Postcard From Paris: Quiet Joy Over New President

ABC News On Campus reporter Nana Duffuor blogs: If it weren’t for the countless newsstands overflowing with newspapers and magazines with President Barack Obama’s face plastered on them, it would have seemed like any other day in Paris. Much as I had heard about French enthusiasm over Obama’s election,  there was no triumphant cheering or enthusiasts decked out in Obama paraphernalia on the streets. But for some students studying abroad in Paris this semester, the moment brought about a tinge of homesickness. “I am actually really sad to be abroad for the inauguration, especially because my home school is in Washington D.C,” said Olivia Fay, a junior at George Washington University who is in Paris studying fashion management.  “A lot of my friends are going to the ball, and I wish I could have also.” But for others, experiencing from abroad an event that has had such a global impact seems absolutely fitting. “I think I was much more excited for Obama’s inauguration because I was abroad,” said Duke University senior Catrina Wang. “I’m very happy to be abroad on this occasion because it was a chance to celebrate Obama’s inauguration as a symbol of hope and openness with the French. It reminded me that we are one global community, and the French people’s well-informed comments during the inauguration made me mindful of my own ignorance about the internal affairs of other countries.” Obama’s election has brought much enthusiasm, hope and even introspection to French citizens and leaders alike. Just last week, a federation of Paris-based organizations that highlight issues affecting blacks in France and around the world, attracted attention to the issue of police discrimination by inviting an Obama lookalike to Paris to denounce police discrimination against visible minorities, claiming that what the new president symbolizes speaks volumes on the issue. Aside from being an important symbol for issues of race and xenophobia in France, Obama’s election holds promise for many Parisians looking for changed foreign policies from the United States. Wang, who watched the Inauguration from Carr’s Irish Pub and Restaurant in Paris, said, “Parisians are incredibly relieved and glad that Bush is no longer in office.” Wang stood in the packed bar, listening to the sound of Parisians booing each time George W. Bush and Dick Cheney appeared on the screen. In most cases, the television viewing began around 4:30 p.m. While most bars showed the events in French, some, like Carr’s Irish Pub, tuned in to CNN for the special occasion. Though the daytime activity gave little indication of the excitement in the air as people from across the globe joined to watch the swearing in and acceptance speech, around 10 p.m. it was time to celebrate. Queen, a popular gay nightclub in the center of Paris, showed the inauguration on a big screen while Parisians danced the night away. The Highlander, a Scottish Pub in Paris, threw a special American Inauguration 2009 Party to ring in the new administration. As I walked home from the metro, everything seemed relatively the same on my street, scattered with ethnic restaurants, shops and cafes. But in the window of a shop run by North African immigrants was a large poster of Barack Obama, which hadn’t been there before. Just a few blocks down “Obama” had been spray-painted onto the side of a building,  tiny proclamations of better days ahead in this congenial, multicultural neighborhood. The elation and optimism, is, however, measured by pragmatism. “My host mother commented that Obama made a stirring speech,” said Wang, “but he’s facing a difficult term with the economic crisis and two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. So it remains to be seen whether his words will translate into effective action.”