it's cool to be an american abroad again

[maladroit]

Suddenly, it may be cool to be an American again abroad
Published: Wednesday, November 5, 2008 | 3:15 PM ET
Canadian Press: William J. Kole, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

VIENNA, Austria - She was a stranger, and she kissed me. Just for being an American.

It happened on the bus on my way to work Wednesday morning, a few hours after compatriots clamouring for change swept Barack Obama to his historic victory. I was on the phone, and the 20-something Austrian woman seated in front of me overheard me speaking English.

Without a word, she turned, pecked me on the cheek and stepped off at the next stop.

Nothing was said, but the message was clear: Today, we are all Americans.

For longtime U.S. expatriates like me - someone far more accustomed to being targeted over unpopular policies, for having my very Americanness publicly assailed - it feels like an extraordinary turnabout.

Like a long journey over a very bumpy road has abruptly come to an end.

And it's not just me.

An American colleague in Egypt says several people came up to her on the streets of Cairo and said: "America, hooray!" Others, including strangers, expressed congratulations with a smile and a hand over their hearts.

Another colleague, in Amman, says Jordanians stopped her on the street and that several women described how they wept with joy.

When you're an American abroad, you can quickly become a whipping post. Regardless of your political affiliation, if you happen to be living and working overseas at a time when the United States has antagonized much of the world, you get a lot of grief.

You can find yourself pressed to be some kind of apologist for Washington. And you can wind up feeling ashamed and alone.

I'll never forget a ride in a taxi in Vienna when the world was waking up to the abuses wrought by U.S. troops at the detention centre for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

My driver, a Muslim, was indignant. "You are American, yes?" he asked in that accusatory tone so familiar to many expats.

"Uh, no, Canadian," I said.

And it wasn't the first time I fudged where I was from. I speak three foreign languages, so I have a bit of flexibility when it comes to faking. At various times, I've been a German in Serbia, a Frenchman in Turkey, a Dutchman in Austria.

I'm not proud of it. But when you're far from home, and you're feeling cornered, you develop what you come to believe are survival skills.

Last spring, after the Bush administration recognized Kosovo's independence, a Serb who overheard my American-accented English lobbed a beer can at me in central Vienna. He missed, but spat out an unflattering "Amerikanac" and told me where to go.

On another occasion, an Austrian who heard my teenage daughter chatting with a friend pursued her, screaming, "Go Home!"

Physical attacks on Americans overseas are rare. Yet some of us felt vaguely at risk.

Maybe it was just the hostility we'd encounter even in friendly venues such as cocktail parties, when our foreign hosts would surround us and demand to know why U.S. troops were roughing up inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. Or refusing to sign the UN Convention Against Torture. Or rejecting the Kyoto accord on climate change.

Maybe it was the State Department, which issues regular travel advisories urging Americans to keep a low profile even in tranquil Austria.

My children came of age in Europe, and in a hostile post-9-11 world we had to teach them to avoid being too conspicuously American. Don't speak English loudly on the subway. Don't wear baseball caps and tennis shoes. Don't single yourselves out, guys, and even worldly wise Americans can unwittingly become targets.

We didn't overdo it, but there's always been that tension. That difficult-to-describe sense of vulnerability. That nagging instinct that maybe we'd better watch it, because our government is intensely unpopular and we're not entirely welcome.

I know Americans who at times have felt that way even in laid-back Vienna, where the greatest danger is probably eating a bad pastry.

That's what made Wednesday's unsolicited kiss so remarkable.

I don't want to read too much into an innocent smooch, but it didn't feel particularly pro-Obama, even though the new U.S. president-elect enjoys broad support here. No, it seemed to impart two sentiments I haven't felt for a long time: friendship and admiration.

Obama captured it in his acceptance speech - this sense that despite holding America's feet to the fire, the rest of the world is rooting for it and wants it to lead and succeed.

"Our destiny is shared," he said, "and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand."

