Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Home

My initial reaction to Christine telling us that the theme of this class was going to be “Home”, I honestly didn’t quite understand. It didn’t quite register in my mind to associate the Asian American books that we would be reading with the theme of “home”. In response to the prompt for this week, when I think of “home”, I think of more than one place. Like many of you already know, I wasn’t born here, I was born in France. My parents are from Vietnam and I, personally, have never been to Vietnam and wish very much to go there soon! Through the vivid descriptions of my parents and my relatives, I have a picture of Vietnam (specifically my mother’s hometown of Saigon) in my head that I will never forget and someday, hope to compare to the real thing.

Although I have never physically been there, I consider Vietnam somewhat of a virtual home. It is where my parents were born and bred and where my parents’ parents were born and bred. And on a more relevant matter, it is where my parents were taught the same culture ideas and values that they have taught my brother and me. So in that sense, it was really important that I don’t forget that I am very much Vietnamese just as I am American. I can relate to the character of Gogol in The Namesake in the aspect that in the end, Gogol realized he needed to hang on to his Indian identity because it makes up very much of who he is.

At the beginning of the semester, for the narrative essay I decided to describe the exact day of my move from France to America down to the very last detail of my leaving our apartment. It was a good experience for me to put down on paper what I remember of it because I hadn’t thought very much about that day in a while. I read my essay again last night and it reminded me of My Country Versus Me and how Wen Ho Lee liked to include little details of his home in the midst of describing his struggle with trying to prove he was innocent of espionage, except I’m not a spy either.

So back to the point, I consider France to have been my home for the first 7 years of my life. Although granted, I didn’t learn any significant life lessons other than don’t touch a burning pot, the environment that I lived in fostered a lot of my family’s struggles as immigrants, as well as my parents’ struggles as newlyweds. We made it as a family though and did pretty well for ourselves until my mother decided that we could do better in America.

Having been in America for the past 12 years, I consider it my main home, more specifically I consider the city of Costa Mesa my home. My family is situated there and stable.

And Precious, I know how you feel about missing home, I’ve been longing to eat my mother’s steak and actually, hear my dad karaoke every night, haha. Don’t worry and hang in there, you will be back to those things soon, no?

I’m sorry I couldn’t do a longer journal entry, I have a final tomorrow! Bye!

Dao Nguyen

Monday, May 5, 2008

What is a Home?

Before taking this class, if someone were to ask me where my home was, I would not hesitate and reply as if it were a question with an obvious answer. But after taking this class this semester and reading the different Asian American novels, I have come to realize that the word “home” can mean many different things to each person. It does not only represent the physical place where you’re living or the place you feel most comfortable, but also a place where you can identify yourself in or with. I have learned that for some people, this concept of a home is very hard to grasp and the question of where your home is can be very challenging to answer. From the six different books we have read throughout this semester, although it is not explicitly stated, they each have a subtle theme of the idea of a home and what it means to each of the characters.

In the Namesake, Gogol, an American born Bengali, struggles to identify himself and also struggles to identify where his home lies. At the beginning, he feels that anything associated with India would not be considered his identity/home because he wants to be associated with America instead. He wants to identify America as his home and his only identity. Even though he spends eight months in Calcutta, India with his family, he does not identify that place as his home at all. Yet, he does not consider his house in America his home either. He wants to establish his own place that he may call his home and established a “home” in an apartment after he graduated from college. Yet, although he truly wants to, he could not make it his home. He would often move around and live at his girlfriends’ place. Sometimes, he would feel more relaxed and at home with them. Especially with Maxine, he feels that he could identify with her lifestyle—until he realized that his home is not all American place but a combination of both American and Bengali cultured place. He then marries Moushumi in hopes of finding a home with her, because she too is Bengali American. Yet, he realizes that a home is not just culture based. At the end, he finds “home” in his father’s book written by the author Gogol. After experiencing both extreme ends of American and Bengali “homes” (Maxine and Moushumi), he still can’t find his place. He still can’t find his identity. This just shows how complicated the definition of a “home” is. There’s no perfect or correct answer. The definition is subject to change. In the beginning, Gogol does not even really want to be associated with his family and call his house his home. At the end, he feels the most “homey” with his family (after his father passed away). Throughout our lives, we will probably find more than one place we consider our homes.

In the second book, The Gangster We Are All Looking For, the narrator gets separated from her home in Vietnam. She tries making America her home but it leaves her with bad memories. She remembers her parents fighting, getting evicted from their apartment, and other not-so-happy events. She considers being with her dead brother homey. Her brother reminds her of some happy and sad moments in Vietnam but the memory of him also comforts/haunts her in America. With memories of him, she never feels alone, even in America. She dances with him, and not alone. I think that the narrator, as she grew up, realizes that she needs to find her own home. San Diego never seemed like a home to her and so she decides to move to the east. Like Gogol, she wants to find a place where she can identity as her home.

In America is in the Heart, Bulosan knows where his home is—America. Although he was born in the Philippines and has his childhood there, he has always wanted to get out of that place. He just didn’t feel quite right there. When he gets to America, although he faced great discrimination and racial violence, he doesn’t give up and continues to live in America. Although there were times where Bulosan questions America’s ways and “personality”, at the end of the day, he still stays with America and fights to stay here. There are times where he feels angry at America and at the constant contradictions (meeting people who hate him and those who takes good care of him). Yet, no matter what, he still feels a strong tie with America and decides that America is his home.

In A Gesture Life, Hata thinks that his home would be his house in Bedley Run or Bedley Run in general. He does not consider Korea his home and doesn’t even really consider Japan his home. He feels no or very little attachment to those places. He tries to make Bedley Run his home by having this “perfect” house, establishing a family, and creating this wonderful reputation of himself. He feels very comfortable there and does not want anything to take him away from this safe “home” of his. But later, he realizes that his home is actually with Sunny, his adopted daughter. He finds out that a home is not just a place of safety, a place of comfort, but a concept of love. Although in the novel, one may view his relationship with Sunny is moved by his sense of duty (in some ways, it is). But I can tell that he does truly love her. He does not want to ever lose her. When he gets the chance to be close to her again (through her son, Thomas), he jumps at the opportunity. When he meets Thomas, he finally realizes that home is not a materialistic house but a place or person you love you be in or be with. At the end of the book, he decides to find a place where he can really feel at home. He dares to explore. This is an important point because I think a home does not just exist but is created. So Hata decides to go establish a true home because he realizes that Bedley Run is not truly his home.

For Wen Ho Lee, in My Country Versus Me, he has always considered America his home but his faith in America waned when he was accused of being a spy for China. For Lee, there was never a moment where he doubted America but later, he feels unsure. He wants to call America his home but people in America want otherwise. They do not welcome him to this home. A lot of people feel like America can never be considered Lee’s home because he looks like a foreigner. Yet, after all the horrible things Lee endured, he still considers America his home. Although he wavered for a bit, at the end, he doesn’t doubt that America is his home. For Lee, America is a place where he establishes his family and that is his definition of a home.

Finally, in Obasan, Naomi’s home is with her Obasan and Uncle. Ever since she was little, she has lived with them and they have taken really good care of her. Unlike Aunt Emily, she doesn’t need to really say that a certain place is her home (like Canada). She thinks that if she’s with her Obasan, then she is at home. She used to think that a home is where her mother is but then her mother left and never returned. This devastated her but she created another home with her Obasan and Uncle later. Again, this proves that a home can be created and established. It doesn’t just exist on its own. It’s a place where you feel loved. In the novel, they were moved time and time again from their “home” in Canada. Although it is a devastating event, Naomi doesn’t feel like she is losing her true home because she still has Obasan and her Uncle by her side. When her Uncle died, that’s when you can see her truly upset because a part of her home is gone. In this novel, different characters had different meanings to what they think a home is or where it is. For Stephen, home is where music exists. For Aunt Emily, it is Canada. For Obasan, it’s probably with Naomi and her husband.

As you can see, home can have very different meanings, as demonstrated in these six novels that we’ve read throughout this semester. After reading through these novels, it makes me want to reflect over my narrative essay that I wrote at the beginning of the semester. For me, I wrote that I feel most at home when I’m with my family. I still think that’s true. But I also think that I can have multiple homes. After my year at Berkeley, I’m beginning to consider Berkeley my second home. APATH, my roommate, and my wonderful dorm make me love Berkeley even more. So a home can mean many things. It can be a place of identity, a place of origin, a special person, or a country. The meaning of home will never be clear and will always change. That is what makes a home special.

