a day to remember

It´s Obama Day!! Now I know all my readers here have varying political ideologies and affiliations, so I´m not going to get into the nitty-gritty. But it is definitely an exciting day to be an American here in Germany. Torsten had the day off today, so he let me sleep in - knowing I´d be up all night checking the latest tally! When Paul Luis came home from school, he was also very excited about the election. They´ve been learning about it in school now for weeks. Isn´t it crazy that a 6 year old from another country knows almost as much about the election as I do?? They even practiced our electoral process, so they could understand the way our election works. We could learn a lot from this German world-view, I think! We all spent lunch talking about how now we just have to wait to see if Obama can handle the challenge set before him. There is much repair work to be done, and I just hope he has the spine to stick to the policies he promised... all we can do is wait and have faith. Mostly, I´m just proud to have been part of this moment in history - a movement that I think will come to define my own generation in decades and centuries to come. It also will help the rest of my year here in Germany! I chose the perfect time to come, didn´t I? So far I´ve generally had the impression that Germans WANT to like Americans again, but are still wary. Today definitely boosted their hopes - not just for repairing the U.S. and German friendship, but for the world. They know how powerful the U.S. is as a country, and if we have good leadership awesome things could spread like beacons. I found an article on CNN that discusses this matter more. It gives me great hope:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/11/05/germany.obama.reaction.pleitgen/index.html

Claudia asked if I could come over tonight after class for a while so we can chat about the election. She called me 1st thing this morning to make sure I knew the results! So cute. Well now, I´d better get some homework done before running to catch that train. I hope this day has reached you all in decent spirits - whether it be extreme excitement, hopeful resolve, or resignation. It will be a VERY interesting year - this is for sure!