Celebration!!
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008Halloween in New Zealand came and went fairly uneventfully. Basically a holiday with no cultural connections whatsoever, China has brought in the plastic costumes and a few kids craving “lollies” have talked mums and dads into buying them. But according to the Monday morning stories, this weak interest has created real little monsters, grumpy kids with skinny bags, demanding money and making threats. Luckily I didn’t see a single kid at my flat since the only sweet treat I could have offered would have been a spoonful of honey thrust into their painted pucker.
In contrast, despite the gusty wind and rain outside, tonight I hear fireworks blasting from every direction. “Guy Fawkes Day” I’m told is the biggest fireworks celebration of the year (and also includes the jolly burning of replica “Guys” as well). Since a celebration of an attempt to blow up British Parliament in 1603 really holds nil significance to me, I think I’ll give these sparkles and booms another meaning.
For me, the fireworks celebration is for the US Elections. I guess you could wonder why someone who’s barely been in the States for the past two years and who isn’t even living there now should care about US politics. Well, with surprising sentimentality, I found that with Obama’s election I feel sincerely optimistic. I feel that maybe for the first time in years as an American away from America, maybe, just maybe I won’t have to feel ashamed or apologetic. Maybe I will even be able to feel…..gulp…..proud. For those who haven’t left the states and for those who are maybe not feeling internal fireworks tonight, this probably makes no sense. It doesn’t have to. Time will tell. All I know is that I surprisingly found many Kiwis nearly equally as excited as I about the results of the American election. Does that seem strange? Hardly. Even if America is resented, hated, avoided, or envied, the fact remains that it’s a country with a huge profile and influence. Maybe this time it can be a clever profile and a positive influence.
Bang, kabzoom, yippee!!
bimpy_ak