Day of unity, and absentee voting

Today is a holiday in Germany. It's "Tag der Deutschen Einheit" or otherwise called the Day of German Unity. It commemorates the day in 1990 when East and West Germany were reunited.

(Right now a cheesy duet song is playing in my head - reunited and it feels so good, reunited cause we understood...
I don't think it's about German unity but it would have been cool if Helmut Kohl sang it karaoke style back in 1990).

So I am living in a city that's around 700 years old, which is in a country that's officially only 22 years old, at least in its present form. There is an official celebration showcasing different regions of Germany that moves to a new city every year. This year it's in Munich - with Oktoberfest going on, it won't be the only celebration happening in Munich. In Hannover, however, just the shops and schools and offices are closed. If you're interested, check out this link to the official government info on what the Day of Unity is all about.

Most of the holidays in Germany are Christian holidays, so today is as close to official patriotism as we get. There is very little flag waving though, unless you are at a soccer game (then it would be ok to paint your face, or even your whole body and your hair in black, red and yellow). Nationalism and flag-waving didn't work out too well for the Germans during World War 2 so they stay away from it.

I plan to exercise my own patriotism today by voting. To register as absentee, we filled out some forms with our most recent U.S. address and wrote in a drivers' license number, then mailed off the paperwork to Ramsey County.  Then the ballots just come to use in the mail.

My absentee ballot gives me choices for President, Senate, and Representative. I don't get to vote on the Marriage Amendment or Voter ID Amendment referendums because there are no state or local referendums listed on my ballot. So I'll fill in my bubbles and seal a series of envelopes, grateful that have not been exposed to any sort of campaign TV commercials. Then I'll stick a German stamp on it and throw it in the mail. Maybe I should make myself a red "I voted" sticker to feel more official.

How many people are doing this between now and November 6th? Somewhere between 70,000 and 90,000 Minnesotans voted from abroad in 2010. There are about 5 million American expats of voting age living out in the world, but how many of them will get the votes in? Who knows. Maybe if the government mailed those little red stickers out when they got the ballots back, voter turnout would be higher.

Our other plan to celebrate German unity today is to go out to a loosely organized gathering at our friends' kleingarten to grill sausages and drink beer. I think that's as patriotic a German celebration as you can have. I will just have that "reunited" song caught in my head all day long.