Overnight, Americans did something their harshest critics in Europe have yet to do: elect a person of colour as head of state and commander in chief. That gives U.S. citizens some bragging rights, even if a lot of us would just as soon eschew hubris and embrace humility.

I'm a marathon runner, and I have a red, white and blue singlet that I've seldom dared to wear on the Continent. Marathons are difficult enough without enduring catcalls and jeers from spectators.

But my best friend and training partner - who is French - just gave me his stamp of approval.

"Will you wear your Stars and Stripes shirt now? You're allowed!" he told me.

-

EDITOR'S NOTE - William J. Kole, AP's Vienna bureau chief, has covered European affairs since 1995.

[dragonrider]

Suddenly, it may be cool to be an American again abroad
Published: Wednesday, November 5, 2008 | 3:15 PM ET
Canadian Press: William J. Kole, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

VIENNA, Austria - She was a stranger, and she kissed me. Just for being an American.

It happened on the bus on my way to work Wednesday morning, a few hours after compatriots clamouring for change swept Barack Obama to his historic victory. I was on the phone, and the 20-something Austrian woman seated in front of me overheard me speaking English.

Without a word, she turned, pecked me on the cheek and stepped off at the next stop.

Nothing was said, but the message was clear: Today, we are all Americans.

For longtime U.S. expatriates like me - someone far more accustomed to being targeted over unpopular policies, for having my very Americanness publicly assailed - it feels like an extraordinary turnabout.

Like a long journey over a very bumpy road has abruptly come to an end.

And it's not just me.

An American colleague in Egypt says several people came up to her on the streets of Cairo and said: "America, hooray!" Others, including strangers, expressed congratulations with a smile and a hand over their hearts.

Another colleague, in Amman, says Jordanians stopped her on the street and that several women described how they wept with joy.

When you're an American abroad, you can quickly become a whipping post. Regardless of your political affiliation, if you happen to be living and working overseas at a time when the United States has antagonized much of the world, you get a lot of grief.

You can find yourself pressed to be some kind of apologist for Washington. And you can wind up feeling ashamed and alone.

I'll never forget a ride in a taxi in Vienna when the world was waking up to the abuses wrought by U.S. troops at the detention centre for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

My driver, a Muslim, was indignant. "You are American, yes?" he asked in that accusatory tone so familiar to many expats.

"Uh, no, Canadian," I said.

And it wasn't the first time I fudged where I was from. I speak three foreign languages, so I have a bit of flexibility when it comes to faking. At various times, I've been a German in Serbia, a Frenchman in Turkey, a Dutchman in Austria.

I'm not proud of it. But when you're far from home, and you're feeling cornered, you develop what you come to believe are survival skills.

Last spring, after the Bush administration recognized Kosovo's independence, a Serb who overheard my American-accented English lobbed a beer can at me in central Vienna. He missed, but spat out an unflattering "Amerikanac" and told me where to go.

On another occasion, an Austrian who heard my teenage daughter chatting with a friend pursued her, screaming, "Go Home!"

Physical attacks on Americans overseas are rare. Yet some of us felt vaguely at risk.

Maybe it was just the hostility we'd encounter even in friendly venues such as cocktail parties, when our foreign hosts would surround us and demand to know why U.S. troops were roughing up inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. Or refusing to sign the UN Convention Against Torture. Or rejecting the Kyoto accord on climate change.

Maybe it was the State Department, which issues regular travel advisories urging Americans to keep a low profile even in tranquil Austria.

My children came of age in Europe, and in a hostile post-9-11 world we had to teach them to avoid being too conspicuously American. Don't speak English loudly on the subway. Don't wear baseball caps and tennis shoes. Don't single yourselves out, guys, and even worldly wise Americans can unwittingly become targets.

We didn't overdo it, but there's always been that tension. That difficult-to-describe sense of vulnerability. That nagging instinct that maybe we'd better watch it, because our government is intensely unpopular and we're not entirely welcome.

