The exclusive event, made available to French majors before the rest of the student body, govered admittance by the typical Columbia lottery system. The lottery opened at 8am the Monday prior to the arrival of Monsieur le President Sarkozy. Due to its first-come, first-served nature, the all seats had been taken within ten minutes. Having woken up at 7:55 am to try and secure a spot before the lottery site crashed due to over-activity (which was inevitable when thousands of students are trying to access the site at once), I was lucky enough to
secure a spot at the lecture.
Besides the thrill of hearing him speak in French, I was really excited when he mentioned some themes that directly related to the themes of my International and Global History Since WWII course this semester. He talked about how important participation is from every country in the world economy, and that it is important that members from countries from every single area of the world are permanent members of the National Security Council. It was really powerful when he questioned how could we possibly have a successful, thriving, world economy if the National Security Council lacks permanent representation from Latin America and Africa, for example. I also found the general tone of the importance of global solidarity to be refreshing and inspiring. Sarkozy's energy and the conviction with which he spoke was exhilerating. I also spotted Carla Bruni, which was a spectacle in itself!
Besides the thrill of hearing him speak in French, I was really excited when he mentioned some themes that directly related to the themes of my International and Global History Since WWII course this semester. He talked about how important participation is from every country in the world economy, and that it is important that members from countries from every single area of the world are permanent members of the National Security Council. It was really powerful when he questioned how could we possibly have a successful, thriving, world economy if the National Security Council lacks permanent representation from Latin America and Africa, for example. I also found the general tone of the importance of global solidarity to be refreshing and inspiring. Sarkozy's energy and the conviction with which he spoke was exhilerating. I also spotted Carla Bruni, which was a spectacle in itself!
Another highlight during the address was when Sarkozy gave President Obama the metaphorical thumbs up, telling the audience that he supports the new healthcare plan. Sarkozy came close to making a joke about how France would never leave citizens on the street without giving them health care -- and is glad to see the US's adoption of the reformed healthcare plan.
The closest Sarkozy came to making a joke was while discussing relations between France and other countries. After naming a few countries and classifying each country's relation with France throughout history, he came to Italy, motioned over to the side of the lecture hall where Carla Bruni was seated among the delegates, and said cooly that things have always been good between France and Italy.
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