Well, I’m officially 2 for 2 on being abroad during Presidential Elections in the USA that I can participate in, as well as being 2 for 2 on somehow making an appearance in the local news where I am living at the time.
Back in 2008, when President Barack Obama was elected as President for the first term, I was living and studying in Karlstad, Sweden. There, the local television news program contacted the University I was studying at to interview Americans about who they voted for and how the presidential election would affect Värmland, the region surrounding Karlstad. It made for a pretty epic YouTube video, which I posted about back in 2008.
Four years later, and I am living, working, and studying in Almaty, a much larger city than Karlstad. I wasn’t interviewed by any local news outfits this time, but instead I was invited by the US Consulate to a live viewing of the election results at the 5-Star Dostyk Hotel. A photographer from Forbes.kz snapped that shot of me giving a hi-five to Gloria, who was mentioned in my last post about Amangeldi Peak as “Bill’s bubbly wife.” (Yes, the hi-five was in regards to the announcement of the President being officially re-elected). Bill was also there, and my friend/Fulbright Scholar Ryan, who appears with me in another photo in the original post on Forbes.kz. Being on the front page of Forbes Kazakhstan is almost as cool as explaining to the local people of Värmland why I voted for Obama. Almost.
I was so surprised and pleased to see the way our world reacted to our Presidential election.. their support for Pres. Obama is quite evident and loved reading all the posts, tweets, news stories etc.
Makes our world seem smaller and more caring of one another!!!