I know Americans who at times have felt that way even in laid-back Vienna, where the greatest danger is probably eating a bad pastry.

That's what made Wednesday's unsolicited kiss so remarkable.

I don't want to read too much into an innocent smooch, but it didn't feel particularly pro-Obama, even though the new U.S. president-elect enjoys broad support here. No, it seemed to impart two sentiments I haven't felt for a long time: friendship and admiration.

Obama captured it in his acceptance speech - this sense that despite holding America's feet to the fire, the rest of the world is rooting for it and wants it to lead and succeed.

"Our destiny is shared," he said, "and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand."

Overnight, Americans did something their harshest critics in Europe have yet to do: elect a person of colour as head of state and commander in chief. That gives U.S. citizens some bragging rights, even if a lot of us would just as soon eschew hubris and embrace humility.

I'm a marathon runner, and I have a red, white and blue singlet that I've seldom dared to wear on the Continent. Marathons are difficult enough without enduring catcalls and jeers from spectators.

But my best friend and training partner - who is French - just gave me his stamp of approval.

"Will you wear your Stars and Stripes shirt now? You're allowed!" he told me.

-

EDITOR'S NOTE - William J. Kole, AP's Vienna bureau chief, has covered European affairs since 1995.


Are they buying drinks for us now? Where is my passport!

[Esoteric416]

I really hope Obama lives up to his promises because if he doesn't just imagine how bitter the rest of the world is going to be about it.

That article was nice, heartwarming even, and it shows how America really could be the greatest country in the world. Imagine being greeted all over the world the way American troops were greeted when they rolled into France and forced the Nazis out.
Our country seems to have strayed so far from that greatness, and I for one would like to feel that sense of national pride that I once had when I was just a nieve schoolkid.

Heres hoping Obama can help us get back some of the American soul that we have sold away. :)

[Gatekeeper777]

Suddenly, it may be cool to be an American again abroad
Published: Wednesday, November 5, 2008 | 3:15 PM ET
Canadian Press: William J. Kole, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

VIENNA, Austria - She was a stranger, and she kissed me. Just for being an American.

It happened on the bus on my way to work Wednesday morning, a few hours after compatriots clamouring for change swept Barack Obama to his historic victory. I was on the phone, and the 20-something Austrian woman seated in front of me overheard me speaking English.

Without a word, she turned, pecked me on the cheek and stepped off at the next stop.


EDITOR'S NOTE - William J. Kole, AP's Vienna bureau chief, has covered European affairs since 1995.


He should have followed her he could have had a better memory then a kiss. lol

[RedLocks]

He should have followed her he could have had a better memory then a kiss. lol
hah.. This is my stop!

good article by the way

[daihashi]

Hrm.. I go overseas regularly and I never got any hostile confrontations or felt people were judging me. Quite the contrary, I always made friends and would have drinks bought for me. People would always ask me a lot of questions about America.

When people say the rest of the world hates us... well I just don't see it. My trips tell me otherwise.

Interesting article none the less.

[Reefer Rogue]

It's no suprise over hear why people hate and laugh at George W

China's still cool you pay later, later!

Finally people abroad don't see an idiot running the free world.

[maladroit]

"I really hope Obama lives up to his promises because if he doesn't just imagine how bitter the rest of the world is going to be about it."

- the rest of the world reached the zenith of it's bitterness against the usa a long time ago...i marched in the multi-million man protest against the invasion of iraq back in feb/03...the rally in my city was peaceful, but very graphic in it's condemnation of george bush, and american foreign policy in general...it must have been a shock for american tourists to see their domestically popular president, and foreign policy characterized as criminal...for months after the rally, american tourists found anti-bush, anti-usa literature left on their car windsheilds...even among polite society, it was acknowledged that george bush had turned the usa into a sick joke

