Reporting From America! #3

Thanksgiving break is upon me: after nearly three months of laboring through the semester, the obligatory one-week semester break has begun! I am set for Philadelphia on Sunday, visiting my friends at Temple University & probably hanging out with my Cell Biology classmate, Antwoine. Before setting off on my adventure to the city (State College is a small town), here are some pros and cons of working and living in America.

PROS!
The First Amendment

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

In short, the freedom of speech. Americans proudly defend their democracy by saying that the country is founded on the rights of every American citizens to speak out whatever they want; from appraisals to criticisms. My American friends told me that if they lambast their own country and government e.g. "I hate America!" or "America sucks!" they would not get any form of censure or punishment because they are protected by the constitution.

Although this might seem crazy and alien to other people, I am a proponent for free speech. Walking around campus and downtown, I would sometimes see people holding placards advocating same-sex marriage, activists spreading anti-sweatshop pamphlets and even a pro-Palestinian group waving their nation's flag and shouting for the freedom of their motherland. Besides, my university even have its own resident preacher, famously known as the Willard Preacher, he would hang out in front of the Willard building preaching to students on his view of his faith which is Christianity and most of the times students would hang out and debate with him on his ideals.

I strongly believe that we should be given the right to exercise free speech because the benefits outweigh the harms. Although there are instances whereby certain parties abuse this amendment to spread hate and propaganda, the vast majority choose to use it in a responsible and sensible manner. Modern society is rapidly progressing intellectually and I'd hope that more and more people of the world will be aware of this great power and fight for their rights of free speech. You can obliterate a person's body but you will never stem his ideals.

Science & Teknology
Even though America is one of the 'youngest' countries in the world and still an evolving culture, it has improved leaps and bounds in terms of research, development and innovation of technology. Just say any type of industry and there always seems to be a top American corporation in the list. Other civilizations have laid the ground work and currently Americans are at the forefront of using all these knowledge to drive the enhancement of human life.

Pertaining to biotechnology and the like, America has managed to produce a great number of scientists in various fields of biology incessantly finding ways to cure a disease or to increase crop yield. As a future scientist, Insya Allah, these are exciting times for me as more and more new discoveries are being made and the rate of advancement in almost all fields of biology is reaching hyperdrive. One must make sure not to miss out in this new age of discovery.

CONS!
SiCKO
The title of Michael Moore's shocking (as all his documentaries are) expose on America's health care system. In fear of making medicine "socialized", this overtly capitalistic country shun the calls for a Universal Health Care system whereby all citizens in this country are entitled to free health services paid for by the government. Instead, you'd get this bunch of medicare insurance companies squeezing the people out of their pockets.

If you want to get treatment at clinic or hospital, you must have insurance BUT these so-called "caring" insurance corporations will find any means and ways to make sure they WON'T cover your ailment. Contrary to the concept of helping people become healthier, more and more people are dying because they are paying the premium and grossly expensive medical fees for the sickness their insurance company won't provide. In short, if you don't have money you might as well die.

HATE TEXAS...I MEAN TAXES
It seems that over here everything is taxed. As I have alluded in my previous post, everything here is taxed. You won't get it in restaurants because you will be tipping $14 to the waitress! Recent examples are taxes on your salary which is a lot: local, state and federal taxes must be taken off your monthly salary in the order of 10-15%. What is more ridiculous is that my friend who bought a car from a private seller (not from a dealership) also has to pay tax! 'Nuff said.

So, here are my recent (3 months) observation on this country called America. As time goes by, the more I learn about how things work here, I shall report to you as soon as possible and maybe my opinions on the matters above could change. This is Danial Ariff, signing off!

Post-Rock: Savior Of My Soul

I don't know why but suddenly I feel tired. Lethargic. Fatigue.

I walk everyday to class.
I take care of what I eat.
I have enough sleep.

But at the end of the day, I feel nonchalant and melancholic. I feel that there is nothing to look forward to during the weekends. The only thing to be excited for would be the upcoming tests and assignments in the next couple of weeks. Life is like a clockwork: it resets when the clock strikes 12. I have had this experience before during a certain point in the semester when I felt that my vigor and enthusiasm abandoning me, my energy dissipating to the cosmos & my passion being blunted by the sharp knives of boredom.

This is where post-rock comes in. You might dismiss it as a mere four or five-piece band playing pointless instrumental music for 5-10 minutes without any vocals but it is more than that. Simon Reynolds, the person responsible in coining this genre, defines post-rock as "using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures rather than riffs and power chords." In layman's term, post-rock is magic.

