When I received Greg's email with the link in it to the Huffington Post's slideshow that showed reactions around the world, I immediately went to the website. When I was looking through the pictures, I found myself grinning at my computer screen. The images in that slide show were nothing short of amazing. I couldn't help but think of the hole we have been digging ourselves the past 8 years not only in our own country, but around the world. I agree with what was mentioned in class, that one man cannot be our savior, but it feels nice to once again have that feeling that there is hope, light at the end. I also couldn't help but notice the sense of unity that I was feeling when looking at those pictures. There were people of all different backgrounds, beliefs, religions, etc, that were all excited to see a new leader in our country. There were two pictures that really stuck out to me, the one with the children in Indonesia and the one from Philadelphia, PA. The one with the child holding up the picture of Barack really made me think of how other countries must have viewed the US. If children that would not even be old enough to vote in the election are that elated that we have a new leader, he must really stand for something. I was awestruck by the picture from PA. There is such a great range of emotions in that picture. People are dancing, hugging, and crying, but no matter what they are doing, they are happy. I can only imagine the feeling in Grant Park that night, if I was moved by just looking at pictures. Obama now has some big shoes to fill, a lot of people have very high expectations of him.
Did you have any reactions to the slideshow? How are you feeling about the recent election?
3 comments:
I also had to look at the pictures right away and I was surprised at how the election affected people all over the world. I guess I never realized how many other countries watched the election and were involved in it. I liked how one picture from Denmark wore buttons just like people did here. I was confused on why the man was lying on the floor in the picture from London maybe because he passed out from excitement that Obama won, I'm not really sure. Even in Senegal, there was a picture of Obama in the window of a car which I thought was interesting. Japan stuck out to me with the banner and also Indonesia with the boy holding up the picture of Obama at the school he used to go to. Like Caitlin said, it is interesting to see how the election affected students that aren't even old enough to vote and the impact it made on them. I also went to a link to the reactions of McCain supporters and of course there were looks of disappointment and sadness but one that I thought was interesting was one from Arizona with a dad with his arms around his two kids and all three of them seemed upset. So going back to the fact that even children were affected in this election which made me open my eyes more.
The slide show was so moving. I had goose bumps running through my body and had tears in my eyes throughout the entire slide show. It is touching to see how one man can affect the happiness of so many. I understood that this would be a historical election and I understood that this election was going be a big deal, but wow, I never expected all of this. I remember watching an overview of Grant Park as the president-elect was announced and Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech. Everybody was so happy and crying tears of joy. We all are in desperate need of hope and I believe that he restored our faith in our country with his speech. Maybe not all of our faith, but it made me so excited to see what he can do for our country over the next four years. I was surprisingly shocked at how so many other countries were affected by our election. My question is, is this normal? Did this happen when George Bush was elected into the presidency? I realized that this was truly a historical moment for not only our country, but for other countries around the world.
That slide show was so exciting to view. It was interesting how some of the pictures were very full of emotion and others (like the one of the soldiers in Afghanistan) were almost stoic. I wonder if the other countries have ever followed our elections as closely before. I find myself thinking that after 8 years of President Bush, the rest of the world was very interested in how America voted more so than when the election was between Bush and Kerry, or even Bush and Gore. I also agree with Caitlin and Kelly that the pictures of students who aren't old enough to vote, or even children in other countries who would not be able to vote even if they were old enough, were very moving. I never remember being passionate about elections when I was younger. In fact, I remember when Clinton was elected but I could not tell you how I felt about it. I was probably indifferent about elections until I was old enough to vote four years ago. Although, if any of the elections prior to me being voting age would have been as historic as this one, I think I would have paid attention. The slide show helped me realize that this election was not only historic for America, but for the world as well.
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