A few days ago I was looking thru the New Yorker and this title caught my attention--Bushido: The Way of the Armchair Warrior by Evan Eisenberg. It's listed under shouts and Murmus. Of course, I had to read it. I made copies of it and will distribute them to the class on Saturday. Although you may not agree with his opinions, I think you will find the Asian flavor interesting.
Hi Myrna (and everyone else),
Here's a link to the New Yorker article:
http://www.newyorker.com/printable/?shouts/040607sh_shouts
Any responses?
There was an excellent 60 Minutes presentation on North Korea on Sunday 1/15. We have been at war with them for the last 50 years, and one of the 60 Minutes reporters went to North Korea. Needless to say he had 2 full time official government guides. It was interesting to see the traffic guides, there was virtually no traffic, nor traffic lights,and the guides had no emotion. Most of the people in North Korea cannot even afford bikes. There are air polution problems, but it seems the country is very structured and very clean. They are not allowed to watch foreign TV. They have the 3rd largest army in the world, but they are robotic in nature. My husband asked, "Who does their army remind you of?", and with the robotics, it was definitely the "goose-stepping" of Nazi Germany.They believe an American invasion is coming, and are quite ready to use the atomic bomb. To live in their capital city you must have permission. A tour of the Pueblo, our boat that was captured many yeras ago is $78. U.S. North Korea feels war with the U.S. in inevitable.
In my government class we study dictatorships, democracy. capitalism and communism (of course). One of the assignments that the students really enjoy is what I call a dictator factsheet. I tell them it is like a blown-up baseball card (name/picture on one side, statistics facts on the other). I always assign one student to do Kim Il Sung and another to do his son Kim Jong Il. After their research they present them back to back. It really helps the students understand the long and difficult history of North Korea
I also find that, because of our large Korean population, it can lead to really valuable in class discussions.
I don't think I ever realized how often bits and pieces of Asian culture are in our everyday lives. A few days ago I walked into my living room and my daughter was watching "Americans Next Top Model". I have never paid much attention to the show, but this particular day it caught my attention. The would be models were in Japan. They were meeting Japanese executives, attending tea ceremonies, and finding and dressing in local fashions. The judges panel was primarily from America, but there was one guest judge from Japan. Of the three final contestants, she liked the blond hair blue eyed contestant better than the two African American contestants. Her comment was something like she has the look we are looking for.
More aware? I think so. The day before in the staff lounge I saw a magazine on the table. The cover story was about the fashions coming out of China. I don't have the article with me, but the designer was being compared to Gucci. The article claimed that China was right up there with France and Milan for fashion.
I think I am more aware, and it is a good thing.
WELL. YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY. FOR YEARS I HAVE HAD MIXED-RACE ASIAN FRIENDS AND I HAVE NEVER HEARD THE TERM HAPA. HAVE I BEEN THAT MUCH OUT OF THE LOOP. HOW DO MIXED-RACE ASIANS FEEL ABOUT THE TERM? IT LOOKS LIKE KIP FULBECK, A SANTA BARBARA ARTIST, FILMMAKER, ATHLETE AND ART PROFESSOR WHO IS OF CHINESE, IRISH, WELSH AND ENGLISH DESCENT, RECENTLY PUBLISHED A BOOK CALLED "PART ASIAN 10O% HAPA."
HAPA WAS ORIGINALLY A DEROGATORY HAWAIIAN WORD FOR HALF-BREED AND ACCORDING TO THE TIMES ARTICLE IT IS NOW A TERM OF PRIDE. SOUNDS IFFY TO ME. RECENTLY I HEARD AN IRISH MEXICAN REFER TO HIMSELF AS A "GREEN BEAN." NEVER HEARD THAT ONE EITHER. BEING ONE MYSELF I FOUND THE TERM AMUSING. I DON'T KNOW HOW I'D FEEL IF SOMEONE LABELED ME AS SUCH. I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO HEAR SOME PEOPLE'S FEELINGS ABOUT THE TERM HAPA. I GUESS AMERICA'S FASCINATION WITH LABELS KEEPS CHURNING NEW ONES OUT. IS IT AN OK TERM TO USE TO REFER TO SOMEONE?
