the west coast of British Columbia. More to come on that later.)

Yet lacrosse is different from other preppy sports in that its origins can be traced to Native American and Canadian beginnings from over 1000 years ago. The sport was exported to Europe, where it picked up preppy style points, and then it was imported back to the US and Canada.

Lacrosse, like all sports, loses preppitude as it graduates to the semi-pro and professional level. One only has to take a gander at the National Lacrosse League website to see what I mean. (Jeez, I felt like I wandered onto a "Horrors of Rhinoplasty" website when I was there.) Therefore, Cascadian lacrosse should only be played in middle school thru college, and no higher.

Excitingly enough, lacrosse is more than a means for the Cascadian to become endoctrinated into prepdom.  Since it is played in Spring and early Summer it precludes the player from playing other "sports" such as "baseball." And there is nothing wrong with that!