Oben ein Küßchen mit Ehemann im Hintergrund /A Little Kiss while Hubby Watches...
Einige hatten aber eine andere Meinung / Others had different sentiments...
Alles war versiegelt, die Gefahr des Terrors lauert überall / Everything was sealed; the terror danger lurks everywhere...Bush's visit to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (northermost state in east Germany) was a big news topic. A. Merkel, Chancellor here, has a good relationship with the White House, and Bush may very well have his best (and perhaps only real powerful European) friend in her. Merkel's husband even showed up, which is most unusual, lending to the uniqueness of this visit. However, many, perhaps even most, in Germany we not amused with this visit, as posters that somehow made it past all the checkpoints demonstrate. The visit was exorbidantly expensive - costing millions of Euros for a little more than a day, all of it payed by German tax payers (which includes me during my stint here). Some thought the President was simply getting over jet lag for the G-8 event in St. Petersburg. In any event, it was a good PR event, and it clearly demonstrated differences in Germany: the official warm welcome juxtaposed to the disdain many attempted to publically declare. It also proved Angela Merkel's diplomatic savvy.
Bush' Besuch in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern hat keiner überhört. Die Kanzlerin mag wohl die einzige politsch starke Verbündete von Bush in Europa sein. Der Ehemann von Merkel ließ sich hier zeigen, was auf die Einmaligkeit des Ereignisses hinweist. Doch die meisten hierzulande waren vom Ehrenbesuch nicht angetan, wie Plakate gezeigt haben. Der Besuch war sauteuer, alles zulasten der Steuerzahler. Einige sagen, Bush habe sich hier bloß erholen wollen vom Jetlag, damit er frish beim G-8 Gipfeltreffen erscheine. Auf jeden Fall, hier war ein Medienereignis, das die Kluft in Deutschland aufzeigt: auf der einen Seite ein herzliches Willkommen und auf der anderen Unmut. Und, Merkels diplomatischen Künste wurden hier gut unter Beweis gestellt.
4 Kommentare:
That is cool that they can do some kissing and her husband does not mind. I guess they are pretty casual about that in Europe. Is she the same lady that the President was massaging during a meeting?
Yes, the same lady. Yes, here many people see expressions of affection differently. In East Germany men also hug each other very affectionately - nothing for West Texans, I'm afraid. And it is very common for men to give women the three kisses on the cheeks, like the French do. But really, that is a funny picture with the husband standing in the foreground just observing, especially since he never is present for anything - He's a chemistry professor at the Humboldt University in Berlin.
But back to the other topic. I have even been present when in a group a married man - a teacher - told another teacher what big "upper chest" she had - he called them her "satellite dishes" - it was hilarious and completely unimaginable in the conservative south of the USA.
Those Euros are quite shocking.
I do believe Hugh Grant served up the best answer during an interview. In one scene in a movie he had to completely disrobe and he said, "there I was with my meat and two vegetables on a plate, as it were..."
Kommentar veröffentlichen