Change 2009

Just a little after midnight (Bangkok time), I and several hundred of my fellow Americans watched Barack Obama become the 44th President of the United States.

The three floors of the Roadhouse BBQ Bar & Restaurant had been swelling with outspoken anticipation as we all revisited our grievances over the last eight years as well as our hopes for the next.

There was hardly room to stand, let alone sit, and the air conditioning that would have more than sufficed on a regular bar night did nothing to combat the heat emanating from our large number. Nevertheless, all of these thoughts had long been relegated to the background while we waited, talked, ate, and drank for hours before the official swearing-in.

This was the night of the Inauguration of the President of the United States, but, even so, the room was filled with other representatives of the world. I, myself, was sandwiched between friends from Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, and the UK. During Obama's speech, they cheered when I cheered, laughed when I laughed, and cried as I cried. International friends whispered 'Congratulations' into my ears as we hugged and one even sweetly stated, 'I'm so jealous of your president.'

Certainly, to whom much is given much is required. Obama carries with him the weight of our dreams and expectations and the eyes of the world will be on his every move to see if he will be able to live up to the mantra of 'change' that we have heard so often over the past year.

Nevertheless, looking around the room moments after the swearing-in and seeing the people laugh, cry, hug, and kiss (a scene that would have normally been more in line with a NYE celebration than an inauguration), it was easy to see that before passing one official act, Obama has truly accomplished something that many would have deemed impossible:

He has made us one, he has given hope ... not only to my fellow Americans but to the rest of the world as well.