obama changed all that overnight, and he's not even in the white house yet...as far as the rest of the world is concerned, obama cannot fail to deliver on his promises...obama will immediately close the concentration camp in cuba, disband it's kangaroo court, and re-criminalize torture...that alone will make a big difference to america's reputation abroad...obama will extricate the usa from iraq and close the concentration camp there, but that will take more time...obama will restore the primacy of diplomacy to US foreign policy...those are basic policies of almost every civilized country so it won't be that difficult to accomplish, but it will mean soooooooo much to the rest of the world

if obama accomplishes anything beyond that, it's a bonus for americans, but it won't mean as much to the rest of the world...we want america to be the best it can be, but we don't expect obama to cure everything that ails the country...it's great if he improves access to health care, but that isn't something the rest of the world worries about...it's great if he rebuilds the middle class and restores fairness to the tax system, but the rest of the world doesn't lose sleep over that...the rest of the world does worry about the national debt and trade deficit though, but we're not going to hold it against obama or the usa if he can't solve a multi-trillion dollar problem in one administration

[maladroit]

After years of Bush, Arabs see hope in Obama
Published: Friday, November 7, 2008 | 6:11 AM ET
Canadian Press: Lee Keath And Hadeel Al-Shalchi , THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CAIRO, Egypt - An Arab news network blared U.S. election coverage in a Cairo hair salon, and the barbers and beauticians watched the images of Barack Obama's victory in amazement. Then it cut to scenes from the latest Israeli-Palestinian violence and the funeral of Gaza fighters.

"Look, do you see that? That will end! It will get better!" blurted Ayman al-Sawi, caught up in the Obama enthusiasm.

Others in the shop sneered. All American presidents are the same: Pro-Israel, one man said. But al-Sawi stood his ground.

"It won't be perfect, but Obama will be kinder," insisted the owner of a nearby electronics shop, who was hanging out in the salon on a customer-less Wednesday morning. "Look, I know America will always put Israel first, I'm not naive ... But at least with Obama, I feel he will throw us a bone."

Almost despite themselves, many Arabs are daring to hope Obama will bring something new to the Middle East, where bitterness toward the U.S. is probably the highest in the world.

Part of the optimism is simple joy at the imminent end of the Bush administration. Few figures are more disliked among the Mideast public than President Bush.

Over past years, the bloodshed in Iraq, fears of war with Iran, abuse at Abu Ghraib and prisoners at Guantanamo convinced many that the United States was an anti-Arab, anti-Muslim bully. A feeling of despair and hopelessness became widespread and few believed U.S. policies would ever change.

Even before Obama's victory, Arabs cautioned themselves to be realistic. The U.S. will always throw its weight around and will always back Israel, they say; Obama, even if he really does want a new approach on Iraq, Iran, the Palestinians and the war on terror, may not be able to implement it - and in any case he'll be absorbed first with the U.S. economic crisis.

Still, to many Obama seems to spell something different - whether because of the color of his skin, his Muslim family ties - his Kenyan father was a Muslim - or simply his charisma.

Many believe he's more sympathetic to the Palestinians, or that he'll emphasize dialogue over what was seen as Bush's more bellicose tone. Some watched the dramatic vote and wished they could see similar democratic change in Arab countries, ruled by authoritarian leaders who stay in power through rigged elections.

"When Obama won, I felt it was the return of the American dream," Iman Bibars, an Egyptian women's activist and writer who is often sharply critical of the United States, told The Associated Press. "I just cried through the whole thing, because it gave me hope that the good guy will win, in a world where good people don't normally win."

Abdelmonem Mahmoud, a prominent young activist with Egypt's fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, says he's "one of those who has fallen for the magic of Obama's charisma."

"He has created this mental state with the idea of change. Just the word has an effect," Mahmoud said Thursday. "That's the emotional side. On the rational side, I have my doubts."

"I just hope he'll have real (Israeli-Palestinian) negotiations, whatever they lead to," he said. "Maybe people have big dreams for him that aren't realistic. But it's realistic to hope he'll press for real negotiations."