Jennifer

Sunday, May 4, 2008

HOME in a very big nutshell

I have come to realize that home is more than a place where I live or a place where I feel most comfortable. It is not just where my friends and family are or where I leave all my stuff. Home can mean all these things but it can also mean something much, much more. Throughout the course of the semester, we have learned what home has meant in many different contexts. In the six books we have read and studied, home has developed into more than I had originally thought. I have come to realize that home inevitably defines a person. Home is identity, where an individual can express his or her identity to the fullest.

In The Namesake, Gogol struggles with finding a feeling of home. In the house where he grows up, surrounded by his parents and sister, he does not ever feel like he truly belongs. He enters into identity confusion. He begins living in various places, but these never truly become home for him. In college, he attempts to be someone separate from the person he was growing up. He adopts a new name, believing that with this he will assume a separate identity in his supposedly new ‘home.’ In New York, he continues this name in a new ‘home,’ but depends on another person to define his identity. Indicative of this dependence is his occupancy of her home. Still, he does not fully commit to living there, as he attempts to hold on to whatever he believes to be his identity. When he marries, Gogol shares a home with his wife. He shares part of himself with her and believes that she is doing the same with him. Eventually, she realizes that she is not happy with who she is in this home and leaves him. Gogol does not seem to break from this identity confusion until the end of the novel. He no longer shares a home with anyone, which can be interpreted as his independence from other people. He has come to accept his own identity, separate from anyone else’s. It is then that he finally has found this home in himself.

In The Gangster We are all Looking For, the narrator wishes to leave the place that she calls home. She is a refugee from Vietnam who has left her homeland to come to America. She is forced to leave who she is in Vietnam. Her life and identity are affected when she arrives in America. This begins her struggle to feel at home in this new land. The arrival of her mother triggers conflict within the home of her family. Her parents fight almost continuously. She wants to flee from this negativity to find a better home. Her development is hindered by this instability within her home. When she is older, she escapes and runs away, finding refuge far from home. However, she feels that she is finally ready to accept who she is and returns home.

In America is in the Heart, Carlos Bulosan travels from the Philippines to the United States to discover who he is. He believes that home is where his family is in the Philippines. He inevitably leaves this home for America, where he hopes to establish himself and find a better life. What he finds is corruption and unwelcoming. He struggles to feel at home in a land where he is not accepted because of his immigrant background. All of his dreams of America and the person he could be begin to die away. However, he meets people who affect how he views himself and America. He discovers that ultimately he himself must define what this America means, where his home will be, and what role he will play in this place. He must look inside himself to define his home.

In A Gesture Life, Doc Hata builds a life that is seemingly perfect. He is respected in his perfect little town. He has the perfect daughter. And he owns the perfect house. Yet his home life is not as perfect as it seems. His daughter does not feel at home in this life that he has made for her. She tells him that it is because none of it is genuine. This life is a life full of gestures, actions and behaviors that are for the benefit of other people’s positive opinion. In addition, Hata is confused about what his true nationality is. He claims that Japan is his homeland, but, in actuality, it is Korea. This adds to this conflict in establishing a true home. Hata has this home and life that he believes to be one thing but is actually a façade. In the end, when he decides to sell his house is when he realizes that this place is not the home he wishes to have. He is not the person he wishes to be.

In My Country Versus Me, Wen Ho Lee establishes himself as a ‘true American.’ He raises his family the ‘American way.’ His position at a national lab is done to protect this country that he calls home. Though he believes this country to be his home, it rejects him. Lee is accused of not really belonging to this country, to being a traitor. He is seen as a perpetual foreigner. He may reside here, but this is not his home. However, Lee fights this belief. He establishes that while he is Taiwanese, he is still an American. America is part of who he is because this is his home.

Finally, in Obasan, Naomi experiences this same identity-home confusion. Though she was born and raised in Canada, she is suspect of betrayal because of her Japanese descent. The country she calls home turns on her, tainting her as a traitor and sending her into internment. Still, her family, with whom she shares a home, stays as silent as she does. They keep things about their past and their family from her, things that affect her home and her identity. When the silence subsides, she realizes more about who she is.

Despite the diversity in the content of the novels, they all seem to have a similar theme: home inevitably affects a person’s identity, defining who they are and who they will be. Though it can be, home is not necessarily a physical place. Instead, it can be a place where one can fully express their identity. They can be who they are completely with no inhibition or concern. For me, home, regardless of location, is where I am respected and accepted for who I am. The people I am surrounded by and the experiences that I have affect my feeling of home and thus, the development of my identity. I feel like what I defined as home before affected how I defined myself also. Who I was before I came to Berkeley is not the same person I am today. My home in Berkeley has affected how I think, what I do, and the person I want to be. I have developed as an individual because of the experiences I have had in my new home. However, I still hold on to the home back in Southern California. I cannot deny that who I was there affects who I am today. Thus, home can be more than one place and it can mean more than one thing. Still, after all is said and done, home is where the heart is. You are the only person that can define what or where home is, just as you are the only person who can define who you are.

Laurie Bailon

P.S. The Return to the Topic of Home is by me, Precious Guan. I forgot to add my name at the end again =D haha...

The Return to the Topic of Home

For the last couple of weeks, I've been feeling sick for home. It really doesn't make any sense to me since I've been away for almost 4 months already, but it is just now kicking in. I'm so busy that I haven't really had the opportunity to call home on a regular basis and when I do call home, they are all busy or all together. I hear the laughing in the background as my sister stuggles to hear what I say. As time progresses the sickness grows stronger and more frequent in despite of all the stuff going on in my life. I miss my family, my friends, the comfortable feeling that accompanied me everywhere I went. These things were my definition of home. In my town with my people, not wanting to leave. But I did leave and I felt how far I was from home. But it didn't hit me until now that I really was far from home. But in the course of this realization, I also realized that my definition of home was changing. Almost in the same way as Carlos Bulosan in America is in the Heart and Doc Hata in The Gesture Life. In both cases, their definition of home changed. For Carlos, his location was constantly changing but it didn't seem like he ever found a home. In contrast, Doc Hata had the perfect home which he ends up leaving behind in search of god knows what? He turned his back on the American Dream in favor of finding his true self. Similarily, Carlos depended primarily on himself and gained a greater understanding of his being before he found his home.I feel as if I had the same background as Doc Hata, in that, I was living the good life before I decided to disturb the peace. I was safe and comfortable at home, and then I came to Berkeley. I was in need of finding myself apart from Precious Guan, the sheltered teenager from Long Beach, California. I needed to find out who I was without any pre-existing labels to confine me. An individual that would, hopefully, be able to stand on her own two feet. I don't mean that I need to sever all bonds linking me to the past, but that I need to know I can form new bonds and not only survive on the old ones. So if I must travel from coast to coast to find this new and improved Precious Guan, than I guess I better be ready for it because it is going to occur no matter what. I feel that aspect of my life is identical to Carlos's. I'm far away, living on my own, and constantly moving(not only meant in a physical space occupying sort of way) so that it is not out of the ordinary to lose one's sense of home. But home follows you wherever you go. I have cultivated a new community to call my own with close friends who feel as if I've known them my entire life, not taking th place but overlapping and complimenting the family and friends I have left back "home". Home is completely relative to the observer, each has our own definition, but I feel that home always comes back down to not only a house, family, and friends, but to include oneself as well.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

in response...

Yeah! Only a couple more weeks of class! So Jen, I was at the advance screening of Forbidden Kingdom, too. I was funny, but really corny as well. I just have to say though that when I saw that white guy show up on screen, the first thought that came to mind was that there was no way they could make a movie of just asians, right? sure it starred jackie chan and jet li, but the main protagonist was the white kid. He was the guy who the story was based around, not the other way around. it felt like the story of jackie chan and jet li just supported the white kid's story. that was one of the main things i didn't like about the film because came to see the movie to watch jackie chan and jet li but this nobody kid is the star. It felt like they just put their names on it to produce more revenue and get the kid out there. but i didn't really like his acting. i thought the movie was going to be more epic, with more action. don't get me wrong, i loved the comedy but i felt like it wasn't what i wanted to see in the first place. i'm a major fan of jackie and jet li, so i guess i was just anticipating them as the stars ONLY. you know, for once a film of all asians but in the mainstream?

