november 4th, 2008

Election night '08: possibly the most anticipated night all around the world in the last couple years (or, in some cases, the last eight years). 

This most decisive night happened to be during reading week which is kind of like a mid-semester break except no one really goes home and you're supposed to study. Which is why Becca and I decided it was just fine to stay up all night long to watch the Elections. I've been overcome with a bout of insomnia these last few days so I didn't find it difficult to stay up all night. 

We staked out the TV room from early on, wrapped in blankets and warm pjs. I was surprised by how nervous I was. I never expected to feel like I had that much of a part in American politics but I think the entire world was holding its breath with me this time. This night wasn't the most anticipated for nothing. 

People trickled in and out all night long, asking who was up, who had what state (if they understood the process), etc. We sat there, rearranging ourselves on the worn out couches, eating some popcorn, watching one girl paper maché a human body for architecture. 

It was 4am when the Election was decided, with Obama's electoral vote count well above 270. It was the most surreal moment of my life, how quickly it happened. It didn't give me time to process what was going on. And even when it hit me, I was still in a daze. 

Then I leapt on Becca, who had fallen asleep, and I shook her awake, yelling, "OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA." Her reaction was equivalent, one can only expect,  to that of 'who the hell is trying to rape me?' But once she recollected where she was and what she was supposed to be doing, she looked 'round and very very confusedly said, "Oh. yaaay." Then she sat up and we watched McCain give his concession speech and Obama his victory speech. Unfortunately, we did not stay up much past that to see Gordon Brown give two thumbs up in front of 10 Downing Street but we saw pictures of that in the morning.

I promptly sprinted down to my room to yell exclamation marks at my friends and have little IM celebrations with everyone in the States. And then I got a little sad.

I was sad that I wasn't spending what was possibly the most historical night of my life in the place where it was happening. That I didn't get to be in the middle of it, as it was happening, and to feel like I was part of something much bigger than myself, no matter how it would turn out in the future. Just to be in that moment is all that mattered. I felt kind of isolated, a distance away from it all. Which, geographically, I was but that made it all the more absolute. 

So while the rest of the world ran around in happiness (or in sadness), I sat back and watched. And while I'd much rather have been taking part, it was still alright because something right had shifted in the world. But even if it doesn't shift rightly for long, at least it had happened once, you know?

I think Obama can either mostly live up to expectation or fail spectacularly -- the world's critics won't let him settle anywhere in between. We'll see. For now, I'm happy.