Once in a While

2004-01-13T20:46:00.000-08:00

I saw the documentary about Iran by Jane Kokan, the Canadian journalist which was made secretly in a trip to Iran. At first, the nonsense stories she had made up seemed funny to me, but I got mad at her later on. I am so sorry for people who can see Iran and its problems only through the view angle of this lady and people like her. She was talking about the dangers of her trip such that it reminds me of the movie "Mission Impossible"! She was explaining about coding the emails, being watched, secret places and special people in a way I thought: "Is it really the country I was grown in?!"

After watching the movie, I feel more respect to Christiane Amanpour, the CNN news caster who had some reports about Iran a few years ago. What she showed was much closer to the reality of my country than the imaginations of this Canadian lady. I don't know how many groups, organizations and TV channels paid Ms. Kokan to make this artificial so called documentary. I am really sorry that unstable situations of Iran is a means of getting famous and finding reputation for people who may not care what is going on in Iran.

2003-11-28T09:24:00.000-08:00

I was watching the movie "Matrix, Reloaded". In part of it, there was a debate between Neo, the main character and the councillor of the city Zion, the last city of real people. Their talks seemed to me so deep and made me think for hours. I will narrate it for you here. Think about it. It seems to be the truth:

N: Neo
C: Councillor

C: Almost no one comes down here. Unless, of course, there's a problem. That's how it is with people. Nobody cares how it works as long as it works. I like it down here. I like to be reminded this city survives because of these machines. These machines are keeping us alive while other machines are coming to kill us. Interesting. Isn't it? The power to give life and the power to end it.

N: We have the same power.

C: Yeah, I suppose we do, but down here sometimes I think about those people still plugged into the matrix. And when I look at these machines, I can't help thinking that, in a way, we are plugged into them.

N: But we control these machines, they don't control us.

C: Of course not. How could they? The idea is pure nonsense, but it does make one wonder just what is control?

N: If we wanted, we could shut these machines down.

C: (Smiling) Of course. That's it. You hit it. That's control. isn't it? If we wanted, we could smash them to bits. Although if we did, we'd have to consider what would happen to our lights, our heat, our air.

N: So we need machines and they need us. Is that your point, councillor?

C: No, no point. Old men like me don't bother with making points. There's no point.

2003-06-22T00:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I received a letter from a court. At first, I got shocked and scared, but after reading the letter I found out that it was not because of any accusation or something, but I was chosen to be a juror of a trial. Regardless of the big mistake of the random generator in choosing a non-citizen for this position, I really admire the idea. In our country, the poor journalists and other political activists are prosecuted in courts, which have one person in role of both prosecutor and judge. Also, just privileged people are chosen to be juror.

2003-06-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

After one week of protests and demonstration of the Iranian students in Tehran and other cities and after violent reactions of the Police and vigilante groups, many officials around the world talked and wrote. Most of them condemned the violence and attacks against the students. Among all these, I found two reactions interesting. First one was President Khatami's. He said nothing!!! He behaves like nothing has happened and nobody was killed or injured. Sometimes, I do not understand him at all. Having a pretty smile and many nice words to say is not what people expected and what they need. Ebrahim Nabavi, an Iranian author, says: "Khatemi is the handsome kid of the family who is in charge of openning the door for the guests and greeting them!! This is while the other members of the family do whatever wrong they would like in the back!"
The other sad but noticeable reaction was Russians'. They just hope that these issues do not change the stable situation of the country. In fact what they are looking for is only money. They just care about their trades with Iran and nothing more. This is like what they said about selling reactive materials to Iran. They said we are sellers. We do not care about what can be done with these materials. We suppose that everything is fine and no bomb will be made!! How dirty the money is!!

2003-06-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, there was a football (what Americans call it Soccer) match in Iran. Iranians love football. It causes pleasure and pain in their hearts. Yesterday's match was between the two most famous teams of the capital, Persepolis and Esteghlal. They have had a life long competition against each other. The fans of the two teams talk about their beloved teams enthusiastically. They use the colors of the shirts (Red or Blue) in their words and slogans and make fun of the other team. Although there is the same story in many other countries, what makes this one special is that Iranian people mostly do not care about the other sports as they do about football and about these two teams. They get excited when their beloved team wins, come to street, blow the horns of the cars and also dance and sing together, the scene that you can see rarely in public in my country.

2003-02-19T10:04:00.000-08:00

Hi,

I am an Iranian student, living in United States and study in one of the universities of east coast. I also have a Weblog in my native language, Persian named Gaahi Godaari which means "Once in a While", "Now and Then" or "From Time to Time".

In this English Weblog, I am going to write about different topics especially my experiences of living in this country and also learning English as a second language.
In fact when you enter a new country or start talking a new language, many funny or sad things happen for you once in a while. So I would like to write about these experiences. These experiences can be interesting and maybe useful for a foreigner who also have or will have similar experiences. Meanwhile, it can help American people to know more about other people (especially Iranians)' thoughts and also challenges they have in US. Also, I will try to introduce my homeland, Iran and give a better view of her people and their culture.

I believe that all people around the world are limbs of one body as a Persian poet, Sa'di said over 700 years ago. His words are now written above the portal to the United Nation. What causes difference and even arguments among the people is a tall wall of misunderstanding (as said by President Khatami), which can be removed by more and more dialogue among civilizations. I hope this Weblog can be a tiny source in this direction.

So, check my Weblog out once in a while as I write it.

Gaahi Godaari (Once in a While)