Good Times at the G8

There have been some interesting photos coming out of the G8 summit that took place last week in Germany. Bush, Merkel, and Blair got together with some other world leaders to solve the world's problems over a few cold ones.











It looks like they were having a good time, but Bush certainly didn't impress anyone with his beer pouring skills.

As you can see, Angela Merkel looks a bit concerned as Dubya quickly empties his bottle into the upright glass.










She politely looks away as his glass overflows.










Video of the scene here:




I have to say I am a bit disappointed in Dubya... he should know how to pour a beer properly. Isn't he supposed to be a Texan? Besides that, I don't think this is the first beer he has consumed. Then again, Bush has been on the wagon for a while now, so maybe he forgot. (The beer they were drinking was non-alcoholic).

It is good to see Bush and Merkel getting along so well. Of course this is not the first time they have been chummy... Bush's impromptu shoulder rub at last year's G8 also raised some eyebrows.



He may not have been able to provide solutions to global poverty or carbon emissions, but Dubya never fails to deliver quality unintentional humor.

Trip to Brussels and Amsterdam

Go over to www.wesandannette.blogspot.com to hear about my trip to Brussels and Amsterdam!

Anti-Americanism 'feels like racism'?

BBC recently ran an article (click here) about one woman's encounters with anti-Americanism in the UK. In the story, the woman tells of being called "terrorist" and "scum." She even suffered a black eye in a pub brawl. Her friends have suggested that she pretend to be Canadian, and she now tries to avoid talking on the tube.

Thankfully my experiences here in London have been far different from hers. Over the last two months I have yet to suffer any abuse for being an American, and my American classmates have not mentioned any abuse either. My personal experience leads me to believe that this woman may just be exceptionally obnoxious, and perhaps spends too much of her time in pubs.


On a slightly different topic, I have seen surprisingly numerous Canadian flag patches sewed on the backpacks of young travelers in the UK. I certainly don't know of any other group that likes to advertise their nationality to the degree that they feel compelled to stitch their own country's flag on their backpack. "Hey, I'm Canadian! Love me!" (What is so great about Canadians anyway? Ok, before I go on a Canada rant, let me return to the point.) It may very well be that some of these 'Canadian' backpackers are actually Americans masquerading as Canadians. (Shocking assertion, I know.) To me this ruse seems likely to inefficacious. Instead of slapping a Canadian patch on their backpacks, Americans need to educate themselves about local culture and perhaps refrain from speaking 20 decibels louder than anyone around them. Being sensitive and self-conscious will go a lot farther than displaying the maple leaf.