Laurie, i know i told you that you performed very well last week in PCN, but seriously, you guys did an awesome job. it was suprisingly good show quality considering that it is a student-run show. i didn't expect it to turn-out that good. it was my first PCN, but some people i know said its the best they've seen so far. I felt like the message of the entire show was so strong because it was completely pertenant to being Filipino, even if we Filipino Americans don't experience those troubles. The problem of poverty, the unresolved issues of the veteranos, and the abuse of the OFWs are what I've heard about before and sympathized with but didn't necessarily touch me as it did as i watched the show go on. One of the problems featured in the showcase is on its way, the bill for the pension of the filipino veteranos. Hopefully makes it through so that these soldiers get what has been a long time coming. So that just means that next year's PCN should raise the bar even higher, since this is the only PCN i've been to and the only one i can make comparisons to. I know a couple people that didn't take part in PCN this year that were inspired by the show to part-take in next year's PCN. I personally don't think I would participate in it, serious case of stage freight and all, but am so excited to watch you all in the years to come. And Laurie, the idea of your paper sounds really good, for sure something I wouldn't have been able to come up with on my own. The connections you made are really out there but when you think of it, its true. I just get this feeling that everyone's second paper is going to be better than their first. I guess that's good, that way that would make up for my exam grade.

Well from Obasan, I felt like their internment wasn't as bad as the Japanese American internment. Don't get me wrong, internment is bad under any circumstance and projected upon any race, but I think the fact that the attack on Pearl Harbor was US territory and not Canadian had an impact on the strictness of internment. True the families didn't get to stay together as in American internment, but the areas they were put in we not as concentrated. The Canadians also got a little choice on where they wanted to go, at least compared to the Americans. I felt that the book was touching and definitely a story I never heard told before. I wasn't even aware that Japanese Canadian internment occured. When they told us that this book was Japanese internment, I just assumed it was American internment. Do any of you girls know if the internment had the same effect on out-marriage rates on Japanese Canadians as it did to Japanese Americans? That would be a very interestying fact to know.

So I guess that's it for now. Good luck with everything Ladies!

Precious Guan

only a few more weeks!!

I’m sorry too that I didn’t get to write in my journal last week!! I was a little preoccupied because …

PCN FINALLY ARRIVED!! So my life was consumed by that for the entire week. No joke. We had practices every night from 5pm to midnight, rehearsing the entire show and cleaning our performances. In the end, it was completely worth it. During the opening of the show, I was in the audience as part of the piece. Watching from that perspective, I could feel the energy of the performers. I was so excited. After months of preparation and stress and sacrifice, the big night was finally here. And we blew everyone away. People have said that it was the best PCN everrrrr, which makes me super proud. But I would’ve been proud of us regardless of what other people had to say. We had HUGE technical difficulties, but we still got our message across. Hopefully, we were able to mobilize members of our community for social change, and were able to educate individuals who aren’t Filipino about the issues that affect us. I hope that people understood what we were trying to say, and were empowered themselves to go out there and make change for themselves.

Yeah … because of PCN, I also got sick, which is another reason why I was unable to write in the blog last week. Considering I was sleep-deprived, I basically knocked out in my parents’ hotel room after the show. And I didn’t wake up until a few hours before our class the Monday morning after.

I basically spent all my free time (and even time when I should’ve been in class) working on our paper last week because I wasn’t able to focus on it during all of that business. I ended up writing about the role of white women in Carlos Bulosan’s America is in the Heart. I was going to focus on the importance of the minor characters in Bulosan’s life, but while I was gathering textual evidence, I realized that the majority of the minor characters I was highlighting were women. And not only just women, but white women. So … I wanted to analyze more about the importance of that. I concluded that white women became the personification of Bulosan’s ideals about America. They represented education (Mary Strandon), kindness and support (Marian), ability to create change (Dora), acceptance of culture and race (Alice Odell), and steady companionship (Eileen). The reason why them being white is significant because they were foreign to Bulosan. He was not accustomed to their culture. He feared them because he thought they would be unable to understand him. These are all things he feared of America. In the end, however, they overcame these fears and proved to Bulosan that America was a place where he could belong. They allowed him to understand his emotions rather than ignore them. Thus, he learned that in order to understand what America is, he must look within and define it for himself.

Have a great week, ladies!

Laurie Bailon

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Two Weeks Worth

Hi girls!

Wow! What a week! I’m sorry I couldn’t write my journal last week. I just finished my Econ 1 midterm today/yesterday (I see that it’s past 12 midnight now but I still feel like it’s the 23rd) and have been studying this past week. I’m so dead tired and yet, I still managed to turn in my short response for Obasan. I must say, this week is more stressful than last week. So I guess I’ll just double my words on this essay to make up for last week.
Precious, I know what you mean about the test. It was quite a hard one. At least we know that we’re not the only ones who struggled. I’m sure Christine and Chia-Chi will put that into consideration so don’t worry. At least this quiz showed us the intenseness of college quote tests because before this exam, I did not consider quote tests this difficult. But according to Christine, this exam is considered simple compared to other quote exams where you have to identify about 80 quotes in an hour. Now that’s difficult! Hopefully none of us will have to experience that!
So let’s talk about Obasan by Joy Kogawa. Firstly, I admit that I didn’t get to finish the book this time. I usually do but because of the midterm, I had to rearrange my schedule. I’ve read up to the part about Naomi talks about when she first learns about Hastings Park, where the Japanese/Japanese Canadians are interned. I’m actually excited to read about the Japanese Canadian internment because I’ve heard so much about Japanese internment in America but have no clue about the Canadian internment. I also find the themes and symbols in this book very interesting. I enjoyed the presenting group’s thoughts about themes and symbols. I will be sure to look out for them when I read through this book. I also find that this book ties with a few of the books we’ve already read, like the “perpetual foreigner” idea from My Country Versus Me, the search for identity from The Namesake combined with A Gesture Life. This book ties a lot of these themes with the other books and I find that interesting. Since this is the last book we’re reading, it seems like this book is a combination of past books. The only thing that is confusing is the constant flashbacks and the fact that this story is not told in chronological order. But then again, we have experience reading non-chronological ordered novels, like A Gesture Life and The Gangster We Are All Looking For.
Ever since I was young, I’ve always wondered why is it that in elementary school, I’ve read a lot of books about WWII and a lot about the internment and genocide of the Jews in Germany but my class never emphasized about the internment of the Japanese. I can see that, in some ways, the genocide of the Jews is a more serious situation and more horrible than what were happening to the Japanese but still, I think schools should also show the perspectives of those Japanese in internment camps. I feel like when I was in elementary and middle school, I learned much more about the imprisonment of the Jews than the Japanese—almost like they don’t really want to emphasize on that because the internment of the Japanese is the U.S.’s government’s fault while in the story of Jews in the camps, the U.S. government was viewed as the rescuing hero. I have a feeling that the U.S. government wouldn’t want to teach the students the various mistakes and racisms the U.S. made. This is why I enjoy Asian American classes so much and have taken Asian American Studies 20A, joined APATH, and am now taking Asian American R2A. I feel like I was never provided information about Asian Americans in the U.S. during elementary, middle, and even high school. I mean, why do we have to learn about the Civil Rights Movement but not about the discrimination and hate crimes against Asian Americans? What about some of our “civil rights movement”? Even though these movements are not as huge as the African Americans’ Civil Rights Movement, I think it’s still important to learn about it.
I don’t know if this can tie into Asian American studies, but last week on Thursday, as some of you know, there was a early screening of Jackie Chan’s and Jet Li’s new movie, The Forbidden Kingdom. Christine actually mentioned this movie during our discussion. Well, on that day, a bunch of us from APATH went to watch it (the line, by the way, went from Wheeler all the way up to the Campanili). I also noticed that the majority of the people are Asian. So the movie starts and of course, there were trailers. One of the most memorable trailers is the trailer for Bangkok Dangerous. This movie stars Nicholas Cage and takes place in Thailand. It depicts the Asians in this movie as evil or bad (at least that’s what I sensed). They were either gangsters or drug dealers. And Nicholas Cage, for some reason, is the hero and tries to stop the crimes. So again, the Caucasian is the hero and Asians are seen as criminals. In the whole movie, I only remember Nicholas Cage being the only non-Asian. Even being a foreigner in Thailand, Cage is seen as the only good person, seen trying to talk some “sense” to these Thai people. I think it’s movies like these that generates further stereotypes of Asians.
Anyway, to the actual movie: I’m not going to lie. This movie is funny. I personally like Jackie Chan movies but hate it when they insert stereotypical things. But in this movie, Jackie Chan and Jet Li are portraying ancient Chinese people so there was less of that. To me, this movie is a major improvement for Asian Americans because they eliminated a lot of stereotypical roles of Asian Americans, like the Chinadoll. In the movie, the main character (who is White) naturally falls in love with the Asian main character girl. But he never really got her. The movie doesn’t make the White guy almighty and powerful, getting all the girls or learning martial arts easily. And for once, I think, the movie credited Jackie Chan and Jet Li first, before the White main character. I was very surprised at that. But there were some flaws with the movie. Again, the movie portrayed China or ancient China as some place foreign, some place mythical and mystical. The Chinese were portrayed as kung-fu fighting people again. There were other things but I forgot. But overall, I really enjoyed the movie. I thought it was hilarious. More power to Asians/Asian Americans!!


