Politics

As you might guess, my mother has been the source of quite a bit of political information over the years. For that, thanks Mom! However, it's just a little bit harder to get that from her when I'm half a world away- although I did appreciate the reminder to watch the DNC on Youtube.

So, for the first time, I'm turning to non-familial sources to keep me up to date in the world of politics. Luckily, the JETs have been absolutely fabulous at filling the gap. I heard from two different (and fairly knowledgeable) sources about Palin within a day of her being posited as a possible VP candidate. And have had several people around me get into really interesting discussions about the reasoning behind her choice. It seems that people who want to live in another country long enough to really get to know it tend to also be people who really want to know about their own. It's really nice, as apathy is something I find incredibly hard to deal with.

A couple of other observations: there is a city named Obama here. They have invited Obama to visit. I kind of want their t-shirts (which I imagine are something like- "Visit Obama-shi, a Presidential caliber town," but with quite a bit more Engrish in there).

When we asked my adult conversation class about US politics last night, they said US presidents look like "nice guy." This term has come to mean pretty much everything: in this case, I think it means "he would be fun to drink a beer with." It can also mean "he's hot," "what an awesome person," "I think he looks strong," and "do you like this guy?" It's very interesting when you're trying to decide what they mean when they're commenting on your pictures.

We mentioned that US presidential elections involve about two years of lead-up these days. They were shocked- the Prime Minister here just resigned, and they'll have a new one within two weeks. Considering their love of ceremony, I'm kind of surprised.