I was wondering if you had a sense of what the Europeans felt yesterday. If you have any personal feedback from other countries outside Europe, do share.
We received three calls from Europe (friends) sharing in the excitement and wishing us well. One friend said her brother in Cologne told her that there was fireworks by some individuals and much partying in the night.
It's so nice to know that others out there shared our joy :-)
Eli
And I disagree with both of you! My vote goes to Moeder Babelutte. They have shops in Brussels, Bruge and Blankenberge. Now if you want a real smack-down, we can talk about Europe's best beer... wait, how did this thread start?
Ok Tom, that's pretty good too...but my first Galler experience was about 3 hours after I got off the plane to spend 6 months in Belgium when I was in university...and I got Galler chocolate at the Grand Place and just marvelled at the whole thing. So I'm a tad biased.
As for the beer, I vote Bellevue Kriek. With Jupiler second.
Here's a great visual, front pages of newspapers from all around the globe:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/20/194255/457/705/686781
It appears that Hope is spreading around the world.
My father-in-law in Belgium was a bit more circumspect. With the rocky economies both here and in Europe, he thought the concert on the Lincoln Memorial was a bit presumptive. He remarked that in Brussels, where a new prime minister was recently appointed, it would be more appropriate to celebrate AFTER the banking crisis ended.
I totally agree with you TOM! Aren't we in a recession? Isn't our economy in ruins? not to mention that the global economy is not too hot either, but was it neccessary to have 10 inagural balls? Who paid for that? If Obama is really going to work on global warming, why didn't he suggest making his new cadillac limousines hybrid? I thought the inaguration was great, but a little too over the top when our country is suffering so much. Not to mention that after the address, the dow went down more. ( I was hoping it would go up!)
C'mon, Americans love to go over the top when celebrating...The only real difference between this inauguration and previous ones was the amount of people who showed up for it.
The inaugural balls are privately funded. Many charge admission.
The Dow went down mostly because the Royal Bank of Scotland announced the worst loses in history of any British company and the British government has to respond with a bailout. There were fears the banking community would continue to collapse. (Good news by IBM has lifted the Dow today.)
Obama is working towards a complete hybrid fleet for the White House by the end of the year....unfortunately, the Secret Service hasn't been able to find a hybrid vehicle strong enough to protect the President. It's in the works. (The Presidential limo is a custom made vehicle from the ground up and is more like an armored personnel carrier disguised as a car.)
If you remember, Jimmy Carter tried to do away with all of this and be seen as an "average guy." The American people don't want that. They want to look up to a leader--someone they see as strong and powerful. Not the guy next door.
"I totally agree with you TOM!" Well, my Belgian father-in-law said it, not me. I try to limit my opinions on this website to things like "Who makes the best chocolate in Belgium?"
My feeling is that yesterday was a wonderful day for this country, and I was super happy all day. I even forgot my own woes for a day, how cool was that?
And from what I heard, wasn't the cost covered by donations?
As for Tom's question "Who makes the best chocolate in Belgium?"
The answer, clearly, is Galler :)
Oh, the best chocolate is in a little store up in Ostende, called Sweeties. Love it, love it, love it. We go there every year.
Back to the original question. My parents in Finland watched the Inauguration and even my dad thought that Obama gave a very good speech. My mom is in love with Obama. They are very happy with the new President.
They had a really hard time having me here in the States during the last few years. Their attitude towards the US had soured a lot during the Bush years. I hate to tell you, but I heard a lot of comments about the Americans being really dumb to vote for him twice.
Here in Italy the feeling was very upbeat, everyone was talking about it and I had many colleagues tell me congratulations. The whole event was shown live on TV and was practically the only story on the evening news, the only downside is that the Italians seem be little jealous that they don't have a leader they could get this excited over. They are hopeful and want Obama to succeed. We had a party at my house, with lots of prosecco and American flags and cheering--it was a great day.
the mood was jubilant in Austria and the consensus was that the inauguration festivities were wonderful, a celebration for and by the American people instead of the usual pomp and circumstance.
Celebrations such as these are important, ESPECIALLY in tough times!
http://www.austriantimes.at/index.php?id=10698
Very interesting to read about the various responses in Europe. Glad you all shared and got the idea of the thread. I'm sure Rick wouldn't object :-)
Eli, very good thread you started here, and Frank, I really think your answer was great!
I said on another thread how very excited they were for us when I was in Milan right after the election. That trip was the most fun because of Obama, and hearing their feelings about him, it was all positive!
There were several different parties here in Frankfurt and the mood here is definitely jubilant. You can check out the photos from the party at the English Theatre here on the American Consulate website. I forgot my camera so don't have photos from the party at the Communication Museum, but we did have a good time and it was fun to celebrate with a crowd.
http://frankfurt.usconsulate.gov/
Jo, thanks for the link!
I read today that in Brazil, they're making "candy" Obama faces. In Russia, they are selling those stackable dolls (forgot the name) of Obama with Bush below, LOL
Interesting how the world took part. And of course, I think this makes for interesting travels this year. We met so many people in the airports in Europe who wanted to chat about our incoming President.
"In Russia, they are selling those stackable dolls (forgot the name) of Obama with Bush below, LOL." They've been selling variations on that theme for years. My favorite had Hillary on the outside, then Monica Lewinsky, then a few other women, with an embarassed looking Bill Clinton finally in the center.
Are you sure you don't mean Osama Bin Laden stacking dolls? When I in Russia a couple years most every souvenir shop was sadly selling them. I just returned from Harbin, China (near the Russian border), and they are still being made. Didn't notice any Obama dolls.
I saw the Obama, not Osama stackables on amazon.com! $48!!
We have been living in Germany since October and have noticed the big smiles on everyones faces when Obama won the election. Some of my husbands students from Pakastan brought some bubbly to celebrate. The Inauguration was viewed live here with everyone cheering and excited to have a new president in America. Several of the professors at the unversity praised his speech. It is very strange to be living so far away during this time. We do get our CNN/BBC/CNBC coverage and the internet but it is not like being there. When we return in April, our goal is to follow Obamas lead and start working together as a nation. Oh, by the way, really like the German beer and some of their chocolate isn't bad either.
It's now Sunday and President Obama is still on the front page of many UK newspapers. His election is very, very popular here.
I personally thought his speech was excellent. He 'told it like it is', a sombre spreech for sombre times.
I was just reading an article in the Web based Helsingin Sanomat the biggest Finnish newspaper, and it was very interesting to read the blogs responding to an article about Obama giving states the ability to tougher standards for cars and emmissions. When I compare to the tone of people responding to news about Bush and frankly America the last few years, it was like night and day. Everyone was just giddy and I saw remarks like "I wish we had someone here like Obama. We need someone like him that gets things done". The love and adoration was amazing.
Joanne, you're so lucky to be in Germany. Enjoy it, because once you're back home, you will probably miss being over there.
I did mean Obama dolls and see that someone found them on Amazon.
Maggie, we had many pub conversations in Abingdon/Oxford when we were there in December. Everyone wanted to know how we felt about our new President and the last eight years.
The point I was making about the nesting dolls, is that the Russians will make dolls about anyone they think they can make money off of. You can also buy George W. Bush dolls, Joseph Stalin dolls, and Harry Potter dolls; thus it's not surprising an Obama dolls would be manufactured
