A Small Adventure on Uncle Sam's Land 1.0

Dengan izin, hantaran ini ditulis dalam bahasa Inggeris...

Hello guys!

I hope my dear readers are doing well and it's been a long time without my new blog entries here. So, let's get the ball rolling...

In this latest entry, I just wanna share about my recent trip to the United States (US) as Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Academic Fellow on Civic Engagement at University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) for Fall 2022 cohort. This program is under the auspices of the US Department of State. On top of that, I just wanna tell you that my application for this program was REJECTED four times since 2019 before finally accepted this year (It was a difficult one, right?). For this cohort, there were four other Malaysian delegates who are selected as well, i.e. Razman, Azida, Clark & Shashi. The earlier two were placed at UNO like me while the latter ones were assigned to Portland State University (PSU) in Portland, Oregon.

Generally, I spent wonderful five weeks in several states, i.e. Nebraska (main one), Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota. I departed from Malaysia on October 1st, 2022 to Omaha, Nebraska via Tokyo and San Francisco with All Nippon Airways flights together with other Malaysian delegates. Once I arrived for transit at San Francisco International Airport, I'm quite overwhelmed when it comes to US Immigration and Customs checks. But luckily, it was a fast process which just took less than five minutes and my "food baggage" was safe too as I brought lots of them to the US :) I finally arrived in Omaha around 12 am the next day and stayed at Sonesta ES Suites Omaha in a studio apartment with a small kitchen. Plus, I also experienced jet lag for the first 1-2 days but finally recovered, thanks to Him!

First Week (1/10-9/10)

The whole journey started with an informal gathering at a nearby bowling alley where all of us played bowling together with program team members and student ambassadors, among others, Julie, Michael and Patrick. On the next day, we attended a formal briefing session at Milo Bail Student Center, UNO. I took the chance to meet and greet 19 other fellows from all over ASEAN countries as we introduced ourselves to each other. Then, we were accompanied by the program team on a tour around the Dodge Campus (UNO's main campus) and visited, among others, Criss Library, Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center and Arts & Sciences Hall besides collected our Per Diem (daily allowance for personal expenses) at Eppley Administration Building. Moreover, we went to Gallup Inc. Campus, where we learnt about 34 CliftonStrenghts which has been used to assess our talents. I am so glad once I met Mr. Val McPherson, the Gallup Strengths Coach who I received further explanation on my top strengths according to this assessment (every single of us had the chance to have consultation with him) while acquiring some pieces of useful life advice from him too.

Besides, some of our academic classes for this fellowship also commenced this week that discussed cross-cultural communication and fundraising. Dr. Patrick McNamara, our Principal Director-cum-lecturer is a cool guy and I am really impressed with the way he delivered the lecture (for sure not just one-way communication!). In addition, my friends and I got the opportunity to walk across Missouri River on Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge which connects Nebraska and Iowa; Lewis & Clark Historic Trail Visitor Center that showcases these two important American figures' adventure to the western part of North America in expanding US territory; walking down the memory lane of Omaha and Midwestern America railway industry at Durham Museum (previously known as Union Station) besides Old Market; and exploring the Fontenelle Forest, an important forest reservation situated near to Missouri River.

On Friday, we went to the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln (Nebraska's capital city) which houses the three branches of Nebraska's State Government ranged from the Governor's office, State Senate to Supreme Court. It was a lucky day for all of us when my YSEALI Fellow friends and I were conferred Nebraska Honorary Citizenship by Mr. Bob Evnen, Nebraska's Secretary of State alongside meeting Mr. Mike Foley, Nebraska's Lieutenant Governor and Justice Stephanie Stacy, Associate Judge at Supreme Court of Nebraska. Furthermore, Nebraska State Senate is the one and only state legislature in the US which is unicameral (just one house) and consists of non-partisan senators although majority of them are indirectly aligned to either Democrat or Republican Party compared to other US states. We also went to the top of the State Capitol to have a great view of Lincoln.

In addition, while I am in the US or even anywhere, for sure I will find some time to visit nearby mosque(s) and meet local Muslim community. Together with some of my friends, i.e. Razman, Rada (a Cham Muslim from Cambodia) & Bich Nhi (a Kinh from Vietnam), we visited the Islamic Center of Omaha (ICO) and had the chance to meet Imam Sakoor and Mr. Hussain there. Actually on that Saturday, the Center hosted an Open Day which we missed yet fortunately, there was some excess food which they gave us. After performing Asar prayer, we spent some time talking to Mr Hussain and Bich Nhi asked a lot of questions about Islam too. She seems interested to know more about this beautiful religion when she approached me after reading several literatures on Islam yet she did not have any chance to visit a mosque previously. Therefore, we invited her to ICO as well to fulfill her wish (she even got a new nickname of "Hasanah" which means "good/beautiful woman" too!).

Talking about food, it's really challenging to be honest but still, there is a variety of options that I could look for as long as it is Halal or Kosher (Jewish dietary rules) or the last resort, vegetarian! I went to Asian Market and Zam Zam Grocers Halal Store near to ICO and purchased Halal meat and some spices to cook in my room. Mr. Hussain also suggested several halal restaurants in Omaha that we should try, among others, International Cafe and El Basha Mediterranean Grill which we actually went to and the food was delicious! 

In short, I could say this was an introductory week for us to get to know each other alongside exploring Omaha and Lincoln. Both cities are quite vibrant and they also practise "Nebraska Nice" which means treating other people kindly and assisting them whenever necessary. For me personally, I called Omaha as "The Land of Free Food and Ride" because my friends and I were so lucky to meet Omaha citizens who voluntarily provided free rides from restaurant to our hotel besides offered some food for us to taste ranged from cookies to sushi (with good intention of course!).

To be continued...