primaries, prom season & best-in-show
Last Tuesday was the local primary elections! On Monday, Hillary Clinton visited the university to talk to an introductory-level undergraduate American Politics class. From what I hear, she was well-received by supporters as well as non-supporters who genuinely wanted to hear what she had to say or just catch a glimpse of her. I have to say that I actually do like Hillary and have always respected her innate intelligence and ideas. Not that you asked.
I also think Barak Obama is appealingly bright and dynamic and also charismatic, thoughtful, and idealistic. Again, not that you asked! I think it'll be interesting to see how this plays out over the next several weeks. The Chesapeake/Potomac (local) primaries really shifted momentum to Obama, and his campaign has generated so much interest among young voters. It's easy to see why he's so popular in a college town like this. He didn't return here last week, though his rally here last fall was well-attended. OK, enough politics. File that under "Exciting".
In "Amusing" news: my parents got a phone call from Mike Huckabee last Monday. Too funny! He may need to re-think his campaign strategy, as I'm not sure he's targeting the right demographic or party to court votes from. But maybe desperate times call for desperate measures. Remember high school, and Prom season, where there was always that one boy who would call up 10 different girls and ask them out, in the hopes that at least one would say "yes"? Unfortunately, my folks weren't home to answer Huckabee's call, so he left a message, which they erased, of course. Dissed!
In "Sad" news: this made me sad. In the central part of Seoul, there are four gates that originally protected the city: North, South, East, and West. The South Gate, called "Namdaemun" {pronounced "Nam- Day-Moon" (the "Nam" sounds like "Vietnam")} was recently called Korea's #1 historic treasure/landmark. A few years ago, it opened to the public for tours. Although I didn't actually get to go in to see it up-close during my visit to Seoul last June, we did pass by it close enough to take some photos. So I'm glad that I at least captured it's original grandness in that way. What's so appalling is that it was arson, and what's such a shame is that it was a 610-year old structure that will take a few years to re-build. I think that Seoul's unique charm lies in its ability to juxtapose the old and historic with the new and uber-modern.
Finally, in "Happy" news, did you hear about the Westminster Kennel Club's best in show? So adorable! I've long been a fan of the this playful breed, and think the beagle just may be my kind of dog!
