pith…

Not living in the States has been a great antidote for election fever. I woke up and went to work today as I would any other day and found that I was actually the least interested in the results. My coworkers greeted me not with “Good morning!” or “How are you feeling?” (I had been out all of the previous week with strep throat), they didn’t even mention the fact that my hair had magically gone from 70’s rock-guitar-slinger to 90’s fresh-cut-for-work. I had even shaved off my beard. The only question I got was: “Who won?”

The first person to ask me this question, ironically, was the school’s baseball coach. I had been at the public bath the night before and caught the score of the Japan Series game–the world series of Japanese Pro Baseball–in the seventh inning, but didn’t watch to the end. Needless to say, my response of, “I don’t know. The Giants were winning 5 to 4 in the seventh, but I didn’t see the end,” was met with a disappointing sigh.

That’s not to say I didn’t vote. I did, almost three weeks ago, in fact. I’m actually rather proud that I did because the absentee ballot is easy to submit in person, but incredibly annoying to fill out and mail-in, especially since I needed to find an American to sign it. Seriously? I live in a town of three thousand Japanese people in the middle of the snowy mountains; you’re saying my principal isn’t good enough to be a witness?

Practically speaking, however, I had been cordoned off from the fervor that apparently had swept across the States. Imagine my surprise when I fired up my computer this morning and found nothing on the Internet but election stories. I had a couple free class periods and felt very much like procrastinating, so I followed the live updates from various news sites. My afternoon classes, despite my growing interest in the tally, were not going to be canceled.

The final period of my Wednesday was spent in calligraphy class, working in vain to write something resembling Japanese and talking about the election with my calligraphy teacher. I would be surprised if the students at my school could name the current prime minister (Taro Aso) let alone know anything about the American election. I left class a few minutes early to fire up my browser and check the latest tally.

My calligraphy teacher, Mrs. Yaegashi, is about 65 years old. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her run before, and she had certainly never beaten the students out of the classroom, but today she dismissed them early. Seconds before the bell rang I heard the pattering of elderly footsteps rush up behind me. “So? Who won?”

“Obama. Obama won.”

She grabbed me by the shoulders and let out a little scream. “Aren’t you excited?! Aren’t you happy?! I’m so happy!” I was looking through the Wisconsin elections, checking to see if my vote for Kagen had meant anything. “It’s okay, I guess. Everyone kind of knew he was going to win, anyway.”

Her desk is just across from mine. Before she turned around she said, “I couldn’t even sleep last night. I just watched the news until morning.” I think she was actually skipping back to her chair. Just as she was sitting down she saw the baseball coach walk into the teacher’s room from his previous class. I sat at my desk silently, staring at the words “Mr. President” and Mrs. Yaegashi yelled across the room, “Obama won!”