America...

I voted. :] 

I know I'm not very patriotic, but I do care who's representing the states. Right now, America looks ridiculous to the international community because George W. Bush is ridiculous. No one over here likes him, and you'd be surprised how many people know about american politics in Europe. To be honest, I think europeans are often more informed about what's going on in America than americans are. That's probably because of the way the american media contrasts from international medias.

To realise how prevalent America is in today's society, just visit BBC News and look at all the section pages. America is typically in some sort of story on every single continent. Is that a good thing? I don't know. The fact that most people don't look as fondly on America as they used to should say something. The age of imperialism is over, yet there's America, meddling about, trying to build an empire of capitalism. 

Anyways, it's about time someone with some sense in his head was running the country. Hilary Clinton scares me and comes off as the typical manipulative, power-hungry female. Yes, it's about time America had a female president - but not her. It's also about time America had someone in the White House who doesn't fall under the standard white male protestant formula. Do I think Obama can really change the government? No. Not really. I think too much has gone wrong for one simple election to fix. But I think he's a step in the right direction. And at least the guy can give an intelligent speech. I don't think we need another leader who can't pronounce 'nuclear', especially if he's going to make references to such weapons on a frequent basis. 

Fact is, most people don't like the US government right now. Spend a week in Europe and you'll realise that America is not necessarily the greatest country in the world. Other countries do have freedoms, have democracy, have Starbucks and McDonalds. There are just as many opportunities in other western societies. It says something when the american dollar isn't worth as much as it used to be. Being an American might get you more from this world than being from a lot of other countries, but it doesn't have the prestige it once did. 

The other day I overheard a girl talking to someone, trying to figure out how the american currency works. I stopped to explain pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters - as well as the fact that in America, we don't have near as many coins as the UK does. She expressed to me that she wants to go to New York City. That's one of the few places people in this country have heard about. 

I visited the local library and checked out their travel books on America to see where people liked to go: Florida, Hawai'i, New York City, Chicago, Washington D.C. and the west coast. "Is there anything in the middle of the country?" ... and I remember that drive through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois...  "No. Mostly corn fields." ... "Where exactly is Ohio?" ... "Somewhere in between New York City and Chicago." 

I listened to an english guy try to explain the concept of the 18th Amendment to my American Literature class today. He didn't know the word "Prohibition", let alone the concept of it. "The 18th Amendment, which was like... when there was no alcohol." It was almost as good as the lecture about how "Pioneers had a hard life. They lived in sod houses." It's quaint, really, knowing that if you spent several months travelling across this country in a wagon, you'd end up in the ocean. So much for the Oregon Trail: let's see your oxen try to ford that Mid-Atlantic Ridge.