Spring Break
Politics endure in Europe
Elizabeth Miller
Issue date: 2/24/06 Section: OpEd Page
Perhaps it was a mistake to bring my College Republicans campaign shirt to Europe. You know the one I'm talking about, the one with the gigantic "W '04" plastered across the back. I'd wager that half of the campus still has one lingering in the bottom of their closet from the last election. And if you don't have one, don't lie, you probably want one. Sporting the elephant shirt at Miami was almost as cool as an overpriced, overly tight, pink Lacoste shirt. Almost.
I was spoiled with Miami's uncommon amount of political conservatives. Just finding a handful of Republicans on a college campus can be a lost cause, let alone somewhere in the ballpark of half our student body. But apparently in the real world (and by the real world, I mean my temporary European home), supporting any aspect of Bush sends me straight to the corner with a dunce cap reading "ignorant American." Needless to say, Europeans generally aren't too fond of American politics - or my CR shirt. Perhaps I shouldn't have gotten so comfortable on campus with my PDC (Public Displays of Conservatism) and not to mention, dare I say it, my support for Bush.
I've learned the hard way that American students in Europe should avoid political conversations with the vigor of avoiding the bird flu. Although, considering the flu has broken out in most of the countries surrounding me here in Luxembourg, both avoidances are looking like futile efforts.
But this isn't about my leaning right or leaning left. Political views aside, here in Europe I am simply an American. As Europeans see me, I am not Democrat or Republican, Independent or Green. I am American.
It would take two hands to count the number of times that I've been approached by random Europeans asking what I think about the Iraq war, the elections, the drinking age. They've asked why "we Americans" are so power hungry, why "we Americans" have to abuse our strength, why "we Americans" see democracy as the only form of government. And without fail, the "B" word makes a cameo appearance.
Bush, of course.
I visited Munich three weeks ago, not realizing they were holding the UN Security Council Conference. I watched incredulously as hoards of rioters flooded streets with banners speaking out against Americans. Hundreds of chanting voices denounced my country, my military, my homeland. I stood speechless on the sidelines of the protest, my "W '04" shirt layered under my coat.
Though not for one second was I ashamed of my country. At that moment, it didn't matter who I voted for in the last election or which of my country's foreign policies I actually agreed with. Bottom line, it's my country. The Miami students of Luxembourg have wide ranges of political views - views that would normally put us on opposite sides of Cook Field during Mega Fair. Here in Europe, however, we're all Americans.
Perhaps I won't send home my shirt quite yet.
I was spoiled with Miami's uncommon amount of political conservatives. Just finding a handful of Republicans on a college campus can be a lost cause, let alone somewhere in the ballpark of half our student body. But apparently in the real world (and by the real world, I mean my temporary European home), supporting any aspect of Bush sends me straight to the corner with a dunce cap reading "ignorant American." Needless to say, Europeans generally aren't too fond of American politics - or my CR shirt. Perhaps I shouldn't have gotten so comfortable on campus with my PDC (Public Displays of Conservatism) and not to mention, dare I say it, my support for Bush.
I've learned the hard way that American students in Europe should avoid political conversations with the vigor of avoiding the bird flu. Although, considering the flu has broken out in most of the countries surrounding me here in Luxembourg, both avoidances are looking like futile efforts.
But this isn't about my leaning right or leaning left. Political views aside, here in Europe I am simply an American. As Europeans see me, I am not Democrat or Republican, Independent or Green. I am American.
It would take two hands to count the number of times that I've been approached by random Europeans asking what I think about the Iraq war, the elections, the drinking age. They've asked why "we Americans" are so power hungry, why "we Americans" have to abuse our strength, why "we Americans" see democracy as the only form of government. And without fail, the "B" word makes a cameo appearance.
Bush, of course.
I visited Munich three weeks ago, not realizing they were holding the UN Security Council Conference. I watched incredulously as hoards of rioters flooded streets with banners speaking out against Americans. Hundreds of chanting voices denounced my country, my military, my homeland. I stood speechless on the sidelines of the protest, my "W '04" shirt layered under my coat.
Though not for one second was I ashamed of my country. At that moment, it didn't matter who I voted for in the last election or which of my country's foreign policies I actually agreed with. Bottom line, it's my country. The Miami students of Luxembourg have wide ranges of political views - views that would normally put us on opposite sides of Cook Field during Mega Fair. Here in Europe, however, we're all Americans.
Perhaps I won't send home my shirt quite yet.
