One Voter's Apathy

While looking at campaign posters for the European Parliament Election a couple of weeks ago, I started thinking about the upcoming American Presidential Election and what I would need to do to be able to vote from overseas.

I went out on the Web and found the web site for the Fedreal Voting Assistance Program and spent most of one afternoon reading all the rules and regulations.

The first thing that I learned is that I must vote according to the last place where I was registered to vote and then I must follow the guidelines for that state. For me that is Mississippi. There is, of course, paperwork to fill out, a journey to the Embassy (or Consulate) to get the paperwork notarized, and trips to the post office involved. Here it sounds simple, but add on the required deadlines and it suddenly began to look to me like a major hassle.

As previously discussed, I don't like Bush and I am about 98% sure that Mississippi will go Republican in this election, as they did in the last one. I quickly realized that I was asking myself if the whole thing was worth the time and effort I would need to put into it, since for all intents and purposes, by not voting Republican in Mississippi, my vote won't count anyway. And while I think Bush's foreign policy stinks, I am not sure Kerry's would be much better as he would have so much fence-mending to do that nothing would really happen. As for domestic issues, I still glance over the Internet to find out what they are, but they just don't really matter that much to me anymore.

I have voted in every presidential election and in a few special elections (one was for the possible flag change in Mississippi) since I turned 18 (1992). As a kid, I always looked forward to voting as a way to participate in democracy. As a teenager when I was discovering my feminist side, I was determined to vote whenever there was an election to exercise the right that so many women had worked so long and hard for. But as I grew up, politics really didn't interest me all that much and even before the Election Fiasco of 2000, I was quite cynical about the whole process.

Webster defines “apathy” as “lack of emotion or interest,” and that may be exactly what compels me this time to exercise my right to vote by not doing it.

A View of the Isar

Here is a picture of the Isar, the river that runs through Munich, taken a couple of weeks ago. This picture was taken north of town where the river is a little wilder. However, the stones are placed there on purpose... something to do with oxygenating the water.

All Consuming

I stumbled upon this really cool book site today:

allconsuming.net

I have been having so much fun putting my books up there. If you are an avid reader, I would highly recommend it. But beware, the name says it all!

You can see my stuff here.

Sunset

Sunset (about 9 p.m.) from the northwest side of my apartment building during a rain shower:

Pears/Birnen

Pears/Birnen - 5th in the English/German Fruit Series:

Glaciers in the Greenhouse

“Glaciers in the Greenhouse” is a photographic trip through time looking at how well Alpine glaciers are withstanding the “greenhouse effect.”

Using over 50 historical postcards and photographs from around 1900 and comparing them with contemporary photographs, this exhibit documents the retreat of the Alpine glaciers in Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, and Germany. The photographers of the recent photographs went to great lengths to provide as exact duplication of the historical postcards and photographs as possible. Through these comparative studies, one can then use landmarks to see the change in the glaciers.

In addition to the comparative photographs, a write-up includes a wealth of information about how the summer of 2003 affected the glaciers. For example, approximately 2 meters of ice melted from the Zugspitze and the “Zero-Degree Border” was above 4000 meters until mid-September.

The effects of the melting Alpine glaciers are numerous and influence everything from tourism to farming. Winter sports become problematic, melting permafrost leaves the ground unstable, water reserves disappear, and when the glaciers fade the mountains aren’t kept as cool causing the greenhouse effect to accelerate. Like the rainforests, the glaciers of the Alps provide priceless benefits that we have only begun to comprehend.

“Glaciers in the Greenhouse” runs until January 26, 2005, at the Alpine Museum in Munich (Praterinsel 5, 80538 Munich). The museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Note: This entry's mirror posts are at Living in Europe and Living in Germany.

The New Harry Potter Movie

We saw the new Harry Potter movie today!

As a movie, I thought it was pretty good. But honestly I was a little disappointed, because as a book adaptation, it left something to be desired. I felt that the director made the assumption that the audience had read the book. Therefore, he skimmed over a lot a things and didn't develop the plot as fully as he should have. Overall, I don't think the movie did the book the justice it deserved.

Perhaps when the DVD comes out there will be an extended edition (like The Lord of the Rings) that will fill in the things that were left out and make it a worthy successor of the other two Harry Potter films.

The Little Old Lady

Today, after my job interview (which went very well... I will be hearing more in the next week or so) I was sitting in the S-Bahn station waiting for my train. While I was sitting there I pulled this plastic folder that had all my job interview stuff in it out of my bag.

The folder is a little larger than a piece of paper (holds both letter and A4 size nicely) and is sort of like a flat box. It is closed by two rubber bands, one on either side of it. It is a very handy contraption. After sorting a couple of things, I put it back in my bag.

Then this little old lady (probably near 80) that was sitting next to me very quietly and politely inquired where I got it. I thought for a second (I bought it quite a few years ago, but think I got it at Wal-Mart) and responded, “Ich habe es in den USA gekauft.” (trans: I bought it in the USA) At this point the lady must have realized from my awful accent that I was a foreigner. She then proceeded to ask me (in English) if I was American.

“Yes,” I said. We then proceeded to have a nice conversation about Germany, the US, how you can buy things here that you can't there and vice versa, and how I came to be in Germany.

The funny part is that during this conversation, the lady spoke to me in English and I spoke to her in German. I was in a German frame of mind today and decided that I would not lapse into English as I am prone to do when people speak English to me here.

She was a very nice little old lady, but what struck me was her extremely good English. What I mean by this is that here in Germany I pretty much expect people my age (give or take 10 years) to at least know a little English, since it is taught in the schools from a very early age. But with older people, I don't have such expectations.

She was obviously pretty well-versed in English and enjoyed the opportunity to speak it with me. In addition, she told me that my German was very good and that she thought it was great that I had learned German so quickly. (Remember, I spoke NO German before coming here.)

After the 4 or 5 minute conversation she hopped into her train and I guess I will never see her again. However, she will always have a place as one of my wonderful memories of Germany.