American in Prague

Like millions of other Americans, I'm going to blog tonight about my feelings on such a day as the inauguration of yet another US president. I unfortunately missed much of the media hoopla; seriously. If I had not had to be at work today, I would have been glued to the television and computer. Yes, television. If I understood it correctly this morning, Czech TV was going to start broadcasting around 12:30 this afternoon, which is about 6:30am Eastern time. So, I had to be at work – scheduled event and I am the person who sets up the rooms for such events, not to mention who does all the other administration-type things, not to mention this particular event only happens once every 2 or 3 months. And then I had Czech class. So, at the end of a long day, I walked past one of the offices and heard the inauguration coverage on the computer. Our office shares space with a US business, so two Americans were watching the live streaming coverage. I entered, was offered a glass of wine and toasted a "new America."

One of my Czech colleagues came in to join us and we watched a bit. I got to see Aretha sing (but, please, lady – that hat? I am all for the fabulous hats but I would have done without the bedazzled look.) and Biden get sworn in (I was, I admit, so very underwhelmed by him. Let's hope that we can return to the good old days when the VP is good for nothing but launching ships and attending state funerals. But the bright side is that Biden is a good history teaching tool – okay, kids, what is incorrect about this statement: in 1929, FDR went on television to ease the people's fears.) And then we thought I'd have time to see Obama be sworn in (I had to leave at 6pm) but nope. The quartet, of very talented musicians (they didn't just pick these guys up from the street) and a very beautiful piece (I actually backtracked to listen to a bit more) but I missed the actual swearing in, anticipating seeing it on the internet at some point. I'm currently listening to CNN.com and am waiting for the replay of the speech. One of the comments that I did make while we watching the crowds was referring to the weather. Today is that cold day in DC when a black man becomes president…so there! Then I had to leave.

As I was walking across Old Town, a few thoughts crossed my mind. First, how can all of these people just be going about their daily business? As I crossed Wenceslas Square, I turned to look to the top and had a very tiny piece of my mind expecting to see crowds in celebration. The world is celebrating but where is everyone? The second thought is something that amazes me every 4 years and has hit home even more so this year as I live in Eastern Europe, a region that still has people freezing to death because of petty political squabbling and Russian power plays, a region that witnessed multiple crises and wars to decide who has power (yea, I know, I live in the world of the Velvet Divorce but still). We are, as Reverend "Saddleback" pointed out, celebrating the 44^th time that we have had a non-violent transfer of power in the US. That is pretty damn amazing. Even with after such vitriolic elections that we have had in the last 10 years, although less so this year, we peacefully hand over the keys to the White House…maybe not the 'Ws' but everything else….So, on a day when we finally prove that we can not only talk the talk, but also walk the walk as a great nation, on a day when the entire world is possibly regaining just a little bit more respect for us, I have a tear in my eye…I guess it's just a little speck of democracy.