june 23rd 2005

i am sorry people..has not been able to write for the past week. i just dont know what has happened to me. i am in a non-energetic and non-enthusiast mood. i felt like i am doin gnoting much overhere. the summary of what happened last week..

i guess i remember on what happened on the 11th, on 12, was a really lazy day..i sent the day to do loundy and bermalas2an...later at night, after the moment i got into my house, there was a security guard and he asked us to leave as soon as possible to Kappa Alpha basement as there was a tornado alert..yup..it was really heavy rain then...we, all of us..walked ourself in the rain and went to Kappa Alpha(one of the feternity house overhere) basement...after nearly 20 minutes wait we were allowed to retung to our apartments...not satisfied with what happened(come on...i really want to experience the tornado..at least once)..i dragged jeff, rakin and icky to 'hunt' the tornado...or at least flashfloods...it was amazing to see the effect of the thuderstorm here(not the tornado yet). trees fallen down..on electric supply cables..and blacked out some areas(here, not to have electric..even even for 1 hour is such an issue)..it is not i am happy to see disasters..but, you know....

the day after(13th), again...the siren sounds..but this time, no thundrstorm, nor rain...the feel was not so much as the first day..but still i hope that the tornado came..within 10 minutes, everything went o.k..but they said we got to come again at night as one more tornado predicted to come. this time i just dont give a damn about that..went to sigma pi ..played pool with rakin until we cant feel the ball anymore..

13th..
first day handling the radio station..kat sini aku jadi dj..with my housemate rakin as my partner, we belive we can ROCK the WORLD!!hahaha..everybody..turn your f.m to KDRU 98.1 fm..the cat..meow...

14th..
i guess i went to class...had a debate about euthanasia...it was good..but for your information...american students were not as good as we think.in class, most of them were passive(in fact, in the debate the only 3 person that was active were sam, christine and myself)..and they dont really think. what they do was only quoting somebody from some book and pour it in the class..hahaha...

15th..
in one of the day also, bob, travis and me went to the wal mart, shopped for supply in our smal-mart...146 dollars..and tax-exempted..taliking about tax..for your information, everything here were taxed..for example if you are walking into a shop, and the price tag was 2 dollars..that was the price before tax..there will be aother 6 to 7 percent tax...ngok betul...

16th..
i can't remember, on one of the day, we went to a local newspaper plant..the News-Leader. spent about 2 hours, understanding the process on how to make a newspaper..(its not i dont know about it, but..harung ajelah...) i was more interested to discuss about freedom of media in the country, but as we dont have much time, niat murni dan suci tu terpaksala dibatalkan...

17th...
for the first time ever, we got to go for friday prayer. thanks to is and ustaz for his effort. anyway, a guy named yusuf(student from SMS, another uni nearby) from the saudi arabia came and fatch us at cox parking lot(thats just beside our place) and drove us to the muslim community center..so sad to see such a small buiding become the only gathering point for us..and its far outside the town. but deep in my heart...there was proud to see such a small group of people work hard for what they believe in..we got ourselves supply of halal food, and got to know people overthere. evening, walked to comercial st. bought books. night, played basketball...

18th
susan came to give our per diem allowance, and sife usa national comp t-shirts. later went to incredible pizza and had fun time makan pizza and main in-door games. i was about to win the go-kart but some bloody whiteman main koto langga ku dari belakang..just suit their attitde well...evening, we went to the snowfest..main baling2 ice..hehe..before that, berenti kat flea market, i got myself more 2nd hand books..hehe...

19th
went to north town mall..macam bodoh..satu mall besa tu, there was only 2 shops opened...i mean, there was only 2 shops in the mall(a fail project)..and they were wal mart(which will survive wherever they are) and radio shack-i got myself a reading torch..4 dollars. then, battlefeild mall, and south wal mart..here i exercised my righ as a consumer to return a product that don't satsfy me..that is my brand new discman...and i got my money back..on the spot!!!hehe...sony cd man..here i come...tak pun..i-pod..hehee..

20th
class...radio station..smal mart..

21st..
went to a visit- its a water treatment center..the feel?..BORING...we only see water..water..more water..and more water..and MORE WATER..but the best part was..the lady that drove us, invited us to her house..and it was a HUGE and BEAUTIFUL house in one elite area at the south part of the town..the house was facing the lake of springfeild and has its own swimming pool..we spent more than 3 hours, having fun in the pool and at night,and had chat about life(terry is a lady with 4 doughters and 1 grandchild...divorced and now dating new guy-and she never resist to share her experiences) we cooked for the house. all raw materials was on her, and we got to pick all the best ingredients we can find..had udang masak merah, kari ayam, sayur cap-chai(this one, my recepie and i cooked it), bayam, orange juice,and apple juice..no doubt, this is like one never thought to be experience of my life. yg datang makan was us(6 of us..chyene, icky,fea, baini, syahz, and imran)..terry(the nice lady), pam(terry's sister)ian and lauren(pam's children),gayle(terry's good friend), and sam(terry's boyfriend)..got back by around 12 am, sambung pulak tengok cerita hantu thailand dalam latop camme...what a day..

