LET US MAKE MERRY

FOR WE DID IT YO. What an incredible feeling. President Barack Obama. Mufassaaa.

I woke up kind of late, turned on the TV to see where we were, and proceeded to jig an ecstatic jig.


I just re-read his speech on the CNN website. I think he chose his words well. He was realistic, yet it made me feel warm and fuzzy and powerful and hopeful. (Saying this, I can't help but immediately think of a line from the Brad Neely cartoon on JFK: "He smelled like the future, his words were like flowers.")

I'm very proud of America.

Yesterday I had a pretty darn uplifting conversation with a Japanese student about the election. (I was giddy because I got to use some snazzy political vocab I had just learned in class). He is taking an American politics course and has been enthusiastically in tune with the happenings. He congratulated me and acknowledged the significance behind Obama's win. He said that he hopes he will see women and Americans of different ethnic background become president in the near future, and that Obama's win will inspire the somewhat stiff Japanese political regime to welcome more women--awesome.


That's a really neat thing about witnessing the election while in a different country alongside other exchange students; you hear very real and unbiased insight from people who don't feel tied by patriotism. I am the only American at my school, and it was a really happy feeling to have the other exchange students; German, Chinese, and Korean, recognize and share my excitement!

Which leads me to this charming little number: the townspeople of Obama (小浜, meaning "little island"), a small town in Western Japan, have been avid supporters of the prez elect since 2006! They raised the roof in hearty rejoice when the voting results came through.

The town has attracted alot of attention over the past year, making a profit in original "I Love Obama" T-shirts, Japanese confectioniaries with his face ironed on them, and other goodies. The mayor of the town Obama sent B. Obama a good luck present of special lacquered chopsticks and cultural information, who in return sent the mayor a letter proposing a friendship! Apparently, they are going to build an official statue of him AND make November 4th a local holiday.

A tasty morsel of news footage here.

Yes we did! Golden, daddy-o.

WHAT'LL IT BE, FELLAHS?

Post numero deux will have nothing to do with anything I talked about in my first one!

It is around the third hour of the a.m here in Japan and I have been sitting on my bed, holding my knees up to my chin, furrowing my brows trying to understand the Japanese man (whose eyebrows seem perpetually furrowed) on this news program. This is no time to muse about simmered daikon radish; now marks a very important moment in American history!

The coverage on the election here is excellent; very detailed and informative. It's actually really intense, the newscasters keep lowering their voices and asking these suspense-laden questions on America's future while dramatic music plays in the background. I feel like I am keeping up with the election from the future--which MUST be true since I am 12 hours ahead of U.S. East Coast time. So far, and excitingly so, the future is looking hopeful and positive and BLUE. I would say donkey-flavored, but that is not very vegetarian.



Anyway, I am Obammin' like a mo fo, and while there is still a half day left of voting to be done over yonder, my fingers are crossed that most Americans are doing the same. It will be around noon here when the results are supposed to be revealed, so until then, happy, happy voting--do so for change! To my fellow Asia-based overseas American citizen absentee brethren folk: cross your fingers too, and isn't it awesome being in the future?

オバマ！

P.S. Apparently the Japanese youngn's are starting to use Obama's name to describe an older man that is found attractive. Fluff yeah!