The Hook

From a Canadian-born English instructor in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates:

As people waited in long line-ups in the United States to cast their vote, expatriates from around the world and citizens in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) watched enthusiastically, awaiting the results.

Lecturers and students at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi were some of those watchers and some of the voters. They were asked whose side they were on and what effect they believed the outcome would have worldwide. The majority of people on this side of the world were clearly Barack Obama supporters. Obama all the way! On this side of the globe people are feeling that Obama will offer something refreshing, something new, and something hopeful.

“Obama, he is this generation's JFK, only we pray he doesn’t end up like him” an American lecturer, John O’Neil, said when asked whom he wanted to win the election. With Obama, he said, things would become “refreshingly possible.” It seems that expatriates working in the UAE want change in the US.

An English teacher from Britain who is in his sixties now and has seen a lot said that Obama is going to win are that he is “young, black, and charismatic, and because the US needs to be perceived differently by the rest of the world.”

Other lecturers from the United States conveyed similar perspectives. Annie Boddicker said that if Obama wins, he “offers a glimmer of economic hope… if McCain wins, I would feel very little hope that we will be able to avoid a full-on depression.”

Marian Kamlin, a University lecturer who has been in Al Ain for over ten years, stated that Obama will “turn the US in a more positive direction, away from all the negative rhetoric and defensive position.” Marian also said that she hadn’t been this interested in elections since Jesse Jackson.

An English coordinator from Australia, Barbara Struthers, summed it up in simple words: “McCain = regression and Obama = progression.”

The university’s female students, who are in their late teens, have not travelled outside of the UAE or Asia and are learning English as a foreign language. They also expressed their clear support for Obama. They felt that because “he is black” and with a different cultural background, he would be “different” … more understanding towards people from other countries. He may even stop the war, many of them said.

Whether that is actually possible is a big question, but it was evident that Obama has become a symbol of hope, internationally and among all ages.

Even though most people have expressed a positive outlook on the elections and its outcome, some have other views. A Palestinian instructor at the university has not been watching the elections and believes that nothing will change, especially the present situation with Israel.

He didn’t follow the elections “because all the American presidents (Democrats or Republicans) are blindfolded and detached from reality due to their axiomatic bias toward Israel.” He believes that whether it be Obama or McCain, the outcome will be the same, which is supporting Israel for their own personal gains.

Whether supporters or doubters, people in the UAE wait anxiously to see what change will come about with Barack Obama as president.