Obama again

By now, you should all know that Obama won another term in the White House.  Many were expecting this, but others weren't so hopeful.  Indeed it was a very long campaign, and by the end of it, everyone wanted it to be over and done with as soon as possible.  I guess, it is thus worth chronicling the night when all this came to a close.

In the evening I headed off to a bar where some friends were watching the results.  I had an evening class which ended at 9.30, so I couldn't go earlier.  Although the professor declared earlier that he will keep it short and let us leave an hour earlier, he did not.  I think he was carried away by his enthusiasm, which I must say, didn't infect us. 

When I finally arrived at the bar, at around 10.00, there was quite a nice atmosphere, with everyone looking at the big screens with expectation.  My friends where all gathered in the patio outside, which although enclosed was still very cold. On the tv's one could see the results for different states.  Then suddenly slightly after 10.15, a blue image with democratic party written on, flashed onto the screen.  This meant that Obama won.  There was an explosion of cheering.  Apparently most of the people there were Obama supporters.

All in all, it was a nice event, although it all happened so fast.  Backhome, it takes almost 24 hours to get a clear result of who won the election, and here its done in a few hours.  And the strangest thing to me, is that the results come out even before some voting places close, such as in Alaska.  What's the use of going to vote, if the result is already out?

The excitement didn't last long, and soon everyone started leaving.  So we decided to head off to some friends' house and continue the night there.  The streets were quite, no bar-coding like back home.  We watched Romney's concession of the defat, and Obama's appreciation speech from McCormick Place in my own Chicago.  I must admit I was quite proud to be in this City at this moment in time.  It's not as historical as 2008, but it still was an important event, and the President chose Chicago for it.

One other interesting fact I discovered, is that the President isn't sworn in immediately.  The official ceremony will be held on the 21st of January.  It will be obviously held in Washington D.C.  I'd like to go to it, but it will probably conflict with my school and work schedule.