The NATO Summit

Friday April 4^th 2009:

I first heard about the G20 summit when the owner of “Les Fleurs des Champs” told Kevin and I that “Obama voyagera a Strasbourg le 3 et 4 de Avril”. I really didn’t know what this meant at the time, or really its historical or social significance. Towards the end of March, we started to hear rumors about how the city would be shut down, and only residents with special passes from the police would be able to pass into certain parts of the city, such as the downtown and “republique”. They had “zones rouges et oranges” (red and orange zones) We were initially advised to try and leave Strasbourg, since it would be difficult to get around, the security would be intense, and there were strong possibilities of strikes. Some of the youth are not pleased with NATO’s policies on the Afghanistan occupation, and like any good European and French citizens, they decide to pose demonstrations. Although most are quite harmless and calm, some anticipated these demonstrations to be more restless.

I had initially made plans to go to Nice (on the Riviera) that weekend. However, the night we returned from our trip to Nancy, Verdun and Reims, I got a call from professor Bach. He told me that the American consulate contacted him, and that they needed volunteers for President Obama’s Town Hall meeting. I had unfortunately just bought my train tickets, and professor Bach really didn’t have any information except that it would be on Friday. I decided to add my name to the list, and then talk it over with my friends involved.

It was much turmoil the rest of that week pondering the pros and con’s of every possible situation. Three members of our traveling group had bought their tickets on a special- (non-refundable) so they decided to depart as planned. I had an orchestra rehearsal during a required meeting for this event. However, once I was informed that I in fact could volunteer without having attended. I jumped on board and my friend Jolin and I changed our tickets, departing Friday night after the meeting.

I planned to wake up at 6 am on Friday morning, but didn’t hear my alarm and overslept. At 7 am I quickly threw on my clothes and hurriedly ate some cereal, soy yogurt and drank some coffee. As I was running around and getting ready my host father Claude appeared in his pajamas and looked at me quizzically saying “Deja?” (Already?) He then remembered the event and wished me good luck. I grabbed some food for later and madly pedaled towards “Cine Cite” a movie theatre, which the volunteers were supposed to meet at 7:30. Luckily my bike path was clear, except for the lines of police vehicles all along the river and in front of the conservatory. As the week progressed we noticed a drastic increase in the number of police officers and security personnel, and by the end there seemed to be more police cars than civilian vehicles. After I arrived and met some familiar faces from the group, we were divided up into groups. Some were already given task but we had to just continue to wait in the crowd. “Hurry up and wait” and not really knowing what was going on was a good part of our day. We received our “official” badges-a piece of paper saying “benevole” (volunteer), with our name typed or written underneath fastened to our shirts with a safety pin. Even more amusing was the fact that “benevole” was spelled with incorrect accents.

We eventually wandered inside and were promptly assigned a place to stand and direct people through the movie theater, where they would go out the other side, board a bus, and be taken to the Rhemus stadium to see Obama. The streams of people just seemed to keep coming, and I just smiled, said “bonjour” and pointed in the general direction. After awhile, several of us were given a piece of paper, and instructed to each board a different bus full of people headed to the Rhenus, and read the sheet of instructions to them, in English and French, and to “add to it” if we wished. I nervously boarded and sat in the front right behind the bus driver. After everyone boarded, I saw through the window that a college was making her announcements, so I followed suite. I then took the microphone and, like a tour guide, explained the procedure, where the bathrooms would be, and told them to eat their food before going through security. After my announcement in French, the bus clapped, and a nice lady in the front said “In English now, it would be a good exercise for everyone.” After the English version, I sat down and began to chat with the lady across from me. She was an English teacher, and very nice, talkative, and like most people I met, was very excited for this event.

Our bus was one of the first ten (of the 40 total) to circulate to the stadium. We were escorted by police officers of motorcycles, both in front and behind the line of buses. Since this stadium was in the middle of the red zone, and very tightly secured, everyone who had the proper tickets to attend had to be transported by these circulating busses to the event. All 4,000 of them. After the people on my bus got off I sat back as our empty bus headed back to the Cine Cite. We were stopped and checked by a police officer, at which that point I found out that our bus driver was German and didn’t speak French. We drove through the back parking lot, and stopped as a line of empty buses formed. At that point, the bus driver stopped the bus, said something to me in German, descended and began to smoke. He said something else, and I replied “Ich sprechke nicht deutsch” (I don’t speak German). He kept gesturing, speaking German and smoking, so I took this as my cue to get off the bus and walk towards the line of people and the other volunteers.

