Obama!

Nearly a week after Obama became the president-elect I finally have a few minutes to sit down and write about that amazing day. The weather was warm and sunny, quite unusual for Chicago in November. I got up in the morning, donned my Obama shirt from the rally in Iowa back in January, and headed out to vote with Eileen in tow. We arrived at my polling place at about 10:30 am, ready to wait in a very long line. Lucky for me though, I waked right in (after covering up my Obama colors), voted, and walked right out. My only complaint was that I did not get an “I voted” sticker. I was quite tempted to sello/scotchtape the “voting receipt” they did give me to my shirt. The rest of the day was busy and it was tough not to keep thinking about the election.
Evening finally came. After a bit of confusion over tickets, we all managed to get our “printable election night event ticket” and the SGM lab group headed down to Grant Park wearing much Obama gear, hopeful but nervous. When we arrived at the park we saw that it was an absolute mob scene. But the mob was spunky and friendly and excited and HOPEful. We made our way past a series of check points, at one of which they threatened to take away Marie’s cookies, and eventually found yourself in the field where Obama was to speak. We somehow did not manage to get into the inner-inner area, but we did have quite a good view of the huge screen and a bit of a view of the stage from our vantage point. And, most importantly, we were right in the middle of the incredible atmosphere.
After a few hours of standing (and getting some sore feet) and watching electoral vote “projections” roll in from CNN for various states, things were looking better and better, and the crowd was getting more and more excited. And then when the California polls closed we saw it, “CNN projects Obama win”. And we all went insane. Crying, hugging, kissing, clapping, screaming, praying, it was absolutely amazing. I shed more than a few tears myself. Strangely it felt a bit like being in New York on 9/11, with the emotions exactly reversed. A sharing something with everyone around you, and knowing just how everyone else feels. It’s hard to describe.
After the screaming and cheering died down a bit we watched McCain’s gracious concession speech, and began the wait to hear from the future 44th President of the United States of America. When Obama did come out and speak the crowd again went wild. His inspiring speech made me feel again what I first felt at that rally in Des Moines, that things in this country CAN get better. It may be cliché, but that doesn't make it any less true. After having spent my entire voting with Bush in office such optimism is remarkable and unfamiliar to me. I am proud of my country for the first time in my adult life.

Wrapping up 2 years in Britain

I just have a just one more week in the UK, and since I've been such a bad blogger I won't even try for an all inclusive post here. Instead just a few overall impressions. This year has been full of travel, Christmas in New York and Iowa, back to the US to for PhD interviewing in February, a conference in Barcelona in March, a June week in in Kosova for Nita's wedding, a week in the Czech Republic and Germany with Eileen's family, a week in August in California with mine, a weekend in Bratislava, back to Germany for a wedding, and lots of short trips up to Edinburgh via train to see friends. These trips have been (mostly) wonderful. In between I have spent a bit of time at home in Manchester. Living in the UK has been a challenging experience these last few years. It's so beautiful and green, and completely charming, but also in equal part aggravating. Expectations are just different here. As an American I expect things to work, and work quickly, all the time. If something does not work I get annoyed and expect it to be fixed promptly. Not so here. Case in point, Eileen's and my flat/apartment. We had our heat "fixed" about 4 times this winter and still needed socks, blankets, hoodies and hot water bottles to keep warm. We had one major flood and one minor one. Mold grew on the wall. Three time. It was so damp in the flat/apartment that our clothes never dried properly and started to smell. We had to wipe down the windows twice a day to keep accumulated moisture from running down the wall in streams.

But I don't want to dwell on that. I am truly an incurable optimist and I did a reasonably good job of not letting Britain's quirks (why no mixed taps?!) get me down. I have met so many great people here in my program in Edinburgh, and then working and learning British Sign Language in Manchester, even if I don't drink enough for proper British bonding. And perhaps most fun of all for me has been being surrounded by other Englishes for the last two years. I love noticing the differences between others' dialects of English and mine. I'll give just a few of my favorites, especially the ones one is unlikely to hear on a short trip here, which hopefully will give a little flavor of my life these last few years.

In Britain you can "talk English" as well as speak it. In British English you can "fall pregnant", and if you really fall you use a "plaster" to cover your wound. When you want to thank someone you have several choices, you can choose "thank you" but "cheers" or "ta" also works in less formal situations. "Ta" in particular is a great word. You also use it a lot when playing with babies in order to get them to give you whatever they are holding. And it for many of them it makes them seemingly magically release their previous grip-o'-death hold. And speaking of babies, here they suck on "dummies", and are pushed in prams or push chairs or buggies. Children of all ages are very often "cheeky". If you aren't too focused you are "all over the shop." Things that are drawn out and irritating are often described as "a bit of a faff". And "the way forward" generally is that which involves the least faffing. If you are superstitious here you "touch wood" instead of knocking on it, and if you are good gardener your fingers are green, not your thumb. You pick up your prescription at the "chemist" and fix any written in ink errors with "tipex". Cities often have their own adjectives, Mancunian (Manchester), Glaswegian (Glasgow), and Liverpudlian (Liverpool) are some of my favorites.

Beyond just vocabulary differences, in Mancunian English if you want to know something you can ask someone to "tell it me" or if you want something to "give it me". Collective nouns (those which refer to groups) are plural here so if Italy plays China in football/soccer then you would say "Italy win", not wins. Perhaps the Britishism "different to" (not from or than) American English caused me the most trouble is "You alright?". Sounds just like American English, but deceptively its meaning is much more along the lines of "hello" than what's wrong? Got to figure that one out quickly or you might think that all Brits think you look particularly out of sorts all the time.

I will miss life on this beautiful but often dysfunctional island, especially the caramel bars, Pimm's, regular tea breaks, unlimited monthly cinema/movie passes, friendly bus drivers, and speedy, scenic train travel. I'll certainly be back to visit.

Iowa Caucus

Well for anyone not on facebook, here's a bit of what it's been like to be in Des Moines caucusing in the Iowa caucus:

Complete and utter chaos. Welcome to Iowa.
That was how the meeting of my precinct closed. And the caucus most certainly was. Everyone (470 people!) packed into a high school cafeteria. The assembled group included the governor and attorney general of Iowa. First, all 470 of us had to count off, which took at least 20 minutes. I was 182. And then the "electioneering" began. I started off at Kucinich. He had 12 supporters initially, but by the first count was down to 5. 71 people were required for "viability" so after the first count I had to decide where to go instead. Several supporters of other candidates headed over to try to persuade us to come to their groups. Then a plot began to emerge. All of the non-Hillary non-Obama supporters were asked to join together to make Edwards viable (he needed about 19 more people). And it worked. He became viable.
After 15 minutes of this "discussion" I joined the Obama horde. In the end my precinct gave 5 delegates to Obama, 2 to Edwards, and 2 to Hillary. Now my whole family is watching the results from the other precincts roll in on TV.
I can't believe that this crazy process has such an enormous effect on how American chooses a president. America.
More on general info about the Iowa caucus here if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_caucus