Election: Many happy faces in MA

"I'm great. I feel so light. The election was just what I needed", said my neighbor this morning when we met. Like her, many people here in Massachusetts feel as if with Obama's election a burden was lifted off their shoulders.

We spent the election night at a neighbor's house. They had prepared for a big party with tons of food and decorated the room with a life-size cut-out Obama. About 40 people came, ate, drank, watched TV and cheered loudly anytime there were good news for the Obama campaign. The last seconds before the California polls closed at 11 pm east coast time were counted down as if we had New Years eve. And there it was: the CNN headline that Obama was elected president. At the party, all hell broke out: I never have experienced anything like that before. People cheered, hugged each other, laughed, cried, and our host filled dozens of glasses with champagne... I was surprised about the intensity of the emotions. Normally, people here in MA are a bit stiff and restrained (like we northern Europeans), but yesterday evening was totally different.

Today, in an Austrian newspaper, I read already about concerns some Europeans have. Many people in Europe watched Obama's speech yesterday evening and how he fired up the crowd in Chicago. The concern now is that people may expect too much of him. One comment was: "He is not Messiah, just a human being".