Mes excuses! Mon internet est encore en panne, alors je vous écris de mon bureau qui fermera bientôt. Je traduirai ce posting aussitôt que possible, mais pour l'instant, je me contenterai de dire: enfin ! Je suis allé à une ville qui s'appelle "Obama" au Japon pour fêter l'élection de Barack Obama. Beaucoup de frivolité (voir absurdité !) japonaise m'attendait, et le résultat m'a donné de l'éspoir, non seulement pour mon pays, mais aussi pour le monde entier. Envoyez-moi vos pensées ! Que jugez-vous sera l'impact d'une Maison blanche sous Obama ?
Bandanas (and tatami mats) are so handy. My phone would later make a daring escape on the overnight bus from Osaka (see below).
Then, it was off to Obama, Fukui prefecture, on the west coast of the big island, Honshu. We stayed with a JET in the area, David, who was really nice about the intrusion. Obama is a fishing town, pretty big but not very happening. It does, however, share its name with our president-elect, Barack Hussein Obama, which is why we decided to go there at all costs. It had gotten some coverage in the US media (New Yorker, New York Times, etc.) so our curiosity had already been piqued. It started out as a fun idea, but I think it was the closest we could get to the election and to people who were watching the results as uneasily as we were. (The rest of Japan is quite bemused with the sudden attention the town has attracted thanks to a random connection by name.)
First things first--get as many odd and/or amusing pictures of Obama-related signs as possible.
Even Japan Rail was supporting Barack.
On the train to Obama.
For information about Obama.
I broke down and got this T-shirt.
Obama's park of choice.
Obama's post office of choice.
Where Obama goes for his kicks.
Japanese: "In front of Obama Hospital."
Where Obama gets his halibut.
Japanese: "Eco-friendly Obama!"
Did you think Obama shopped retail?
Obama in public office! (Also, "A Place of Refuge"--the Japanese means "disaster shelter"--makes it sound like a resort in the Poconos.)
Then, we headed for the town-sanctioned event being held at the town cultural center/restaurant/bath house, where we met some other Americans who made the trek to Obama and witnessed some crazy Japanese stunts as we waited for the results to come in on CNN.
The media were all over it.
We got a picture with "Oba-ranger."
Some other English teachers also converged on Obama City (many of them from Portland).
Obama noodles--"For World Peace and Stability."
Obama hamburgers . . .
The Anyone Brothers performing their song "Obama is Beautiful World." There were jokes that if Obama was going to become president, a few absurd things were bound to happen in his wake.
A random guy with an Obama totem!
They made a map and put little ribbon stars on the blue states as the results came in.
A taste of the media circus.
The Obama hula dancers!
Meanwhile, on the news: New Hampshire was solidly blue--which most people saw coming. Pennsylvania was safe--a relief. By the time Ohio rolled around, an astute observer began saying it was all over--which it was. CNN stalled as long as it could to avoid dissuading people voting on the West Coast (I suspect they caught wind that McCain had already called Obama to congratulate him), but finally they called the whole thing for Obama and the place went wild.
History.
And . . . Obama has won the presidency. Even with polls heavily favoring him, I wasn't ready to believe it (nor were many others). Many people in the United States and around the world woke up the day after the election and had to convince themselves that it wasn't a dream. A youngish black man whose middle name is Hussein and who has repeatedly been "accused" of being Arab and Muslim and of cavorting with terrorists in his spare time, has become the leader of the free world. People all over the world just broke down and cried at the news. If you haven't once thought that this is surreal, that the odds were insurmountable, you're a toddler, or you're toasted. (That said, it's almost more unlikely that Joe Biden will actually be vice-president, bless his blundering heart. We'll finally have a vice-president looking to protect the law instead of circumvent it.)
Not five seconds after CNN gave it to Obama, my parents called me on my cell phone (which I subsequently forgot on the bus home in my excitement . . .). I'll have to talk to them soon, but I'm sure they were as happy as I was to hear the news. I am quite jealous of my brother and my younger friends for being in college when this came about.
The Moment.
The media in Obama City was incredible--or, it seemed that way because they far outnumbered the Americans who turned up. I think Gabe and I were were each interviewed (in English or Japanese) about 15 times. We even did some on-the-fly translating for a reporter who needed some quotes from the (Japanese) organizers there. There were reporters for AP, the Telegraph (Britain), ANSA (Italy), AFP (France), photographers for AFP and Getty Images, etc. I was interviewed by the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Chunichi Shimbun, a couple of dailies in Japan. (In Japanese--sorry! I'm quoted in the second and third paragraphs, respectively--my age is the "(22).") We even got interviewed by a Taiwan news agency! There's pictures of Gabe and me (scroll down) at this story on Sankei's newswire.
When we got back to Kagoshima, I found that one of the English teachers I work with had made me this sign, which was the sweetest thing ever.
And finally, I will allow myself some gloating by pointing out that the Japanese pronunciation of "McCain," 'makein,' means "loser" in the Kagoshima dialect of Japanese (負け犬), so perhaps it was preordained. (Courtesy of one of my officemates.) Take that, fear and loathing--Las Vegas is in a true-blue state now.
Obama is beautiful world . . . don't you think?
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Wonderful! I wish I could have been there in Obama for the fun. You're right about people all over the world breaking into tears at the news. Sometimes you get a New World Order because you believe in one. Yes, you bet we can.
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