Stephanie Faul lives in Washington, D.C., where she works in public relations as a ‘talking head’. Growing up in the nation’s capital has given her a unique perspective on the foibles and quirks of her compatriots and has confirmed her belief in Bismarck’s remark that laws are like sausages: it’s better not to see them being made.

Ms Faul is a typical product of American hybrid vigour: half Czech immigrant, half Connecticut Yankee, with a German-speaking grandmother and a Canadian cousin. Her xenophobic perceptions were heightened by an education in a French primary school, a Swiss boarding school, and college summers spent drinking beer in English pubs. At home she enjoys African music, Vietnamese food, Italian footwear, Siamese cats, and English novels.

In many ways she feels typically American - curious, inventive, outspoken and practical - but her atypical attributes include a distaste for shopping and television, and a marked preference for walking instead of driving which in her neighbourhood is usually faster anyway. Her ambition is to visit all 50 U.S. states. She has only a dozen left to go, but at a walking pace this could take a while.