The difference between this genre with other genres is that it enters deep down into your soul and connects with your feelings. If you are in emotional turmoil, rather than playing other genres of music I'd rather you give post-rock a chance. For example, if you put on Kelly Clarkson's Behind These Hazel Eyes it is YOU who has to listen to what the singer wants to express meaning that you don't really have an outlet to pour your anger, frustration or disappointment. She doesn't really care about what's going on in your mind. On the other hand, if you press play on your iPod to Explosion In The Sky's First Breath After Coma you can just take a deep breathe and THE SONG will be the one listening to your problems, nodding along to what you have to express.

It helps you to step back and think about what you have done or what happened. It helps you calm down and not to react harshly without thinking. It helps you to vent your pent-up anger which you are dying to release. It helps you to shed your tears which you held back for so long. It gives you time and space for you to work out a solution. It gives you hope and strength to weather the storm ahead. It gives you back your real self.

I am currently listening to Deepset's Every Instance Of Time Is A Journey Through Hope. As the title suggests, hopefully by the end of this weekend I will be rejuvenated and raring to go battle through the coming winter which will be dark, long and cold.

Literally Taking It To The Streets

There it was. Penn State's corner back Lydell Sargeant intercepted Tyrell Pryor's long pass with seconds to spare and it was game over. We let the clock wind down & game, set and match! We finally beat Ohio State 13-6 at their own stadium, breaking the 7 year duck of not winning there. My friend, Brendan & I went out to see if anyone went mental but we ended up at a street party on Shortlidge Rd in front of McLanahans. Upon exiting the dorms, we saw people running towards downtown so we blindly followed them. For all you know, there already was a group of people jumping and singing along Penn State songs!

As more and more people joined in the fun, we managed to block the whole junction singing, shouting and jigging until the mean ol' police asked us to move. So, we did a mini-parade to the junction of Locust Lane and saw another bunch of revelers at the apartments on Beaver Ave & what the heck, we decided to join in! People we banging cymbals, playing the trombone, throwing paper towels and shouted WE ARE...PENN STATE!!! countless times. The police with full riot gear had to control the streets and I even got maced which was very sickening to my nose and mouth but managed to get away quickly.

After hanging out around there while trying to find my snow cap (I think some punk grabbed it from my head) and aborting my decision to party at the Beaver Stadium I finally decided to head home. This event shows that we are pretty feckin' passionate in our alma mater and nothing beats winning against Ohio State at their homeground and storming up the ranks in the National Standings. LET'S GO PSU!

Finally, Encounter With Drunk Americans!

It was one of my mini-goals to accomplish when I came to the United States of America: observe the drunken culture of people over there! Here is a brief encounter of me and my friend Naim, with three Mat Sallehs while walking back home from campus (oh, we went to watch an improv comedy group!) around midnight:

Drunk 1: (Saw Naim with pizza boxes in his hand) Hey, looks like you have more than one pizza over there.

Naim: Yeah, but both are for my friends back home.

Drunk 2: That's alright, man. By the way, do you guys know where Hamilton Avenue is?

Danial: Yeah, it's just down this road.

Drunk 1: I'll take your word for that man. We'll just follow them while they drop bits and pieces of pizza to us.

Everyone: Hahahahahahahaha...

Then, Naim asked me "Ko tau ke jalan ke Hamilton Avenue ni?" and I replied "Tak salah aku kat depan ni je. Kalau salah, cabut lah!" We then proceeded to walk our usual fast pace leaving the group of three drunkards behind and fortunately for us there was a group of girls walking towards us. They passed us but got stopped by the gang of three. Then, we never looked backed again...

The Forces Of Nature Are Against Me

I am baffled. Amazed. Bewildered. It is as if I have done some injustice in this world and by karma, I get punished by it. As they say, "What goes around comes around." Have I made enemies among my friends? Have I deliberately kicked a dog or cut down a tree? Have I thought about any ill intentions in doing something despicable towards mankind?

Why is it that everytime when I am walking to campus the pedestrian "WALK" sign turns to "STOP"? There are two junctions on the way to campus: South Allen St-Beaver Avenue cross junction & South Allen St-College Avenue T-junction whereby every day, every SINGLE day I approach these two junctions I am halted by the "red" man. Usually, when I am in sight of the junction the "WALK" sign will suddenly flash. Thinking that I could make it across the road, I walked with my usual pace. However, when I was halfway through to the traffic lights the countdown timer began starting from 7, 6, 5, 4, 3...

And whaddya know when I arrived exactly under the traffic lights at the cross junction, the countdown was over and I had to stop or else I would get run down by one of those solid, monstrous Ford Heavy Duty pick-up trucks. And same goes when I arrived at the second junction. It's as if these traffic lights are playing around with me; they are mocking and laughing at me when I huffed & puffed towards them and in the end I'll just end up waiting for the "red" man to go away. You may call me paranoid but this is a REAL LIFE event. I'll get my revenge. Wait till I get my chainsaw and we'll see the "red" man turn to "yellow." Hehehe.

