Pennywisdom

Since high school, so around five years now there has always been one band whose music has continued to inspire me. Pennywise. Not the greatest musicians the world has ever seen, nor the greatest American punk band. Yet their lyrics are powerful and intense and when combined with the repetitive base lines they usually produce they can get the blood pumping like few others. It's also refreshing to see a band so politically motivated. I can recall no clear-cut love song on any of their albums; their focus is mainly on politics and injustice in America. They have produced 6 or 7 albums and in doing so their actual songs can come across a little contradictory at times (protectionist in some, international in others) yet that is not the point. The point is that this is high paced politically fired stuff. Always refreshing. Makes a change from the constant stream of heartbreak obsessed Irish boy bands or the money/sex/drug obsessed southern/urban underclass of America. If you haven't heard of Pennywise I suggest you try them. Not to everyone’s taste but if you like them, you'll love them. F**k authority - as they so wisely say...

The American Student

I think it is only fair that I rush to the defence of the American student. I am wary of my blog becoming far too anti-American for its own good, I must fight the temptation, as attractive as it unfortunately is.


American students are much like British ones. You have your care free ones and you have your workaholics. I would say that there is however a tendancy for the American student to work harder than the British. Firstly the set up of their degree course gives them more work to do and secondly University is far more expensive - and hence valuable to these students. Many have either paid fortunes to be there, or require near constant top marks to retain the life line that is their scholarships.

I have also been surprised with how politically aware most students claim to be and debate is often fierce, they say politics is one of the great American past times. and rightly so. Yet from my limited experience they do seem to be very sure of their opinions, and this is the source of their fierce debates. People are very dogmatic in their beliefs, leaving little room for compromise.

I can also happily report that it seems that banning alcohol to the under 21's has only made it far more attractive to them - and many tend to drink just as much, if not more than their British counterparts. Despite the efforts of countless overally well intentioned campaign groups. Which doesn't half make me smile. :)

Extra! Extra! Read all about - what?

America has no news. It has very few newspapers and it has very bad news channels. It is driving me mad. Admitedly Arkansas may be more out of the loop than say New York. Yet unless you especially order - you can only get local newspapers which have a dismal few pages of international news (which tends to focus on American actions overseas).

The newsagents on your street corner - doesn't exist. Instead they have these silly little slot machines on the side of the street which gives you access to only about 3 papers in the whole state.

These papers (which few people bother to read) simply talk about what's going on in their State. The news channels are terrible, their coverage of the New Orleans disaster consisted of human interest stories about church groups turning out their pockets and National Guardsmen saving puppy's from buildings. Nothing at all about the wider issues at stake. I log onto the BBC to see a grilling of American actions - the scary thing is that it hadn't even really occured to me how bad the sitatuion was - because the US media didn't let me know about it!!

The most powerful nation in the world, and yet the least informed? possibly.

The Crash

American Universities are easier than British Universities. Fact. American Universities require more work than British Univerisites. Also fact.

I am taking all upper level courses here in the States and to be frank the questions I am being asked are A level in their complexity. Yet the workload is significantly higher here. I am struggling with it. My grades have recently nose dived becuase I have simply not put in the hours. If you actually take the time to do the readings it is very hard not to get top marks in the US. Yet there is so much reading to do its tempting to skip some of it, British style. Yet to do this in the US is fatal since the majoirty of the questions are based on simple facts and figures that crop up in the text, rarely do they ask you to do any analysis or comparative works.

I have been gifted an opportunity to really boost my grade here in the States, since an 'A' here is equal to a 70 back home and an A here is really not that hard to achieve. To do this however I need to really focus, concentrate and avoid distractions. This is a new sort of challenge.

The Church

I have been attending Sunday services at a local protestant church here in Arkansas for several weeks now. This is something I never thought I would catch myself doing. Yet fear not for I have not shaved my head and sworn vendetta on the unbelievers quite yet. Many of my friends went and I was invited, so curiosity got the better of me. It has been very worthwhile.

