I know that everyone’s brother and themselves are writing the same kind of noise on their blogs, but I would like to express my feelings about the election results.

I didn’t realize before how much I had been obsessed. Not just about this election, but about GWB and how he has taken this country down from some of its greatest heights to some of its gloomiest depths in such a short time. It had saddened and hardened me and has really changed my life for the last 8 years. I mean, he’s the whole reason I’m here in Japan. I would never have felt the urge to leave the country for a significant amount of time if it weren’t for the disgrace, sadness, and shame (yes, I’m not afraid to say it “shame”!) that I have felt about my country for so long. But at the same time, I have been possessed with following its spiraling downfall for all these years.

I haven’t talked about it much, but I’ve really been a news junkie. I don’t know why, but over all this time, I’ve had to find out what’s the next way that guy was going to drag our name, our tradition, our pride, through the dirt. Going to war for fatuous reasons, excusing torture of fellow human beings, and irresponsible tax cuts were just the headlines. I have been obsessed with finding out every little detail of this downfall. There’s been some sense of duty in finding out every little mistake. I was unable to go to sleep without listening to NPR or the BBC to hear what it was.

Then when this election season began, I really started tightening up. Hillary was not the answer, and definitely not McCain. But there was a new hope on the horizon. Could this really happen? Was there really a light in the tunnel? There was hope, sure, but was it real? There were too many disappointments along the way to be optimistic. But it’s happened!

I feel as if now there is hope again for America. Obama is not at all perfect, but now we’re, finally, finally, finally, back on the right track. I don’t have to follow this politics stuff anymore. We’re in good hands now. I can devote my energy to thinking about my own life now. Instead of feeling a need to listen to the news in English all the time, I can finally start living in Japan, immerse myself in this great country.

So, no, I’m not coming back to the States anytime soon. (Although it was a very negative reason that it began, I’m still very happy with my life here now and the direction that it’s taken - I will continue here). My current visa doesn’t expire until 2011 and it will take at least until then to get my Japanese up to a point where I’d be comfortable in leaving.

This has been a completely rambling post, and I apologize for its incoherence. Such a great feeling of relief and ecstasy, it may take a few days to stop walking on air. Things are looking up, and that’s the only direction to go.

Thank you, American people! Thanks, Barack Obama! You’ve got a long hard, almost hopeless task before you, but there’s no other way I’d rather have it at this point. Godspeed!

That’s all for now…

:)