First Ramadhan In America

As I have completed 30 days of fasting during the holy month of Ramadhan in America, I feel somewhat rejuvenated rather than feeling relieved that it was over. Probably it was due to some of my American & international friends who was amazed that I could NOT eat or drink anything from dawn till dusk for 30 straight days!

"I don't know how you guys can do it; if it was me I'll probably die!"
- Angelos Nicolaou

Words of bewilderment from my Greek classmate who knows what it's like to fast as he lived in Saudi Arabia before. My American friends whom I met through The Asylum (gig organizers under Penn State) were also surprised about how tight the restrictions during fasting was but they were really supportive. I would say that their reactions gave me the impetus to fast as I feel these people really appreciate those who have the mental strength to go through this yearly ritual whereas in Malaysia it is like a normal, obligatory thing to do.

Another interesting observation is that the Eid Mubarak celebrations here are low-key although we have a considerable numbers of Muslims in the area. On the first day of Syawal, we all head to the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center which is on-campus to perform our Eid prayers and listen to the khutbah. After that, we would all wish each other a happy Eid Mubarak and have a light breakfast. I do not know how grand Eid is celebrated back in their home country but as I see it here, they don't seem to emphasize on making it a "big" thing unlike in Malaysia.

The justification by Malaysians that Eid must be celebrated 30 days since fasting in Ramadhan was observed for 30 days is unfounded. It is as if that Malaysians feel that Ramadhan is more of a burden than a blessing whereby we are released from our "shackles" come Syawal; although the choice of word I used sounds offensive it is what I have experienced too every year back in Malaysia: I somehow felt glad that Ramadhan is over and done with. However, this year I have gained a new, different perspective on the significance of Ramadhan. It is the month where we have to sacrifice a lot of things to get Allah's blessings and don't expect to get anything in return when Eid comes because we shall be rewarded in the hereafter.

One bad habit prevailing among Malaysians during Eid is that more and more of us are jumping into the "open-house" bandwagon. I know that the niat of doing an open-house is always good i.e. to strengthen the bonds of friendship and family but if people start competing on making grand open-houses, these good intentions won't be accepted by Allah. Another habit the hosts would do is to always provide a lot of or even too much food for his guests. It is good to show goodwill towards your guests but providing them with a long buffet table of local dishes which will eventually won't finish is just wrong. Coupled that with 10-20 open houses invitations we get and the amount of food being thrown away is enormous! We have to remember that there are thousands, millions perhaps of Muslims around the world celebrating Eid in poverty i.e. without food or shelter.

Thus, in sharing their burden, I decided to take the optional six days of fasting from the 2nd day of Syawal till the 7th; it is just a small token compared to what they are going through. I hope that you would take up this chance being offered by Allah so as to cleanse your mind, body and soul. This past month in America has opened my eyes on the true meaning of Ramadhan which is about self-sacrificing yourself for the hereafter and restraining yourself from self-indulgence when this holy month has passed.

Reporting From America! #2

How's it going? Hehehe. In this second part of my expose on America, I shall talk a little bit on the Americans themselves! Since you know a little bit of how this country works in my first report, now I have some things to kutuk, I mean, to say about this bunch of people who we usually see in our well-loved cinemas (FYI, there aren't any cinemas at State College. The nearest is at Nittany Mall which is 20 minutes by bus from downtown. It's weird people here seem to like to place shopping malls in the middle of nowhere):

FASHION SENSE
People in State College, including Penn State students do not have a proper fashion sense. I know that this town isn't really a fashion capital and the "dress code" here is laid back but all they wear is our university's t-shirts which I would say is kinda monotonous in color (white, blue, grey & colorful/hippie). I wanted to buy the "I Heart PSU" tee but unfortunately it's only for girls. Well, hopefully that designers and manufacturers of Penn State's merchandise can be more creative in the future by having a much larger variety in colors and designs. Walking along College Avenue seeing these people wearing the same tees with the same boring colors makes me depressed.

LAMA TAK BERBAHASA MALAYSIA
Due to the nature of this second post, I think it is better for me to blurb in proper but awkward Malay. Here it goes: saya ingatkan orang Amerika bijak sangat. Kalau tidak pun mereka ini rajin dan mempunyai semangat ingin tahu dalam mata pelajaran yang diambil. Namun, selepas mengharungi satu bulan di sini saya mengamati bahawa mereka tidak seperti yang dikatakan. Sebagai contoh, rakan semakmal saya dalam kelas Fizik (dua orang perempuan) tidak membuat sebarang persiapan untuk melakukan aktiviti makmal dari segi teori dan langkah-langkah yang perlu dilakukan. Akhirnya, kami terpaksa mengambil masa yang lama untuk menyiapkan aktiviti yang boleh dikatakan mudah itu. It's not that I'm belittling them but it shows that over here, likewise in Malaysia, there are lazy and hardworking students. It's just that I haven't met any geniuses or 4.0 flatters yet but as they say, first impression (kinda) counts.