22nd..
NOTHING..BORING..just had a basketball in the evening..

23rd..
quite a good day, went to the quilt healing center, we(syahz and me) got the assignment to decorate the food barrel..evening, took care of small mart..and the most important thing happened today...SPURD bet PISTONS in the NBA finals by 7 points..it was 81-74...grrreaat!!!rezeki datang bergolek, ustaz bagi aku makan nasi putih and telo goreng sambal...dia buat sendiri..sedap...
i guess thats all for today..tomorrow is going to be another challenging day..its the refreshment registration day and we got to organize stuffs..will tell ya more about it, chow


imran
(finally,i made it!!!)

june 11th, 2005
the day is full of hard work, cheap labour-like-job,country music and anger . we was brought to ozarz for a supposed to be a 'river cleaning project' and we will help Bass Pro Shop (a shop selling outdoor equipments-biggest in the place) on their garage sale in raising funds for thier 'save the river' campaingn'. its a god thing to see a private organization, contributes directly in community program and effort to save the nature. its a good thing too, to see people to come in their trucks (with extended carrying space-alah, macam ekor lori tu) and load all the shits they bought and toe them away.(i wonder how are they going to unload those stuff too-banyak giler and besar nak mampos-plus, they are DAMN..DAMN..heavy. no kidding, no shit about it, man).
we, in the earlier part, was told to help in 'pushing the products' a.k.a to help in getting people to come and buy the products( some sort of sales assistant kind of job)..but later in the day, it was a weird thing to see how our people doing jobs more like being a warehouse slave..the cheap one(actually, we wasn't paid as we was considered as doing 'voluntary' work-my ass!!). if it was only the boys, i guess MAYBE it can still be considered 'O.K', but what i saw was, all of us, boys and girls, kena suruh macam la kitorang ni kuli bapak diorang buat kerja itu ini.bayangkan kena angkat almari yg aku rasa tinggi dalam 10kaki, berat dalam 100kg lebih),tak masuk lagi signboards yg besarnya sama besa ngan ekor lori kontena 20kaki..macam sial!! dah lah tak bagi tau clearly what kind of job weare going to do(at least i can wear proper outwear(like covered shoes and no need to sacrifice my newly bought timberland sandals), then buat pulak gaya macam diorang tu best giler. it was obvious, especially when it comes to their 'big boss called 'dan' that they look at us in a kind of weird way.some sort of 'i am the god, u gotta to litsen to me'..actually, its more like 'hey, i am a white man, you are just a bloody asian, shut up and do whatever my favour is'. i was really really mad to hear that this 'dan' man (or should i call him 'damn'?) call one good friend of mine(actually from my uitm team), Bob..by only flick of fingers..terlepas jugak perkataan 'm*th*rf*ck*r' dari mlut aku.baru je ingat nak tinggalkan perangai maki-memaki ni, dah jadi macam ni.no doubt, those ppl that works in the 3rd warehouse(there was 3 of them-yg no.3 ni paling banyak barang/kerja as barang2 dia besar2) are quite nice and friendly..most of them were kind of old and looks like orang2 kampung..but this mr.damn,muda lagi(compared to others), he is around late 30's..belagak giler.pegila mampos..
when it comes into the praying time, anuar(ustaz), rakin, is and me was a kind of wonder where could we perform our obligation to the almighty Allah..thanks to HIM, HE poured such a heavy rain, making the feild looks greener, and guess what? we decided to pray there..on the feild, open aired...haa....it was such a nice feeling to do that. imagine to see 4 muslims praying on the feild and people that came to the garage sale kept wondering what the F we were doing..now they can see, how islam is so easy and never a burden for its preachers..hahahaha..i got to say, i guess thats the best experience so far for me here when it comes to performing prayers.
later in the evening, the sale ended, we were entertained (actually diorang nak suruh bayar tapi kitorang taknak masuk kalau kena bayar, so diornag bagi masuk free, gila ko, usd5, takde masa aku!) by a concert, full of country songs. i personally feel that they do got good music, but actually none of us were interested to watch is as we were too..too tired working the whole day until we want to do nothing else, but to go back to springfeild.
i got bored, rakin too..we walked our way to the park nearby..ingat nak tengok itik je..but i was lucky, there was a group of people playing sword (lawan pedang, bukan yg macam sukan olimpik tu but the one like aragorn from lord of the rings).first, i went to them just to ask about the game, and have the feel holding the sword...but luckily later diorang bagi aku pakai baju besi and the head armour..ingat nak pakai complete but suddenly iskandar datang kata org smua dah nak balik..aiseh..potong aje..takpe, nanti jumpa diorang lagi aku nak pakai full set, and lawan pedang..hehe..baru tau..
we went back to drury aroud 8pm(finally, after waiting since 4.30pm)..on the way back jeff was a defending himself from being blamed for what happened today..even he said sorry for his ignorance on the workload we did..teruk jugakla...nak cerita panjang2 pun tak guna..just make it as a lesson for him to be more careful in the future.
had some chit chat..ustaz bagi ceramah tazkirah sikit(betul punya, bukan memain lah) about several matters..aku seronok gila dengar , tapi psl penat sangat, tertido aku atas lantai rumah camme..went back, tak mandi, (tapi sempat makan megi goreng 2 bungkus..lapa sangat)..and tido...chiao..