ANYWAY, THIS WEEKEND FULBECK OPENED A RELATED PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBIT AT THE JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM IN LITTLE TOKYO.
INTERESTING FACTS:
HAPA'S NUMBER 1.6 MILLION IN THE U.S. AND NEARLY A THIRD LIVE HERE IN CALIFORNIA. 11% OF THE TOTAL ASIAN-AMERICAN POP. IN THE STATE. THE LARGEST OUTSIDE OF HAWAII. [Edit by="aaguilar on Jun 14, 1:58:45 PM"][/Edit]
Hello everyone,
I heard something new today. I wonder why it was never mentioned by Clay before. It seems too important to be missed. If you have more information in this regard please post it.
I heard that Americans who like to adopt Chinese children travel to China in large numbers. Certain day of the week(Tuesdays) is for those who like to get boys, and another day is for seekers of girls. They show up in certain hotels in large crowds, and there is an amazing competition for adopting Chinese children.
More info please!!!
I have some Asian colleagues who have used the term hapa to describe themselves and others, and it has never sounded derogatory or negative. I usually hear it being used to compliment a person's exotic appearance. I think that as humans we love to classify and categorize, and unfortunately the labels take on positive or negative spins depending on who is using them.
Have you heard of Kip Fulbeck? He has a exhibit at the Japanese American Museum downtown LA. He collected pictures of Hapa from all over the country to show their beauty and diversity. It is starting to become something that is less derogatory. More and more people are intermarrying and there will be more and more hapas. You should check it out. It's really interesting. He almost wrote various books and lectures.
I just recently learned of the term hapa but never heard of it growing up. I like the meaning of half, part, or fragment. Someone used the term to describe a fellow teacher. The person also brought up the idea that all people are not 100% of something. What does that mean for people and Asians?
I have just learned through the events calendar that Obon Festival is coming at the Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple in Little Tokyo. I have been there a couple of times in the past and I had a good time. One can get to see the temple inside, taste some good food, win some games. Obon is kind of a memorial service for the ancestors of the Buddhist's family. But anybody can pray for their ancestors at the temple. (Not that I was a Buddhist, but Asians are big about their ancestors, and you and I can be too!!) You will find the information in the UCLA event calendar. If you are lazy about it, here it is!
Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple
503 E. 3rd St. LA
12:00pm to 9:00pm
213-626-4200
You can be there for free, but you have to pay for the food and games.
Have fun!
Did you see the Miss Universe pagent a couple of days ago? Japan became the finalist. She was very pretty and dressed so tastefull. I did not see the whole show, but I learned that she spoke four different languages. I was amazed. Pretty, Intelligent, tall....not fair!!
Whether it is an international acceptance of "newly" discovered beauties from all continents or an ageless chase for the "beauty" of the moment, pageants have evolved more recently into the search for the "well-rounded" beauty. Beyond the classic 'beauty with brain' stereotypes, more recent pageant winners have to be above par with social skills and grace that I believe harkens back to the pageants of our forefathers.... Grace Kelley et al. were the social representatives of their gender, their class, their ethnicity, and even their upbringing. In the narrow definition of beauty of the past, the typical fair-skinned, light-colored hair maiden of the Western world was the "unattainable" woman for the masses.... The women in the aristocratic class, or in the academic/high culture world, or in the well-traveled, cosmopolitan lifestyles were the images splashed across media and made contact with people around the world.
As our modern American society truly begins to reflect multi-culturalism, including mixed ethnic offsprings, I know the future generations will live to see their society as real as the diversity of our nation's history. However, will small extreme groups, such as supremist or ethnic cliques, continue to spit their venom of narrowly defined, and exclusive sense of beauty on the majority; or will our short attention span nation ignore the 'why's' and the 'how's' of an multiethnic America's past, and move on to the next 'IT' 'girl'/fashion of the moment?!?