ISLAM IN AMERICA
I'm not that always mean so here's one thing which surprises me about them: after all the 9/11 hoo-haa about Muslim terrorists attacking their country, Americans seem pretty laid back about Islam & Muslims! So far, I haven't seen any form of discrimination or threats against Muslims, especially Arabs and the Americans whom I have met and know are pretty open to me being a Muslim. If I told them that I don't drink because of my religion, they would understand that. However, they don't seem to be that curious about Islam but sometimes I would tell them about praying, fasting etc just to give them some insight on how Islam works. Over here, as long as your don't overstep the border, everyone's fine.

SOMETHING TOTALLY UNRELATED BUT YOU STILL HAVE TO READ
Just wanna say that I have gone to my second gig at Sozo where I saw locals bands perform. I'm now slowly getting into the scene and next weekend there'll be a battle of the bands! Woo-hoo!

Reporting From America!

The auspicious date of 080808 was the date I arrived at the Land Of Hope & Dreams, America. A land for my hope to graduate with a degree in Biotechnology and for my dreams to become a scientist since I was small....ZzzZzzZzzz. I do not want to talk about my studies here in State College, PA as it won't be the first question my friends ask about America since they are more interested in knowing the "culture" there although America is considered a "new" country. Hence, here are some musings on the American way of life:

PERFECTLY NORMAL
America's a little bit like Singapore in terms of cleanliness & obedience towards the law except Singapore is freakishly clean and from one of those novelty t-shirts, a "fine" city. Here it's clean too but you can still see a couple of rubbish by the sidewalk people do use the pedestrian crossings & not blindly cross the road anywhere they like (oh, how I miss Malaysia!) but sometimes they would cross the street when there are no cars even when the "STOP" sign is flashing which is an abomination in Singapore. These examples make Americans pretty normal human beings: you bend the law but not break 'em.


HANDPHONES & NETWORK OPERATORS
Over here, you can't just buy a handphone per se; you have to buy it with a plan. So, if you decide to buy a phone and take up a plan with one of the network operators here (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon etc), your phone will bear the logo of that network operator. Sucks, huh? Feels like our phones are like tools of advertisements ("This phone is sponsored by T-Mobile"). However, the best bit is the phone plans whereby these network operators here epitomizes capitalism: maximum profit. I'm currently using an AT&T prepaid whereby the deal (Pay As You Go) is like this:

• $1.00 airtime/day if I call any AT&T number. If I don't, I don't need to pay the airtime fee.
• I get unlimited minutes if I call any AT&T number i.e. doesn't matter how long or short I still pay $1.00/day.
  
• Additional $0.10/minute if I call other network operators.
• Additional $0.15/text message.

Sounds like an honest, fair deal huh? The catch is even if someone from an AT&T number calls you and you answer it, you have to pay the $1.00 airtime fee reason being that you are using the service. Next, even if you receive a text message from any mobile operator users, you have to pay $0.15 for the same reason. So, if I send you a text message or vice versa both of us have to pay $0.15 each & the mobile operator is the one raking in all the profit! I'm not so sure about the postpaid (called contract over here) plan but most of my friends using it are complaining about the...


TAXES
The confusion over taxes, gratuity & tips is overbearing for a foreigner. If you decide to go out for lunch or dinner at a restaurant, be prepared to pay them tips. Once I had lunch at this Thai restaurant with five of my friends, we had to pay 18% gratuity which was about $14. FOURTEEN DOLLARS TIPS! No wonder the waitress was superbly kind to us. If you go shopping at Walmart you will also get taxed: 6% state tax (in this case Pennsylvania. State taxes differ by states) and dunno how many percent federal tax. Thus, my friends who opt to use the postpaid plan here will have to pay about $10-$15 taxes per month. No wonder this country is rich, people pay taxes for everything!


HOW'S IT GOING?
The culture of meeting & greeting people here is by asking

1. "What's up?"
2. "How are you?"
3. "How's it going?"

and the usual responses would be

1. "Good"
2. "Great"
3. "Excellent"

even if you don't mean it. They don't want to know how or what you are actually doing; as I said just now it's just a greeting. Besides that, people do also say "Have a nice day" or "Have a good night" when leaving and the usual response would be "You too". At first, I find it kind of fake but once I get used to it, it doesn't feel that awkward anymore and find it quite fun since it's a cultural thing like giving salam for Muslims and shaking hands for Malaysians.


CABLE TV
Our landlord "gifted" us free expanded basic cable television for the whole year so we get around 60 channels, which is more than we wished for. Nothing much to say other than I've been watching Family Guy on [adult swim] on weekday nights from 11pm till midnight. Eat my shorts, Homer Simpson!