imran

june 9the, 2005
it the second day to open the small mart. i got to say that i am looking foward to make this shop, a better shop. so i spent time re-arranging stuffs as i found that the person that used to be incharged seems can't identify the need to saperate and not to put foodstuffs and detergents on the same shelf, side by side!!

the good part was, when bob, baini and me was in the shop, i reporter from 'newsleader' the most popular newspaper in mussouri came and had an interview session with us, she asked a lot of stuff about malaysia, malaysian and our view about U.S, before and after we've been here. terasa macam superstar la pulak hehehe..nanti bila klua suratkaba nanti i post,ok..hehhe..

in the evening, we had a photo session..kent said that our picture will be on the drury's homepage..i don't know..if thats true, i would like that to happen..

night, some went for clubbing at jordan's creek.thats a cool place with lots of music. heard a lot abou them on the radio.by the way, the station i am (and i guess most of us here) litsen to is the 'power 96.5...tak tipu, sebijik giler macam hits.fm...(or its the other way around). i decided to stay, playing pool and watchin 'meet joe black'(i know, its and old movie, whats wrong if we are to watch it again?)the whole night with rakin, anuar(ustaz), shikin, fea, feroz, and zulia. hell knows how, the session later become a kind of love theraphy session as ppl start to talk about their love life and all the stuffs..me? i guess i was in a kind of dipressed mode as most of us DO have partner( one of us dah plan nak kawin pon..)and ppl kept asking me questions on why i am still single? what happened to my last relationship, who do i have in mind now? and i dont think i have answers for all their questions..sorry people, i can guarantee you, i did not lie to you guys, but i really dont have answer..dont hate me for it.
i got a job interview tomorrow, i belive i need rest, take care, see you all soon..

IMRaN

man, really want to do this, wanna laugh..huhahaahehehehuhuhu..(gelak bimbo-thanks, mary ellen)..a kind of BORING day..the second day working for the small mart, bob and i went to the housing office, looking for information on the current campus population. its a kind of demoralizing to find that we only have about 200 students living in the campus. others, i guess prefer to stay outside or with their family. ( lots of students here are originally from springfeild, i just wonder how they could do that- born in springfeild, raised in springfeild, school in springfeild, school in springfeild,and later enter a university, also in springfeild...then whats next? work in springfeild, got married in springfeild, honeymoon in springfeild, gets old in springfeild, die in springfeild, and later buried in ...SPRINGFEILD)..tak mengembang otak langsung...springfeild is my world...i just can't do that, man).this remids me to a song that is very much loved by my good friend back in malaysia-in case u know, he is the only person that i know,similarize himself with my another friend from here(u.s) that drives a mustang..the UiTM di Hatiku song..
on the way back, we stopped at the drury shop, and i got myself 5 used books(they cost me USD 1 each). something about business, GMO, politics, and i cant recall the others.
in the day, i guess i spent the day with cooking, and reading the GMO book i just bought. nothin much. evening, basketball..
night, we had a movie night, it was 'wicker park' on the screen. as usual, some of us got so emotional and started the complaining, cursing and even nak belasah the girl yg jadi orang jahat in the movie..yeah, i personally like the movie. the plots, cinematography, the ending(happy ending)...like them so much

i guess got to leave now..so lapar..my housemate dah masak meggi x-tra delicious...hopefully it taste as deliciuos as it suppose to.(baru nak makan even dia dah masak 2 jam lepas)..chow