Being of Asian descent, and being male, I often got to see and sense what beauty meant to people both here in America and in Asia. First, when I was younger, it was always Asian-American women/girls dating Caucasian men/boys. Why never Asian American guy with a Caucasian girl that I frequently now see in multi-ethnic neighborhoods?!? What if a girl/woman brought home a non-Asian, non-Caucasian, or even worse non-professional/academic as a date??? or a future husband??? What if she had an 'illegitimate' child, out of wedlock with an unemployed, non-degreed, different ethnicity father??? From the Caucasian male point of view, I know that colonial/imperial/tourism propaganda still promotes Asian women as the pliable, exotic 'beauty' of the 'other'... Ever see ads for Singapore Airlines, or for any film/book/media related to 'Geisha', or fell uncomfortable when seeing how some soldiers treat women in war films or historical epics... With any interracial marriages, did the couple see each other’s ethnicity first, or truly find love??? On the flip side, if Asian couples marry the same ethnic group for the sake for family and Asian tradition, then why does "Romeo and Juliet" speak so much to Asian hearts with similar social restrictions??? Shouldn't true love conquer all???
Second, going back to the idea and imagery of the Asian beauty in the Western world, could we trace back the fascination with Eastern beauty back to the kidnapping of Helen of Troy, or the marriage(s) of Cleopatra, or even the more recent history of 'mail-order' brides and war brides??? If Iman and Beverly Johnson defined 'Black' beauty, and the new Miss Universe (P.Rico) and unfortunately for some JLo and the Latino craze, then who is the Asian beauty of tomorrow??? If you went to Asia a few years back, even Asian cosmetic firms were using Western models for their products... Today???.... And in the future, if 'Asian woman' is to be the new look du jour, will Western women get surgery one day to remove the extra fold on their eyelids, choosing to go for the smooth, wrinkle free eyelids on half of the world's faces??? Are tanning sprays and treatments a new definition of beauty, color on the skin, but then what is the deal with the use whitening creams in Asia to look beautiful? Yes, if you have color in Asia, your parents couldn't afford to keep you in indoor endeavors of schools and professional lifestyles...But in America, if you have 'color' in the suburbs, your parents have the wealth and the modern sense to give you the freedom of the great outdoor life - soccer, baseball, and the backyard pool?! White suburban kids imitating urban lifestyles of hip-hop.... So to be the urban lifestyles of neo-Tokyo??? Can we all visualize yellow Yu-gi-oh hair and tech-savvy, materialistic teens???....
Finally, will traditional Asian-American parents finally see a multi-racial, multi-generational bloodlines in the future? If African-Americans, and in some instances Native Americans have a rich history of crossing ethnic lines in America, and hopefully found peace and happiness in such great unions, then will Asians back in Asia open their minds to such future possibilities as their sphere of influence spreads????
Yahoo News Story: "China says activist broke his own neck"
The headline is sad, yet makes me laugh because it is so ridiculous. This poor guy complained that the state made him give up his home for a dam project and that he had been beaten up for complaining. His complaint was broadcast on German public television. About a week after his interview, he said he was attacked after leaving a police station. He was paralyzed. The government investigation concluded he hurt himself and the police told him not to appeal the decision.
It is so transparent, it is not like anyone hearing this story would believe the Chinese government. When I read a story like this, I wonder about what it would take for China to stop being Communist. China seems to be becoming increasingly market based, and with the globalization of the economy it is hard to believe that China could stay under this kind of political oppression while have increasing economic freedoms. However, China has for the majority of its history been under a single ruler, so perhaps they are used to it? Their republic didn't last for very long before it degenerated into a warlord fighting period which was ended by another dictator (Chang Kai-Shek). Perhaps things like in this article are the panicked attempts at keeping power by the government. Or maybe I'm reading the economic freedom wrong. What do you think?