-Jennifer Yeung

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Slowly getting a little better...

Well i have to say that this week went by sooo fast and wasn't as bad as last week. It is a slow recuperation but i'm glad its coming along for me. So Laurie, i know you can do this! PCN is today and i know you'll rock the show!



So after getting the grade back from the exam, which i didn't do that well in, i have to say that i really wasn't suprised. A part of my wishes that i had done better but its past now. Like Laurie said, I can't do anything about it now. Other than the sad results of the exam and wishing everyone good luck on their second paper, i really don't have too much to say about this week's classes. I guess its just the fact that My Country Versus Me is a pretty self-explanatory book, that we really can't get too much into it.



One thing i do want to talk about is the VSA Culture Show i went to last night and PCN, which i'll be attending later this afternoon. VSA Culture Show was pretty good, it was set up differently than i would've expected but it just meant that there was only one story going on for the entire show, unifying and strengthening its message. The only downsides i thought of the production was that the story lagged in some parts and longer than the typical musical, causing me to lose focus and interest at some parts. However, i'm really excited about PCN, the only thing that i'm wondering about is how the entire show would be tied together under one message to the masses. In contrast with VSA, which was really one story, PCN sounds like a lot of different stories put together. I'm just hoping the message will be as or more powerful than VSA's.

As for next week, i'm slowly making my way through Obasan. In my opinion, the start was kind of slow and a little confusing but, for me, the story is starting to come together. The part that started to catch my attention is when they are beginning to be taken to the concentration camps. One of the points that they make in the book is that the canadian-born nissei are being rounded up while the german-born germans in canada roam free. And I agree with that statement. There could be no other reason for this than straight-up prejudice. The japanese definitely look different from the regular white man, and they get unfairly punished for it. I'll save all my thought for next week though, i haven't finished the book yet. haha. =P

So message to all of you: KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK because we're almost done with this semester, just about a month left. We can all do this, even if sometimes we feel as if we'll never get through all this.

Precious Guan

Sunday, April 13, 2008

I really wish it was over.

April is the worst month ever.

As all of you know (mostly because I’ve announced it so many times), I’m participating in PCN, the Pilipino Cultural Night. There are over a 100 Berkeley students participating with me, and we’ve been working HELLA hard for the past two months. The producers and writers have even been working since last semester and last SUMMER even. We’re putting our all into this show, and I hope you guys can make it out to watch the show. It’s a really powerful showcase of Filipino and Filipino American culture and the issues that affect our community. The program will include spoken word, four vignettes (or skits), singing, and dance—traditional Filipino, jazz, hip hop, and swing. I’m SOOOO EXCITED but also SOOOOO STRESSED OUT. We’re rehearsing five days this week for five hours each. And then the big show is on Sunday. AAHHHH!!!!

Anyway, since I’ve done my part and publicized that… yeah, this past week in ASAM R2A world was kinda ridiculous. I feel like the workload, while we are in college and should be able to handle it, was a little too much. An exam, a paper, and a short response due all in one week? Yet, there seem to be other weeks where we don’t have anything due. In addition, we were misinformed about our exam, especially in regards to the historical part. I thought I remember the instructors saying that all of that wasn’t going to be on the exam, so I didn’t study it as well as I would have liked to. I just feel like the assignments could have been spread out a little more, considering we are taking other classes. Oh, well … can’t do anything about it now.

In addition to writing two papers and rehearsing from 9am to 3pm on Saturday AND Sunday, it was bridges SENIOR WEEKEND!! just as Precious and I had mentioned in our past entries. I was so excited to meet all the different kids who were accepted into Berkeley. I hosted a girl from around the same area I live and she was the sweetest thing ever. It seems as though a lot of the seniors are debating between UCLA and Cal, and she was no exception. After staying for a few days and getting a feel of the school, she said she really, really liked it up here, but she still wanted to check LA out just in case. I hope she comes, though! I was really impressed by some of the other kids who came up. On Friday, I left our class early because I was facilitating a workshop for the Gabriela Network, a network fighting for women’s rights and against domestic violence and human trafficking. During the workshop, we broke out into discussion with the seniors. I definitely underestimated their knowledge about the subject, and I knew that from what they were saying and the topics we touched, they were made to come here.

I forget that it was only a year ago that I was in their position, trying to figure out what school I was to go to. And now, here I am, almost finished with my first year, and I can’t believe how much I’ve grown and learned. CRAZYYYYYY!

Fortunately and unfortunately, it’s not over yet.

Laurie Bailon

The terror is (almost) over...

First of all, I want to congratulate everyone for surviving this week! I know it was a killer, but, at least, its over. Not only did we have a lot to do for ASAMST R2A, but for other classes, meetings, and events as well. I know that alot of people taking CHEM 1A, CHEM 3B, MATH 1B, PHYSICS 8B, and probably some other classes have midterms this upcoming week. So it may not be over quite yet, but i want to encourage everyone to hang in there. You can do it.

Well 1 thing i need to say about the exam was that it was not what i expected. The thing with that exam was that it already is pretty difficult to identify the correct character and book from which the quote originates, and identifying who is being spoken to and the context of the quote isn't too bad once you know for certain who said it and from what book BUT the analysis, etc. was not my favorite. In addition, covering materical from 4 full-length novels was a daunting task because there really is sooo much context to cover. I actually felt that I had I really hard tme studying for the exam bacause I didn't know how to go about it. Sure, some of the quotes were pretty obvious but others could fit into any novel. I don't think I did that well on the exam but am intent on doing better on my next paper so that I could counterbalance that grade.

So for my next paper, I'm writing on America is in the Heart, partly for the same reason as Jen is writing on A Gesture Life. But really the main reason is because I really enjoyed the book, even though it was so dense. It was pretty evident from all the highlighting and notes on the book that i took, that it would also be a logical book to choose. I decided to write about how Carlos is inspired by people who he doesn't necessarily know too well or for that long. But that doesn't deviate from the fact that they left him valuable life-lessons that, based on his pattern of behavior, remain with him with each action that he takes. He learns about nature from his father, who he technically lived with on the farm but he didn't really know his dad in the sense that he didn't know too much about his dad's past and such. That mainly could be accounted for because Carlos is still a child on the farm and doesn't completely comprehend everything that a grown man would. Amado's instillment of the importance of education and Pascual's advice concerning writing.I also talked about Millar's friendship and Marion's love. Then Leon's teaching of sticking to one's convictions and Claro's call to duty for Carlos. I felt like the majority of these characters were overlooked, but as I was perrusing my book to support my original thesis, I realized the importance of what these characters had to say. I honestly felt that this paper is alot better than my first one. It probably helped that i wrote it in one sitting, I shut myself out of the world and stayed in the library for hours so that I could crank this paper out and enjoy the rest of my week since I had SENIOR WEEKEND! coming up. So i finished it and had my conference with Chia-Chi and was glad with the feedback I received. He agreed that it was a stronger paper than my first one, but, once again, I needed a stronger more concise thesis. But the ironic thing is that this time the thesis was too specific, and more like four thesi rather than one. So my mission is to find a way to connect all of the into one unifying idea/theme. I hope your essays are going well for you as well.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

calday

Hi!

