I often discover new things on new visits. On one occasion, I was
playing tourguide to a Swedish friend, who was a teenager during the
war. We parked at the Lincoln Memorial, went through it, waited for my
usual sniffles to stop (the statue is eerily magnificent), and proceeded
to the Wall.

Just as we started down the sidewalk, Kate stopped, glanced back at the
Lincoln Memorial, and said "how appropriate! is the placement of these
two mere coincidence?"

I had no idea what she meant.

"Weren't the Civil War and the Viet Nam War the times of greatest
internal turmoil of your country?"

She married an American, and is a graduate teaching assistant while she
works on her doctorate. Since the major classes she teaches are US
history, I'd be fascinated to hear how she presents this. Yes, she has
what many would consider typical European social democratic ideas, but
is also quite fair in looking at all sides -- and has lived and studied
here long enough to have more detailed knowledge of US history than many
native-born citizens.