As I have been doing some reading, the question I am asking myself is this? Is China even Communist? Was it ever communist or is it just a continuation of the empires that have dominated China over the millenia? Mao (as Stalin did in Russia imo) acted much more like a despotic emperor than a communist and Deng never really acted like a communist in opening China to a market economy.
One thing seems to be sure. China and its Communist state have followed a similar path that the rest of the Communist nations of the last century have done and they have repressed and deceived their people to hold power in the hands of one or a few.
I understood Bushido to be a relatively new phenomenon. That is, it did not exist until Japan started to modernize it's military, et.
Mao tried to be a Communist and make China a communist state. I'm not so sure about the others. Mao also consciously tried to identify with the past emperors (very Confucian).
I know what you mean........I visited China in 1976 and came home all excited about how communism was better than how the peasants had lived for centuries. Over the years, I have realized that the positive ideals of communism have never been materialized anywhere.
But what really scares me is that democracy is not always what it says it is. When the US started out, our forefathers killed off the people who were here, and the only people who could vote were white men who owned land. How democratic was that?
I hope we get to come back in a few centuries to see what China, the US and the planet earth in general are like; if any of them even exist.
Cathy in Temecula
Since my East Asia Institute class this month at UCLA, I am surprised by how many connections I have made (in just 2 weeks) with people in my community regarding E. Asia.
Our new choir teacher is Korean and did not come to US until 6th grade (with no Eng). He may come speak to my high school world history class during his prep. Meanwhile our speech therapist's son is returning from 2 yrs in China where he has been teaching English. I hope he will be a guest speaker for my groups. (He earned his BA in Chinese language.)
I have students with backgrounds from many countries and cultures and plan to have them make presentations. Fortunately, some of their parents are also willing to come in and share.
I have invited some staff members to the symposium in Oct at UCLA, one of whom is married to a Japanese woman!
I hope you will seek out students and community members to speak to your classes and bring something tangible to share as well. Next week a PTSA member is going to bring food to sample and talk about growing up in India and what is it like to be an Indian and a Hindu in Temecula!
Cathy, Chaparral in Temecula
I just read an article about Princess Kiko. She is expected to give birth to an heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. I remember discussing this in my Asian Seminar class at UCLA. Apparently there hasn't been a male heir born since 1965. If it is a boy, it will solve the succession crisis. I would think they would know by now if it is a boy or a girl since she is expected to give birth this week. I hope it is a boy.
I guess you could say that Mao tried to be communist, but if you read the recent biographies of Mao, he really seems less concerned with the communist ideal of equality and more concerned with his own power and cult status. He did not seem to be as concerned with the peasants as we had been led to believe in previous decades. In fact, the peasants seem to be fodder for Mao's nuclear program according to Jung Chang's biography of Mao.
That sounds like a grand idea. There are still many students that like to collect baseball cards and the like. That is something I will try to use and maybe we can even make a game up with the Cold War or something like Dictators vs. Democrats and these baseball style cards.
Our democracy (I prefer republic) was fledgling and in many ways an experiment. The founders were an extension of the culture and era in which they grew up in. It took many years for democracy to develop into what we have today and I still would not trade our system for anything I have seen in the communist world. I have seen nothing in Mao's China, Pol Pot's Cambodia, the Kim's North Korea, nor Vietnam that would lead me to believe that East Asia's or any brand of communism is preferable to our system. I also think that many people's ideals of communism takes a rather naive approach to humanity's natural instinct for self-preservation and egoism.
I found this webquest to be helpful when dealing with a recent geography section.
Japan Webquest
That is a nice website that you use to introduce a unit on Japan in Middle School or High School. You can make a homework assignment out of it or use an LCD projector or TV to give a mini intro lecture.
Chapman University has a great article by Dr. Wenshan Jia in the fall 06 alumni magazine. The whole magazine is dedicated to Building Global Citizens and features students, grads, professors who spent time in other countries this last year. Dr. Jia is an associate professor in the Dept of Commucications Studies and is on the Board of Directors of the Association of Chinese Professors of Social Sciences the US.
