JOURNAL

This journal is dedicated to whatever rolls across my mind and to those who listen. Thank you.


Wednesday, December 21, 2011

my penpal from Tehran Iran

and now for something completely different. ;-)
i have a penpal in Iran. he found me on youtube and left me a comment. i appreciate being able to communicate with him. fascinated by the possibilities of a peaceful world. we are in a special time right now. things are changing faster. ;) look at the Big Picture. Look!

me:

ok. my first querry my new friend.
what is ur general perception of the US? and of it's people and where we stand facing one another as iranians & americans?
and please be honest. i'm not a ‘hater’ and i always do my best to understand all points of view. so if u feel u must hold back please do not. Understanding how we are perceived is crucial in moving forward as a world united than a world divided.
thank u my brother. i appreciate it. :)
all the best to you.
oh and how old are you? i am 39, i live in LA and am working on my career in hollywood as a movie actor.
thanks again. :)
Tim


Iran:

Hello, and sorry for the late response. I have been very busy !! My general perception if I understand the question correctly correctly of your country that it is beautiful for the most part, and you have more freedom than any other nation in the world (I guess your tied with Canada). I have been to America before, and I have to say they are very nice people. Every country has good and bad people, of course there is racism in your country just like there is in mine, but the people were generally good. Most Iranians actually like Americans a lot, we watch American movies, listen to your music, follow your fashion, we have lot's of your food here, and a large majority of Iranians speak English very well. I believe the only reason we are separated is because of politics, and this is very unfortunate. The Iranian people like Americans a lot is what I am trying to say my friend :) I am actually 25, even tho my youtube says 31 ;) Good luck with your acting career, when I first actually saw you I said to myself this guy deserves to be in movies! hahah. Stay in touch my friend :)
K

me:
:)
no worries on a delayed reply. no worries. ;) thank u so much for doing so. i truly appreciate your communications. :) and i appreciate what you have said. i am happy at what you have told me.
and thank you on my career! lol! i'm working hard at it. i recently moved to Los Angeles (one year ago) from NYC to pursue my acting career. it is evolving. like anything else it takes time. but things are happening. i am pleased. i am interested with my growing celebrity to help bring awareness to all people that we are all people. lol! that we are all the same just from different parts of the world. we all feel the same emotions. :)
in any case... thank you! again for your openness.
another querry please... do you experience censorship? are there restrictions on what you can view online? how free are you to express yourself publicly?
take your time in reply. it's all good. i'm just happy to be in touch with you.
happy holiday to you. :) what religion do you practice if any?
all the best!
having a merry christmas here. :)
your friend,
Tim
Hollywood USA ;)


Iran:
Hello again, yes unfortunately there is a lot of censorship in Iran. Our local TV only gets about 7 channels, everyone has satellite but the government sends out signals that affect its transmission. Sites like Facebook and YouTube are blocked (Attempted to be blocked at least lol).. Also, we cannot express ourselves in anyway out in public other than in favour of the government. You can get in very big trouble. Also, women here are forced to wear Hijab which I guess you have seen before, even in summers when it is around 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) they are forced to have a lot of clothing. Men can't wear certain clothes like shorts, and they are very strict on "edgy" hairstyles. Freedom of speech and expression pretty much doesn't exist here my friend. I am very familiar with Christmas, but I am Muslim. Although not extreme muslim or a regular practicer of religion I still have belief in god. Best of holidays to you my friend, Tim Hollywood ! hahah

Keep in touch !
K