Election Day

I went to bed last night in China with polls opening across the country in America. In some ways I am disappointed not to be in the US or even awake during election day. November 4th is bound to be a historic day and I am not there to experience it. But as disappointed as I am, sleeping through the anxiety has its benefits as well. I slept last night like a child on Christmas Eve. I also slept like a high school student the night before the SATs, dreaming that I walked into the test with no pencil and no clothes on, or in this case that something horribly wrong would happen when election results began to come in. When I finally got out of bed and readied myself for class, the first polls were just closing. Now I am sitting in my living room, computer on my lap, NPR WAMC streaming, and refreshing nytimes.com and cnn.com every other minute or so. It is strange to be so far away from America on such a monumental day. I can only imagine how different the atmosphere in America is from here in China. Here, everyone is going about their day as usual. They are not just indifferent, but oblivious to what is happening in the US. 

Looking back, I remember the only other presidential election that I have voted in--the 2004 election. It was my freshman year of college, and I was in a overwhelmingly liberal environment. I remember sitting in the common room watching the news until about 3 in the morning, desperately hoping that something would happen to change the direction that the results were going. In the defeat there was a sense of community though. I think that is what I feel I am missing out on most today--and what I will be missing most tomorrow. As results come in, it appears that tomorrow will be a day that marks the first step in a new direction; yet, I will, for the most part, experience it alone.