Election results

News of the results of the US Presidential election have been talked about around school. The day after the election a few teachers were talking about the results. One teacher actually congratulated myself and another lecturer on the President-elect. Some of my students have asked my thoughts, if I am happy with the decision. I said that I am happy, and feel confident that if Obama knows what he is doing and surrounds himself with people who know what they are doing he will do a good job.

I have asked students for their reactions and thoughts. It has been interesting to hear what my students have to say. Some of them are fairly well informed on what Obama's views on different topics are (e.g. views in Iraq and Afghanistan, economy, etc.). All the students think it is a big and good step for the United States to have an African-American President. They think this will help to change them view of some people around the world, being able to see a person for the individual and not how the person looks or the color of their skin. They think it will take a while for a person to be elected a leader of a European country whose origins may not be European. One student made note of an interesting perspective. He thought that Barack Obama will have a difficult time making and keeping a good name. This is because he, and other students, feel people will be more critical of Obama because he is African-American. They feel that if something goes wrong people will blame it on Obama being African-American and then people may feel they do not want to vote for an African-American president again. I think this is an interesting point, and may hold true for some people. It is unfortunate, but often times people will blame something going wrong on what is new or has changed. I hope that this does not happen this time though, I am sure many people will be watching the President-elect closely though.

As the time goes by bringing us closer to winter. The leaves have changed color and many have fallen off the trees. Fog has been coming in too. When I was playing football and baseball with my first year students fog started to role in. We were outside for period 1 and 2, 7:45- 9:20. The students all had a blast though. The most telling sign that cold weather is coming arrived this morning. When I was walking to school today I noticed the grass was covered in frost. This is the first frost I have seen. This seems to mean that winter is on the way. It will be interesting to see what winter is like when surrounded by mountains.