The U.S. Election from Abroad

One of my favorite experiences here so far was the chance to see the U.S. election from abroad. I will admit that it's a strange feeling to see how caught up people from all over the world get about the election of the next president of our country- it makes me feel very privileged to be an American and even more conscientious to ensure that I made an informed vote. Thankfully, in this modern age, it is relatively easy to watch the debates in their entirety and follow the rest of the campaign online. I was excited about the election, if solely because at 20, it was my first time voting! I was relieved that my absentee ballot arrived in time for me to have a voice!

As I am sure that everyone is already aware, Obama was by far the most popular candidate in Europe, in part for the sole reason that he isn't from the same party as President Bush and in part because his views more closely match the more socialist-leaning European mindset. I was interested in the way that the European media portrays the U.S. election, and was reading Le Monde, a left-leaning French newspaper that the university library subscribes to, on a daily basis to get a better idea of their perspective and improve my French at the same time! "So McCain, or Obama?" was probably the question most frequently posed by foreign friends and people who I met in my first few months here when they learned that I was American. It was very interesting to discuss the platforms of the two candidates with friends just to see what they knew and it was fun to discover what stereotypes persist. Almost everyone I've met associates Texas with President Bush and the Republican party, so they are usually surprised to find out that it's not as homogeneous as that and that not all elected officials in Texas are necessarily Republicans. It was fun to show them a map of the presidential election by counties in the U.S. that owe thanks to my dad for sharing with me, just to give them a better idea of the existent political diversity. You can paste this link in your browser if you would like to see it!: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/election/uscounties.html

Last night, I had the opportunity to share my perspective on the election at the LISEL dinner that I attend almost every Friday night. Just to give you the background, LISEL, an non-profit organization that I recently learned is supported by the Catholic Church, exists to help students with almost everything imaginable- from housing, to organizing outings, to finding service opportunities in the community, to giving students a context in which we can get together and share our respective cultures. There are about 40 students that participate in the dinners on Friday nights from all over, Luxembourgish students and many foreign students included. Each Friday, someone volunteers to cook a dish from their home country to share with the group and we discuss a topic- among which have been conflict in the world or the experience of being an immigrant in a European country- or someone shares a presentation of their culture and home country. I'm very grateful to participate- I will be making a traditional U.S. Thanksgiving Dinner next Friday (which will be fun to share and maybe make me a little less homesick during the holidays!) and giving a presentation on Texas the following Friday. After our discussion about the election last night, during which I was able to share a contrasting viewpoint on some of Obama's policies, I was tasked with explaining the electoral college system (which is very little understood here and the philosophy of which I myself need to refresh my knowledge a bit) during my presentation on the 28th. I'm excited to get to share! I will be sure to take and post some pictures of both events, so look for them later this month!

Thanks for reading! 'Til next time!

Take care,
Erica