Yay! It’s CalDay today! I hope everyone is having a good day. As you guys know, I’m in APATH, which is the Asian Pacific American Theme House Program. So for CalDay, which is our biggest recruiting event for future APATHers. Today, it was our day to present our skit that we’ve been working on for awhile. For our fall final, we split into groups to present a skit using Asian American terms such as Dragon Lady, China Doll, FOB, ABA, acculturation, assimilation, yellow fever, stereotypes of Asians, etc. Our group did our skit based on our own Korean Drama except the skit takes place in China, so it’s called Chinese Drama. The 2 skits that did well got to perform for seniors on Senior Weekend/CalDay. Our group won, along with “Asian Mario” (a parody of the video game). Our skit is supposed to entertain and educate these high schoolers about Asian American stuff. We practiced a lot and finally, today we performed our skit. It was nerve-racking but I feel very content. We also did commercials, dancing, and singing. Looking back at all our slideshows and all the events we’ve gone through, I’ve truly enjoyed my experience here at APATH. If you guys are interested or have incoming seniors who might be interested, then be sure to tell them about APATH. A lot of the issues that we’ve discussed in the Asian American Studies R2B class have been discussed in APATH. I’ve also taken Asian American 20A (as an APATH requirement) and so you really do get to learn a lot about the Asian American community and issues.
Ok, so back to the class, how’s everyone’s essay going? I thought that 30 minutes was definitely a good choice. I went in with a semi-looking outline because I really didn’t know what to do with all my ideas. Oh, I’m writing about A Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee. I spent my time at the conference just going over my ideas with Christine and trying to find what I’m interested in writing about. This essay is going to be more difficult than the last because of the short amount of time we have but I think we now have a better understanding of how to write a good essay. I’m still in the mist of creating a good thesis. So basically, I haven’t written up anything yet. I hope you guys have better luck than I am having right now.
I just want to also say I liked the presentation very much. Dao, you did very well. I liked the game show idea. It was very creative. You interacted well with the audience. But one thing I must say, is that I didn’t get much information about the book, or at least I felt that way. I felt that if I didn’t read the book and went to this presentation, I would still be lost in your presentation. But overall, it was really engaging. I thought that having our discussion before the lecture is not really a good idea because we don’t really know how to talk about the book or what to talk about yet. I like the idea of a lecture before discussions.

OK, everyone have a good CalDay!!

Jennifer Y

Sunday, April 6, 2008

STRESSED OUT

but then what college student isn't?

I'm conflicted between studying for the Final tomorrow and working on my presentation for My Country Versus Me but I'm thinking that the presentation is worth more points so I'm going to focus on that more.

In response to your blog, Laurie, I recall that you got in a quite heated debate with our fellow classmate on the discussion of Hyphen and how they should go mainstream. I think I agree with you more than I did with the other person. I was going to point out that that person's argument seemed very strategic and a very businessman-like move. It also didn't really seem to me like the editors of Hyphen had a huge interest in going mainstream at all, and I didn't get the gist that they were "struggling" either. I feel like the readership they have (6,000) is pretty incredible for such an underground magazine. I was also very impressed that they've gotten themselves on newsstands nationally and internationally.

Yes, I do agree that if they mixed in "mainstream" stuff, they might be able to get more exposure because believe or not, it's what most people like to read. To be perfectly honest, when I was skimming through the magazine, I wasn't very interested. But that's just my opinion. However, I do respect and very much appreciate their efforts to keep an Asian American magazine alive which is why I do agree with you that if they were to go mainstream, it wouldn't be true to the mission they set out to fulfill.

In regards to my essay, I was pretty disappointed with the grade that I got. I thought I was going to do much better because I worked pretty hard on that paper but I guess it wasn't quite what Christine and Chia-Chi were looking for. According to the comments I got back, my essay "does not do a thorough job of deeply analyzing this correlation between affection (in both the familial and romantic senses) and Gogol's cultural development." I guess I didn't delve into the argument as I should have, although I thought I did. Rawr, I don't think I've ever analyzed a book this much in my life! haha.

Here's a sidenote though, I think for next semester, people who do presentations shouldn't have to do a short-response paper on their book :D just a thought.
I'm having a hard time understanding Wen Ho Lee when he goes on a scientific rant because I am personally not very interested in hearing about the details of how a nuclear reactor works. haha. Oh well. Okay I have to go work on my presentation, bye!

Dao Nguyen

BUSY BUSY BUSY BEEEEEESSSSS

I really enjoyed the members of the Hyphen Magazine staff coming to speak with us. I feel like they are doing something that I could really relate with. They are trying to create a space for people who are not normally allowed to voice their opinions in the “mainstream” media. In our discussion today, one of our classmates said that in order for them to stay afloat and to gain a wider audience, they should go more “mainstream,” but I tend to disagree with that. I understand that their work and content might be a little to … hipster, for lack of a better word. But they have the right to publish a magazine with this type of content. Obviously, it’s not going to attract all of the Asian American community. However, I feel that Hyphen is a magazine that will appeal to the more socially, politically, and creatively-savvy members of the Asian American community. Plus, A Magazine seemed to be geared more toward the mainstream and yet … it still went under. I think it’d be really cool to intern for the magazine. I’ve had experience with publications as the editor of my high school yearbook. But Hyphen, I think, would be more fulfilling and with a more compelling mission.

In terms of all the things we have going on this week in this class, I feel like it’s a bit overwhelming. We have an exam tomorrow, a paper due in conference, and we need to have finished My Country Versus Me by Thursday. This seems to be too much to be due all in one week, especially for Dao and her group who have to present also. Maybe next time, Chia-Chi and Christine, you can schedule the syllabus to have all of this spread out more. I think if the exam was maybe a week or two earlier, it would be a lot easier on us all. As for my essay, I am still working on my thesis. I know for sure that I am writing it on America is in the Heart by Carlos Bulosan. But we’ll see how this one ends up …

Coming up this week is Senior Weekend. It’s an event put on by the multicultural recruitment and retention centers on campus: PASS (Pilipino Academic Student Services), RAZA (the Latino/Latino and Chicano/Chicana Recruitment and Retention Center), NARC (the Native American Recruitment and Retention Center), BRRC (the Black Recruitment and Retention Center), and REACH! (the Asian and Pacific Islander Recruitment and Retention Center). Newly admitted high school seniors are invited to stay for a few days to get the feel of what it means to be a Cal student. This is important for members of minority groups in that it allows them to understand even more that they can be part of a community like Berkeley, and that they can be successful here too. Unfortunately did not go to Senior Weekend, but for those I know who did go, it was a deciding factor for them to coming to Cal. I’m going to be hosting a senior myself and I can’t wait to show them the right path to becoming a Golden Bear! Yay!

Laurie Bailon <3

Saturday, April 5, 2008

busy week

Hi girls!

Oh man, can you believe we have all these things due next week. It’s going to be a busy week for us. I hope everyone finished reading My Country versus Me and their response papers, studied for their exams, and found the book they’re going to write on. Whew! That’s quite a lot to do huh. But I’m sure we’ll get through this week soon enough.

So what did everything think of My Country versus Me? I thought it was a very interesting. It was an easy read but very deep. The things that happened to him must have had a great impact on him and his family. But I won’t get too into the book. I’ll save that for next week.

How did everyone do on their essays? I hope everyone did, seeing that only 2 people got A’s. Did any of you get helpful comments that could benefit the rest of the group (like any good advice)? I’ll start by telling you what advices I got from the professors. Let’s start with the good comments shall we? So one of the things that is good is that my essay is “tightly written and does a fine, concise job of addressing [my] thesis.” They said that stylistically, my “writing is clear and well-constructed; there were very few instances of confusion as to syntax or diction, and most of [my] paragraphs not only demonstrated an inner coherence, but also transitioned smoothly into each other.” The bad points: there are several points at which [I] begin to lose parts of the argument [I] had lay out in my introduction. This distracts from the essay’s overall conceptual unity-and, to some extent, the reader’s ease in following the logic of all of [my] arguments. For my next essay, I am advised to be more vigilant about making sure all parts of my essay hang together, and that I make it clear to the reader how certain parts of the argument fit into the overarching framework of the essay. Ok, I hope that helps you girls in your future essays. If you don’t mind, maybe you can also post some of your feedbacks from the professors.

So what is everyone writing their next essay on? I think I’m going to write my essay on A Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee. This is the book I did my presentation on and so I think I have the most knowledge of this book out of all the books I’ve read in this class. But still, I have not narrowed down my ideas for a thesis. There can be so many topics to talk about. It can’t be anything too broad and yet, it can’t be too detail or else there won’t be enough to talk about. I might talk about the relationship between Hata and his daughter, Sunny. I know that’s really broad for now, but I’ll figure something out before the conferences this week. I really hope I’ll finish everything on time. Good luck girls!! Please feel free to bounce ideas off us.

Jennifer Yeung

Monday, March 31, 2008

So, i'm really sorry for having fallen behind in posting. I was going to post last night but when i got back my computer's internet wasn't working. But enough excuses, i'll just make up for it.

First things first, Jen i felt like your group did a really good job with your presentation on a gesture life. It really opened my eyes to aspects of the novel that i didn't notice at first. It was extremely insightful. But now as i'm reading my country versus me, they are definitely not the same kind of book. I do like how from the very beginning the book is interesting and real. Its a refreshing change from the creative fiction of a gesture life. The story is the kind that you only have really seen on tv or in movies, but it really happens. It really is a sad tale, of misconceptions and deceit. But I won't talk more about it until after the groups present because I don't want to spoil the book for people seeing as not all of us have read as far into the book as others.

