Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Thinking of the U.S. from Copenhagen

Most of my family and loved ones are on the West coast, thousands of miles away from Hurricane Sandy destruction. Several close friends are in New York and DC but luckily I've heard from most of them. It goes to show how dominant the idea of the nation and national belonging is that I have been approached by so many people here, asking if I'm ok, if my family is ok. It seems to me that international interest in the storm is about as compounded as possible due to first and foremost the magnitude of the disaster but also the perceived impenetrability and immortality of New York City, and the anticipated impact this will have on the election. I honestly can hardly imagine US election coverage being any more ubiquitous than it is here in Denmark. Right now on the online "DR"site - Denmark's public news source - there are four tabs at the top of the screen: Sandy, weather, the US election, and 'crime'. The election and Sandy are definitely important. But it is still so unsettling to me that my country gets such preferential coverage and meanwhile in Haiti Sandy worsens the cholera epidemic

Danish/German articles about hurricane Sandy and the US election:
In Danish:
Politiken article on destruction of NY transit
Politiken on the impact to the US economy
Danish public news on Obama's response to Sandy
The US election

In English:
Spiegel International on the final stages of the US election


And now for something completely different.... some photos of some old/touristy parts of Copenhagen by night:




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