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Written by: Sarah Daoust Every time I travel outside the country, I realize how much more the average non-American knows about America than the average American. Or at least it seems. Our economy, gas prices, that Obama fellow and his wife's toned guns, our healthcare crisis, those storms in the Bible Belt. And these were just the topics discussed with my cab driver from the airport to my hotel in Sydney, Australia last spring!

I certainly can't speak for all Americans, but I feel pretty humbled and ignorant fairly often when traveling abroad. It hits me at every other turn how we really do live in an “it's all about me” bubble in this U.S., land of tremendous privilege, opportunity and ego, while the rest of the world follows along, paying close attention. Tomorrow I'm off to Holland, then France, where my Americanized outlets and English-fluent staff at the Marriott will be ready to go so I don't miss a beat. Am I up on the latest news impacting either country? Admittedly, not at all. And we wonder why the garçon at that bistro in Paris scoffed at us when we didn't even attempt a “bonjour” and instead went straight for the “hey, what's up?”

At the very least I better brush up on my U.S. news topics this evening. I don't want to feel stupid when my taxi driver in Amsterdam starts grilling me about the Yankees winning the World Series. Because he will.