And Laurie, I do agree with what you have to say about all this "political stuff" because it really is pertenant to us all. We are not only the student body of Berkeley but we are the embodiment of the school itself--we are the personality, essense, and voice. So its only natural we have a say in the goings-on here and it should be seriously listened to and taken into consideration. I honestly had no idea of what was going on at all if it wasn't for my friend Lisa or the very active and passionate filipino community. I really was totally ignorant of this all before and didn't really want to change that. But now that i know some stuff, i know i can't just stand by and watch things happen. I'm not saying i'm going to become super active but i will lend support. It really is better than doing nothing at all.

So does anyone know what they're writing about for their second paper? I was thinking about writing about america is in the heart because its the one that i've enjoyed the most so far and we didn't get to write about it for the first paper becuase we barely got finished with the book by the time the drafts were due. I think i'll have a somewhat hard time remembering some details but i think i took good enough notes in my book and from class to put together a better paper than my first one. i was thinking about writing about Carlo as a nomad as a means to provide i home for not only himself but the filipino community. or, possibly, that life really does move on because it has to where i would focus mostly on the 3 brothers in america (amado,macario, and carlo). i don't know, i think i'm having the reverse problem as i did with namesake because i'm thinking about a lot of topics and themes for my paper and can't seem to pick one. But i still have the fear that i'll choose to write about something that won't make it between the 6-8 page limit because of such a restrictive thesis. I'm planning on starting it really soon, either today or tomorrow. I also hope that we talk about the exam coming up more because i know that it'll include character quote identification for sure but what else? That's the hard part of having eams on reading on multiple novels because there is just sooo much content. i'm a little worried but i figured that as long as i read the books, i should be okay. Its just that is is soooo much to remember at a drop of the hat, especially in a test situation and i sometimes have a hard time with memory recall.


Well, I'm ready to talk about not-so-serious stuff now--mainly the guest speakers from Hyphen magazine. It was a pretty good use of our classtime to talk to them, it wasn't only out of the normal routine but it also was really interesting. if you think about it, there is only one truly asian american magazine left out there because majority of the periodicals are based on ethnicity, which is very specific to one race of man. an asian american magazine combines the issues, lifestyles, etc. of a collection of races. We all might be different races, but we are also all asian. When they asked "who identifies themselves as asian american", i didn't raise my hand because i've always identified myself as filipino american. But it is true that even though we all don't look alike and share the culture and history, we aren't that much different. If majority of the American population and government refers to us all as asian american, we should remember that if we get grouped together, we all should stick together as well. When an ignorant white man sees any asian american, he doesn't refer to them according to their race but "asian". They don't even always include the american, even though we are american and asian at the same time. Stereotypes for asians are pretty much put under the same umbrella, no matter how different they are from what you really are. Such as calling an asian a "chink" (hopefully no gets offended, i'm only using this an example) to anyone of southeast asian decent fail to realize that we have normal, of not bigger eyes. That statement about asians also fails to recognize those of indian and middle-eastern decent as asian, enen though they are. I know it is impossible to prevent generalizations, nevertheless false stereotypes. It is just so annoying sometimes.

-Precious

Sunday, March 30, 2008

i feel like i'm always rambling

Jenn, I don't get it either. It's really discouraging when there are so many talented Asian Americans in the arts who are not recognized as they should be. It is upsetting that in order for some films to be shown and to gain popularity, there has to even be an Asian American Film Festival, you know what I mean? Why can't Asian Americans just be in the media, without the pretense of them being Asian American? I know that many Asian Americans are discouraged by their parents from even pursuing such dreams of becoming actors or actresses. They are pushed toward more 'productive' and money-making work. Still, culture and family pressures are not the only reasons for such underrepresentation of our communities in the media. There's definitely something wrong in the media itself that is preventing Asian Americans from gaining exposure. And I believe that there is a demand for Asian Americans too, so that argument cannot be made either. I just don't get it. Fortunately, we're gaining some ground, especially since JABBAWOCKEEZ WON!!! Yay! … Kaba should've been in the finals, but … let's not get into that.

So ... I don't really know what else to write about, but I feel like this is a forum for me to voice my opinions about things that are going on on our campus. There are so many things that happen that affect the student population yet a lot of us don't know what's going on. Let me know if it makes you guys feel uncomfortable talking about all this really... political (for lack of a better word) stuff, but let's fight the model minority stereotype!! Anyway, so as I've announced in class, I'm part of the Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN). Berkeley's PCN is the longest running culture show on campus and the second longest running PCN in the nation, second to that SFSU. It's a show that exhibits Pilipino culture in both the traditional sense and the Pilipino American sense. But even more than that, it's a space for our community's voices to be heard. Through PCN we are able to educate our own community and other communities about issues that are important to us. In addition, the process of PCN builds a sense of community among the participants. We spend HOURS preparing for this show, dedicating much of our days to PCN. As you can tell, it's something important to us.

PCN costs A LOT of money, and we all put much effort into raising as much money as we can. However, every year we request money from the ASUC to help fund the show. This year, we asked for $3000. After spending literally HOURS in Senate Chambers, this amount went down to $2500, then $2000, and eventually was settled on $1500. This was extremely controversial, as MORE money was allocated to other student organizations, such as fraternities and sororities. We could not understand how our own student government would not support us. The only advocates we seemed to have were the CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights and a Valid Education) senators. I realized the importance of having people who represented my beliefs in not only the student government but the national and state governments. Thus … in a shameless attempt at campaigning … I’M VOTING CALSERVE!!! YAY!!! Elections are April 8 to 10. Ask me if you have any questions!! :D

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Asian Americans Artists

Last week, Laurie wrote about something that’s related to Asian American issues and I thought that that was interesting so I thought that I’d write something like that this week. On March 15, one week ago, San Francisco’s Japan Town held their annual Asian American film festival. Since I’m in APATH (Asian Pacific American Theme House) program, we have to do a certain amount of community services and so this was one of them that were available. When we arrived there, people were already there. The performers on stage were playing the traditional Japanese drums. There were traditional dancing, singing, instrument playing, hip-hop, and other performances from Asian Americans. It was refreshing to see all these talented Asian Americans on stage. One particular performance that got my attention was a hip-hop street break dancing group. I’ve seen a lot of Asian performers that are really, really good at dancing hip hop in Asia but not really in America, probably because they are not so much exposed here. After seeing them dance, I got to thinking: why don’t we see more Asian Americans appear in the media when they clearly have the talent, despite the various stereotypes that Asians can’t dance or are not performers. I mean the dance competition America’s Best Dance Crew proves otherwise. It shows that we do have the talent but did not have the opportunity in the media to showcase it.
On this topic, it reminds me of this magazine I got from the film festival. On one of the stands was a pile of KoreAm, a Korean American magazine. I don’t know if you guys know this, but the stars in Korea are really making it big now in Asia, including singers, dancers, and actors/actresses (Korean dramas). What’s interesting is that a lot of these stars are actually Korean Americans that couldn’t make it here in the U.S. On the cover of the magazine is Tim Hwang, a famous Korean American singer (that’s what actually caught my eye to the magazine). Inside the magazine, they actually have 5 pages dedicated to talking about how hard it is for Asian Americans to succeed in America today. Quoted from the magazine, “there was no market for Asian American artists, so…many star hopefuls fled to Korea for greater opportunities.” You guys have heard of American Idol right? Paul Kim, a Korean American, “was told numerous times that he would have been signed right away if he wasn’t Asian.” He was told that they loved his music but there’s no way to market him. I find that really disturbing. It really sucks that Asian Americans are viewed that way. I think that many Asian Americans would love to have Asian American idols to look up to, like they have in Asia. But because Asian Americans never get the opportunity, we don’t see them in the media often. Korean Americans such as Tim Hwang, Brian Joo (Fly to the Sky), Danny Im (1Tym), and Micky Park (DBSK) are all Korean Americans who are wonderful performers and I feel really bad that they have to go to Asia to become famous. I know a lot of Americans here actually view these Asian stars as idols, and so I wonder, why can’t the American media try to develop Asian American performers here? Right now, Korean stars are actually trying to break into the American media. Korean producer JYP is bringing Rain (Bi), Wonder Girls, and various Korean artists to perform in a U.S. tour with American artists R.Kelly, Outkast, and Will Smith attending and performing with them. They are also writing songs and singing with these Korean and Korean American stars. The magazine also states that the reason why Asian Americans didn’t make it because American producers think that even though Asian American artists may have the look, style, and moves, the producers haven’t heard that “hit crossover song yet”. To me, I think that if these artists are given a chance, they can really succeed. I don’t expect them to be successful instantly, but like any other artists, they can work their way up; but this won’t happen unless given the opportunity. I’m frustrated at the fact that America is known as the land of opportunities, and yet, Asian American artists are not given opportunities.

