6,175 km (3,837 miles) from the Inauguration
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Thousands of miles and a couple of time zones stand between The Hague and Washington D.C. Of course I longed to be there live, but I was determined to celebrate in a special way! Luckily, with the inauguration in the morning, we got to view it in prime time(EST +6) instead of in the middle of the night, like most televised American events.In the spirit of the Obama Inauguration, I decided to pass on the stuffy event planned at a big venue, with a high ticket price and speeches by Dutch Politicians and “Dutch Experts on American Stuff”, and plan a grassroots event myself. I imagined an informal neighborhood party, like thousands taking place across America. I started planning the event only 5 days in advance!
Today was the dawn of a new era and it was a thrill to lace up my electric blue pumas this morning. Along with a rotation of T-shirts, the pumas were part of my daily Obama election uniform ( it took me several days to ween myself away from my Obama gear as office attire after the election). It was so much fun to sport my Obama gear again for the big day. Maybe it is my bizarre accumulation of Obama gear in a land where it is scarce, but people on the street always smile. We made our own buttons and you can see I had plenty! My hat is a creation by L. Rouissi (no animals were harmed in making it, but plenty of scotch tape was used) and the decorations were improvised!
The party was exactly as I hoped and imagined. I put the word out through various networks, and the place, a neighborhood bar Sherlock Holmes, was packed! We had the crowded feeling, without the cold! The Dutch and English couple that own the place also caught Obama Fever in these 5 days! An enthusiastic crowd came together from many different countries and walks of life to share this historic occassion. Of course President Obama (my first time writing that) has extremely difficult times ahead, but today was the day to revel in the magic of the moment!
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Suzy Ogé is an American born business woman living in The Hague, The Netherlands.
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I’m such a proud Mom! You always make the most of any spectacular event. Miles away from home, but no one I know had more enthusiasm for the inauguation of President Obama. Your admiration of the President and our new First Lady, Michelle has to be obvious to anyone who knows you. I think Michelle Obama is your true hero. If you were home I could see you wanting to go to Washington/ no, I can see you going to Washington to help. The pics of you and family make me miss you more than ever.
Love, Mom (Nana)
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