There were nine articles in my newspaper today about the American presidential election. FOUR full page spreads. Two of which were color, one of which was the front page.
Check it out:
http://www.recklinghaeuser-zeitung.de/8771.php
NINE Articles!! And almost the whole evening yesterday there were special tv programs about the american election.
In every radio news-break in all of the stations I found yesterday the first headline was always the same: Obama wins US election.
And the whole time that I've been here I've been hearing news about the election. I always knew when there was a debate or when there had been a debate: it was on the radio or tv news.
Information and being informed is pretty important here. My host family knew the results before I did because I didn't think to look on television. I thought I needed to get on the computer and check online, and then I came downstairs, and they all knew already!
If you are in Germany right now and don't know that Obama won, you must be living in a hole.
Emma
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5 comments:
This election was extremely different from those in the past, Emma. 90% of the world's nations were hoping Obama got in office. That statistic is from a survey given to all of the leaders of a nation.
In Washington State, 85% of the people came out to vote! To give perspective, in the past 10 presidential elections (all the ones I've voted in) less than 40% of the citizens took the time to vote.
This was the first time in my memory where there was a campaign with a clear difference between the candidates; where the use of mud-slinging was so one-sided (not completely, but noticably); where there was a clear possibility of the vice president becoming the pres before 4 years were up; where someone as clearly unfit as Palin actually could have made office. (Yes, Bush is fit for office. He's a lousy fit, but he can do the job more or less)
Did you know that Barack wasn't the first black to run for the presidence? The other one would have won, but he had been elected by popular aclaim and it turned out he didn't meet the age limit for the office. I watched that phenomena on TV. It was freeky!
Emma, what an exciting time for you watching first hand how Germany, let alone the rest of Europe, views our political system. I wore my Obama tee-shirt all day Tuesday (I took the day off of work), and then wore the tee-shirt to bed just to cinch the deal. People are in a honeymoon period right now with Obama's election. I hope it lasts...
Love you,
Linda
Here is a good one for your German friends:
Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are http://www.theonion.com/content/node/89632?utm_source=embedded_video
For those of who don't speak German and want to read the Recklinghausen newspaper that Emma referenced, I suggest going here:
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.recklinghaeuser-zeitung.de%2F8771.php&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=de&tl=en
Which is the same web site, only translated in to English by Google. The syntax is "wierd" because it is translated by machine, but you can get the gist. Ain't Technology grand?
You can translate any web site if you want to. Just go here:
http://translate.google.com/translate_t?hl=en#
Then you paste the link, select the language you want, and then hit enter.
Es ist magisch
Dad.
The main site where I hang out is still arguing over Obama vs McCain. This is going to be an enlightening 4 years! It's the first time we've had an all Democratic govmt. Now we'll see if the party is worth beans.
I noticed the comment about thinking German and it reminded me of the moment I first noticed I was thinking in French and translating into English! It's such a tickle when it happens.
I'm still fighting narcolepsy. That last paragraph was done in two parts with a 20 minute nap inbetweenQ LOL.
Take care.
Aunt Sue
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