Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

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It was really interesting to be an American abroad during the election. Here in France (and in other places in Europe that I traveled) politics is an open and friendly discussion, which caught me off guard. In America it is rude to ask a person you literally just met who they are voting for, why, and then have a discussion with them about their choice (especially if you are against it!). In America we seem to leave politics to ourselves for fear of offending others and getting into a big, uncomfortable debate (especially when religious views come into play). We only talk about politics occasionally with family and friends that we know it is ok to talk about it with, and, often times, someone you agree with politically (which the French see as pointless). But here people are very blunt and discuss politics often and expect you to as well.

I’ve had random French people in bars, my host mom and her friends, professors at school, a guard at the National Art Museum in Dublin (who informed me , quite proudly, that Obama's grandparents were Irish, so therefore he is Irish too!), the Jameson Distillery tour guide in Dublin, Dutch people I met in a bar, French police officers, and many many more people ask me/comment on the elections. And it almost goes without saying which candidate they favored: Obama. A lot of times when they learned that I was American they would just say “Obama?”, not as in “which candidate are you thinking of voting for?”, but just as an affirmation that I was going to vote for Obama simply because that is what they wanted to hear. And I did vote for Obama, so I always had pleasant conversations with people. I should have said McCain one time just to see their reaction as a cultural experiment haha. See if they would be polite and say ‘oh well that is your choice’ or try to fight me on it. A lot of times people would just yell “Obama!” randomly too. Some cars here had Obama 08 bumper stickers and some stores had signs in their windows.

It was really crazy that people here were so involved and invested in the politics of another country, when the majority of Americans couldn’t even tell you the name of the current President of France. I do understand that because of our nature to invade other countries and get in everyone else’s business that our political head does affect more people than just our citizens; that everyone in the world watches us and many more people are affected by what we do than we are by them. So it really does make sense that people would be interested in the election. Not to mention (as I talk about in another entry) it really is true that American culture is everywhere and is followed by Europeans even though many of them don’t like to admit it. Politics is undoubtedly a part of our culture. And then add on top of that the possibility of a black man becoming the President for the first time, and you have the whole world watching!
Some European people actually told me that they were jealous of me because I could vote in the election and, as I perceived, at that moment I became cooler for being American (when often you are less cool/less well-regarded to some Europeans). It makes it kind of sad then, when you think about all of the Americans who DON’T vote. We have very little asked of us as American citizens, and voting is not just a right, but a civic responsibility. A representative democracy only works if people become involved and vote for people to represent them! But so many Americans are apathetic for so many different reasons. I think I met a lot of Europeans who cared more about the election and realized how big the election was than a lot of my friends back home! People in Europe know all about Bush, where he’s from, his policies (and, obviously, his less popular ones), etc.

When Obama won my host mom yelled at the tv “GOOD! NOW GO PACK UP YOUR HORSE AND GO BACK TO YOUR FARM!!” (in French, of course). I almost died laughing at that!!! Europeans were soo happy! I believe I read in a newspaper here that they took polls of French people (I don’t know where or how) and 70%!s(MISSING)aid that they would vote for Obama if they had the chance. That is an overwhelming majority, especially when you are talking about politics. France has many different parties and they really range from the most liberal to the most absurd conservative (there is a party here that refuses to acknowledge homosexuality, hates all immigrants, and their leader, le Pen, believes the Holocaust never happened! That is an example of French ‘extreme droite’ politics).

I went to a campaign watch the night before in the top floor of a bar as an outing organized by my school. We didn’t have any results so we were just watching different news coverage of the election in general (most of which was focused on Obama, of course...there was no Fox News!). It was more just for the cultural identity of being American and doing something together about the election that night. It fostered some political conversations and some just friendly, not political conversations, but it was nice to at least do something that night. And then the next morning I woke up and checked the front page of CNN.com asap and was very pleased!

It was really weird to be abroad during that time. I already knew who I was going to vote for and had done so earlier by absentee ballot so it was all done for me on my end. All I had to do was wait. And waiting gives you time to reflect and watch yourself. So I wasn’t as involved in the typical “American experience” around election time of watching all the debates and reading up on all the new coverage. I had the unique opportunity to stand back and watch America as it all unfolded with the rest of the world. I, obviously, am still American and people asked me lots of questions and things, but I watched French news and read French papers and heard French perspectives. It was looking at myself (or a similar copy of myself; my culture and my society) through the glass of the interrogation room. I don’t think Americans really have any concept how much we are watched by the rest of the world. They knew what was going on in the elections in real time and had strong opinions on it. It gave me the chance to reflect on how our people, our media, and our other politicians react to elections. I was able to have some distance and watch you guys with half a mind as being an American and half a mind as being a foreigner. It was a weird experience because I didn’t really fit in either place (I wasn’t home but I’m not foreign either) but it was really cool at the same time!

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