American in Paris

As everyone in the world knows, we now have President Barack Obama. It's a refreshing and exciting experience to be an American in Paris right now.

At breakfast this morning we were greeted by Pierre, a worker in the hotel who loves St. Olaf students, wearing an Obama t-shirt. Although I find him slightly creepy, I appreciate his generosity and his odd sense of humor. As a loyal Democrat, I also was wearing my own wicked awesome Obama shirt I bought for the election last November. Pierre was ecstatic to see it, saying "Ma belle fille!" Later we took a picture with Pierre, decked out in Obama gear, to capture this solidarity between us Americans and the Frenchman.

Pierre's excitement for Obama is not exceptional in France. Obamamania is just as crazy in Europe as it is in the US. Walking down the streets in Paris, one can see posters and journals plastered with Obama's face. When presenting news stories in class, someone has always shared one about Obama. So it should not be surprising that one of the 3 French public TV stations was airing the live inauguration. As we gathered together to share this monumental moment in American history, we listened to the French commentators on TF1 talk about the event. We saw important French figures wave to the TV screen, including Miss France who demonstrated that she is indeed more intelligent than Miss South Carolina by quoting (in English!) "Yes we can!"

As the "serment" began, we were first entranced by the commentator who quickly translated the Americans' words to a beautiful French. It was also fun watching the subtitles appear on the bottom of the screen during the oaths. However, when Obama began to speak, we all groaned when that same commentator began to turn the President's words into French. It was not because we couldn't understand it, because we very well could, but we wanted to hear Obama. We wanted to hear his assuring and eloquent voice. We wanted to hear the beautiful speech that is supposed to enlighten the spirits of broken Americans and assure us that the time has finally come for change. We wanted to hear our new 44th President.

Despite Obama's audacious voice being smothered by the words of the French commentator, there was a certain romanticism of watching Obama on a TV screen in a hotel in Paris. As cars, motos, and sirens pass by on the street outside, our tiny group of students from a small Lutheran college in Minnesota were able to share a common pride of being American.

Later, visiting a crêpe stand for an evening snack, the man serving us took part in our celebration. "Go Ohbama! Jorge Booosh iz ov-eur!"