By Alexa Ottenstein
When I decided to leave American University in Washington DC for a semester to study abroad in Beijing, I knew I’d be missing out on something that only happens once during your college years: the US presidential election.
My friends who were in D.C. for the 2008 election said it was an experience they’ll never forget – from watching the election results together to celebrating all night in front of the White House. While I knew I’d definitely be missing out on this, I realized I’d still have a unique experience watching it unfold from China.
I arrived in Beijing at the end of August and tried my best to keep up with campaign news and speak to peers both here and in the United States about it. I requested my absentee ballot at the end of September and hoped I would receive it in time. I watched as some of my friends back in the U.S. campaigned day and night for the candidate they supported. As Nov 6th got closer, my inbox was flooded every day with e-mails from the Obama campaign. I finally received my absentee ballot via e-mail a week beforehand and faxed in my completed ballot. I had officially voted from China.
I found my interactions with Chinese peers to be very interesting. At a cocktail party in October hosted by a Peking University student organization, I asked the students whether or not they liked Barack Obama. Every student I asked said they did. I was quite shocked by this and knew that if I asked Americans the same question, the results would be quite different. The students were very curious about the election and wanted to know which candidate I supported. I also asked other Chinese I met and almost always got the same answer.
The election was a major discussion topic in my classes and Barack Obama even showed up on some of my homework assignments in Chinese class. I observed many Peking University students watching CCTV’s campaign coverage in the cafeterias and gym on campus.
Luckily for me, I wouldn’t have to stay up all night to watch the election results like many of my friends. The time difference worked in my favor and the results started coming in late morning on November 7th. I wore my “ObaMao” t-shirt and got many interesting looks on the subway. A few people pointed at my shirt and smiled at me.
I kept refreshing CNN.com and Huffington Post to see how the Electoral College map was shaping up. My dad and I exchanged a lot of e-mails back and forth as he kept me updated since I didn’t have access to a television. I spoke to a few friends in D.C. who were waiting for the official result to be called so they could head to the White House to celebrate.
The results were called at around 12:30 p.m. Beijing time with Obama being the clear winner. I jumped out of my chair and breathed a sigh of relief. The Huffington Post home page read “Viva Obama!” and CNN.com’s headline said “It’s Obama.”
I logged onto Facebook and my news feed was absolutely covered in statuses and pictures related to the election. I saw pictures of friends at the White House and definitely missed being there for the excitement. I decided to check the People’s Daily website and China Daily, but didn’t see any big headlines. In the weeks leading up to the election, I saw a lot of coverage, but once the results came out, it seemed to die down.
The next morning I walked to the news stand right outside the Peking University campus to pick up some newspapers and magazines with Obama on the cover. A few friends and family members wanted me to bring them a copy. To my surprise, I only found one newspaper with a picture of Obama on the front page. I asked the person working there where Obama was, and he pointed to that newspaper and a few magazines.
By not being in the United States for the election, it really allowed me to see and experience it differently. I was surprised by how interested Chinese people were and I was eager to learn about how they perceived the two candidates. I found myself excited to talk about the election and very curious to see how it was covered in the media here.
The author is a student at American University in Washington D.C. studying abroad at Peking University.
