Expatriates
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Expatriates ARCHIVE

Reflections on our town from those who came and left (and might come back)

2006
Spring Ann Arbor, Mi Amor All the things I've been seeking in St. Louis — progressive politics, writerly camaraderie and more — were right here all the time
Summer When "Crisis" Looks Civilized Once-barbaric Berlin now provides an evolved societal vantage point St. Louis might do well to emulate
Fall If Not St. Louis, Why Not the Best Place to Live? She's gone to Charlottesville, Va., and she's not coming back. Well, except when she does...

2005
Jan Morning in St. Louis This month, a twist: we got one! Impressions of a newcomer, an "in-patriate" to the Lou
Mar St. Louis from the Middle Distance A hope for the city, from Chicago
May Native Son in a Strange Land Ten months out of Wash U and many worlds away
Sep The Reach of Home I wasn't a St. Louisan until I hit Japan
Dec T-Ravs in the Basement of My Memory From the Land of Humidity to the Valley of the Sun

2004
Feb Eating the Past My own history is inextricably linked with Cuban coffee, and toasted ravioli, and the flavors and smells of the 1904 World's Fair
May Museum Man Seeks Southern Heritage Going back in time to Florida, B.C. ("before condos")
Jun The Push-Pull Paradox Though I fled the States for a freer life in Brazil, a dream of Saint Louis stays with me
Nov Do You Know the Way to San Louie? The way you pronounce our city and state, and what it all means, have been on Meg's mind since she left
Dec Big, but Not So Easy A homesick St. Louisan looks longingly upriver

2003
Jan A St. Louis Education He was lured to our town by the ghost of T.S. Eliot, and found here a host of living literary legends
Feb Left vs. Middle MU330's frontman runs down the plusses and minuses of his adopted California city
Mar Clean Sweep Egyptian encounters of the grimy kind leave me — momentarily — longing for the suburbs of St. Louis
Apr Culture Vs. Diversity Thinking about St. Louis' deep culture from the San Francisco Bay Area's multicultural playground
May Past, Present and Future From the East Side to the Gateway City to Charm City, all threads of one tapestry
Jun Cut and Paste St. Louis followed Dan Stolar to Tuscon, and still fills his writing and his life
Jul And You Think Highway 40 Sucks The shine is off the Big Apple and she's longing for the 'burbs
Aug Work in Progress After a year living the expat life, some days in China are still a Shanghai surprise
Sep Zen and the Art of Not Drinking The long journey from St. Louis to Santa Claus begins with a single step
Oct Rediscovering St. Louis Having left town in part to escape St. Louis' backwards thinking, the CBS news reporter recently found a second look was in order
Nov St. Louis: The Gateway to the South Roger and his wife Jennifer got the blues, hit the road and have never been happier
Dec Christmas in Pottersville What if St. Louis holidays had never happened and Tokyo's version of Christmas were all I knew?

2002
Jan Packin' It In Peace, quiet and a full-size water heater might be just around the corner in the next apartment of the serial mover
Feb Art Dog #40: The Eclectic Mobster Exiled St. Louisan Chris King takes any chance he can get to make like "The Sopranos" at his favorite restaurant — a Vietnamese sandwich shop in South City
Mar Out Here Author, professor and St. Louis native Susan Perabo polls her students on their knowledge of St. Louis. What she finds surprises her, to say the least.
Apr Pedestrian Times The celebrated author and Zen Buddhist remembers St. Louis through the soles of her feet
May St. Louis by the Bay Marwan Kanafani found more than music in San Francisco; he found his fellow musicians from back home
Jun Home, Sweet Place-of-Current-Residence A hasty move to Washington, D.C., leaves a St Louis transplant searching for a house, a job and fingerling potatoes
Jul St. Louis in the Rearview The Gateway City was just a short stop for Joy White, a lark, a place to regroup. So how come now she's homesick for a place that was never home?
Aug St. Louis Can Really Hang You Up the Most The sights, sounds, and jazz-and-vodka times of Gaslight Square, as vivid today as 40 years ago for one cool chick who was there for its heyday
Sep The Dial Stays Left For Fred McKissack Jr., St. Louis memories come via the public airwaves
Oct Eastern Exposure St. Louis snapshots from the memory of a China-based photographer
Nov Leaving "You Guys" for "Y'all" and Back... After years of back-and-forth between Texas and the Lou, this frequent expatriate has repatriated...and hopes she'll meet Nelly
Dec Good News, Bad News Rock star Kristeen Young became a St. Louisan, paradoxically, after she left St. Louis and the Midwest

2001
Jan You Can Take the Girl Out of St. Louis ... Reflections on life in the big city, from two who went away
Feb St. Louis, September 1993 Robert Powers looks back on St. Louis from California
Mar Understanding the Desire to Speak Poet Mary Jo Bang roams the world for what she needs, and returns to St. Louis to find it
Apr Familiarity, Comfort and Contempt On the fantastic dysfunction of Florida and longings for an unpretentious town
May Brushes with Fame Mulling over tales of a gay-themed St. Louis wrestling party
Jun Somewhere Over the Rainbow A once-reluctant St. Louisan copes with the parched earth and omnipresent slots of Reno, Nevada
Jul Spike's St. Louis Acclaimed author Spike Gillespie looks back on the beer bashes, prophetic dreams and lost loves of the Gateway City
Aug Big in Japan Getting by in pidgin, explaining America and bringing home the lessons learned
Sep Toxi-City: Has St. Louis Really Changed? Police harassment and racial hatred keep one former St. Louisan at arm's length in Houston
Oct Makes Me Wanna Holler St. Louis digs its own hole by refusing to validate the experiences of so many of its young people
Nov A St. Louis Thing Star jazz trumpeter Jeremy Davenport still carries with him the most valuable life lesson he ever learned in University City
Dec Back from the Front Range Heading back from the mountains means less traffic, less spandex and fewer chances for a good Mexican meal

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