What is it like studying abroad during an election year? A little stressful and a little fun. Being fourteen hours ahead means that the polls were closing during lunchtime. As the election is also one of the more important things to happen for Americans, the university I'm studying at streamed the live CNN coverage during the day. For those with few classes it became a hang out spot and stopping by between classes allowed me to get stressed and relieved in the span of an hour. Funnily enough the countdown I started the first time continued all the way to California closing.
So many professors checked in worrying about Romney that it almost got exhausting. In fact, one of my professors left during class to go check the results and came back declaring Obama the winner.
The aftermath of the election was essentially everyone saying "thank you for electing someone that isn't Romney" including the Turkish guy serving us schwarma.
We were in Paris during the elections, and consistant with my prior experiences they were very watchful of American politics. I did not get any overt display of preferences as in times past, but maybe we just didn't talk enough to the locals.
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