Oh, the joy.
I’ve read many of the interesting diaries with election night reactions from around the world. I’d like to add my own to the mix, with a report from rural Japan, and the profound effect that Barack Obama had on a group of youngsters who, on the surface, seem to have had no stake in this election. They are the students of Shimoyama Junior High School, where I teach.
I also have a bet to pay up on...
I first came to Japan in 1997, intending to stay one year, but staying for six. I fell in love with teaching junior high school and the beauty of the Japanese countryside. In 2003, though, I returned to Michigan to try and start a business with my wife. The Bush years, however, were not kind to Michigan, and after nearly losing everything, the wife and I returned to Japan in March of 2008. I got my job back and am teaching at a small rural school (235 students) in the mountains east of Nagoya.
I’ve been wearing an Obama button for months now, and this started a small fire of interest in American politics among my students. I’d been more and more nervous as the election approached, and my students gave me encouragement. I pride myself in my lack of superstition, yet there I was, refusing to wear anything red for the final two weeks leading up to the election, and telling my students why.
Meanwhile, the Japanese media had been building up their coverage of the event as well. The people of Japan seem to favor Obama, but the government and the (government-controlled) media definitely favored McCain. They loved Shrub Junior, too... because they like the Republican hawkishness on national security and love not having to spend their own money to defend Japan (as much as the people bitch about U.S. bases here, the gvt. knows they wouldn’t last two months without them). Japan is also a generally xenophobic country; the government (not so much the people) distrust foreigners in general, especially if they’re darker-skinned peoples. I lost count of the number of talking head news shows with pundits asking "Can we REALLY trust Obama?" (Translation- He’s black and he’s scary! We all know black people all own guns and are bad guys, because that’s how Hollywood portrays them...)
I’m off on a tangent.
Anyway, my students seemed to love Obama, and asked all sorts of questions. I told them why I supported him and not McCain, the baka oyaji (dumb / useless old man). They seemed to know a bit about the history. One 9th-grade girl told me she had a question and wanted to try asking in English. I told her to go ahead.
"Is Obama first black human?" She asked.
I smiled and helped her out. Yes, Obama would be the first black American president.
Election day came. I was glued to the computer. My bosses were understanding.
When Pennsylvania was called quickly, I had a very good feeling.
When Ohio went, I knew it was over. I jumped so high out of my chair that I hit my fist on the ceiling.
I was on the phone with my wife when they officially called it, and I started bawling. I’m a 6’6", 250-pound guy... and it’s very hard to make me cry. But it just felt like an eight-ton weight, one for each of those wasted Bush years, had been lifted from my shoulders.
It was one o’clock in the afternoon on Wednesday, November 6th. The world was new again.
I told my students as I passed them in the hall. They were excited.
But the best was yet to come.
Word spread quickly among the student body.
For the last two days now, every time I pass my students in the hall, I get fist bumps. I get cries of "Obama!!!"
I entered one classroom and the whole class began yelling "Yes we can!"
I was surprised. These kids aren’t even old enough to vote in their own country’s elections. Yet here they were, interested in ours.
But in another way, it makes a lot of sense.
The United States, for better or worse, is a leading country in the world. In many ways, we hold the future of the whole world in our hands... economically, environmentally, socially.
That means that all children... American, Japanese, and all others throughout the world... are depending on Barack Obama to be the kind of leader we think he is.
It’s our future. It’s their future, too.
And now, it’s time I settled a promise to the people of this board.
Ahem.
I is a tinfoil-hatted, concern troll moran!
Ah, it gives me such pleasure to write that!
My crime? I worry-warted in several threads about Pennsylvania being a site for election fraud. I admonished everyone who would listen to be vigilant. I fretted. I panicked. I brought a lot of people down.
And I promised that if everything in PA turned out to be fine, then I would write about what a dope I was.
So, I’m a dope.
Pennsylvania was called quickly. Pennsylvania’s vote seemed to go extraordinarily smoothly. And Pennsylvania outperformed the polls, finishing with something like an 11-point spread instead of the 8 predicted. Never in doubt. Not even close.
I would hope, however, that just because this time went well, we do not assume there are people out there willing to try nefarious means to influence votes.
We know it’s happening when we hear about inadequate numbers of machines in minority districts. Voter suppression attempts. Purging of the rolls.
And what the hell is up with Georgia and Alaska’s vote totals?
But as far as PA being stolen...
I is a tinfoil-hatted, concern troll moran.
Thank God.
UPDATE- Here's my own blog about life in Japan... if there are rules about linking like this, someone please tell me and I'll remove it.
Far Away and Close to Home
Scroll down to the third and fourth most recent to see some photos of my students!
UPDATE II- Thanks to Diary Rescue! I really appreciate it!
If you like my blog, please bookmark it and come back often... I try to update at least once every week or two. I'll try to get some more photos posted of school life as well.