Sunday (29 june) I went to Wellington to hang out with a friend and be a "reader-writer" for kids with learning disabilities. It was pretty cool being a reader-writer, as I got to see what kind of stuff the kids learn in NZ. Most of it was the same, but there was a section in the social studies portion that irked me a bit. There was a section covering the 2008 presidential elections, and I kid you not, these were what the articles were essentially about: people who voted against Obama because of his race ("the racist belt" among other things), and the people who voted for McCain were poorer and less educated. My personal favorite though, was an article from the Rolling Stone calling Bush the best president since Bill Clinton. The Rolling Stone, really? I think laughed while reading this one to the kid. If these are the things NZers are hearing about US politics, no wonder they love Obama and hated Bush. Then again, it's not so different here. Anyways, enough about that...
Last Wednesday I took a tour of Parliament, and at the end I got to watch the beginning of a session. It was hilarious. I remember watching part of a session of the House of Commons in my Politics in Europe class, and it was quite similar to that - it consisted of a lot of yelling back and forth and over each other and attacks on another party, especially by the PM John Key. I wish I could have stayed a little longer to watch...
Well, happy 4th of July everyone! Wish I could be there to engage in some American activities, like eating an American hot dog, watching fireworks, and throwing around the old pigskin, or even just some summer activities like swimming. That's ok, I'm sure I'll get more than my fix when I get back. I seriously might overdose on hot dogs...
