I'm apologizing in advance for writing about the election, because well we're all sick of seeing every political article being shared to our timelines. But, I swear this will be worthwhile, because here is how I saw the election from another country.
Before heading off to Copenhagen for the semester, I was aware that I would be returning to a new country with a new elected president. Before leaving, I jokingly told many people that if a "certain someone," was to be elected, I wouldn't be coming home at the end of the semester.Although, I'm not crazy about the subject of politics, I had been following the candidates throughout their campaigns. Not only was this the first election I was eligible to vote in, it would be the first time I was going to be hearing about politics from the eyes of another country. Before leaving, I jokingly told many people that if a "certain someone," was to be elected, I wouldn't be coming home at the end of the semester.
These last few months, I have learned that the Danes are very curious with American Politics. Whether in the grocery store, or sitting down at a restaurant, once they hear that you are American, they will not be afraid to ask you about your opinions on the candidates running. From "Don't elect Trump" to "What do you think of Hillary and her emails?", they are not afraid to stop and ask you anything, no matter where you are.
November 8th finally came, and I don't think anyone was ready for this day, and the results that were to come. Riding the bus to school, people were reading a Danish newspaper with both Trump and Clinton's face on the cover. I didn't even bother translating the headline, not wanting to know what it possibly could have read. I could have guessed, and it wouldn't have been positive. Later that evening, a group of us from my building waited anxiously in front of the TV in the common room. With the six hour time change, we would be waiting there for a long time, but at this point we didn't care about sleep. Not that we would have had a good night's sleep anyway. Finally polls in the US were just starting to close. The waiting game continued. It was all becoming so surreal. After over a year of all this talk of the election, the night was finally here.
No matter how hard I tried to stay up that night, I was falling asleep to the news reporters on the screen. I made the executive decision to go to bed for a few hours, and then wake up early as the final states were being called. Three hours later, I woke up on my own, and immediately checked my phone for news notifications. Of course, my phone was blowing up, so for the next few minutes I caught up by reading the notifications, and by checking Facebook. It felt as if I was living in my own nightmare. So much had happened during the three hours I had spent sleeping. I knew that there was no way I was going to go back to bed now. I stayed awake, and witnessed the new president of the United States be announced.
With the outcome of the election, many people are taking to social media. Many people were affected by the results from the outcome. It's interesting being on the other side of the world and seeing how the rest of America is reacting. From silent, peaceful protests, to not so silent protests, it was hard to watch everyone's different reactions. Whether you were happy of the outcome, or outraged, I hope we can put our differences aside and join as one. I am quite scared to be coming home next month to a different America.
