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Ok, guys, here's kind of a stream-of-consciousness retelling of my day. I should have pictures later.
I got to be an usher at the speech this morning. The ushering part was pretty boring – just had to hang around for a while before the speech and collect people’s tickets, etc.
Once JK arrived, the speech got started. I’m sure that you’ve all seen the text, so you know what it’s about. Gaston Hall, where the speech was given, was completely full (with lots of people standing, too) and everyone was really paying attention to what he was saying. There was applause at a few points. I’m sure you’ll see it all on C-Span.
The Q&A, in my opinion, was the best part of the presentation. JK seemed really relaxed, and his exchanges with the students were really funny. For example, when one girl said that she was from Ohio, he sighed and said “Oh, Ohio . . . . . why couldn’t you all live there?” And everyone laughed. Another student thanked him for coming to speak at Georgetown, and JK replied, "Well, thanks for coming to listen. It could have been a very lonely experience." More laughter.
After the speech, a ton of people went toward the front of the stage to see JK. He was shaking hands and signing autographs, etc. Teresa was there too, and I talked to her. I shook her hand and asked if I could have a picture with her, and she said, “of course.” The whole time, I was standing right next to JK, too, but there were so many people around that I couldn’t get his attention. So my friend and I talked to Teresa some more, and we told her that we were big fans of hers, and she asked us what year we were, and when we told her that we were freshmen, she said, “you’re just babies!” After a few minutes, one of my friends asked to take a picture with her, and Teresa said, “Okay, but come with me backstage,” so she took us to the back and we posed for pictures. Her son Andre is a graduate of Georgetown, and she was telling someone, “Yeah, I’m a Hoya mom. I’m a Hoya survivor.” (FYI, the Hoya is the Georgetown mascot. It's a long story.) After a while, she left and we left, but one of John Kerry’s staff people helped got John Kerry to autograph or tickets for us.
So, then we left, but as we walked around the back of the building to get back to our dorm, JK and THK were outside posing for pictures with people. A group of about 20 students had gathered, and John and Teresa came over to speak to us. JK was talking to us, and one girl told him that she thought his concession speech was wonderful, and that it made her cry. A couple of other girls said that they had cried after the election, too, and he was like “I guess you guys need hugs!” so he gave them hugs. At that point, I said, “can I have a hug, too?” and he said, “Of course! I guess I promised a lot of people those in my concession speech.” And I said, “Yes, you did!” and he gave me a big, wonderful hug. I told them that I had skipped class to see him and he said, “That’s okay, I skipped class all the time!” His conversation with us was very natural and normal - he seemed very relaxed and interested in talking to us. He urged us to stay involved in political things because we can really change things. We chatted with Teresa, too, and we got her to sign all our tickets. John told her that he had to go, and she was kind of confused and said, “Where are you going?” and he said, “I have to go vote!” At that moment, he had one arm around my friend, Ann, but he also leaned over and said, “Bye, lovie!” and gave Teresa a kiss on the lips. It was really cute, except Ann felt a little awkward. John left (in a very inconspicuous Dodge sedan. It’s funny, because when most speakers show up here, they arrive with a whole fleet of black SUV’s and limos, but he was just in this little normal car. It was nice.) Teresa stayed for a couple more minutes, but her people kept telling her that she had to go, but she stayed and signed everyone’s autographs. The think about Teresa is that she’s kind of spacey, but in a really wonderful and adorable way. She had a pen in her hand that someone had given her to use, and she was like “Where is the girl from New Jersey? This is her pen! Someone find the girl from New Jersey!” I offered to take the pen, and she said, “Give it to the girl from New Jersey!” The girl had obviously left by that time, so I still have the pen – practically everyone at this school is from New Jersey, so I have no hope of finding the pen’s owner. At that point, Teresa got in a Chrysler minivan that someone was picking her up in, and then she was driven away.
Anyway, it was a really, really wonderful day. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me (it didn't fit in the small purse I had brought with me) so I had to borrow other people's cameras and I have to get them to send the pics to me. But it was a wonderful day and I can say that I love John Kerry even more now than I did before (and I liked him a lot before!), he's just a really great, really genuine guy.
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