AMERICAN POLITICS ARE OMNIPRESENT

Tonight we had a lovely potluck dinner with the students below, beside and below-beside us. We had planned a BBQ but it rained so we were forced inside – I think this is pretty common here! In any case, it was nice to have a social but relaxing night out and I really enjoyed chatting with other students from around the world.

The funny thing is that I was sort of hoping that our move to the UK would remove us from the daily influx of US media and America-centric thought. As it turns out, other countries are just as obsessed with American politics and foreign policy as we Canadians are, and so much of this evening’s discussion revolved around that topic. I found it interesting, but not entirely surprising given that we are in an academic hotbed, that all eight of us – from Canada, Germany, Pakistan, Lithuania and even the States itself – had similar views on the foreign policy and the upcoming election.

One of the things I enjoy most about academia is the opportunity to meet with other people from a variety of backgrounds just as we did tonight, and learn their perspectives on various issues. I think this is one of the biggest benefits of higher education and/or travel and I am looking forward to gaining a lot more international perspective while we are over here.