CNN News source - Tape 2, Aired 22, September, 2001
It is an ugly yet sadly predictable undercurrent following last week's terror and destruction. Expressions of hate directed against Arab-Americans. A mosque in Cleveland rammed by a car, an Iraqi owned Pizzaria in Massachusettes torched, a man wearing a turban shot and killed at a gas station in Arizona...
The President has repeatedly condemned the backlash before a joint session of congress and during a visit to a mosque.
President George Bush Jr. : Those who feel they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger, they don't represent the best of America. They represent the worst of humankind and they should be ashamed.
Despite the President's reassuring words, many Arab-Americans, muslims, and others feel they are being singled out and are under suspicion. Example, a Pakistani-American is flying first class when a Delta Airlines pilot approcahes him before departing San Antonio...
"... asked me that, 'Shekan, I want you to pick up your bag and come out from this flight because me and my crew are not safe flying wiht you.'"
These ethnic overtones prompt some to draw parallels to another painful chapter in American history - Pearl Harbor and its aftermath.
(Inserted Picture - Bugs Bunny cartoon; Bugs calls an Asian cartoon character Slanted Eyes and throws him a bomb)
Nihan Awad, Coun. on American-Islamic Relations: If a Christian or or who prefers to be a Christian, goes to bomb an abortion clinic, the general public, everyone will understand that this is an isolated act, has nothing to do with the Christian faith. Islam's been suffering in this society because of the popular culture, because of misinformation.
Happy Birthdayyyyyyyyy, Hazel! I honestly just want you to be truly happy.
October 5, 2001
Hung out with Michelle and Ellen today. It's almost amazing how much fun we have with each other... Okay, skin crawling, sentimental, cheesy line now - Best Friends Forever! (I warned you guys).
October 14, 2001
This is one of those few lapses of time I never imagined of experiencing. I wouldn't go as far as to describe it as contentment, as Julie sweetly put it, but it would probably lean a little more to the left in my spectrum, almost right on the lines of Assurance. Assurance of what... assurance that even when times are tough, excuse the cliche, the earth still rotates, flowers still bloom, and the sun still rises... and we'll still, well, I'll still be standing where I'm standing (whether I like it or not) to watch all these natural phenomenons in full gear, with great awe. I guess this is all a process of maturation.
It's almost bittersweet, regarding this whole issule of 'timing,' if I think about it; this whole moment of awakening, when the lightbulb blinks over your head. I feel better about school, classes, work, my continuing friendships with close friends and of course, the ones that have just been made, and the ones mended as well. I feel like I no longer have to drown myself with the expectations surrounding me, in short, I don't find myself suffocating anymore. Anyhow, the bittersweet bit is two-fold. One, it's almost ridiculously silly trying to hide this glimpse of comfortable assurance during the crisis concerning Afghanistan. Two, exams are in a week; three next Monday and one the day after that.
But, as I sit here, in my comfortable room, no longer a cage but a place where I can breathe and experience peaceful solitude, I can definitely feel this change surrounding me, and it feels good. It's almost as if I've obtained a balance.
October 29, 2001
Are you an Asiaphile...
Heesung says it's the weather, you know, dried crusty leaves swaying about, the somewhat gloomy weather when mornings are literally blue and when the moon shows up during the wee hours right before four, the trees beginning to look haggard and naked, etc, etc... she says it's an autumn thing and that everyone feels lonely during this time of the year... but she couldn't give me a definite answer when I asked her if it would all go away when winter comes along.
November 4, 2001
I start my new job tomorrow... I sense a somewhat romantic and chivalrous feeling regarding this new field that I am about to enter. Okay, that's actually pushing it just a wee bit, but you know what they say... the radio is what keeps our minds moving and hopefully, that's what I'll be able to do.
November 7, 2001
Hahahaha... This is what you call comic relief (look at the picture below, dummies!) I have been so busy with the trivial things in life (school, work, etc) that I've forgotten to spend time with Hazel. Maybe we'll do something fun this weekend.
November 19, 2001
Dude; you would think Gorbachev would have a lot more to say (in terms of context/content) in an hour, which he sacrificed entirely on self-explanatory subjects like the future prospects of internationalization and its effects on the enviroment. Yeah, it was almost (stress on 'almost') surreal to see him stand before that podium and listen to him speak Russian... but his speech was basically nothing more than a page torn from a middle school history book. And to answer the million dollar question - yes, his birthmark on his forehead does vaguely resemble the Asian continent. Weird.
November 20, 2001
"...I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind, that I put down in words... how wonderful Life is now you're in the world."
- Moulin Rouge; Ewan McGregor
November 21, 2001
- Woke up really late, only to find out that I was the only one home. Hence, I had to dig through the whole apartment to find the keys so I could lock up.
- There was nothing to eat for breakfast/luch, (Brunch, I guess)
- I leave the house, arrive at the subway station, only to receive a call from my mother to leave the keys with the security guard since she forgot her keys... so I grudgingly (while I curse silently...) walk back to leave the keys with the security guard who made it such a big deal that our 'security rested on his shoulders.'
- I had to wait for a whole fifteen minutes for the subway to arrive.
- The subway I did get on just had to stop at Sung-soo, which meant that I had to get off and transfer, which seemed unbearable since I had to transfer at Shin-dang anyway (six stops after Sung-soo)... so I had to trasnfer twice instead of just once... did that make sense?
- Angie calls me to tell me she's at the computer room... she's not, and I walk all the way from the poli-sci department to the Business Department since I have Japanese there...
- The Japanese professor tells us that our finals won't be on the twelfth but on the tenth (two days makes a huge difference for a procrastinator much like myself).
- I find out that I was suppose to meet Jean today for our negotiations project tomorrow, except I never got the chance to give her a call so I'm presuming she's still (at this very moment) quite angry with me...
- My friends mention coffee, so we walk towards the coffee shop and realize we're all broke...
- But we scrape all the money we have and go anyhow, and Friend A goes on for about an hour, on the joys of being in a serious relationship (platonic love, ya-di-ya-di-yah); it was actually incredibly sweet but I was in a relatively piqued mood.
- Last class starts at five so we walk towards the Literature Department and I literally gather every ounce of energy to walk up to that class (filled with the losers of the 21st century) and we listen to the professor (who's actually a really good person) talk about this story about a flower; the flower symbolizes hope/dreams, etc... it was actually a nice story but it didn't do anything for me...
- I take the subway home, don't get to sit throughout the fourty-five minute ride, and whilst fading away in the train, Jean calls me and asks me "what the hell happened?" so I pretend I can't hear her and tell her I'll talk to her 'later.'
- I want to sleep... but I can't because I'm now working on the paper I was suppose to give Jean today... =(
That's the story of my day... ignore the run-on sentences and all the other grammatical errors - I'm too sleepy
November 26, 2001
Irresponsible people just kill me... you know who you be.
December 26, 2001
A year in review - click
December 31, 2001
We'll be heading off to JJ's at the Hyatt for the countdown. Hope everyone finds a way to make the last day of the year 2001 special!!
January 13, 2001
What a crazy weekend... interested in the details? click here
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