The International Reaction to Obama

June Trinos ’09.5 in Alexandria, Egypt : Moments before the first call to prayer, news reached every television on Obama’s victory in this year’s presidential election. Everyone, Americans and Egyptians alike, are celebrating. Posters of Obama and with the word “change” can be found on campus. “We all wanted Obama as America’s next president. To Egyptians, he represents a new hope for America and for us in the Middle East as well, especially with the current economic crisis. All we want is peace. You cannot solve problems with force and war. We are very happy right now with this news,” said Doctor Saiid from the Faculty of Arts.

Rebecca Chin ’10 in Hangzhou, China : Already today I’ve gotten a couple of “America has a new President” from some of the Chinese students here. Sometimes it was phrased as a comment, sometimes a question. My roommate came back to our room and brought up Obama. She asked if I was happy about this and I said I was. She said, “But he is a black person.” I replied, “But that’s no problem! He is a good person.” This was me trying to casually brush aside the notion of bringing up his race as a possible negative. We could have let it go there, but I wanted to hear what she thought about Obama. So I inquired, “Do you think that is a problem?” She quickly responded no. I figured she wasn’t trying to offend Obama, or his race. She said, “Americans might consider a black president is a problem.” I told her that the majority of the country voted for Obama. She repeated the word “majority” as if she was trying to wrap her brain around that idea, and the subject ended there. I don’t want you to think that my roommate is a bad person, or racist person. It’s just a new concept for her, and probably most the people here. When it comes to race and China, you have to keep in mind that here, everyone is Chinese. There are minority groups in China that have a slight different appearance than most people, but walking on the streets of China is nothing like walking the streets of NYC. Even Midd has a more diverse group of racial backgrounds than China. So the idea of other races is a strange thing for Chinese people. Here, us Americans are the minorities. I have a lot of white friends here who are realizing what it’s like to be the minority. And the Chinese people stare at us not to be rude (although it can get annoying at times), but because we might be the first non-Chinese person they have ever since in their whole life. So to wrap her brain around the idea that have hundreds of years of white presidents, and all of a sudden America has a black man running the country (and in essence the world) was something my roommate needed to consider.

Tori Bommarito ’10 in Hyderabad, India : The sentiment here in Hyderabad is so positive for President elect Obama, among students and professors on campus, including international students from Norway, Sweden and Yemen (among those I”ve talked to.) They are hoping for change and latch on to Obama’s speeches as much as we do. McCain still had the ring of the Bush administration on him, and on the issues that really matter over here–Obama’s diplomatic promises–they all see him as a possibility for a better relationship with the U.S.  On the economy, actually, not as thrilled as you might expect–a few comments from Obama about cutting off the job outsourcing from the States is really the only criticism going around.  Especially here in Hyderabad, the IT outsourcing companies are such a huge economic draw, that I think without them people are nervous that the India’s economy won’t continue to grow like it has.  Really though, the outsourcing concerns are a more minor concern among everyone just happily holding on to see what Obama can really do once he gets in office. Funny thing, actually, they had their STUDENT elections at University of Hyderabad here yesterday too, out of pure coincidence…to be quite honest I think they were really more concerned about who got elected to the university government at dinner tonight than they were about Obama.  Elections on campus are huge, they cancel classes, and even though the administration here barely listens to student concerns there is a ton of drama surrounding the whole business.  People get really polarized about the campus politics, like they do about most politics in India.

Emily Gullickson ’10 in Florence, Italy : In Italy today (November 5), for the first time in weeks, the national news headlines were not about the economic crisis in Europe or the recent drastic reductions in public education spending: they were all about Barack Obama and the bright future for America. Despite Prime Minister Berlusconi’s reported friendship with John McCain, Italy has for months been in the category of countries that were hoping America would elect Barack Obama to be the next president. Thus, such favorable news did not come as a surprise to those of us from Middlebury studying in Florence. What did come as a surprise, however, was that today it was cool to be an American. On the bus in the morning, instead of ignoring the small group of Americans, everyone had questions and everyone wanted to extend their congratulations. At the University, other students who have until now been strangers stopped us in the halls so they could share in the celebrations and ask to be Facebook friends. Professors in several subjects dedicated large portions of their lectures to applauding America and to presenting their own analysis of what happens next. Even Berlusconi offered his congratulations to Obama, a formality unheard of in Italian politics. In other words, Italians had a very profound interest in the outcome of these elections, demonstrating to us all just how much of an impact America’s decisions have on people in other countries.

Hallie Gammon ’10 in Poitiers, France : The reaction I’ve witnessed in Poitiers to the election results has been one of (mostly quiet) satisfaction, but has ranged from the girl in my literature class who asked me if I’d been partying the night before, and when I responded “no, but I am really happy,” looked blank for a moment before it clicked: “oh, right, the election was yesterday! So Obama won?” to the taxi driver who, having determined I was American, immediately exclaimed “ouais ouais ouais! Obama!” My host family has been noncommittal – when I came running down the stairs yesterday morning and announced excitedly to my host mother (who is of American origin) “Obama!” she looked faintly bemused before remarking that it had been an interesting election and she was glad it was over. The college-age daughter of my host family, when pressed, admitted she was glad Obama had won: “Actually, it’s mostly because he’s black – now people can’t point at Americans and say ‘Look how racist they are, they’ll never elect a black man.’” The most surprising thing for me has been the number of disappointed Americans I’ve run into – there’s been rejoicing in the Middlebury crowd with few exceptions, but I met several students from Oregon who said “we preferred McCain, but at least it’s over.” One way or another, relief seems to be the reigning sentiment.

Sage Engberg ’10 in Madrid, Spain : On election night, a few American students expressed feelings of intense homesickness, wishing they could’ve shared the Obama victory with friends and family at home. Not me. I feel so incredibly privileged to have witnessed this from Madrid. Anti-American sentiment runs strong in Spain, particularly among the younger generation who’ve grown up knowing only Bush-America. I teach English at a local high school, and it is often difficult to know how to respond to students who have grown so disgusted with the Bush administration that they’ve become turned-off to the country altogether. It’s hard not to become cynical about the ability of one person to rectify deep-seated misconceptions. But somehow, amid tears, hugs, and recurring choruses of “sí, se puede”, along with Spaniards willing to wait two and a half hours on a cold Tuesday night just to be able to stay up till 7 am watching a map slowly reveal what my host mother termed, “a confirmation of the American dream”, I began to grasp the international significance of Obama’s election. It is one thing to read about his significance abroad, but it is unforgettable to experience it firsthand. It really is incredible to be an American abroad right now.