Her blog entries are one of the best and the most trustworthy
sources regarding the Bay Area (and many other places across the world) in
California. How lucky I am to know her in person and share her space! Although I do not have much to add to
what she has already written and recommended, I have a few impressions to share
regarding my time in San Jose: The punk-rock-musical Green Day’s
American Idiot (http://cltc.org/), some very inspiring projects at
the Tech Museum, and founding fathers of the National Parks of America.
The musical tells you the story of three lifelong friends (and
their circles), who are forced to choose between their dreams and the safety of
suburbia, while searching for meaning in a post-9/11 world. I remember the
time when the album came out and how we blasted the stereo in the car (2004).
Turning into thirty definitely did not subside my rage especially after being
denied entry to the country on the Canadian-U.S border due to the unlimited
authority that the average border officer was provided then. They were collectively emboldened and
paranoid more than ever thanks to the Bush J.R. government at the time. The
album American Idiot vividly expresses not just the band's but my own disillusionment with America (luckily,
it’s been changing since 2014 and on). It recounts the dissent of a generation
which came of age in a period shaped by events like the Iraq war. I remember in
the glamorous suburbia that we used to live (Naperville, IL) there were
several welcome-home flags and bumper stickers ("support our troops") which severely bothered me. How could anyone possibly believe that it
was for sake of "bringing democracy" to Iraq and destroying WMD that the troops
were fighting for? Just open the world map and look at the distance: Why are
American soldiers in Iraq!? It is the Middle East, man, not Mexico or Canada!
(For an amazing real story of a brave activist Iraqi woman peacemaker and to learn firsthand
what the American troops actually did in Iraq, see: http://catcher.sandiego.edu/items/peacestudies/Rashad-Zaydan-Iraq.pdf )
Before you ever send troops to "the end of the world" (from the American perspective) be it Vietnam,
Afghanistan or Iraq, please make sure to provide some basic language, cultural
and religious-sensitive knowledge to each and every soldier (I am not talking
about teaching stereotypes by rote). We know that both sides will end
up at "The Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" otherwise.
I knew about the show "G.D's American Idiot" since its premier but never thought that I would actually see it one day (from the very first row of the theater where the heat waves from the actors' bodies and sometimes their spits nicely shower you. There is nothing like a live show! The sound quality wasn't perfect but the acting was. I loved it!
I knew about the show "G.D's American Idiot" since its premier but never thought that I would actually see it one day (from the very first row of the theater where the heat waves from the actors' bodies and sometimes their spits nicely shower you. There is nothing like a live show! The sound quality wasn't perfect but the acting was. I loved it!
The Museum of Innovation: I don’t like to go out on the weekends when
everyone else is out (mostly with kids and elderly parents) if I can help
it. This habit was developed over time from living in a mega-city for
many years, fighting hours-long traffic and extreme noise among other things. I
was going to apply it to San Jose as well when I went online to check the
opening hours of the Tech Museum: "maintenance closure!" I will be
gone by the time they reopen so I had to go on a Sunday. It was okay, in fact,
much better than I expected. My favorite sections were the innovations in health
care, which included exploring how a dog's sense of smell might help detect cancer, how doctors can remotely diagnose medical problems without
expensive equipment across the world, new ways to filter water in developing
nations, experiments with different materials to keep pre-mature infants warm,
easy and safe vaccination through new nanopatch technology and contemplate how
3D printing may change health care by creating skin and organs. In short,
really fascination stuff which I pray that it gets widespread as soon as
possible and not sabotaged by some big companies whose profits would be
affected by these inexpensive lifesaving technologies.
For the 3D IMAX dome theater, without much thinking I opted for the
U.S. National Parks Adventure: breathtaking, soothing, mesmerizing and humbling… What
a big contrast to "the Jesus of Suburbia". Jesus, Moses, Muhammed and all the
other prophets received God's messages and experienced Its mysteries in the heart of Nature, didn't they? Caves, rivers, seas, mountains... I will include John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt
in my prayers tonight for creating the concept of the national parks in the early
1900s. After all, I have always felt belonging to the Nature. Not to a family or a nation but nature. One of the most surreal and spiritual experiences that I can ever remember is visiting the Red Woods and touching sequoias. It was coming back home (and I leave it there for now).
I have begun to wonder whether my unrequited love for San Francisco is fading
away or rather spreading towards a larger area and thus becoming stronger as I
explore the nearby cities and towns. How could I know that SJSU has this very
unique and beautiful library, the only one in the country which joined forces
with the city so it serves both as a public and a university library (Thanks to Cassie Kifer, I checked out two very timely and useful resources)? I did not know that
SJSU is the oldest public institution of higher education on the West Coast
(1857) either. Its student population is one of the most ethnically diverse in the
nation, with large Asian and Hispanic enrollments, as well as the highest
foreign student enrollment of all master's institutions in the U.S.
Dear San Francisco, I still truly love you and I always will. I only feel an expansion of love. You are cool and pretty but also spoiled
and very expensive! After spending a few weeks in the North
Berkeley and coming across fawns at sunset while walking in a
residential area through parked cars along the narrow asphalt road... That was
it, Eros had its arrow for me right there! The Wheels of Fortune: A visiting scholar position at CAL. One reason I accepted it was to be able to see another fawn -this time- at dawn.
