Holilday season is almost here. That sounds strange if you do not live in the US, but next week is going to be a quiet because of Thanksgiving. I wrote about Thanksgiving last year so I will not tell you again that Thanksgiving is about eating turkey (the bird, not the country). Nor that the Friday after is known as Black Friday because of all the sales going on everywhere. Thanksgiving is generally more important than Christmas, perhaps mostly because it applies to all beliefs.

Imagine going to work with Christmas. That would be really weird if you have celebrated it as an important holiday your whole life. But personally I have nothing with Thanksgiving, and neither have the many other nationality postdocs here. I imagine that a good number of people are spending time in their labs. Myself, I will spend Thanksgiving with a few close friends in an ocean view house in Connecticut. Sounds gorgeous, and it will be lots of fun for sure. But remember that it is getting pretty cold here at the moment. In the weekend we still enjoyed a pleasant 22 degrees Celsius, but this morning it was minus 4! Fortunately somebody introduced the magic game of Settlers of Catan into my social circle so time spend inside will not go to waste.
Thanksgiving is about eating (it is a harvest celebration, after all) and the American contingent in our small group is making extensive plans for a huge meal. Eating, drinking, playing some board games… sounds like a typical Christmas to me!

My flight from Amsterdam landed around 5pm and I got home around seven. Flights always gave me head aches, I think because of the dry air. But a head ache was the last thing I needed last night, as I had ten or so friends coming to my place to follow the Apocalypse. Slowly the first results started dripping in; McCain leads Indiana, Obama takes Virginia and North-Carolina, Florida goes neck-to-neck.

But at 11pm the word was out. The second name of the 44th President of the USA is Hoessein. Everybody had been nervous during the day and it was a great relief to reach the point of no return. His speech was fantastic and historic. Then we started a bet when the first killing attempt on his life would take place. I think he is running a great risk and we can only hope that he has sufficient security. Another issue is the Obama craze that is going on. It is just a matter of time for people to get disappointed as nobody can live up to these expectations. And he is also facing decisions that will make people unhappy either way.
The choice for Obama has really surprised me. I never thought a black guy would get elected, especially with such convincing numbers. The US deserves credit for its ability to change so dramatically. I can only enjoy being here at these historic times.

_{Credits for the picture goes to http://freemanpress.wordpress.com/}