"While in college as an English major in Xi'an, China, during the 1980's, I would listen to an officially banned tape of presidential debates between George Bush Senior and Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, as well as an offically banned tape consisting of President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, JFK's inaugural address, Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have A Dream" speech, a recitation of Walt Whiman's poem "Oh Captain! My Captain!" and the Bible.
Dr. Jia teaches Americans about China and he teaches Chinese about Americans.
After living in the US for 14 years he reflects, "I have been awakened to my rich cultural heritage, the significance of recovering it from the past destruction from both home and abroad, the importance of preserving it, and the significance of making it understood and integrated internaionlly for a more peaceful world."
Did I realize my alma mater has a mission statement which emphasizes global citizenry for world peace, based on the example of Albert Schwitzwer? Chapman has a Center for Global Education with study abroad programs, overseas internships, world culture courses, and volunteer services abroad, in addition to guest professors and speakers.
There is so much to learn and share; it's nice to know we have the support of universities to promote world peace in our public schools.
Cathy in Temecula
Japanese Scholar gives Chapman University a gift and has library room named after him. Mr. Aquin Mitsuo Yamagishi is 82 and lives in Tokyo and is collaborating with Dr. O'Brien of Chapman English Dept on a book about haiku. A reference to our class was in the article in Chapman University's Alum Magazine, Fall 06: "Mr. Yamagishi even sent the library some beautiful prints illustrating the Tale of Genji, written around 1000 A. D. by lady Murasaki and considered to be the world's firt novel. The gentle and humble poet taught on the floating campus when Chapman students cruised from Hawaii to Japan, taking courses in the 1970's.
I loved the paragraph telling of his future projects (he obvioulsy is an example of longevity for those who work and study):
"Dean Baldwin says that Mr. Yamagishi has three moe projects he would like to complete in Japan: history of oil exploration the Osaka area (his father worked in t he oil industry); a history of the Ainu (indigenous people of Japan); and some work on Sado Island, a small island west of Japan that has its own intriguing cultural background ) and is well-known today as the home of Kodo, the famed Japanese drumming ensemble).
Remember: he is also writing a book.....after the 3 projects he hopes to move to Chapman, live in a residence hall and talk with students and profesors everday for the rest of his life. How inspiring, indeed.
Well, as far as I know, boys are not adopted in any significant numbers. My wife and I adopted in China in 2004 and we traveled with thirty-nine families from our agency, which was a record at the time. I have since heard that the Chinese official who approved our large travel group was fired because of the size of our group. We traveled with four other groups who sent in their dossiers at different times. Lately, the travel groups themselves have gotten smaller and the process is much slower.
In 2004, our DTC (Dossier to China) was sent to China in January of 2004 and we traveled in late September to pick up our daughter. We just sent in our second dossier in July and we are at this time 12 groups away. The agency has not been allowed to send two regular groups at one time since September of 2005 and the last four groups have traveled about two months apart. If the trend continues, I expect that we will be in China during the Beijing Olympics. I hope ourt placement won't be in Beijing as the cost would probably be prohibitive or we may have to wait an extra month.
So, yes! They have traveled in large numbers but those numbers are getting smaller. We really don't know how much competition there is in adopting Chinese children because the Chinese government is very tightlipped about the process and its role in it.
As far as boys being adopted on a certain day of the week, I have not heard that. Out of 39 children adopted in our group, only one was a boy and he was picked up from Sichuan on a Monday like all of the other children. Our cdaughter came from the province of Anhui, but we are close friends with the adoptive parents of the boy since they live 10 minutes from us.
I was fortunate to teach music in CA public schools for 23 years before funding cuts gave me the opportunity to teach high school world history/geography. As I read the Chapman Alum Fall 06 magazine on Global Citizens I was drawn to the time line of performances Chapman musicians and choirs have shared in other countries.
Although Europe takes the lead and the Wind Symphony was at the Sydney Opera House a month before I was this summer, China has had its share of tours, too.
