MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8. 2004
NEWS
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ABROAD: Students share international opinions
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
The emotion I encounter most is disbelief and incredulity, mingled with disgust.
— Shannon Sanderson, Olathe senior
Costa Rica
It is easy to see from the elections that America is divided. But here, abroad it is pretty much a union of people who do not support Bush. It is an odd miss being abroad where every day you wake up and step outside you are a representation of your country. Everyday people are summing you up to the only part of America they usually know, the commercial materialist part of America, that has breached the borders of Costa Rica.
There was a great deal of interest in America and the election in the first month I lived here, but now that it is over, the questions about and scrutiny of America seems to have subsided a bit.
Natalie Spiess, Overland Park senior
University of Hamburg in Northern Germany
Most people I talked with, whether they were from Germany or Romania or Slovenia, didn't seem to think Kerry would do anything different than Bush in regards to Iraq or world affairs. One bar that was hosting an election night party had pictures of Bush and Kerry beneath window paintings of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, though I can't remember who was who.
Lucas Wetzel, Westwood first-year graduate student
Dortmund. Germanv
The people in Europe tend to be very politically aware; they pay attention to what goes on in the world, they keep up with their local news, and they consider it their duty as citizens to vote whenever they have the opportunity to do so. There was a local election recently, and literally ever German student I know voted. They can't fathom the idea of not voting. So they didn't really believe me when I said a lot of people didn't support Bush; they thought, if Americans really don't believe in his ideals, he wouldn't be in office. I'm embarrassed to have to explain the level of apathy some Americans have concerning their own nation, and therefore their vote.
Although there is a definite anti-Bush sentiment here, which will probably turn into an anti-American sentiment seeing as we how we voted him back into power, there have been no strong or violent reactions, just a kind of general disappointment in the United States that I have come to share.
Kimberly Warnken, Rochester,
Minn., senior
Dortmund, Germany
One week before the election, I was talking with a friend from the Czech Republic about the English class in which she is enrolled. I begged her to tell me about what the class was learning. She mentioned articles: a, an, the. I asked her to say something in English, anything. Very quietly, and with hesitation, she said, "Mr. Bush is an idiot." Her English teacher had been teaching the class such statements. I assured my friend I voted against Bush. She thanked me and told me how scared she is, how scared everyone is.
Jill Allen, St. Louis senior
Middlesex University, London
Obirin University, Tokyo, Japan
My history professor actually told me that our elections get more coverage than any other election, even theirs. I am not for sure if this is correct but the election propaganda is everywhere. As soon as people realize that you are American they want to know who you voted for, and then they want to talk politics for hours. The overall opinion here is that Bush is not a good guy. There was a huge party in my dorm the night of the election. Everyone tried to stay up and watch the states votes come in and when it looked bad for Kerry the mood got a little hostile. There really hasn't been any backlash that I have experienced. There is disappointment here that President Bush was re-elected, and everyone wants to know what we think about it, but for the most part they are nice while they rally against our country's leader.
I guess the immediate problem I've had after the election has been that its suddenly a lot harder to be an American here. No one gives me trouble or bullies me, its just that they innocently ask me some questions which are really hard to answer. The anti-Bush sentiment is very strong here. A lot of people tell me how he throws his weight around the world without paying heed to what friends and allies of the U.S. have to say about it. And he seems to shoot first and then ask questions later.
I guess if I were to describe the mood here after the election in one word it would be: "disbelief." Which goes for the Japanese and the other exchange students as well. The Japanese constantly took to me for some kind of explanation about Bush's election, as though I know some secret, some kind of shocking good that he's done in the last four years, and the other Americans who know of our state's politics ask me in the same way why Kansas always goes Republican, for both of them I can only answer that I personally don't know. Maybe someone in America can tell you, but they aren't here.
— Amanda Marnell, Wichita junior
— Bobby Del Greco, Shawnee junior
Nanjing, China
It is very common for Chinese people to directly come out and ask you about our government. Some of the questions I have been asked: "Why do many Americans support Bush?" "Is the reason Bush was re-elected into office because Americans didn't want to change presidents in the middle of a war?" "Why do Americans think they should get involved in other peoples' wars?" "Why did the American government think that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when they really didn't?" "What do you think the next step in the war on terror will be?" One thing
that takes getting use to is being expected to be able to answer all these questions. The Chinese expect you to have all the answers to their questions and that you should answer them.
