Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Every thing is due

                 They say, "in the week of finals, every thing is due". I can feel it in this semester. During the last couple of semesters I took not  more than 4 courses each semester, but this time I under took some thing that I now realize is beyond me. I took six courses this semester plus 19 hours of work on week ends. I think taking six courses is not that bad if half of them are in quarter system and half in semester system because in that case exams for all the courses are not held at the same time. But I failed to realize that for the fall semester, whether it is quarter or semester system, exams for both are scheduled in 2nd week of December. That bring s me to the end of my quarter at Deanza and end of my semester at SJSU at the same time.
               Moreover, things become worse when you one has health problems bugging you on top of every thing. Anyway, I have to play with what I have, wining does not get you any where. I am trying my best not to fail any course.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving

             I had three days off this thanksgiving but still was unable to have fun. The first day was spent in catching up with my projects as I am taking six courses this semester. Today, my parents were coming back from their trip after 2 months and they could not have come on a better day. However, the whole day was spent in making the araangements to welcome them. Tomorrow, we all are going to start packing our stuff as my family is moving down to South california. Thats how I spent my thanks giving this year. However, it was better than waiting outside the stores for the whole night.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Changing Iran

        Earlier this week, I watched a program on TV about Iran. It was quite interesting to know how Iran has evolved over the years. I have been to Iran in early 90's, back then Imam Khumaini acquired the power from Shah and Iran was in the process of transformation. That was the time when Persian people were trying to combine the religion and state. The fact that amazes me is that Iran in its 2500 years of history, has gone through so many different political set ups. Before Shah, the country was neither too religious nor very modern. After Shah took over, he made some dramatic changes to make the country viable in his own way. However, he was not modernizing the country, he actually was westernizing the country and that is where he was not well received by the people of Iran.
       After Shah was forced to exile, Khumaini took over. That  era was a complete opposite of what Iran had gone through in the past and the same values are held by the people of Iran till today. I think it is unrealistic to expect countries like Iran to have democracy like USA. Iran is a completely different country with different culture, different values, different dynamics etc. They can have a different form of democracy tailored to fit to their social and political set up.



vibrant:    oscillating or pulsating rapidly , bright

dismay:    to cause to lose courage or resolution

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Political Association

                  I have just been in the USA for two years, therefore I am not qualified enough to understand or comment on the political system of America. Yet, I would like to mention a few things that I have so far noticed about the political set up of this country. America is with out any doubt one of the best democratic systems in the world.In fact, the true sense of democracy was introduced by President Abraham Lincoln when he defined democracy as, "of the people, by the people, for the people". However, there are certain aspects of American political system which raise some questions in the mind of an immigrant like me. In order to be politically active, one has to be associated with one of the two major parties. I do not see any problem with being associated with any of the political groups, but apparently, a person belonging to a particular group is required to agree with every thing that the party says, has to support every thing that the party does. If one chooses to go against the position of the party, that is considered to be disloyalty. This is not the case all the time, but at times this kind of approach restricts one's thinking ability.
                  However the good part of living in America is, you might be perceived to be disloyal if you disagree with the party, but no one can punish you for that.



Refection:      refreshment of mind, spirit, or body

noir:               crime fiction featuring hard-boiled cynical characters and bleak sleazy settings

Thursday, November 3, 2011

A trip to LA

         I went to LA last week for a job interview, the organization whom I was interviewing with handled all the travelling and boarding expenses. I have done some real lenghty travelling, from one part of the world to another, but this one hour flight to and from San Jose really made me sick. The air craft that I boarded from San Jose was pretty compact. It was even hard to walk straight in the plane. The first 45 minutes in the flight were quite good, its was the last 15 minutes that actually gave me hard time. Right after the announcement of landing shortly, I started to experience a terrible headache in the back part of my head. I would say it was one of the worst pains I have ever had. May be it was some thing related to the aircraft because the moment I departed the flight, the pain begun to subside.
        The organization reserved a nice room for me in a hotel. I must say that their hospitality was over whelming. I had my dinner at a local restaurant and the next morning reported to the office for the interview. After interview, on my way back, the plane was slightly bigger than what I had on my way to LA. However, I had a little pain at the same spot in my head right before landing in San Jose. But this time, it was tolerable. Over all, it was a nice trip but I can still feel the after effects of that headache.


gosling:    a foolish or callow person

tonal:      of or relating to tone, tonality, or tonicity