During his 2008 run for the presidency, Republicans painted John F. Kerry as a stiff, out-of-touch, elitist who seemed – Mon Dieu! – more European than American.

It was unfair criticism, of course. But that’s the nature of politics in the United States.

Now, our new Secretary of State, is making his first trip abroad as the nation’s No. 1 diplomat – and, so far, he’s showing a much more approachable side of his nature than he did on the campaign trail.

On Tuesday during a town hall meeting with students in Berlin, Kerry told of his boyhood adventures during the 1950s when his father was a foreign service officer in the divided city. One day, he told the students, he rode his bicycle over to East Berlin just to take a look around.

“I saw the difference between east and the west,” he said. “I saw people wearing darker clothing; there were fewer people in the street, there were fewer cars...”

When he returned home, however, his father was not impressed, warning that the young Kerry could have caused an international incident.

“So I lost my passport, and I was grounded,” he said. “And I never made another trip like that.”

Kerry, who spoke a few phrases in German, tackled serious topics as well – ranging from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a proposal for a trade agreement between the U.S. and the European Union.

But it was his personal candor and enjoyment at the give-and-take with the students that was, perhaps, most illuminating to the young people at the town hall session, German leaders and folks back in the U.S. who read about the meeting.

He told an admirer of a tie that he purchased it on the Internet, and that she could too. He said if he had to do it again, he’d major in comparative religion and comparative literature and he ended his talk asking if he could come back soon.

As Kerry continues his nine-day trip to Europe and the Mideast, we think the former Bay State senator is getting off to a good start in a job he seems born to have.