The election speech was a bit anti-climactic, but in a good way. On Tuesday we had a little in-class party to celebrate the Muslim holiday (it was called Bayrim in Turkey, but has a few different names) that happened during our fall break. When we have a party in German class it means people bring food and we eat it. I had my brought my always-popular chocolate chip cookies. My teacher, Holger, took a bite and asked it there was marzipan in them. It was so ridiculous I was not offended.
As we ate cake and chips and drank Ibrahim's home made cherry wine, Holger asked me to talk about the elections. I did my best first-grade summary, avoided discussing the electoral college, and generally made sense. The other students in my class like to say things like, "yay, Obama," even though I am pretty sure they don't know anything about him. They don't need to either, but if Polish and Middle Eastern immigrants to Germany could vote in U.S. elections, it would be a landslide.
Non-Americans also have no qualms about asking who you voted for. In the U.S. it's a semi-private issue for anyone who does not slap a bumper sticker on their car. It's like asking whether you dye your hair or how you got that big scar on your face. Most people I have met here just come right out and ask.
My American friend Serena was recently stopped for buying the wrong kind of ticket on the tram. The security guy whose job it is to be mean and bust people without tickets asked her, once he figured out where she was from, "Romney or Obama?". She said "Obama," which must have been the right answer, because he let her go without a fine. If she'd said "Romney," it might have cost her forty euros. Or maybe he was just messing with her.
It's not my first presidential election abroad. I was in Chile in 2000 during Bush - Gore recount. That was more difficult to explain, though I could express myself a lot better in Spanish than I can now in German.
Maybe during the elections here next year, I will ask all the Germans I know who they will be voting for. That's what they deserve for thinking I'd put marzipan in chocolate chip cookies.
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About Me
- Julia
- Thanks for coming to my blog. It started as a way to keep in touch with family and friends, and now has become an ongoing project. I'm an American living in Germany and trying to travel whenever I can. I write about my experiences as an expatriate (the interesting ones and the embarrassing ones), and about my travels. There are some recurring characters in this blog, particularly my husband Brian and several of our friends. The title comes from the idea that living in a foreign country means making a lot of mistakes. So the things you used to do easily you now have to try over and over again. Hopefully, like me, you can laugh at how idiotic it feels. If you have happened upon my blog, then welcome. Knowing that people are reading what I write makes me keep going. Feel free to write comments or suggestions for future posts.
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