The U.S. elections have been the top story in Dutch newspapers and television channels. My university here even had an election night event with a panel of political scientists, American food — hot dogs and popcorn — and the live CNN broadcast. About 80 people showed up, no more than 10 were Americans.
— Megan True, Overland Park junior
Europeans really do take an interest in U.S. politics, and it seems like several of them even know more about the candidates than the average American. One of my Dutch friends said the elections are such a big deal because the American president is the "most powerful man in the world." I have traveled a lot through the Netherlands, and I have never met a Dutch person that preferred Bush. And I don't think the anti-Bush mentality stops at the border. I have friends from over a dozen European countries here and no one has admitted to preferring Bush. Last weekend, while I was in Belgium I saw many signs for a "Fuck Bush" party.
Many people have asked me:
"How can more than half of Americans be so stupid?" A lot of people ask me why anyone would ever support Bush.
Universiteit Measricht, Measricht,
Netherlands
The news on television and the newspapers does not display the same negative reaction that the Spanish people are expressing. Many of my friends that I have from Spain view the election as a sign of the end of the world, as if this means President Bush will start a World War III. I try to tell people not to over react, but many Spaniards can't help but take the re-election of President Bush personally. One of my Spanish professors told me that she thought the whole world should have been able to vote in the elections since the outcome affects the entire world.
Granada, Spain
— Dan Peters, St. Paul, Minn., junior
— Katy Humpert, Winfield junior
In all my conversations about Bush with Europeans, not one of them has told me how the election in the U.S. will affect them personally. This makes me wonder, "Why do these people care so much?" It is just about all of Europe that hates Bush, not just Spain. I traveled around Western Europe this summer, and in Rome, I specifically remember seeing anti-Bush propaganda tagged on buildings.
Right away, my experience in Europe became centered around political issues. Even outside of the classroom, where we spend some time on current politics, conversations tend to revolve around the U.S.government.
Paris and Florence, Italy
— Greg Nylander, Clarendon Hills, Ill.
On three occasions I have
been stopped on the subway or questioned in a restaurant. "Are you American?" "Do you support Bush?)" or "Who'll get your vote?" Twice I have simply been lectured about how important the U.S. is to the world and how although our government is "stupid" the European Union relies on us heavily.
In the days after the election, I have been surprised about how little commotion there has been. Besides vendors selling peace flags and the average "FUCK AMERICA" graffiti freshly painted on buildings the tone here is pretty calm and indifferent.
For the Australians I spoke with, they saw the election to be Bush, the established and effective incumbent, versus Kerry, a no-namer with little experience. They were surprised to find out that Kerry actually had a longer political history and that he had any chance of competing with Bush. Apparently this stems from the positive relationship John Howard, recent re-elect, has with Bush. Australia depends heavily on the U.S. for economic reasons. Basically they didn't really care about the election, but they seemed to be content with Bush and unsure about Kerry. Oh, and the biggest surprise to them was that we had the "choice" to vote while they had to, or pay a healthy fine.
Bob Bruce, Leawood senior
-Kathryn Anderson, Omaha, Neh. junior
James Cook University, Townsville,
Australia
James Cook University, Cairns Australia
People here were really interested in the election, some more than a lot of the Americans here. One of my Aussie friends described John Howard, their recently re-elected prime minister, as "George Bush's ass-baby." Whatever Bush does, Howard will follow and pretty much every student and professor strongly dislikes Howard's conservatism. We were all, Aussies and Americans alike, pretty bummed about the situation. As for Bush, most people I've talked to around here feel that he's making America and its followers enemies to so many other countries.
University of Wollongong,
Wollongong, Australia
Among the students here in Wollongong, both American and Australian, there was overwhelming support for Kerry and a strong desire to get Bush out of office. I think in a way that this skewed my belief in how the election would turn out, because I'm constantly surrounded by liberal students (of which I am definitely a part). When Fahrenheit 9/11 was released here everyone was excited to see it. What surprised me though with both the Australian and American elections was that there seemed to be a hidden base that really came out to support the conservative candidates — both Bush and Australia's re-elected Prime Minister John Howard. It seems that both countries are very polarized between the winners and the opposition.
— Victoria Downey, Merriam senior
— Edited by Ashley Bechard
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