Miss Euro Blogger - Bursting the Bubble

Recently, I talked with a friend about all the things we wish we had knowns as teenagers. Our formative years would have been a lot less painful, if someone had just talked to us and told us that our teen years don't define or are even an indicator for the rest of our lives. Teen girls: life is not as damatic as it seems in the ages of 14-19. This is what I would tell my younger self: Your social life is not over if you don't have plans for Saturday evening by Wednesday afternoon. Boys lie. True friends don't test your friendship. Wear sunscreen and embrace your paleness. If not, this WILL come back to haunt you! Don't care so much about what others think of you. They are more concerned with themselves. Focus on school more! Don't be sad that you can't afford brand-name clothes like some other girls at school. They don't define whether someone is a likable person. Stand up for yourself more often. You don't need to take shit! Pick your friend

I must admit: I am happy to not live in the U.S. this year. 2016 is a presidential election year, which means that the circus started about 1 1/2 years ago. Anyone who has every experienced the full two years before a presidential election in the U.S. will know what I mean. Your entire surroundings are consumed by election news, paranoia and propaganda. You suddenly see your neighbor in a new, unfavorable light because he put a sticker supporting 'the other party' on his car. You realize you work in a company filled with voters for 'the other guy'. Everyone is cautious not to say the wrong thing trying to avoid starting a political debate about why their candidate is the right one. In 2004, when Bush was re-elected, I was a student at UCLA and experienced the presidential elections as a fairly new arrival in the U.S. for the first time. I was glued to the couch watching TV in fear of missing something. I was captivated by the aggressive, dirty politics. In 2008,