In Beirut, Sarah Haidar, an 18-year-old university student enveloped head-to-toe in an Islamic chador, said Obama's win "gives some hope for a better future ... It's enough that he holds a positive view toward dialogue with Iran and Syria, which Bush considered evil."

The Middle East poses some of the most monumental foreign policy challenges for an Obama administration. He has promised a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq by 2011, a position that pleases many in the Arab world, though it also raises fears of renewed chaos after the Americans leave.

Also looming is the standoff with Iran over its nuclear program and its increasing influence across the Middle East. Obama has said he's open to direct negotiations with Iran, a welcome change to many Arabs who feared a war could break out.

Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad offered his congratulations to Obama on Thursday - the first time an Iranian leader has offered such wishes to a U.S. president-elect since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In Israel, however, many fear Obama will make concessions that will open the way for Tehran to build a nuclear weapon, and some Arab governments are wary of anything that could allow rival Iran to strengthen its foothold in the region.

But heaviest on most Arabs' minds is the question of how strongly Obama will push the peace process with Israel. The Bush administration put negotiations on the back burner for nearly seven years until a last-minute drive to revive Israeli-Palestinian talks. The negotiations have made little progress, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged Thursday that a peace deal by a year-end deadline is no longer possible.

Syria is also hoping for direct negotiations with Israel with U.S. mediation after months of indirect talks through Turkish intermediaries. Damascus also hopes for a thaw in relations with Washington, which have been bitter throughout the Bush administration.

Arab news networks have run blanket coverage of Obama's win, with many analysts playing down expectations for dramatic shifts in U.S. policy. Also heavily covered was the history-in-the-making nature of Obama's win: Al-Jazeera repeatedly aired a long report on African-Americans and the civil rights struggle, with images of Martin Luther King Jr.

In Sudan - another country with strong tensions with Washington - cell phone text message exchanges in Khartoum celebrated: "Congratulations to Africa" and "Congratulations for Obama. Change is possible."

Even some Islamic militants were inspired. One prominent hard-line Kuwaiti cleric, Sheikh Hamed al-Ali, said in a Web statement that the Islamic world should "benefit from this example and request change also, and get rid of any regime that leads it with ignorance and injustice."

At the Cairo hair salon, manager Mahmoud Hassan said he felt relief with Obama's victory. "I see myself in him - like there is someone who looks like us, someone from Africa, who is the ruler of the world.

"If I met Obama, I would just tell him, 'Please don't let us down. Don't let this hope fade away, and let us feel safe with you."'
© The Canadian Press, 2008

[theforthdrive]

Politics and policies aside, Bush was a horrible statesman and public speaker. The man couldnt even read from the teleprompters without making up words. Im sure people with English as a second lang. knew this. He made us all look bad, his policies made other hate us!

[Gatekeeper777]

Remember how they say if your going to give a speach in public and you are nervous you should inagine the crowd in their underware. Well maybe it would help if you listen to Bush to imagine him wearing a helmet!

[psychocat]

How aware are Americans of thier image abroad ?
Do you think America liked Obamas world image ?

I wish him well and too be honest I kinda like the guy.

[theforthdrive]

How aware are Americans of thier image abroad ?


Only the few that actually get out and travel with an open mind. And give up that American arrogance long enough to really take in the culture of somewhere different! The best conversation Ive had with a complete stranger brought up this very issue. He was a militant black "dealer" in a coffershop in the red light district. I flat out asked him what he and others thought. He was gracious (yet respectful) enough not to hold anything back!

[rockyraccoon]

I don't think anything will change - our foreign policy is not going to change, our monetary policy is not going to change, the endless wars will continue and we'll keep going towards world government - it's all the same cast of characters on either side - it'll be like 4 more years of george bush except this time around the democrats will love the tyranny and the republicans will hate it, even though they accepted it for 8 years...

[JakeMartinez]

Look out! It's the world-government monster!


...

I don't want to start shit in this thread so that's all I'm going to say about that.

