Inauguration Day

I was incredibly busy today. Aside from the presidential inauguration, I also went sightseeing and to my internship interview. I am happy to say that I am now officially an intern for the money section at MSN UK. My first day at my internship is Thursday!

After my internship interview, I went sightseeing with some friends. We went to Madame Tussauds (the wax museum.) I experienced firsthand one of the only benefits of being an American citizen traveling in London. In honor of the U.S. inauguration, the wax museum premiered their Obama figure, and they offered free admission to all American citizens with a U.S. passport. This was great since the usual admission price was 25 pounds. I took dozens of pictures in the museum, including one with the new Obama wax figure. After that, I went with a friend to see Abbey Road (the Beatles recording studio). Outside the studio, there is a wall where you can write messages. Both of us definitely wrote on the wall. While I'm not a diehard Beatles fan, it was awesome seeing so many Beatles landmarks (via Abbey Road and the walking tour).

Then at precisely 3:45 p.m. (10:45a.m. eastern time), I went over to the local pub at Imperial College with some friends to watch the inauguration oath and speech. It was interesting seeing their response to his speech. With the exception of a couple of Imperial College students snickering and cracking jokes, their response was overwhelmingly positive to Obama’s speech.

It definitely felt weird not being in the U.S. for Inauguration Day. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find out how interested most Londoners were in the inauguration. It was interesting to learn that an overwhelming majority of Londoners approve of Obama. According to my journalism professor, if the presidential election were held in the U.K., approximately 80% of people would have voted for Obama. Besides this, Londoners in general seem much more aware of international news than U.S. citizens. For instance, almost everyone I saw on the tube today had a newspaper copy and they were reading about the inauguration. In fact everyday, it is a common occurrence to see most commuters reading the morning paper on the tube on their way to work.

Now let’s just hope that President Obama can correct eight long years of failed economic and military policy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/us/politics/20web-inaug2.html?_r=1&hp