It's nice that President Obama decided to pay Germany a visit with his family and deliver a speech at the Brandenburger Tor. He'd been holding a grudge about not having been able to speak there preceding the 2008 Presidential Election - a five year long grudge. Finally, at long last, he showed up and everyone had big grins and I suppose all was forgiven.
The speech itself was alright - there weren't any stellar catch phrases like "Ich bin ein Berliner" or "…Tear down this wall" - although he, the German chancellor and the mayor of Berlin ALL made those important moments in German/American history a theme in their speeches. Other than that, he primarily said what he's been saying since reelection. That was especially impressive to me because I often can’t remember what I did five minutes after having done it. (Seriously. Yesterday I went to the bank to have my statements delivered to me only via online banking. One minute later, I went to the ATM and tried to print out my bank statement. Two minutes later, I went back to the same teller and asked what was wrong. Gently, she smiled and reminded me of my previous transaction with her. I wish I could say it was the first time something like that has happened, but sadly – no.)
I suppose the highlight was when he decided to take off his jacket due to the excessive heat.
Wait - no, it's not what you think. It was a highlight because of what he said, not what he did. In Merkel's welcoming speech, she said that she greeted the president as a friend of Germany and stressed that was he truly among friends on both a personal and political level. In response to that, he said something to the effect of, "Since we're among friends, there's no need for me to be so formal. If I may, I'll just remove my jacket." Then he proceeded to speak for 40 minutes in the sweltering heat.
Smart man. It's literally 97 degrees here in the sun as I write; I shudder to think that he could have passed out. I'm sure when he and Merkel left the stage, he whispered, "So… Angie. Since we're friends and all, think you could find a nice, cold AC for me somewhere?"
Just sayin'.
xoxo CountryEuroCityMouse
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