May 2002, Kilkenny Ireland —

I've been living and working in Europe for about two years.

Well, I don't know if you'd call Ireland "Europe." The Republic of Ireland is within the European Union; but folks here sometimes talk about Europe as if it were a distant place. A different place, anyway.

For that matter, Spain isn't exactly so European, either — but it's connected by land. That was not apparent in Seville, where France could have been oceans away. A video-game-style quiz machine in Bar Siroco in Seville hadn't French on it. German, yes, English, yes — but no French.

Amsterdam.... That's European. The Dutch are Europeans. It's hard to explain. It's definitely European, though.

That was the first place I went to live outside of the United States.

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