Last week on Tuesday the 31st of March President and Mrs. Obama came to my school (American School in London), and I met them! He was in London for the G20 Leaders summit and he wanted to thank the U.S. embassy in London staff for their hard work. The line to get into A.S.L. took about an hour and a half, because so many people wanted to go. It was really weird, since I never have to wait in line to go to school when there are lots of kids there, but then, at night when there are no kids, I had to wait an hour and a half to get in. It was supposed to be for the embassy families only, but I got to go since my dad was working directly for the White House.
A thousand or so embassy families gathered in the gym to hear Obama speak. First he talked about the good work everybody in the embassy had done, and then he shook hands with most of the embassy kids after his thank-you speech.
After the speech my dad had arranged for my family to meet Obama personally. It was a great experience, and we also got to ask Obama a question each. Since the entire 5th grade is studying Africa, and the topic I’ve chosen to focus in on is conflict diamonds, I asked; “I’m studying conflict diamonds in Africa, what’s your personal, and professional opinion on them?” President Obama looked a little taken aback by my question’s seriousness given that we were standing in the foyer outside of a gym where he had just finished a casual meet-and-greet with all the embassy kids. First he joked; “Nobody briefed me on this.” Then continued to answer; “But that is a serious question, and what I believe is that there are many countries in Africa and almost all of them have much strife related to conflict diamonds. The countries need to work together to help solve this problem. Both individuals and diamond companies need to make sure that their diamonds are conflict free.” I think that’s the great thing about Barack Obama, he can address a serious topic in a funny way, but give a true and meaningful answer!
After this wonderful experience my head is still somewhat spinning. I decided to add a page on “Barrack Obama’s opinion on conflict diamonds” to my report. My teacher has said that in terms of Africa projects she has seen, my page with an exclusive quote from the President of the United States of America was a first.
I’ll post a link to my report when it’s finished…
A thousand or so embassy families gathered in the gym to hear Obama speak. First he talked about the good work everybody in the embassy had done, and then he shook hands with most of the embassy kids after his thank-you speech.
After the speech my dad had arranged for my family to meet Obama personally. It was a great experience, and we also got to ask Obama a question each. Since the entire 5th grade is studying Africa, and the topic I’ve chosen to focus in on is conflict diamonds, I asked; “I’m studying conflict diamonds in Africa, what’s your personal, and professional opinion on them?” President Obama looked a little taken aback by my question’s seriousness given that we were standing in the foyer outside of a gym where he had just finished a casual meet-and-greet with all the embassy kids. First he joked; “Nobody briefed me on this.” Then continued to answer; “But that is a serious question, and what I believe is that there are many countries in Africa and almost all of them have much strife related to conflict diamonds. The countries need to work together to help solve this problem. Both individuals and diamond companies need to make sure that their diamonds are conflict free.” I think that’s the great thing about Barack Obama, he can address a serious topic in a funny way, but give a true and meaningful answer!
After this wonderful experience my head is still somewhat spinning. I decided to add a page on “Barrack Obama’s opinion on conflict diamonds” to my report. My teacher has said that in terms of Africa projects she has seen, my page with an exclusive quote from the President of the United States of America was a first.
I’ll post a link to my report when it’s finished…