Jennifer Yeung

Sunday, March 16, 2008

thx

thx laurie for the reminder!!!

REMINDER

GIRLS DON'T FORGET TO SIGN WITH YOUR NAMES SO WE KNOW WHO POSTED!!

A Gesture Life theme

Hey girls!

Interesting topics on journals this week! Laurie, I totally agree with you on the fact that, based on your descriptions, the Chancellor really wanted to avoid the question. It’s ridiculous! I can’t believe that he threatened to leave the meeting and tried to use women’s basketball as an excuse. How can a game be more important than discussing about the multicultural center. He did not act respectful at all. I liked how you relate this back to A Gesture Life. By coming to the meeting, he was only making a gesture and had no resolution to solve the problem. It’s ok Laurie! Never give up trying right?
So let’s talk about A Gesture Life. I’ll admit. After I read this book, I didn’t quite understand the theme or the importance. I finally got a better glimpse of the book after I’ve looked over the book again and discussed it with my group mates. After we started talking, ideas seemed to flow through me. I got to discover themes, ideas, and concepts of the book that I never even thought about before. By the end of our discussion, I enjoyed the book much more. So in class, there was a classmate that asked about the theme of the whole book.
In class, I told her that the theme is probably Doc. Hata’s sense of duty to everyone: his parents, Kkutaeh, Sunny, Mary Burns, and the Hickeys. To his adopted parents, he felt that he had this sense of duty or responsibility to carry out the noble name. To Kkutaeh, instead of true love, his feelings towards her were probably more of sympathy and responsibility. He wanted to save her more than love her. When he couldn’t save her, he transferred all these feelings to his adopted daughter, Sunny. He wanted to give her things that he wasn’t able to give to Kkutaeh. But he thought these materialistic things would replace the love that Sunny actually needed and wanted. This is one of the reasons why his relationship with Sunny didn’t work out. He couldn’t see that what she needed was love from her father and not a grand house or a great neighborhood. For Mary Burns, what she wanted was not his sworn love for her. She does not want him to see her as a responsibility. But because Hata lives a life of gestures, he couldn’t see that or didn’t understand why that was bad. Even with the Hickeys, which have no real “relationship” with him, he still feels a sense of duty towards them. Even though he sold them the shop, he feels the need to help them out. Throughout his life, he’s been living a life of gestures.
Besides this theme, there’s also many other subthemes. Another one is the theme of “never failing if never trying”. I think Hata is afraid of failure and would rather not try than taking a chance of failing. What do you guys think? This book, I admit, takes a longer time to digest. I hoped you guys liked the presentation though. I hope we helped in further understanding the book. Good luck with the essays!!

Jennifer

Saturday, March 15, 2008

an act of frustration

So I know we have just finished reading A Gesture Life, and I normally would write about my thoughts on the novel, but I feel like there are more important things happening on our campus concerning the Asian American community and all communities of color. Like it was said in the presentation today, I feel like A Gesture Life pointed to the fact that we cannot just live our life in gestures, that there is more to our everyday occurrences than politeness and propriety. We as human beings must do what we want and need to do rather than what we should do and what is expected of us. We cannot merely stand back and allow the most important things in life pass us by. In light of this, I just need to express my feelings and inform whoever reads this about what has been going on in my life, in my community, and on this campus.

Last Monday, I went to a meeting for the bridges coalition, a coalition of the multicultural recruitment and retention centers on campus. It was between the students and the chancellor Birgeneau. It was supposed to discuss what’s going on with the Multicultural Center. And yet … the Chancellor refused to talk about it. After a few questions regarding the topic, he firmly stated that he did not want to talk about it, that he would not talk about it. He said that we weren’t going to talk about it anymore because he wanted to move on to other topics. I could feel the tension start building in the room, and within myself. How could he–someone who was invited to our meeting–tell us what we were to talk about? Several students attempted to voice their frustration and the reasons why they wanted to discuss the topic, but this only angered the chancellor. He threatened to leave the meeting, stating that the women’s basketball game was starting at 730, as if the needs of our community were less important than an athletic game. When another comment was made about the Multicultural Center, the chancellor got out of his seat and almost walked out of Heller, as a student was talking. He said that he wanted to talk instead about undocumented students, those who are often neglected and overlooked. Yet, the students sitting in that room are neglected and overlooked. And his attempt to walk out demonstrated just that. He said that “respect is a two way street” but he refused to listen to the voice of the students, a voice he claims is valuable and significant to the university. Eventually, he sat back down, and the conversation turned to what the chancellor wanted to talk about. He discussed undocumented students and the need to overturn prop 209. But the manner in which he spoke of these issues was if the people in that room did not understand the magnitude of it all. As if they had not been working countless hours, days, weeks, months, years, toward these goals. He was preaching to a crowd that already knew what he was talking about and more. Simply put, I felt like the entire meeting was basically bullshit. And that the chancellor needs to realize that this is the students’ university, not his, despite his many claims at working for us. I do not discredit any of the work that he has done to improve the university, but his handling of the situation has almost negated everything in my mind of what he has done.

If I can relate this to the novel in any way, I can say that the chancellor’s meeting with the coalition was a mere gesture. He did not seem to want to be there nor care to hear what the students had to say. His presence (or lack thereof) was more insulting than if he had never met with us at all.

Friday, March 14, 2008

On AGL now...

Well, i have to admit that i was having a pretty hard time reading A Gesture Life. I couldn't seem to sit down (and awake) long enough to read it. I actually started it like 2 weeks ago but this week i realized i wasn't as far into it as i should've been. then on class on wednesday we watched this interesting documentary on the korean comfort women. i have to admit that i never heard about them until wednesday. the video was really touching, i don't know how i would could continue to live on after that kind of extremely traumatizing experience! i was so insulted on behalf of the entire female race. they were tricked under false pretenses to 'volunteer', either by their families or to make money for their family, for the war and were turned into sex slaves. to think that this kind of thing could happen! besides the insult that the government couldn't find anything truely productive for women to do during the war, like help in the medical center of in the factories (as they initially thought), it was outrightly morally wrong. to degrade the humanity of any individual, much less a young girl, is soooo wrong. they had so much life to live still, they were only children. they were subjected to 20-30 visits per night in the comfort houses; it didn't matter if their vaginas were swollen or bleeding, the japanese soldiers just needed to put their dicks into something in order to relieve themselves. be like real men and fucking abstain then. for the japanese government to believe that the whims of there soldiers were that important as enough justification to forever damage a fellow human being is ridiculous! there is NEVER a reason to rape, not to mention do it repeatedly, anyone of their body, dignity, and life! i am entirely for the korean comfort women who are seeking a formal apology, they don't really care about the money. they just want the world to know the injustice that they went through and for the japanese government to admit to their mistakes because that is what they rightly deserve. as seen through the video, the women who survived the comfort houses and the war continued to live a hard life. they got sick, they couldn't have chidren because of the abuse, they couldn't get married to any man after such experience with men in war, they couldn't find anyone to truly relate to their experiences. they were alone and unhappy. however, they deserve to feel loved and protected after such trauma but the scarring is soo deep that it forever altered their life and their outlook on life. i feel so much empathy for them because no should've had to undergo that. so after that video, and christine telling us that that is basically what the novel is about, i suddenly grew excited to read it. that day i read 100 pages in one sitting. they way that lee talked about the issue from a different perspective in the seemingly mundane novel was genius. i hope you guys liked it too. but if christine didn't show us that video, i probably wouldn't have realized that feat of the novel.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Isn't it ironic?

The film we watched concerning Asian American males in the media was interesting and educational. I had not really thought about the issues they discussed. The film highlighted the perceived inability of Asian American men to play romantic leads or strong male characters. Because American culture does not necessarily see these men in this light, there is a lack of representation in television and on screen. The film recognized that in order for more Asian American actors to gain representation, writers and producers must create roles for them to portray. Many writers picture their characters as a certain type, and Asian American males normally do not fit into those roles. Thus, the solution would be for writers to either create characters without any particular ethnicity in mind or to create characters for Asian American men specifically. In class, a classmate argued that the lack of demand for Asian American actors and actresses in the media is the reason for the lack of their representation. However, I do not see this as a valid argument. How is this demand calculated? Who says that there is no demand? Another argument made was that the Asian American community composes a small portion of the United States population. Therefore, there is no extreme need for their representation. However, the same argument can be made for other ethnicities that are still portrayed in the media. Just because the Asian American group is so small does not mean that they do not deserve representation.

