The U.S. Elections

After two years of obsessive tracking of polls, editorials, blogs and opinions, it was sad to be so far from the United States for this historic election. As I told my college roommate, Sue, I am jealous of everyone who was able to stand in line with neighbors and free Starbucks for hours to participate in this moment. Tom and I were both able to mail our absentee ballots a few weeks ago, but standing in a crowded street in Hong Kong stuffing your vote into a post office box is just not the same.

That said, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong really came through. They hosted a party in their downtown office today for all Americans, complete with free coffee, snacks, election giveaways, and big-screen TVs playing CNN. Because of the thirteen hour time difference, we gathered to begin watching the election results come in this morning at 7:30am.

The mock election held at the Chamber of Commerce today confirmed what all the T-shirts, buttons, and general atmosphere of the party clearly implied, 90% of the Americans abroad attending the party supported Obama.

As I'm sure it was for most everyone watching in America, the experience of watching the states' results come in one at a time was a euphoric and surreal event. So many of the Americans sitting around us shared our excitement for myriad reasons-- Obviously it is impossible to overemphasize the transcendent power of electing an African-American. There was hardly a dry eye in the house when an African-American woman from Chicago led us all in a heartfelt and solemn rendition of "God Bless America."

But there is also the hope that we will stop having to make excuses to strangers and stop having to justify our place as a global superpower. Granted, Tom and I have only been abroad a few months, but anyone who has traveled abroad in the past five years for even a few days has been asked again and again to explain America's behavior.


It is astounding to me how intently Hong Kong and the rest of the world has watched our election and it is uplifting to see first-hand how instantly this election drastically improves their view of us. President-elect Obama summed it up perfectly in his acceptance speech when he said, "CHANGE HAS COME."