Are You A Xenophile?

Here is a guest post that I wrote over six months ago on GenPink, but since many of you are traveling for summer vacation, I thought this post would be applicable :)

"What do you just call me?!" Have any of your "educated" friends ever called you a word, and you had no idea what they meant? Here is a word that I've been called, and my mom would be proud because I went to the dictionary, yes that big book on your shelf collecting dust or maybe even being used as a door stop, and looked it up.

Xenophile [zen-uh-fahyl, zee-nuh-] noun. A person attracted to that which is foreign, especially to foreign peoples, manners or cultures. Having traveled the world and lived in Europe, I love watching people and listen to them interact with others, especially when they look and sound different than me.  Here are ten signs you might also be a xenophile…

10. You love learning different languages like Spanish, French, Pig-Latin, etc.

9. Your favorite clothing are kimono, sari and dashiki. (BTW, you know what these items are without googling them.)

8. You are attracted to people that look and speak differently than you.

7. Your favorite restaurants are ethnic, and you order off the menu in their language.

6. You rack up more frequent flyer miles than Richard Branson.

5. You DVR Rick Steves’ Europe and fantasize that one day you will do his job.

4. You prefer BBC over CNN.

3. Your Netflix queue has more foreign films than American films.

2. Along with the Fourth of July, you also celebrate St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo, and you know why they are a holiday.

…And the number one sign you might be a xenophile: Your iPod is full of music in other languages!