2008 Woodie Awards
Could Americans' reduced spending power be positive for our image abroad?
Christina Kiser
Issue date: 4/1/08 Section: Opinion
I was 15 years old the first time I went abroad. I went to Paris for nine days with my family. It was June. We took boat rides down the Seine. We sat outside and nibbled on croissants and café au lait. And we went shopping aux grands magasins (the big department stores), as well as H&M, which at that point was still only in Europe (my ongoing love affair with the latter began on this trip).
It was a great trip made greater by the fact that the American dollar was so strong. In June 2001, France still used the franc. It was on its way out, and so was fairly weak against the almighty dollar. We stayed in a very nice hotel and ate at expensive restaurants, knowing that our money (okay, my parents' money) was going a long way.
After our vacation in Paris, I felt very secure being an American. We could afford to spend. Even as I observed the many unique things about French culture, I was bombarded with images from my own -- American movie stars in the tabloids, Madonna and Janet Jackson blaring from open car windows on the Champs-Elysees. In my na'veté, I thought I knew that we had the strongest culture, and the strongest economy, in the world.
Fast-forward six years. I am in France again, in the lovely southern city of Montpellier, to spend my spring semester abroad. Every time I go to the ATM, I cringe. I stand in the shampoo aisle in Monoprix (kind of like a smaller version of Target), agonizing over how much everything costs and knowing I will never be able to forgive myself if I spend the equivalent of $12 on one bottle of John Frieda. So I reach instead for the store brand. During my four months abroad, the euro is worth about $1.33 to the dollar -- not exorbitant, but expensive enough that I am definitely feeling the pinch in my wallet.
My one big trip is to the UK, where the British pound is worth double the dollar. While I'm there, my mom calls to tell me that I have exactly $7.32 left in my bank account. She wants to know if I have decided to buy myself a brand-new spring wardrobe from Selfridges.
It was a great trip made greater by the fact that the American dollar was so strong. In June 2001, France still used the franc. It was on its way out, and so was fairly weak against the almighty dollar. We stayed in a very nice hotel and ate at expensive restaurants, knowing that our money (okay, my parents' money) was going a long way.
After our vacation in Paris, I felt very secure being an American. We could afford to spend. Even as I observed the many unique things about French culture, I was bombarded with images from my own -- American movie stars in the tabloids, Madonna and Janet Jackson blaring from open car windows on the Champs-Elysees. In my na'veté, I thought I knew that we had the strongest culture, and the strongest economy, in the world.
Fast-forward six years. I am in France again, in the lovely southern city of Montpellier, to spend my spring semester abroad. Every time I go to the ATM, I cringe. I stand in the shampoo aisle in Monoprix (kind of like a smaller version of Target), agonizing over how much everything costs and knowing I will never be able to forgive myself if I spend the equivalent of $12 on one bottle of John Frieda. So I reach instead for the store brand. During my four months abroad, the euro is worth about $1.33 to the dollar -- not exorbitant, but expensive enough that I am definitely feeling the pinch in my wallet.
My one big trip is to the UK, where the British pound is worth double the dollar. While I'm there, my mom calls to tell me that I have exactly $7.32 left in my bank account. She wants to know if I have decided to buy myself a brand-new spring wardrobe from Selfridges.
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