Where is David?

It’s been nice to follow the election stuff going on in the U.S. at the moment. I’ve always been interested in politics, but I won’t write about my personal views at the moment, mainly because I know my family is pretty much ALL over the political spectrum, from the left to the right. If I ever feel like writing about politics, I’ll probably just start a new blog and keep this one for my family and friends.

One thing that makes me smile is when people somehow consider me a walking spokesperson for the U.S., like I’m Tony Snow or something. I’ve had pretty much every weird experience imaginable in this regard. I remember in Thailand, a girl smiled and said, “Ha-ha, Bin Laden…..BOOM!” with a huge grin on her face about 3 months after 9/11. Thais have a ‘different’ sense of humor, and I’ve seen parents laugh when their kid falls or trips over.

Another weird experience was walking out of a bar in Japan, and when I get about 10 meters (30 feet) from the door, a guy walking in says (in a heavily accented French accent), “Fuc zee wa in E-rak”. He obviously heard speaking in ‘North American’ accents (Hey, we could have been Canadian, Eh?) and somehow decided to voice his opinion about the war in Iraq to me. I kind of pitied the guy, because he didn’t have the courage to say this to my face, but then again, the French aren’t known for the size of their spine. And when I say, “say it to my face”, I don’t mean that in the meathead-fratboy sort of ‘let’s start a fight, say it to my face’ kind of way. I mean, I wish the guy could have just come up to me and said something sensical, like, “Hey, I’m assuming you’re American, not Canadian, cause you don’t have a trail of maple syrup dribbling down your chin and aren’t wearing a flannel, so I just wanted to say that I totally disagree with starting a war in Iraq, and you as an American taxpayer and assumedly eligible voter bear indirect responsibly for those actions.” At least then I could muster up some sort of response to him.

Anyways, I was going to write about my experience at the consulate in Melbourne today, and how that could lead people to hate America. Gettin’ a bit tired, so that will wait til another time…..