May 18, 2003 : elections and a sad day for green

Politics has been on everyone's mind here lately. Today was the big day. I can't help but be enthusiastic over such an election when the voters here have so many options! I'm sure if you asked people here they'd say that they either had too many or not enough, but I just think they should be happy that they have more than two.

Eva went to vote early in the morning with Leila. Apparently they had a great time together (they always do) and were making other people laugh in line by saying things like, "Hey, I'll stand up there and say you're voting for such and such party" and the other said, "if you say that, then I'll stand over there and say that you're not even Belgian..." and it went on and on. At least they were showing some good ol' humor in the face of Belgians verplichting (?) (required) voting practices. Apparently you get a steep fine if you are 18 and over and don't vote.

There are pros and cons to this issue, but I can't defend it either way. On one had it's nice to force people into participating, and on the other hand, well people who don't care probably don't sit up all night toiling over which party to vote for and simply vote the party of their parents.

I got up and did the laundry. While folding my clothes a black guy with dreadlocks started up a conversation with me. "Did you vote or are you not Belgian?"

I said, "Not Belgian." And we proceeded to talk for about 15 minutes or more about the politics of the world. He been here for 6 years after coming from East Africa and is a welder. He had all sorts of interesting tidbits to share, and it was great to see a working man fold his clothes so precisely. :) We talked about American politics and fear in general. He said that we couldn't let fear control where we traveled and where we went dancing, and I couldn't agree more. He also said that he gets really pissed off when Belgian people he works with get pissed that he's a foreigner working in Belgium. "I'm working in conditions that are hazardous to my health, just trying to make a better life, and still they give me shit." Yeah, that's not quite fair, is it?

Back at the house we had a house-guest. Tom dropped by just to chit-chat, and it's great when people just stop by. When he left, Eva and I headed to Broechem to her mother's house to eat dinner and watched the results.

SP.A-Spirit did very well this time around as well as the Vlaams Blok (a fascist, right-wing anti-immigration party) and much to my disappointment, the green party (typical in the fact that they are more eco-minded) did very poorly. I suppose it's to be expected, as they did really well last time around because of a chicken disease, but they did noticeably horribly.

When I did the stem-tests (voting tests) last week on the internet, I had both SP.A-Spirit and Agelev (the green party) as my top two both times. I'd go green only because if we don't go green now, the less likely we are next time around and so forth. What does it take for people to realize that the environment is important? I suppose I am looking at it from the American perspective, as we only have two parties to choose from, and if you vote outside of those parties, then you're practically throwing your vote away. It was never more obvious than in the last presidential election in the states which I won't get into.

I like the concept that you at least have more of a choice. You at least have more of an opportunity to vote for someone with alliances and beliefs closer to your own. It would probably revolutionize the US system if we had some sort of options like they have here. Granted, politicians will always be out-of-touch with what the common people want/need/think, but at least you have more of a voice. Besides, I like the concept that different parties have to work together. Back in the states it seems more like they have to work against each other for democracy to work.

So politics. We watched and listened to the results and I did more watching than listening. Everyone seemed to think it was quite funny that my not-listening made me notice completely random things on the television. In once instance, it was a guy in the background with his red T-shirt and emblem right next to the speaker's head. In another, it was a man behind the speaker who was checking himself out on the monitor, making faces, looking at the camera, checking himself out again, and on and on doing the same thing. In another instance it was the interviewer and his leading the speaker on with his placement and removal of the microphone. In another it was the Vlaams Blok centerfold-lawyer and her neck-tie outfit. (it was a suit-coat and a simply a necktie as the shirt!) In another instance, it was the guy I spoke to at Gay Pride, Steve, the man from Hassalt, speaking like he had a mouth full of water. In another setting, it was a hoarse man who seemed like he was constantly on the verge of burping.

I've also decided that I'm probably not cut out for TV politics. I'd probably do fine on the radio, but if I had to be on TV during such interviews as what we saw tonight (primarily speaking of the green party's Mieke Vogels), I'd probably flush so bright red in the face that people would start adjusting their TVs. I'd also be prone to cry or at least get really mushy on occasion due to either excitement, anger or emotion in general.

It was fairly exciting, though not as exciting as the city-elections that took place when I was visiting Belgium back in 2000. Back then, everyone was glued to the screen because of what the Vlaams Blok was going to do in Antwerp. Today, it was simply bits of disappointment mixed with sentiments that the makeup of the government was going to be ok this time around.

Eva and I came home, dropped Joris off, and set to giving ourselves a half-hour to prioritize our week/future. We both made a list of what we should do this week in respect to my staying on an additional year in Belgium, and made some headway. Apparently this will involve getting a piece of paper that proves that I'm not married in the states and that piece of paper alone should be a great hurdle to overcome in reference to staying. I would be easy if you simply looked up "how to get proof that you're not married" in yahoo or google, but I had to do a bit more detailed searching.

There is still no news on my show whereabouts in June, but I'm still hopeful that this will be the week I make great headway in that category.

IN THE NEWS:
Belgian voters gave Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt's coalition of socialists and free trade-minded liberals another four years in office and backing to proceed with its program of economic reforms and tax breaks. With almost complete results in, the Liberals won 47 seat and the Socialists 46 for a total of 93 of the 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives. Final results were expected by Monday. But the Greens, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt's junior coalition partner, suffered a huge defeat in Dutch-speaking Flanders and Wallonia, Belgium's French-speaking southern half. Their loss was as remarkable as the gain of the anti-immigration Flemish Bloc and the failure of Christian democrats to return to power after four years in opposition.