This year's election was unique in many ways, for myself, it was my first presidential election away from the US. Of course, I sent my ballot in by mail weeks ago, so there was no problem there. But I didn't really hear about the results until lunch time, when the principal told me Obama won Pennsylvania and Ohio, and I was like, well it's over then. Right after I finished lunch, the nets started calling the election for Obama. I spent the rest of the afternoon (no more classes) surfing the net for just about any information I could find, and checking out the crazy reaction and celebration scenes in Chicago. Some of the local JETs got together for an Obama party dinner, of course the local restaurant made lots of food and gave all of the dishes an Obama-styled name. Still, we really didn't talk about the election too much- I think there just wasn't much else to say, and most people were just glad that it was done and over with.

Well, generally there is a positive feeling over here about Obama. Almost all of the kids know about him and seem to like him. His speeches have been getting a lot of play time over here and have been getting a favorable response. In every news segment they are really bringing up the change theme every time. Obviously, it's successful if it translates all the way over here. I think Obama being President is an opportunity for the rest of the world to get involved or at least interested in America again, and I imagine this pattern is being followed elsewhere around the globe.

One of the teachers asked me if he thought things would change, and I replied that things already have, if a black dude was able to be elected president. I've been trying to explain the significance of the moment to my students, but Japanese people don't have as much of a history with slavery, struggle for civil rights, discrimination, etc. so I'm not sure if they can fully grasp the gravity of the situation. Still, it's a good chance to bring up American History and talk about how hopefully things have changed for the better. I no longer feel like I have to cringe when the topic of the President comes up, and I think that is a good thing.

Some co-workers have expressed surprise that Obama is so young, others have mentioned that they were impressed by the turnout and scale of the election. I forget the exact translation, but something along the lines of how strong American democracy is. Japanese folks don't directly elect the Prime Minister, so comparatively it must be a pretty big difference in feeling.

So again, there's this feeling of hope and reserved anticipation, there are plenty of challenges up ahead, but we've just got to stick together and see what happens.