Daihashi, out of curiosity, where did you travel to? Everyone I've talked to since '03 that lives in a country outside of the U.S. has condemned Bush & Friends multiple times, some of them being really hateful about it...I think both of us only saw two sides of a single die...I saw a 1, you saw a 6, but neither of us saw the numbers in between.

[daihashi]

Look out! It's the world-government monster!


...

I don't want to start shit in this thread so that's all I'm going to say about that.

Daihashi, out of curiosity, where did you travel to? Everyone I've talked to since '03 that lives in a country outside of the U.S. has condemned Bush & Friends multiple times, some of them being really hateful about it...I think both of us only saw two sides of a single die...I saw a 1, you saw a 6, but neither of us saw the numbers in between.

Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Spain, and Czech Republic is everywhere I've been since 03.

Talking to people and traveling overseas and talking with random people are two totally different things. You'll find that most people don't think we're as horrible as we think. Bush never came up in conversations. If they don't like our government then they definitely didn't take it out on me; which is why I find it hard to believe that it's just 'suddenly' cool to be an American overseas again.

In my eyes it never seemed to really matter where you're from. If you're a friendly person then people will be friendly back to you.

[JakeMartinez]

Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Spain, and Czech Republic is everywhere I've been since 03.

Talking to people and traveling overseas and talking with random people are two totally different things. You'll find that most people don't think we're as horrible as we think. Bush never came up in conversations. If they don't like our government then they definitely didn't take it out on me; which is why I find it hard to believe that it's just 'suddenly' cool to be an American overseas again.

In my eyes it never seemed to really matter where you're from. If you're a friendly person then people will be friendly back to you.

You've a point.

When you went to these countries, did you spend more time in really large cities full of business or was it more of a suburb/rural thing? I figure the people who are well off and living in cities with lots of business going on have a more favorable view of Americans than say the people who've been fucked around a bit more in life.

See, in my generation, the upper class really doesn't give a shit about anything. If you ask them what they think about the government, they'll either change the subject or spurt out some pc bullshit about being respectful towards the president.

The people who've been jerked around a lot for some reason care a lot more about the government, and had very negative views about the war from the very beginning.

[DrewPD]

For longtime U.S. expatriates like me - someone far more accustomed to being targeted over unpopular policies, for having my very Americanness publicly assailed - it feels like an extraordinary turnabout...

It sucks that people all over the world immediately think they know everything about someone and hold them responsible for an entire country's actions simply because that is where they are from. Remember that 45.9% of the U.S. population wanted McCain. That's not a small percentage. Four years ago 48% didn't want Bush and instead voted for Democratic candidate John Kerry. A democratic country is ruled by the majority; that doesn't mean that everyone agrees.

[thcbongman]

In many places in the world, they have high disregard for tourists from the western world. You have these people that flaunt their money, their wealth, while many of them work hard just to merely live in paradise? It's simply a view of a different perspective.

I met French that supported Bush and like him for his economic policies. Many French, that's why they voted Sarkozy in, that's why they continue to try and loosen some of the heavy regulation and 'equality' that plagues their society. I don't think there is a clear majority that hates Americans outright, the only people who I encountered that didn't like Americans were people that wanted something from Americans.

It's also the fact that the outlook in other countries is different. I don't why everyone thinks America is the center of the universe. I went to Spain and France recently, I was isolated from American news the whole week and it was beautiful. Most foreigners simply don't give a shit.

[medicinal]

I believe Obama sparks a lot of good will throughout the world. The problem is whether it will last. Now that he is "enthroned", he needs to do what he said, and the world in large will be grateful for his actions. The repukes are trying hard to de-rail his agenda. My belief is this actually hurts their chances in future elections, which in my opinion is actually a good thing. Obama will get his agenda passed with or without the repuke minority. In my opinion, he has already made way too many concessions trying to be bi-partisan when the repukes only want to block all his efforts to make much needed changes. I say, F*ck them and full steam ahead. Let them stew in their defeatism.