I was somewhat disappointed that the film only addressed Asian American actors and not actresses. I understand that the problems affecting Asian American actresses are different in some aspect, and covering both genders would require more work. However, I feel that we should recognize that while actresses of our communities may be seen as more acceptable and represented, there are still not enough of them in the media. I would like to see or read more about Asian American actresses. It is ironic that in our class that is dominated by a female population we watched a female directed toward the males. However, I do recognize that both Asian American actors and actresses face similar struggles.

Dao, I totally feel you. One of my best friends is an amazing singer, and since we were younger, she’s aspired to move people with her voice. Her parents, though, were not so supportive. She’s taken so many steps to get her to her goal, but she questions herself constantly because of the influence of her parents. They don’t understand how much talent and potential she truly has. What is ironic is that the majority of Filipino culture has to do with performing—singing, acting, dancing; we just love to perform. Parents pride themselves at having talented children, yet they discourage them from actually doing something meaningful with their talents. It’s all about stability and MAKING MONEY. Our parents came here to give us better lives filled with opportunity. And yet, these opportunities to make change through the media are completely discouraged by the older generations.

-Laurie Bailon

*sorry this is late!! i was having computer problems yesterday.

When I was little, I wanted to be an actress

And deep down, I think sometimes I still have that aspiration. Sometimes when I was little, I would watch teen dramas and reenact them with my stuffed animals and dolls. I'm sure a lot of us did this... or at least I hope so. When I was 11, I told my mother that I wanted to be an actress and be in movies and become an international star, world-renown. My mother laughed. She told me that I was destined to do something more important with my life, something more worth my time. I grew up with parents who tried to hammer the word "DOCTOR, DOCTOR, DOCTOR" in my head all throughout high school. I'm sure a lot of Asian American kids have lived through a similar experience.

One of the main reasons why I think there aren't enough Asians in American film is that many of us grew up in a household that held very little patience for thinking outside of the norm. We were fostered by a culture that does not allow for "radical" ideas such as dating as a teenager or wearing a short skirt on a sunny day, much less becoming an actor/actress, a career which has no guarantees of a stable income.

I'm not afraid to admit that my parents really did influence me. They discouraged me so much from wanting to go into acting because it would "make no money" that I started to believe it and believed less in myself. I'm not sure if I'm making any sense, haha.

I think because Asians have witnessed some pretty bad times, to say the least, they feel that their coming to America is a chance for them to start over and they wouldn't want to waste it doing things like acting when they could be doing something more prestigious like being a doctor or lawyer.

As for the discussion on Friday, I was sick so I did not attend class but a friend told me about the debate you guys had between the directors, the actors, and the audience. I'm sad I missed it but if I were there, here's what I would have said:

As a director: There really aren't parts for Asians that would appeal to an audience. As a director, I would be worried about making money. The general American audience has already formed an ideal stereotype for Asians as nerds or as kungfu experts. Think about it this way: If it were the other way around and Americans were trying to get into the Asian film business, wouldn't it be weird too?

As an actor: We can't make any money. No one will hire us. No one sees our potential. This sucks.

As the audience: We have already formed an opinion about Asians... they're too smart for their own good and they're hard-working people. A lot of them wouldn't waste time in the film business anyway, no harm done.

Oh, and here is another thought. I had no idea that white people ever tried to portray Asians in film. How ridiculous is that?! Seriously, I was appalled. And also insulted.

-Dao Nguyen

Sunday, March 9, 2008

More on the AsAms on screen...

Well I have to say that i definitely found that film very informative and it did bring to light things i never really noticed. Like i always enjoyed seeing Asian Americans on screen, just in any type of role. But now i see how 2D these roles are, like the kung fu artist and nerds, and it kind of ruins my past impressions of these movies and tv shows. I remember seeing my first kung fu/martial arts movie, jackie chan in the drunken master with my dad and thinking that it was soooo cool. From then on, i avidly watched these movies but there never was any other kind of movie that highlighted the asian american as a kung fu film did. I was simply oblivious to it. As i got older, I began watching filipino movies made by filipinos in tagalog and even though they had action movies resembling kung fu and action films made in western civization, they also made dramas and comedies (basically films in every genre). Through these movies and soap operas, i realized how talented and 3-dimensional an asian actor/actress is. Asians have talent too, some were just such amazing performers that i don't really have words to describe them. Then I began seeing a trend of Asian American, more specifially Filipino-Americans, leaving the U.S. to become entertainers in their native homelands where there family originated from but not necessarily where they were born. These talented actors, actresses, performers, etc. are flowing out of the U.S. because of how it is especially hard for an Asian American to make it in their home country, America. We need to create better and more opportunities for our kind to find work and prove how talented and worthy they are for the spotlight. We need to create a demand for them so that more roles for them become available and hopefully they will be able to leave the stereotypical roles that we've grown accustomed to seeing them in. Then once we've created a demand for them, we must continue to support them so that they can continue to grow and evolve. Basically let's create a justified hype for Asian Americans, make them visible to the public eye.

Another thing i wanted to talk about this week was how much i enjoyed our dicussion in class on friday because, even though we strayed from the subject matter, the format actually began to feel like a real discussion. We might have not really talked about what we were supposed to talk about, the discussion got most of the class involved unlike how it usually is with the same students participating and the ackward silences. Did anyone notice that we didn't have to resort to pre-prepared discussion questions because we had so many students actively particpating. I really just wanted to point that out because that was something i especially liked about this week in class. If i could choose, i would like all our discussions to be like that because we were actually really and truly discussing. Hopefully i wasn't the only one that enjoyed it.

-Precious

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Asian Americans on the Big Screen

Hey everybody~

I thought the film that we watched this week is really interesting. I’ve thought a lot about this topic of Asian Americans in the film industry because in our APATH (Asian/Pacific American Theme House) program seminar we also talked about this. We watched “Better Luck Tomorrow” by Justin Lin, a movie about these Asian American teenagers. This film is very different other movies because the entire main cast is Asian and these characters break from the typical stereotypes. Our program invited Justin Lin and several of the cast to talk about the movie and why they wanted to make this film. One of the major reasons why Lin wanted to make this film, even when this is a low budget film, was not just to break the Asian American stereotype (because that was not really his intention of the film). He made this film to show that Asians can also act well and to give acting opportunities to Asians. Also, in the film, he shows a “different” side of Asian Americans. Because society already has a set image of how an Asian American is supposed to act, this movie shocked quite a lot of people. In the beginning of the film, it shows him memorizing SAT vocabulary, being shy about asking this girl to a dance, studying for biology, and other “typical” Asian American activities. But as the film progresses, you see the main character not only smokes, has sex, carries a gun around, but commits a murder. Justin Lin told us that at the end of the film, an angry old, white man stood up and yelled at him, asking why he would direct a film that was so degrading to Asian American, stating that “this is not the way an Asian American is supposed to act.” Another audience countered back and said “who gave you the right to say how an Asian American is supposed to act.” This really spoke to me. It made me realize that society already has a set mind about how we’re supposed to act. They think of us as passive, and that’s why it was such a shock for them to see an Asian American commit murder or to act in any other way besides as a model minority. Actually, the film kind of shocked me too. I guess through the TV shows and movies that I’ve watched, it’s hard for me to imagine an Asian American doing that. But later, I realized that this film depicts the truth. Just because we’re Asian Americans and considered the model minority, this doesn’t mean we aren’t violent or that we don’t commit crimes. I’ve watched a lot of Asian TV shows and movies ever since I was young and I never found it weird to see crazy, psychotic Asians killing others or getting revenge. So it surprised me that I found it weird when I saw this Asian American doing something like that. This made me realize that, growing up in an American society, where the media is a big part of my life, I’ve been accustomed to certain things. I really want to break out of that mind set. I really think there are a lot of good Asian American actors and actresses that need a chance to be on screen. They just need the opportunity. Isn’t America the land of opportunities? Asian Americans should not be held. I want future generations to not feel weird or surprised to see an Asian American doing roles that are not stereotypical. The reason why the audience is not demanding Asian Americans to be on screen is because there is no advertising of Asian Americans actors/actresses. If they see something with potential, they may want more of that later on. Examples I can think of are the Kaba Modern and JabbaWockeeZ from America’s Next Dance Crew. The reason why many people think Asian Americans can’t dance is mostly because they’ve never SEEN them dance. So this show really exposes the audience to some Asian American talents besides school work.

-Jennifer Y.