By Brian Barkley 

Clermont-Ferrand, France

I am glad the election is over. Now we can stop talking
about it.

 However, it’s not like I really ever had a conversation with
the French about the election. That would have required an exchange of
observations or opinions, and the French just don’t really care about anybody
else’s ideas.

 The French acknowledge that their culture is full of
hypocrisy and double-standards. So while it’s taboo to ask someone who they
voted for and nobody offers their political sentiments (interesting fact: 0% of
the French population voted for Sarkozy, the current president!), these taboos
don’t stretch to the American elections. I have been asked whether or not I
will vote for Obama by nearly half of the French adults I have met.

 The word “asked” gives a wrong impression. I think
it is better to give an example of how a normal conversation went,
pre-election:

 Frenchman: “Oh! I can tell you are American because you
wear colors other than black. How strange of you. Who will you vote for in the
election?”

American: “Well, I really like Obama, but I don’t think
McCain is all that bad eit-”

F: “You should vote for Obama. He is better.”

A: “I think so, too, but I want to let you know that if
Obama loses, McCain is also a very strong candidate. He is not Bush’s puppet;
in fact, he has quite a remarkab-”

F: “You will ruin the world more than you already have
unless you vote for that Black.”

 80% of French people asked said they would vote for Obama.
The photo comes from an article called “Obamania is stronger in France
than in the USA.” I blame the French media bias. As it turns out, the
reason why they had 24/7 coverage of Obama is because they have more freedom to
talk about American politics than French politics. There is a controversy as to whether a TV personality was recently asked to step down by the government for being too negative towards the Sarkozy administration.

 So while the French criticize us for openly displaying our
political thoughts on our T-shirts, they then turn around and demand just that
from us. And although they make snide comments when we celebrate a Bush or a
Obama or a McCain, they have champagne parties in the teacher’s lounge at 9am
on the 5th of November. A French friend of mine, when recently asked why these
things happen answered, “It’s easier to criticize others.”

Photo credit: Le Figaro

By S. Guz

Germany

Germany continues to be ridiculous, and also wonderful.
Every time I see another person going about their daily business in
lederhosen I think what a better country America would be if we had a
similarly awesome traditional costume to unite us.

Things that have happened since we last spoke are various and many, but the highlights include:

1. A trip to Prague! Highlights of this highlight include:

 a. A withered human hand hanging on the wall of a church, a warning to
potential thieves. Legend has it that a thief tried to steal the jewels
off of a statue of the Virgin Mary, and the statue grabbed his hand and
didn’t let go until it was cut off (because the church wouldn’t deface
a statue, cutting off the thief’s arm was the only logical response.)

 b. The Church of the Infant Baby Jesus. An entire church dedicated to
a 42cm wax statue of baby J that they dress every day. He has a ton of
extravagant clothes given to him by dignitaries from around the world.

c. Norwegian business men with funny names, like Gier and Ketel
(pronounced like the common household items (bike)gear and kettle,
respectively)

d. Prague’s oldest pizzeria, surprisingly, plays lots of Weird Al music.

2. Jenny Lewis concert. No one knows who she is here! I was 3ft away.
It was a great concert, and I have forgiven her for her many wrongs
(most notably, Rilo Kiley’s most recent album, and the last time I saw
them perform.) (Next week I’m going to see Daniel Johnston at the same
place- it’s this tiny little dive bar down a sketchy alley in a random
neighborhood in Cologne.)

3. Lots of castles. I’ve noticed that tourists continually to be
(understandably) the most fascinated by the bathroom facilities in
castles.

4. I’m taking an American Contemporary Novel course, and I’m sure many
of you will be pleased hear that we are reading Extremely Loud and
Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. It was actually really
difficult to discuss September 11th in class, but interesting to hear
about it from a German perspective.

5. I’ve begun an internship at UNIFEM, the UN’s development fund for
women. The scary part is that if I were to apply for an internship
there, I wouldn’t get it because they normally only accept people in
graduate degree womens studies programs, but someone at the Bonn
University International Office made a couple calls…

It’s an amazing experience, and fascinating to see the inner workings of the UN!

6. I’ve discovered something very important, and that is which wines I
am particularly fond of. If, in the distant future, I invite you to a
dinner party, please bring a white reisling or pinot. I encourage you
to save this email so that you can refer to it at a later date.

I hope that everyone’s November is pleasant and fulfilling in that crisp fall kind of way!

Love and pretzels from Deutschland