About a month and a half in to my stay here was when i begun to feel that i was actually living here; when everything about being a tourist began to wear-off, when i began to feel like part of the American furniture and no longer felt as if i stuck out like a shadow in a flock of angels. Granted, people still stop me in the middle of conversations with a wild-eyed look of an excited child like when i first arrived here, but this occurrence has simply become part of everyday life for me; actually i can proudly say that i'm using this accent to my advantage, i'm sure you can all guess what i mean by that, i'm not going to spell it out for you. There is also the odd time when i get a similar bewildered feeling of anticipation when going to do something that i haven't yet done, but it is not the same as when i first got here. At this point, it feels like i have been here for much longer than 2 months; in-fact it feels like i have been here at least half a year. I am able to get around the city with ease and am getting to the point where i am beginning to recognise people in the streets all over the city (for those that don't know, San Francisco is only 7 by 7 miles, so running into people you know isn't that hard). The thing that i'm still finding it hard to get accustomed to is the manner in which people act toward one another here, they are so startlingly friendly that it almost seems like a gigantic facade. They are so open and bubbly in conversation that i have found myself many times thinking that i am acting withdrawn and coming across as rude by not being as joyful as they appear to be; as qualities go however, this isn't the worst thing to be trying to get used to.
The people in general here are all very approachable, i can't even count the number of times i've been queuing up for something or other, and someone has just struck up a conversation with me. Actually, a few days ago i was in line waiting to order some chai tea (thanks Slumdog Millionaire, i owe you for that one!) when the person in-front of me turned around and said 'Lets make this a bit more fun huh? I'm Jessica, what's your name?'. To this i replied 'I'm Archie' and without saying anything else got that same excited look before hearing her say 'Wow, i just love your accent, can you just talk to me some more?'. It really is as easy as that to make friends with people (in my case, particularly girls). But, as with anywhere, not all people are the same, and in San Francisco's case, there is an abundance of what the locals call 'crazies'. Partly down to the acid trips of the 60s and 70s, San Francisco is teaming with people one egg short of an omlette. It seems like the best place to find them, as with most nut-jobs, is on public transport. My stories of the amount of crazy people on the buses, trams and munis (a sort of underground, overground bus-like train system) are seemingly endless, but i'll give you my two favorites. I was on the bus on the way back home from downtown when one traveler decided to give everyone his rendition of Poison by Bel Biv Divoe that he was listening to on his ipod. To my surprise, another passenger behind me thought it would be a good idea to join in with the singing stranger, and before i knew it three others had decided to sing the melody, making for a very entertaining bus journey. Another time, again on a bus, a Chinese lady appeared to be suffering from a common cough. After about five minutes of listening to this lady pathetically trying to clear her chest, a man at the back of the bus got up and shouted 'Hey Lady! Get off the damn bus! I don't wanna die, you hear me? I don't want this swine flu thing everyone's yammering on about!! You gotta get off the bus right now!'. The Chinese lady just ignored the man, who then stood up, shot a stern look towards the woman before proclaiming 'I'm outta this rat trap, ya'll are crazy!' and jumping of the bus at the next stop, only to wait for another bus i presume, where he would probably have exactly the same problem. If i could say anything to people thinking about coming here, it would be that they would not be short of entertainment on their travels, thats for sure.
Learning here is very different to learning back home. For a start there is much more work here, something i have been both happy about and dismayed by. I actually feel like i am getting an education worth the money that i am paying for it, not something that i could have just done at home if i had really wanted to, as was the case with UEA. The way that essays are structured is quite different as well. It seems that they are made so that you are able to show that you have been doing work and doing what one would assume university life to be about, that you have been THINKING. Essays don't have to include any outside influences from renowned scholars, instead they are based purely on your reaction to the text, what you have managed to coign from it, and your personal analysis of it. I feel that this way students with creative juices are able to shine above so many of the drones that just copy out of books the ideas that others have created, effectively it gives people room to express themselves in their work. In my eyes, the way that people are tested here is also an improvement on the English system. Instead of having one big test at the end of the semester, there are many little tests and midterms, not counting for very much individually, spread out over the term. This takes off some of the pressure, meaning that if someone were to have a bad day, they can always make up for it a few lessons later when the next test arrives. In that respect, i feel that the UK could benefit from adopting a more spread out form of testing, taking the pressure off whilst somewhat increasing the workload. The lessons themselves are quite different as well. On first impression, one would think that many of the lessons aren't as structured as what students from England are used to, with teachers almost always digressing grossly off topic. Soon i realised however, that the professors were trying to get us to think about the wider ramifications of the topics they were teaching us, they were wandering off the issue to give us a wider insight into the way that the texts we were reading about had influenced our world. Often in my class i have thought 'what the hell are they on about now' and then, when thinking about it, realised that they were teaching me without me being aware of it. When the teachers are on topic and discussing what is on the syllabus, i have never seen such passion for anything in my life. These are people that clearly live and breathe for their jobs, they are not doing it because they could think of nothing better, they are doing it because there was nothing in life that they would ever or could ever want to do. To be taught by someone who exudes fresh excitement and bewildering energy about their expertise is amazing; it really changes the way that you learn about things. It makes you want to learn about what they are teaching even more, almost like they are on some kind of radical high that you should be experiencing as well. Most importantly, it makes you feel privileged, something i think every student serious about learning should feel if they are to achieve there goals, not the feeling of boredom and depression i see so many associate with their course.
"Education, as is taught today, is being safe in the knowledge that you know nothing; it is learning about how ignorant you are".
I can't take credit for the above quote, but i can say with some confidence that it is one that has changed my perceptions. It came from my favourite teacher here at SFSU, a man called Oba T'Shaka. To give you some background information, this is a man who has been through the whips and the punches like no other i have ever met. He is in his mid 70s, yet he stands at 6 feet 2, and i have never seen a man radiate as much power as he does. This is a guy that grew up fighting during the civil rights era in the USA, so he knows real bigotry and pain, yet he comes into work with the broadest smile and more passion than i thought possible. He teaches me in my Malcolm X in the context of black nationalism class and has had two assassination attempts on his life, obviously surviving both of them. Without sounding like i have too much of a man-crush on him, i have found every class with him enthralling, to me he is the epitome of what learning in America is. So often he wanders off topic; into the Obama health care debate, or the tax situation and budget crisis in california, but every time he does so, he explains to the class why. He tells us that he wants us to think, that he wants us to know what is going on in the world. So often he booms to the class of about 70 (there should only be 30 people in his class but due to the budget cuts he has let everyone he can into the small lecture room) what he thinks about the way things are going in the world. So often he has told us that 'You are not being educated, you can't be educated by someone else, you are being trained. You are being trained into a certain field of work. You are being trained by an institution designed specifically to keep you ignorant about the outside world so that you can't effect change. The only person that can educate you is yourself'. The first time i heard this i was completely entranced, it made so much sense to me and roused within me a burning desire to better myself. I think that it is this quality that makes him a great teacher. He is due to retire at the end of the academic year, and when the time comes to pick my units for the next, i am going to make sure that he is one of my teachers; thats how much the man has managed to influence me in such a short time.
At this point, i feel that i have managed to gain a good wealth of knowledge about my topics, but even more so about myself, something i am truly grateful for.
Thats all for now, but look out for the next one, thanks for reading, hope your enjoying my experiences as much as me!!
