Thursday Part IV: Obama Day
Aug. 6th, 2008 05:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sister_luckBeen absent for a while because of a friend's hen-night (Junggesellinnenabschied is definitely too long and so stereotypically German!) and two days of installing laminate flooring for the boyfriend's parents in one of the flats that they rent out. Now I'm sore.
Tomorrow I've got an administrative meeting at school and Monday is the official start of the new school year.
So, I'd better finish with my Berlin picspam, because the next weeks will be very busy.
I still haven't finished posting the pictures of the first full day of our holiday, but then it was rather eventful.
We decided to go and see Mr Obama speak and we arrived early at the barriers erected at the end of Straße des 17. Juni to be let into the fenced-off area around the Siegessäule in the middle of Tiergarten park. This is the same place that saw several Loveparades and the Fanmeile for Euro 2008 and World Cup in 2006. That is to say that this is where people go to celebrate and have a good time and drink beer and eat Bratwurst while staring at a huge video screen.
Anyway, we had beer and sausages and were waiting to get through security, i.e. metal detectors and a bag inspection. Bottles and even umbrellas weren't allowed. Other interesting things in the bins next to the security checkpoint included pink safety razors and deodorant roll-ons in glass bottles. There was a fun security scare when a woman left her bag (word was after being turned away) which meant we had been waiting in vain and were herded to the next checkpoint. We got to see the whole shebang with a taped-off cordon and black-clad special forces guys arriving. There were also loads of secret service people around.
In the inner area around the Siegessäule there was more beer and fast food and a free concert which most people ignored contrary to what some American right-wing commentators have said (and yes, the beer of course was fairly expensive). The people were definitely there to see Mr Obama and to hear him speak. There were lots of ex-pat Americans, quite a few immigrants from Africa and loads of Germans between the ages of 14 and 60. I didn't do a sociological survey, so I can't attest to everyone's motives, but there was a genuine interest in what this man who wants to be President of the United States has to say, though for some people I suppose it was more about the participation in a perceived historic moment.
Here are some photographic impressions (sometimes with commentary):
One of the screens for the people who didn't get into the enclosure:
Waiting for the first barrier to be opened, so we can go through the security checks:
A campaign balloon:
The expectant crowd and secret service guy standing on the podium:
First musical guest, Patrice, who was clearly very nervous and sort of loveable and I enjoyed his music though I laughed at this line in one of his songs: I was walking down an alley, I'm talking spiritually.
Two police officers enjoying a moment:
Second musical guest, Reamonn:
Neither are total unknowns (Reamonn had quite a few radio hits), but the crowds mostly ignored them.
Mr Obama arrived 20 minutes late and then the cameras came out:
So lots of people ended up with pictures looking like this:
Detail:
I wasn't too impressed with the slogan for the international campaign. Change as a concept is not universally seen as a good thing and putting it next to tsunami doesn't work well:
Some more crowd pics. You can see that most people listen attentively. I think the family with the two kids was Iraqi. The little boy kept shouting Obama, Obama but did not always get the name right.
All that was left after the speech was a lot of trash (which was a nice contrast to all the talk about the environment):
Tomorrow I've got an administrative meeting at school and Monday is the official start of the new school year.
So, I'd better finish with my Berlin picspam, because the next weeks will be very busy.
I still haven't finished posting the pictures of the first full day of our holiday, but then it was rather eventful.
We decided to go and see Mr Obama speak and we arrived early at the barriers erected at the end of Straße des 17. Juni to be let into the fenced-off area around the Siegessäule in the middle of Tiergarten park. This is the same place that saw several Loveparades and the Fanmeile for Euro 2008 and World Cup in 2006. That is to say that this is where people go to celebrate and have a good time and drink beer and eat Bratwurst while staring at a huge video screen.
Anyway, we had beer and sausages and were waiting to get through security, i.e. metal detectors and a bag inspection. Bottles and even umbrellas weren't allowed. Other interesting things in the bins next to the security checkpoint included pink safety razors and deodorant roll-ons in glass bottles. There was a fun security scare when a woman left her bag (word was after being turned away) which meant we had been waiting in vain and were herded to the next checkpoint. We got to see the whole shebang with a taped-off cordon and black-clad special forces guys arriving. There were also loads of secret service people around.
In the inner area around the Siegessäule there was more beer and fast food and a free concert which most people ignored contrary to what some American right-wing commentators have said (and yes, the beer of course was fairly expensive). The people were definitely there to see Mr Obama and to hear him speak. There were lots of ex-pat Americans, quite a few immigrants from Africa and loads of Germans between the ages of 14 and 60. I didn't do a sociological survey, so I can't attest to everyone's motives, but there was a genuine interest in what this man who wants to be President of the United States has to say, though for some people I suppose it was more about the participation in a perceived historic moment.
Here are some photographic impressions (sometimes with commentary):
One of the screens for the people who didn't get into the enclosure:
Waiting for the first barrier to be opened, so we can go through the security checks:
A campaign balloon:
The expectant crowd and secret service guy standing on the podium:
First musical guest, Patrice, who was clearly very nervous and sort of loveable and I enjoyed his music though I laughed at this line in one of his songs: I was walking down an alley, I'm talking spiritually.
Two police officers enjoying a moment:
Second musical guest, Reamonn:
Neither are total unknowns (Reamonn had quite a few radio hits), but the crowds mostly ignored them.
Mr Obama arrived 20 minutes late and then the cameras came out:
So lots of people ended up with pictures looking like this:
Detail:
I wasn't too impressed with the slogan for the international campaign. Change as a concept is not universally seen as a good thing and putting it next to tsunami doesn't work well:
Some more crowd pics. You can see that most people listen attentively. I think the family with the two kids was Iraqi. The little boy kept shouting Obama, Obama but did not always get the name right.
All that was left after the speech was a lot of trash (which was a nice contrast to all the talk about the environment):