From my infidel British viewpoint there are some positives:
1. Not everyone actually takes it seriously. 2. It seems to give society some sort of organisational backbone and does a lot of good works. 3. It provides great spiritual guidance and aids people through emotional crises and the like, producing some really genuine people in the process.

And some negatives:
1. Some people do take it seriously. 2. It follows the Bible’s teachings so practices discrimination against women and homosexuals, (homosexuals are not allowed in and woman have a limited role within it). 3. Whilst being very ‘accepting’, it is only ‘accepting’ on their terms.

I would encourage anyone to attend church services at some point. Despite being based on an age old fabrication of a document the church still provides a hub of active (if not progressive) discussion and reflection on social issues. It makes you think and challenges your conceptions – something Sunday morning TV does not do. On the whole I think I have a more positive approach to the church than I did before (which admittedly isn’t saying much).

The American Way

Having spent almost nine weeks now in the land of the free and the brave I should reflect on some differences. I am in Arkansas (which is above Louisiana) so my experiences are by no means true about the whole of America, its a big place you know. The first thing I noticed was the money. There is so much more of it here than in the UK, at least in terms of university funding.

Rather than have the government subsidise students like in the UK. America relies on a more complicated, yet far more simple system of scholarships and a reliance on philanthropic gifts. Whilst the American way may seem less secure I'd actually argue it is the better system. Scholarships are given by various organisations to individuals that meet set requirements (academic/ethnic/background/religion etc)

The American government also provides scholarships itself and funds the public universities to a certain extent, but the bulk of funding comes from the goodwill of local organisations and citizens. Not only does this give people a greater interest in their communities - it actually works better! People and organisations give impressive sums to see their university grow and thrive. University of Arkansas was recently the benefactor from a $300 million donation from the Sam Walton Institute (The people behind Wal-Mart) and many of the buildings here resemble the headquarters of multi-national corporations more than lecture buildings.

Being here has changed how I view the welfare state. It is far more encouraging to see people actively involved in their communities’ development, rather than assuming that because the government takes so much of their wage packet they are free from responsibility. Power to the people!

Did you just... Did I see..... Huh?

Something happened yesterday. I would just like to thank the person involved for their trust and beauty.

Every once in a while you meet someone that redefines the world around you. They become a fixed point of reference in your life and they can be used to break down your past, before you met them and after you met them.

Now things are certainly uncoventional between me and this person, but we have faith in one another and I for one can begin to look at the world with a new sense of belonging and comfort. People like this are rare and should never be let go easily. In fact, it is people like this that make life worth living. And whilst we may move apart physically in times ahead, I have no intention for us to depart spiritually.

I am lucky to have had this opportunity to be here, in this place and at this time to meet them. I look foward to our future.

Red Essex To Redneck

Welcome to my Blogg! I don't consider myself much of a Blogger but I guess we shall see! Take a look at my profile for the basics on me. To add some more details I should say that I attend the University of Essex but am currently spending a semester at the University of Arkansas and loving every minute of it! I have a passion for learning and it hurts to know that I will be (should be) graduating in May and that my student life will be over. It feels like it’s only just beginning, not coming to an end! I like to help people and have lots of crazy ideas about how best to do this, yet fear I have neither the courage nor opportunity to use them. I love all my friends and consider myself to be lucky to have met them all. One day I'd like to throw a big party and invite everyone I have ever known. I'm not really sure what to write about in this Blogg, I guess I will know when I see something. Although I already think I have one idea. I am an Ipswich Town Football Club supporter and this is often troublesome. If I was to advise one book that everyone should read it would probably be Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, if only because its fun to read and makes you think, regardless of what you actually think about the topic. I like the idea of religion yet most of the world would consider me an infidel. For which I am ever grateful. I would also like to draw your attention to www.dialectic.org.uk which is a fascinating site designed to promote political participation. I helped create it, so of course it is going to be fascinating. My thanks also go to a certain Mr Craig Knott who inspired me in the creation of this Blogg. I can only hope it is half as good as his.