恭喜恭喜，奥巴马！

Did that really just happen? Like, really?

Unfortunately--agonizingly--we had class while the election totals were rolling in. Lorien graciously sent me text messages every time a state was declared so I could keep in the loop, and during breaks everyone rushed down to the computer lab to check out the latest maps. Our teachers were very "Oh, your country is in the middle of one of the most historic elections ever? That's nice, back to class." We had to explain to them the Electoral College system and why this election is kind of a big deal. (Unfortunately, since my Chinese isn't great, I was limited to 'McCain's mindset is old, the world is changing, and Obama understands the new mindset' and 'Palin is a very stupid woman.') There are more McCain supporters here than I thought. Like...wtf?

I still can't believe it. When Lorien sent me a text saying 'Barack Obama wins!' and I saw MSNBC.com's inch-tall OBAMA! headline, I felt dizzy. It's over, we actually won. I can't believe I live in a country that will have a black president. I never really gave much thought to Obama's race, but now it's starting to hit me just for the historic importance. I thought he would win, but I never really, REALLY believed that the United States of America would have a black president. The US has finally, finally, put its money where its mouth is with all this all-men-are-created-equal stuff. America really IS a place where a mixed-race kid "with a funny name" can become president. God bless America!

I never imagined I'd be so proud. I can't even imagine how my minority friends are feeling--or anyone who's not a white, straight, Christian mainstreamer. I've had something of an awakening in China, kind of a big "...oh," moment about race and minorities now that I've lived as one--now that people on the streets have stared and pointed at me, yelled out 'laowai!', cheated me, and treated me either better or worse than normal Chinese all because I'm a foreigner and I'm white. I know it's not the same as being a minority in the country you live in, with the baggage of that country's history, but being made aware every minute of every day "I'm white"....Yeah. Oh.

(On a semi-related note: My teacher positively giggled when we tried to talk about racism in the US, she just couldn't believe it. "Wow, we don't have that at all here!" When we tried to point out that, for example, the Han are often given jobs over other minorities, she smiled and replied that "your opinion of what consitutes discrimination is very different." My remark that gays still face a lot of prejudice was met with more giggles, as any mention of homosexuality often is. She was also surprised to hear that Americans don't consider women to have yet reached full equality with men, and bewildered by news that being a woman in rural Pakistan sucks. In general, the Chinese I've met have a very rosy view of the world, at times bordering on naive. Racism, sex discrimination, mei wenti! Everyone in China gets along great! ("We only discriminate against the peasants," Yang Laoshi noted). My roommate's opinion of her political leaders is pretty straightforward: "Jiang Zemin was bad, but Hu Jintao is great, everyone likes him." The Chinese seem fascinated by Xilali--Hillary Clinton--but none have been able to articulate/I haven't been able to understand exactly why. I think it may just be because she's a woman. That kind of mindset isn't politically incorrect in Beijing. (According to my roommate, at least one headline in Beijing is proclaiming 'BLACK PERSON IS PRESIDENT')

At the same time, I've come across Chinese who follow American politics in unexpected places--a taxi driver, a drunk Mongolian at a restaurant in Xilinhot, an old lady in the park today. This particular lady was an Obama supporter, and she felt very strongly that not only was it incorrect to assume that the Chinese were rooting for McCain, but that McCain's attitude towards China wasn't significantly different or better than Obama's.)

I'm still holding my breath on Prop 8 in California--I can't seem to get a clear answer anywhere--but I'm glad the decriminalization of small amounts of pot and the ban on greyhound racing passed in MA! Save the skinny doggies! The complete one-party rule may not be a good thing, but I am savouring the gigantic FUCK YOUUUU the country just handed to the GOP.

My status page on facebook is filled with former SPM-ers bitching about the election. The correlation between 'right-leaning people I know' and 'people who went to St. Peter-Marian' is ridiculous. People, seriously, THEY BRAINWASHED YOU. Part of why I'm still so hung up on my hatred of highschool is because I'm still realizing just how much they fucked with my brain.

I'm excited for the Obama family. Daddy O promised his girls that no matter what the result, when the race was over, they could get a puppy! :) They're a lovely family, I really hope the best for them. I wish Obama's grandmother could have seen him today!

Holy shit, this is history, right here. 9/11, the Iraq War, the Red Sox winning the World Series (twice!), gay marriage in MA, and now the first black president--the historic times I've lived through are just piling up, and I hope I remember them forever. It was blowing my mind earlier thinking about how some day I may tell my grandkids, "Yeah, I was in Beijing when we elected our first black president."

Oh God, Obama, don't fuck this up!!


awskfdhsdkfh this whole post is happy nonsense.


Tomorrow I'll be heading off to Harbin with CET for the weekend. Should be a blast--an icy, Siberan blast.