Miss Euro Blogger - Bursting the Bubble

I don't know what to write about these days. The repeat of the presidential election in Austria? The impending whacky presidential election in the U.S.? The increase of hatred and race-related crime in Europe and the U.S.? Brexit? Each topic seems to be too political to be discussed on what I consider to be a light-hearted blog. From a marketing point of view, I want my readers to feel good after leaving my page. I don't want them to feel down or reminded of how f-ed up the world is at the moment.  Image from Pinterest.com In the midst of all the 'heaviness of life' is the whimsicality of the Euro Cup finale playing on TV as I write this. Who will win? Portugal or France? Do be honest: I don't care. And I am sure a lot of other people also don't care but they dive into the unimportant distraction that is soccer. And why not? Does it make us bad people that we are not glued to the TV thinking of all the injustice that goes on in the world? I don’t think s...

I must admit: I am happy to not live in the U.S. this year. 2016 is a presidential election year, which means that the circus started about 1 1/2 years ago. Anyone who has every experienced the full two years before a presidential election in the U.S. will know what I mean. Your entire surroundings are consumed by election news, paranoia and propaganda. You suddenly see your neighbor in a new, unfavorable light because he put a sticker supporting 'the other party' on his car. You realize you work in a company filled with voters for 'the other guy'. Everyone is cautious not to say the wrong thing trying to avoid starting a political debate about why their candidate is the right one. In 2004, when Bush was re-elected, I was a student at UCLA and experienced the presidential elections as a fairly new arrival in the U.S. for the first time. I was glued to the couch watching TV in fear of missing something. I was captivated by the aggressive, dirty politics. In 2008, ...

This is an exciting time in political history. A woman and a non-white man are the front runners of the Democratic party. No one is even paying attention to the Republican side at the moment. Yes, I am guilty of being a liberal. I am not allowed to vote but this is still a topic I follow closely. I still remember the 2004 election vividly. I was still in college at the time. The day of the election no conclusive results were released. The next morning, still nothing. I went to class and called my husband on the way home. He broke the news to me. I cried. Yes, I really cried. Let me give you my Euro perspective on this issue: What Americans consider liberal is closer to what we call conservatives back home. So imagine how we view American conservatives. Faith-based, pro-gun, pro-death penalty, anti-abortion, etc. It doesn't even make sense - for the 'right to life' but also for the death penalty and guns?? And why hide behind religious views? Or use religion as an excuse to ...