It seems that a lot of diaries nowadays are spent arguing whether Obama's choice is very wise/poorly misguided, and that Obama's selection reflects/betrays his message of Change. Since I'm not much of an expert in American political figures, all I can say is that I'm largely ambivalent to his choices and will wait for a year or two for results. But by all accounts, please don't stop criticizing/praising his choices, actions, and decisions, especially to all Kossacks who are more knowledgeable.
Anyway, I just read this article in Indonesian newspaper this morning. Our President, Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, called President-Elect Obama by the phone and told newspapers about the conversation. This is not a substantive diary, but maybe a good change from the 100 diaries about Paul Volcker that's a'comin'.
Update [2008-11-26 12:0:28 by Ajipon]: I think I should mention that this short article is posted in the first page of all main publications here.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held a telephone conversation with U.S. president-elect Barack Obama during his stopover in Seattle, and invited him to visit Indonesia, tempointeraktif.com reported on Wednesday.
When the presidential flight touched down at Nagoya airport in Japan on Tuesday, Yudhoyono made a statement to reporters over the airplane's intercom.
"He addressed me with, 'Apa Kabar Bapak President?' (How are you Mr. President?), with his fluent Indonesian language," Yudhoyono said.
Obama was missing several local delicacies such as nasi goreng (fried rice), rambutan and bakso (meatball soup), he added.
Obama's ability in Indonesian language is a source of a great deal of speculation here. Many are imagining already how it would feel like hearing the president of the United States speaking the Indonesian language. By our dear President's report, it seems that Obama at least remembers the pronunciation of the language.
Saying "Apa Kabar" or "How Are You" itself is not so impressive. We don't know the extent of the conversation, whether he just mentioned a few Indonesian phrases and continued the conversation in English (which our President could speak quite OK). What's funny for me is how he seems to remember rambutan and bakso. Even if you've visited Indonesia, there's a good chance you don't hear about rambutan, a very peculiar fruit here, or bakso, the name for meatball.
The day he visits our country (within 100 days from January 20th?) will be the most exciting day ever. For comparison, when Bush came here, he was transported directly from the airport to the presidential villa in a city outside of the capital by the helicopter (Marine One?). He spent a few hours, and flew back to the airport to leave the country. That's because they were expecting thousands of people protesting along the way. With Obama? There would be thousands waiting to see him and hear him speak some Indonesian, and I would be one of the crazy loon waiting!