Oh happy day! While I decided against attending the Munich Inaugural Ball, I definitely felt the need to celebrate yesterday. So I threw a little party of my own, and soaked up the inauguration with some American and European friends. Obama’s swearing-in was at 6:00 pm our time, perfect for some champagne prosecco toasting.
We also enjoyed some American-themed foods, such as this patriotic cake made by Heza. Had I had access to an American party-supply store, I might have had fun going over the top with the decoration; as it was we made do with American flag napkins and toothpicks, and some patriotic balloons.
The party is over but my heart is still filled with joy at the direction my country is taking. As an American abroad, today I feel I can hold my head a little bit higher.
Congratulations and felicitations. And hey, no need to let your head hang low, ever.
The TV networks did a beautiful job – even the conservative FOX network managed to keep their comments down. I watched the ceremony on the tube and then listened to the speech on NPR. NPR did a fabulous job post-speech by reviewing folks – the Tuskegee airmen, a teacher who had been there for MLK 44 yrs ago….Then NPR turned it over to the BBC who did a “world” interview – so thrilling to hear such excitement…
Here’s an email from a coworker and friend of ours I got this morning:
Na, wie habt Ihr gestern die Amtseinführung erlebt? Hier war irgendwie Festtagsstimmung angesagt… Irgendwie strange… Aber schön… Obama ist in Deutschland mittlerweile bekannter, als unser eingener Bundespräsident *lach* Die Welt rückt ein Stück zusammen, oder?
and my humble translation: So, how did the inauguration go? There was a festive mood around here… Kinda weird… but nice… Along the way, Obama has become more well-known than our own Bundespräsident *laff* The world is coming together, isn’t it?
That’s nice, but I know there are some people right here in Missouri (a red state in the election!) who are not happy about the new guy. I suspect strongly that some of the people we’re visiting voted for the other guy; fortunately, political discussions still haven’t come up at all. Sarah’s immediate family (mostly) knows better than to broach such subjects with us. I’m keeping my eyes and ears open though.
Those photos are awesome, I should have had a party like that!
Thanks, Rooi. 🙂
Deborah – I wish I could have seen all those different feeds! CNN got old after a while. I did enjoy watching a little of the German coverage, though (but they didn’t show it all day like CNN did).
Cliff – good luck surviving the red state.
Florida Girl – thanks. I don’t usually throw America-themed parties, but this one was a blast. 🙂
Anon – oops! Sorry for deleting. It looked like a spam comment. Link to cool inauguration photos:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/01/the_inauguration_of_president.html
Congratulations – I for one am jealous: talk to your countrymen, see if you can send a little bit of that “mature leadership” mojo north. And I agree with Rooi – there was no need to have kept your head down before – your country’s always been greater than its leadership.
Amusingly, Obama fever’s caught on here in a big way – I’ve seen “Yes you can” (in English!) used a slogan to encourage municipal voter registration, and to sell sneakers.
Mark – Patience, now… we’re still new at this ‘mature’ thing, so the mojo might take a while to start flowing…
And I love that France is using that slogan! How funny.
It looks like it was quite the party!