I Am London

Election night (a rough chronology)

9:00: Friends and I arrive at the Student Union bar, commence drinking.

9:something: We start doing the pub quiz, which is American-themed.  There is no real way anyone else is winning this; the first category is American Presidents, and shows pictures of old presidents.  I think I write all the answers down in 45 seconds.  (We end up winning in a landslide; the prize is a case of Budweiser, which we never end up collecting)

11:00: The TV gets turned on.  BBC coverage.  States aren’t being called.

Sidenote: The Brits we’re with seem genuinely interested about learning about the U.S. voting process.  We explain the electoral college, polling, the importance of swing states, etc; it’s very fun.  I wish I was in Chicago, but this is almost sort of as good.  Well, no, it’s not.

12:00: States are being called.  Every time a state is called for Obama, everyone stands up and starts cheering.

2:whenever: Ohio is called for Obama.  Shit is in the tank.  We start hugging and screaming and everyone wonders why; I loudly exclaim that Obama has won at this point, and the Brits we’re with are happy.

4:00: Obama officially wins when they call California and Washington for him.  Euphoria in the bar.  Hugging, crying, screaming, fist pumping, shouting, everything.

4:30: Back at my flat, we blast Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” and loudly sing along.  The security guard comes by and yells at us to be quiet.

5:00: We watch Obama’s speech in my flat’s kitchen.  Everyone is completely quiet.  Some people start crying.  More hugging.

5:30: We relocate to Matthew’s, put his iPod on, and proceed to get drunk.  Dancing commences.  It’s on lockdown.

6:30: We light sparklers in the courtyard and sing American anthems.  We go through a lot of sparklers.  From the highest windows in the dorm, we hear cheering.

7:00: We go to the Goldsmiths’ Cafe to get a hearty English breakfast.  I drunk dial my mom, then Wesley.

8:00: After reading political analysis for a bit, I crash.  Oof.