Miss Euro Blogger - Bursting the Bubble

Image by photobucket Did you also wake up with a massive hangover this morning? Not just because you jugged numerous glasses of wine to either celebrate or cry over the election results but also because this has been a long and agonizing road. Personally, I am absolutely gutted about the election outcome - as an American, as an immigrant and most of all as a woman. If this election tells us one thing, it is that misogyny is more acceptable to the public at large than being a woman. Men who voted for Trump told their mothers, sisters and daughters that they are below a racists, homophobes and sexual predators. Women who voted for Trump diminished the value of their own existence. They basically said 'yes, I am worth less than a hateful man.' Even if you believe that Trump is a good business man, which I don't think he is (why not show your tax returns if you have nothing to hide? AND he has a c ourt date coming about accusations of fraud concerning Trump universit...

Watching the U.S. election with a non-American, in my case European, perspective leaves one to wonder about what goes on in the minds of Americans. From an outside view, it is very clear that Donald Trump has the mental capacity of a five year old who had his candy taken away from him after throwing his own feces at his siblings. He pouts when he doesn't get what he wants. He interrupts and yells when he is exposed as lying. And he masks his insecurities (especially about his small hands and lack of business skills) by 'adjusting' the facts and repeating over and over how great and rich he is. He called Mexican rapists and is the poster child of misogyny. He is the crazy uncle you only need to see at Christmas and the reason why you get wasted on eggnog before Christmas brunch was even served. via GIPHY However, there is a 50:50 chance that we - and by 'we' I mean the entire world - will have to see the crazy uncle all year round. Earlier this week, I watched ...

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, ...