"Face to face one cannot see the face" (Segei Yesenin). I was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia. While growing up I believed that Russia is the greatest country in the world: the strongest, the bravest, the fairest, the greatest and the freest. When I came to the United States I realized that things seemed somewhat smaller from a distance. For the past three summers I traveled to Russia, France, Greece, Egypt and Italy to interview American citizens who live there. To their neighbors, they are Americans "across the street," not across the ocean. I invite my interviewees and my audience to reflect on the importance of distance in one's understanding of homeland.

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