imran

june 7th, 2005
its another beautiful day today,the first day i am to go to 'work'.here, we are assigned to several tasks..to go to class, to go to work(everbody were given different tasks). bob and me are going to be incharge in handling a convenient store called the 'small mart'..it is one of the drury sife project, as an effort to gain funds for their projects.
first, before we start to sell stuff, the job is to do stock taking on items available in the store and in the same time, to check on the items' condition. i had a shock of my life to find some of the stuff were already expired like since 2002!!! oh, man..this is terrible..what would happen if somebody consume the stuff and later fall sick? mampos la kitorg. related to the case, my housemate, rakin went to the kwik pantry-a convenience store run by a pakistani couple..he got himself a starbuck's frapuccino drink...the moment the found that the drink taste a littel bit funny, he just realize that the drink has already expired since early last month..haiyoh!!and we got all this in the land where people pro-claim themself to be the best in everything..all feilds..what an amazing experience...
later today, for the first time, i cooked (with help of my housemate, icky) something that we call 'real' food. it was white rice, sambal udang, chap-chai vegetable and omelette...thank god, i am glad, we finally managed to cook, and eat FOOD....nyam..nyam...
again, for the first time, at about 7.30pm i found that all the periuk belanga rumah aku dah kena kebas..by friends living nearby.they borrowed them, because they need extra utensils to cook.some of them organizing kenduri kendara, so...i'm happy to see that happens here, in the land of uncle sam.
as i was having great time talkin, chatting, and laughing, for the first time, anuar, the most religious person among us, reminds us that it was rally close to the maghrib prayer...looking at the big crowd we have, for the first time again,all the boys decided to have a 'jamaah' prayer..it felt so good after being here for nearly 2 weeks..to have a chance to perform something that i guess one of the biggest call from the god and its messanger to the ummah..
before i forget..for the first time, i experienced the rain in the states. and it was a heavey..heavy rain..in malay, i would say it 'layan giler...dah lama tak hujan'..hehe...
even the rain was quite heavy, it wasn't good enough to stop me to get to the sports complex, to play basketball for the first time. went with Lin, another malaysian intern from KuiTTHo..and for the first time again, i (i mean we, lin and me)got a car ride to the gym(hujan, nak jalan macam mana?) ... the time we want to walk back after the game, it was still raining and guess what? another first time experience to run in the rain(main hujan sekali la tu) in the states..hehehe..sound obsessed? u be the judge.
at night, i guess there was nothin much happened. ppl came over to my place to hand in their work schedule and volunteer work forms. i guess i shall be sleepin late tonite, got some stuff to be taken care of..anyway..this is really a first time day..hehehe...adios amigos..


imran

its the first day to class today, i was so exited about it. yup i was a kind of dissapointed as i didn't manage to get intot the class i wanted, that is 'intro to psychology'...instead they put me in 'ethical issues in healtcare'..sounds BORING..right?
there was less than 15 people in the class, inclusing myself and another malaysian intern-shikin. all of them were ladies, except a guy that i guess aged around 40. the professor-peter browning seems to be a charming guy. after some introduction session (today is the first day for summer class for other students as well)that made me feel that i was back in the primary school(you know, all the self-intro, games, and all).
the class, later started with an unfreezing session where we were devided into 2 groups, needed to list down as many ethical issues that is related to healthcare. i was really glas when people started with euthanasia, abortion, stem cell research, right of informed choice,etc. starting from that point of time, i was all for the class. we later went into history of why and how does the ethical awareness got into the picture. prof.browning later played a movie about the issue strilization started in germany back during the WW1 and WW2. how adolf hitler sell the idea of eugenesis, and how the aidea later spred into U.S and England, the point of view from those that was directly involved with it, etc. it was really intersting as we will learn a lot more after this. but i still have to say that i would love if i can make it into the into to psychology class.
after lunch(if you consider 2 packets of maggi goreng is a lunch) i went the the dillon's and wal mart with feroz and zulia to get some stuff.food suppply, basketball, etc.hehee...i just got back, and some rest would help. until later..say la vi...


-imran-

hello people, finally after months of procastination..i managed to set up my blog. i tooks a lot of caurage as i always wonder my personal capability to gain, maintain and sustain my level of commitment and loyalty to this kid of stuff.in case you dont feel that i write something you wanted me to know, i'm just a new guy in the town. basically, my updates...my current location is Sprinfeild, Missouri, USA. gonne be here for the next 3 month for a student exchange program. its a nice town with wonderful people..it has been a week since my last moment in malaysia. fulfilled the time to get to know the place and....shopping. lots of stuff here seems to be cheaper that the one in malaysia. and factory outlet stores were just outside the town.foods, not so much of a problem. we can find kosher meat quite easily and in case the shoe run out of stocks, there are always other avenues(plus those packed and ready-to-eat food) we brought from malaysia)..the storekeeper got a shock of his life when suddenly he got to supply kosher and halal meat to 20 malaysians...hahaha..
starting tomorrow we are going to start our program. going to classes( i chose 'intro to psychology'), woking at companies, and some voluntary works. hopefully it will be great and i may start making friends with the locals. gotta go, until next time..chiao...
imran