No longer Canadian

I will forever regret not being in America at the historic moment when Barack Obama became President-elect of the U.S. and delivered his acceptance speech. Instead of joining in the celebration with my fellow Americans, I was sitting alone in my little New Zealand apartment in front of the TV. In my pajamas. Not a soul to dance around with.

I am SO upset that I missed out on the spontaneous nation-wide party that broke out starting with the announcement that Obama had won. I can just imagine the collective joy that must have arisen, and I could see it on my TV screen, but I could not be there to experience it.

I love those moments of getting caught up in the moment with a crowd, sharing happiness with complete strangers and feeling no reservations about it. And what a reason to be happy! It was a historically HUGE piece of American history. The kind of moment that everyone will mark in their memory by what they were doing as the news broke. It's way cooler if you were partying down in Grant Park than if you were sitting alone in your pjs and eating ice cream out of a tub.

Of course, some people will not want to commit the day to memory, as they were dry heaving into their toilets and desperately praying to God.

But whether you're excited or not, no one can doubt it's an historic day and the parties must have ROCKED.

Among the many fresh new changes Obama brings to the country is the new willingness for many American expatriates to quit saying that they're Canadian. They're proud to be an American again! I even saw a report on one of the New Zealand news stations about that very idea, showcasing various Americans living in New Zealand who are now less shy about coming out of the closet.

I've traveled a fair bit with the American stigma hanging over my head (even to France, mind you), but I never could get myself to feel happy saying that I was Canadian, as many other travelers do out of embarrassment (or to avoid repetitive conversations, or sometimes, real hostility). I just can't do it. Forgive me for being so cheesy, but...I'm just too proud to be American. I believe America never stopped being cool, even with the little hiccup of W.'s presidency.

See, America has obviously garnered herself a hideously unflattering reputation in the last few years, everyone's aware. But when I travel abroad, and I present myself as an intelligent, well-informed, bilingual, kind and open-minded person, I'm glad to admit being American. I feel like I'm doing my teensy tiny little part in bettering the stereotypes people have about Americans abroad. I don't want to give Canada undeserved credit for me; I want it to be given to America, the place I really came from.

I can't blame the people who do profess Canadian heritage abroad though; there really is a stigma. I've got a fair collection of stories I could recount about people showing me their hostility and of getting quizzed on my personal stances on sometimes private issues by complete strangers. But I'll just give an illustration of a fairly representative exchange that took place between a New Zealand woman and Adam and me at the New Zealand fashion awards:

She said (after exchanging greetings): “What nationality are you?”

“American.”

“Ok, but what country? North America is an entire continent with several different countries. You can't just say you're American and claim the whole continent.”

(I can't remember how Adam responded to her while I stared at her incredulously. He was a good sport though.)

What we should have said: “I understand that North America is a continent; after all, I was educated in the United States. It's just that the word 'America' is in the actual name of our country, as no other country can say. Would you rather us say that we're 'United States-an?'”

Come on.

Then she says: “So, with all the evidence of global warming and the damage it's causing, why aren't you doing anything about it?”

Once again, Adam said something neutralizing and friendly, while I continued to look at her in wonderment.

What we should have answered: “I'm not actually in control of the United States' environmental policies, powerful though I may appear, nor did I vote for the administration that currently is.”

Mmhm.

Then she tried to stab us. Just kidding. But she did continue to question American domestic and foreign policy and berate us for our arrogance, as if Adam and I actually WERE the entity called the United States.

It's gonna take a lot of work to start negating this kind of criticism, but I'm quite positive that Obama is a step in that direction. Hooray for President Obama!