Today was an important, historic day here in the U.S. Today the President-elect, Donald Trump, was inaugurated. This means that a ceremony was performed at the Capitol Building in Washington DC, where he took an oath (made a promise) to serve the country as its president. This ceremony is the beginning of his presidency, the beginning of his 4 year term in office. The word 'inauguration' comes from the Latin word 'inaugurare' which means to install or consecrate when omens are good. Omens, as you might know, are signs that we see in the natural world that are supposed to reflect luck or good fortune. So, the inauguration is a tradition of promises, rituals, and hope for the future. The person who leads the new President through his oath is the Chief Justice who is the head of the nine Supreme Justices or judges of the Supreme Court which is the highest court in the country. Among the people watching the ceremony are previous presidents, obviously Barack Obama, and also a few others. A huge crowd of thousands of people also gathers to hear the new President's speech. President Trump's speech focused on all the usual things: jobs, industry, tolerance, and greatness. Political speeches are not really my cup of tea; in fact, I think that most of them are a complete waste of time. Everybody hopes that a new president will bring great, positive changes, and be honest and reasonable. But, as we say in English, 'Time will tell'. We have to wait and see the actions of the individual; words, to a certain degree, are much less important. Today's inauguration involved some violent protests which is highly unusual for U.S inaugurations. Political divisions here between the Republicans and the Democrats have degenerated into hatred, unfortunately. Trump must realize, that his campaign did lead to a lot of anger and resentment because of his careless words of prejudice and bigotry. Perhaps that is why in his speech today he said, "Whether we are black, brown, or white, we bleed the same color of patriotism." So let's wait and see, as we do in any country with each change of political leader. There are, after all, 196 countries in the world. So let's wait with patience and hope to see which of the leaders are brave and honest, and can follow their words with intelligent actions.