MONTPELLIER, France-\Freedom fries"" and smashed bottles of Dom Perignon in American streets. Swastikas instead of stars on the American flag in an antiwar rally on the Champs-Elyses. A lynched George W. Bush doll on the main square of a French city.
For an American student studying abroad in France, reminders of the stressed relations between the two countries can be constant.
Every student has a story about how the war in Iraq has affected his or her time in France.
For Jessica Pothering, a sophomore at George Washington University studying abroad in Montpellier, France, it was how a cab driver told her and three other Americans they need not talk while in his taxi since they were American.
For Brian Kuzel, a senior at the University of Minnesota also studying in Montpellier, it was how an employee at a convenience store reacted when Kuzel asked him to find a news source representative of the average person's opinion: After paging through multiple news sources, Kuzel said the man ""finally got pissed off"" and tore out a graphic war photograph from a French news source, saying that unbiased news did not exist in his country.
But although everyone seems to have had at least an experience in which being French and being American becomes a focal point, it is not a part of daily existence.
What does seem to be commonplace is the French desire to discuss an American's opinions of the war.
It is often the first question asked of her by French people she meets, said Annie Taylor, a junior at Bates College studying abroad in Montpellier. Most of the time, she responds by saying she does not like Bush.
""In their opinion, if you're for the war, you're a horrible person,"" Taylor said. ""As soon as you say you don't like Bush, they get past it.""
When her ""very Republican, very pro-Bush"" American cousin came to visit, Taylor instructed her to keep these opinions to herself.
""She would have gotten beat up,"" Taylor said laughing. ""Everyone would have just hated her.""
Finding a French citizen approving of current U.S. military action in Iraq is practically impossible, but ironically, finding a French citizen wearing and paying inflated prices for U.S. military-related clothing is not as unfathomable.
A green tank top with a ""U.S. Air Force"" patch is sold, on average, for the equivalent of 30 dollars more than a plain green tank top, for instance.
But even so, that kind of irony is mostly harmless to American students, like the stares they receive on a regular basis. More threatening actions directed at students are not as widespread.
Fran??oise Chaton Defrecheux, on-site director of University of Minnesota program in Montpellier, said she was not aware of students having many problems with anti-Americanism.
""I expected it to be worse,"" she said.
According to Chaton Defrecheux, the physical safety of students in France has not been overly threatened either, and in general, students' lifestyles and decisions demonstrate the same idea. For example, students are still traveling all over Europe for spring break, Chaton Defrecheux said.
The day military action began in Iraq, program directors within the United States sent e-mails to students abroad, advising them to keep low profiles, dress to blend in and avoid discussing the war with strangers.
While U.S. Department of State warnings are always posted by study abroad employees, the advice is usually too vague for students to significantly change their daily lives as a result. For instance, in a worldwide caution issued March 19, Americans were told to stay away from facilities where Americans and other foreigners congregate or visit such as ""residential areas, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools, hotels, outdoor recreational events or resorts and beaches.""
In France, at least, Taylor said that besides ""making little comments,"" she did not think anybody would do her any real harm because she was American.
The one time she did feel threatened was during a weekend in Paris when Taylor accidentally met up with a large antiwar march. Taylor said the first thing she saw as she walked up the stairs from the metro was an American flag with the stars replaced by swastikas and the first thing she heard was angry anti-American chanting.
""I was scared shitless. We immediately started speaking French. I covered the NorthFace [label] on my jacket. Our hearts were racing. I just wanted to say to them that you aren't against all Americans. We're not all like that. When there are antiwar rallies in Montpellier, I usually don't even realize it's against me. In Paris, all I could think about was how personal it was.\
