When I was traveling in India last month it became quite apparent that the U.S. is really no longer known as America, it’s ‘Obama-land’ now.

When asked hundreds of time where I was from, after replying “America” I almost always got the same response: “OBAMA!” Followed by an enthusiastic thumbs up. One of my favorite responses was, “Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, Obama.” Nice to know Obama has already joined the ranks of some of the U.S.’s finest exports — pop music and basketball stars.

When I turned the question back on them, asking why they liked Obama I generally heard the same responses: “Good man,” “Nice man.” The one that stuck out in my mind most was, “He cares about all people.” By this I can only assume that many in India, and perhaps the world, think Obama is more on their side than our most recent past president. That Obama will be considerate of global leaders and the United Nations before making decisions.

“Obama seems predisposed to see every foreign policy problem in its global context,” said Joe Klein in a Feb. 19 TIME editorial, “The Quiet American: How the World Sees Obama.”

I’m happy the world as I have seen it on my travels has this view of our new leader. I will admit it is quite strange traveling in a world where people like your country. In 2006 — the year I last spent a significant amount of time abroad — I was confronted by graffiti that read “Bush is terrorista” in Italy and scribbles that equated the U.S. to Nazis.

And while I’m sure our country still has a long way to go before we have fully redeemed ourselves in the world’s eye, it’s nice to know we’re making steps — one speech about hope at a time.

A year ago I might have “been from Canada,” now I can (a little more proudly) say I am from America.

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This post was originally written for and published on the blog: “Global Obama: New Year, New President, New Perspectives.” See the original post here.