2002: Choir in Beijing and Shanghai
1994: Choir in Beijing, Shanghai, Guango, Guilin, Hong Kong
1987: Chamber Orchestra in Beijing, Shanghai, Harbin, Guangzhou, Guilin, Hong Kong
1983: Choir in in Beijing, Canton, Hong Kong
It is funny how cities change names, as did so many African countries in the last 4 decades. I wonder what Hong Kong will be named 20 years from now?
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The Big News: 2008 Dr. William Hall and the Chapman University Choir have been asked to perform at the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Beijing
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Cathy in Temecula
I am shocked! North Koreans feel war with the US is inevitable? This is unbelievable and more than a little bit scary. Did the news program mention how much of the North Korean political build-up is in response to US policies and/or perceived world domination? Why do they see us as their enemy?
Bushio is often translated as "the way of the warrior", or (more literally), the warrior's "code." If you have any interest in this area, I would strongly recommend the writings by American Donn Draeger. Draeger was a student of all things Japanese, one of the first Americans to study martial arts with the Japanese in Japan (in the 1950's), and was- amongst other things- a mastery of weaponry. His writiings are quite detailed- he is recognized as the foremost Western expert on Japanese fighting styles and their related weapons. He was one of the few Westerners given the honor of teaching classes in the Kodokan ("the house of Kano"), the Judo academy buillt by Jigoru Kano, the father of Judo. Nowadays, this is more and more common, but during Draeger's day it was a very high honor. Many of Draeger's Japanese judokka regarded this as heresy, despite having a great respect for the man's ability.
No form of government is completely pure - there is an certainly an element of hypocrisy in our democracy. As was mentioned in an earlier post, our founding fathers stated that all men are created equal but did not mention women and proceeded to enslave African Americans and deprive them of all their rights for hundreds of years.
The North Koreans have become increasingly militaristic and provocative in their actions. The chest-beating and missle testing has eclipsed the former thrust of the regime- how the South Koreans have failed to "qualify" themselves as candidates for reunification at some hazy point in the future. The South Koreans have never really had much interest in being, to use a Star Trek analogy, assimilated by the "Borg". I suppose the staggering economic cost of doing so outweighs the political and social benefits in the minds of many S. Koreans.[Edit by="gjones on Feb 13, 7:58:13 PM"][/Edit]
[Edit by="gjones on Feb 13, 7:58:59 PM"][/Edit]
I think you need to consider the demographic group when one says South Korea does not desire unification.
My reading of the polls shows an older generation who desires unification while the younger generation wishes for the problem to go away. I think the younger generation fears the economic consequences of inheriting a dire situation in the event that reunification takes place; they cite the marital pains of Eastern and Western Europe. And of course the youth may possibly have more to lose over a longer period of time if reunification does not go well. Furthermore, Japan China and Russia are not in any rush to see a united Korea. JCS :~ [Edit by="jcsmyth on Mar 17, 3:01:48 PM"][/Edit]
Having lived and worked in South Korea, and having travelled back many times to visit my Korean friends, most of whom span the ages of 33-54, I must say that my phrasing in the initial post stands. I see your point, but I have not borne witness to it. Outside of the politicians- who are as removed and clued out from the regular folks as ours are- and those old enough to remember a unified Korea, very few seem to really care..passionately Sure, , South Korean movies and other media proclaim the glory of a unified nation, but these people also enjoy a relatively robust economy and all the goodies that this brings to the table. Other thoughts: I am not so sure the North Koreans would ever wish for unification either...would Kim Il Jong wish to relinquish or share power; would the N. Korean military elite settle for a golf club instead of a rifle? I am not so sure. Also, and this is just in case I have not played the cynic enough for you, do you really think the U.S. wants reunification? Having North Korea on China's doorstep is a nice little buffer. There is also the millions and millions of dollars invested in the US military presence in the region, and there is no way one can deny our country's love of inserting itself into strategically important hot spots. It is a HUGE mess, that is for sure. The reunification of the Korean peninsula is an idea that is rapidly becoming as antiquated as writing the 'Great American Novel'.