I stood outside for a while chatting with some other American volunteers from different programs, then headed back inside to see if I could figure out what to do next. I then ran into more people from the Syracuse program, and we were told to wait and direct the last few stragglers. We munched on a little bit of our food, and then all the volunteers and some of the “officials” took the last bus to the Stadium.

After we got off the bus it was phase 2: Crowd control. The Rhenus was a bit backed up, and very crazy. Crowds aren’t my forte, especially if they are in French. However, everyone was very cooperative and nice. Two of us stood at each of the eight lines leading to the metal detectors outside the main entrance of the stadium. From our spot we could see the parking lot, the buses, and the sea of people descending on us like a wave. Luckily, they only let fifty or so cross the street at one time, and we would help disperse them into lines, and reiterate the directions in French. (To take of their belts, show change, cell phones etc.) It was a little hard at first, but then once I got into a rhythm, it got easier to shuffle people through and explaining the procedure. By this time it was about 12:40, and we were being told that all of us had to be inside by 1 pm for the security sweep to be done. We looked at the seemingly daunting crowd of people, and wondered…however, miraculously everyone got through, with five minutes to spare.

The stadium itself was crowded, and a little confusing, but there was still a very friendly, cooperative feeling. They had forgotten to mark the volunteers seats as reserved, so they told us to sit anywhere. I ended up behind some people from Belgium, in the second tier of the Stadium, stage left. We waited for about an hour before anything started to happen. Then slowly, officials took their seats, the photographers took their place and the secret service entered. I don’t think some of the Europeans knew what to look for, because someone would start to clap, and everyone would join in, only to find out that it was a just someone placing the speech on the podium. The crowd at that point began to get pretty excited, as if were a bunch of little kids waiting for Santa to come through the door. Finally, the announcement was made, and Barack and Michelle Obama came through the door, shaking hands and greeting many excited fans along the way.

He first gave a small speech about NATO, America and how we need to join together. He was very humble, and although he was talking to 4,000 people, he made it seem as if it were an intimate conversation. He remarked that there was some blame to place on us, and other countries, but that we need to come together in common goals. It was cool to hear him talk specifically about Strasbourg and the Alsace, and how it was an area of such turmoil during the wars. He spoke about the economic crisis, Afghanistan, and fighting terrorism, but not entirely with just US, military, but also with foreign aid, and diplomatic practices. In addition, he also spoke about the importance of working towards sustainable living and environmental policies. I felt that his speech was very well timed, thoughtful, and was impressed by the overall presentation.

After the speech came the question and answer session. He asked for Europeans to ask questions, in order to specifically address their concerns. Although there were translators available (as Obama said, his French and German “are terrible”) all of the questions were asked in English. Both the questions and answers were very thoughtful. Most questions were about the economic situation, France’s involvement etc. Some were also humorous for example one student remarked that his name meant “peach” in Bulgarian before asking her question. One student from the international high school was called on, and when she said she was originally from Chicago, Obama sort of gave her a hard time (jokingly) and asking if the audience if he should let her ask the question. She then tried to defend herself saying “but I’m French too”, he then said “How can you be both?” she replied “Binationality”, and then she was allowed to ask the question.

Afterwards, groups were called out one by one. The first announcement was for a German group and the announcement said, “The first buses are for our German guests. If you leave now you WILL go to Germany.” It was a funny warning. Leaving was almost as hectic as entering, but it took much less time. As I was waiting for the bus out on the lawn in front of the Rhenus, I was suddenly “attacked” by a giant hug and a “Lindsay!” After I recovered from this initial surprise I noticed that it was Allison! Her group had also been able to attend this event. After a quick hello and introduction to some of my friends standing around, she ran back to her group so as not to get lost, or miss her bus to Germany. The “waiting” scene was rather hectic, but luckily (I had a phone interview to make), I was able to wiggle onto one of the busses in the first round of circulation.

Professor Bach was on the bus back, and it was fun to chat about the event. He asked a group of students on the bus what they thought, and how much they could understand. They said around 50-60%, but that they thought he was a great speaker and were very happy and impressed by him, and his willingness to address their concerns.

It was a memorable and exciting day in many ways. It is almost unreal that I could be in Strasbourg and have the opportunity to volunteer at such a historic event. I witnessed the first ever Town hall meeting on foreign soil, from the first black president. I was impressed also by his thoughtfulness, presence, and the content of his words. He seems willing to learn, grow and collaborate with others. He has great goals of a more sustainable and peaceful society, and the compassion and leadership to take important steps in that direction. Whatever way politically one personally leans, one must admit at the very least the historical significance of this event. Personally I found it very hopeful and inspiring, and was more than happy to have changed my plans in order to take part in a piece of history.