I'm glad this made it to the rec list. I'm always fascinated by oversea perspectives on our election, and I always enjoy the more personal nonpolicy posts. I'm amazed that there'd be pictures of Obama posted on walls in Rotterdam, in the same way I've been tickled by foreign friends asking for t-shirts (bootleg only of course, since official campaign gear would be illegal unless I was buying ... and I can't buy that many).

Particularly with the Netherlands -- Obama's pretty conservative when compared to the PvdA/SP, etc., so I don't know what the draw to him is exactly, but it seems like it's far more personal to people than just a new, friendlier face to lead America. In any case, it's a welcome sentiment and hopefully the Obama administration lives up to not just our country's hopes but those of yours as well.

Dear S,

A kus for your beautiful thoughts.

My good friend Arjo lives in Rotterdam. She's a musician (a great guitarist, and one of my favorite singers on the planet). A few years ago, I convinced her to bring her band to America to play a few shows. I helped them get some gigs here (Seattle, Chicago, LA, Minneapolis, New York City), so they got a chance to travel all over America and really see the country. None of them had been to America before. A while later, she came back and stayed with my wife and I for a week or so. I remember talking with her one afternoon about her views of our country. First of all, she was amazed at the size of the place. So am I. America is unbelievably huge. Nothing compared to Russia, of course, but really big. And with its size comes amazing cultural diversity. Sometimes I think the "United" part of the U.S.A. is wrong. We're like 50 small countries in many ways. She was also shocked by how much unused space we have. One afternoon, we had a picnic in a park in Portland, and she said, "This park is so empty! If this was Holland, it would be completely filled with people." Sometimes, as Americans, we forget how rich we are. She also said that she was shocked by the racism. I explained to her that we have a racist past and that we're slowly moving away from it, step-by-step. It's a shameful part of our history, but we're about to put it behind us, I think. And isn't it amazing that a country with so much racism in its past could possibly be one of the first developed countries in the world to elect a black president? So we'll see what happens, but I'm hopeful. And I think President Barack Obama will change the world in some ways that we can't yet see. Racism is an ugly, ugly thing. But we know in our hearts that he is about to take us in a new direction. Even in Holland, you can feel it, can't you? Everywhere. On the day George W. Bush leaves office, I'll be dancing in the street here in America. I think maybe a few people will dance in Holland too. :)

Vriendelijke groeten,
The cat with rabbit ears

Thank you for your thoughtful post.
Since we do have that color situation
that places certain castes lower or
higher, it will be most encouraging
if Obama's election does help lift
those who've suffered for nothing
more than their skin tint.
Isn't that so absurd, my tint is better
than your tint?
If I were there in Holland with you,
my pale white self would be
your best friend. I like variety.
Stay strong.

Thanks for a beautifully written post. Anytime you might get discouraged during your stay in The Netherlands might I suggest you take a day trip to Amsterdam and visit the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum with your ipod. All of the colors there are as beautiful as those upon the palette of humanity. Good luck and thanks again.

What a lovely post! And wonderful views. Best of luck in your education -- nothing is more important than education.

And the clear-eyed and just respect for Barak and Michelle Obama. It is really impressive, the impact they are having around the world. It is as thrilling as if I were 20 again! -- it really does mean that much, for the better, for the US.

Groetjes!

Het is echt mooi de mening van iemand in Nederland te lezen. Bedankt!

(Greetings!

It's really nice to read the opinion of someone in the Netherlands. Thanks!)

I am happy you took the time to write your beautiful post

Thank you for all your wonderful comments!!

Right after I turned 17 I spent 6 months in Holland, in The Hague. What a wonderful country. That was back in the early 60's. My sister and I biked everywhere. I picked up some Dutch. It totally changed my perspective. And I learned that the notion "the US is the greatest country" was a fiction. Lots of countries were "great" and "free."

I went to college in DC during the civil rights years. And there were many opportunities for different races and ages to get together and discuss what we assumed to be the coming UNITY in our country. I walked past the coffin of JFK. I remember the deaths of leaders - shot.

Now, we're beginning again. Again, at a terrible moment in our history and in the world.

But it's good to reach a hand across the miles and the ocean. And shake yours in Holland. A land that I love. Just like I love this one I live in.

The world is smaller every day. Due to the web. And it's a beautiful thing to feel a citizen of the world along with others who post here.

Thanks for this beautiful post. Make everything you can of yourself. And do what you can to help our world. We'll do the same here on our side of the Atlantic.

Peace.

Ah...the wonderful "coffee shops"......, the water taxi and Hotel New York, and the most wonderful restaurant Lux, the so-awfully-bad-its-good club NightTown, the great Pathe Cine, the Bridge Erasmus, I love Rotterdam!!

Dear SHOLLAND,

I have been to your country. I have bathed upon your beaches, enjoyed your cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and lived gloriously for a month in Den Haag.

So as a sort of kindred spirit, let me just say this:

The majority of us are very, very, very sorry for the way our country has acted for the past 8 years. We were drunk or something, and we said and did stupid things. We apologize.

A vast majority of us are, in 4 weeks, going to do something to start to clean up our mess. We are going to elect Obama, and we are going to fix it.

We don't know what the hell we were thinking. But we apologize.

Yours,

LarsThorwald