midterm'd

I had my first midterm today of my grad school career and it went OK. It was a multiple part essay test on several different subjects I've been studying in the 'Psychology of Learning' segment of class, some of which required me to make up ridiculous mneumonic devices like...

"Kari Carries Apples And Snakes Everyday"
(Bloom's multi-level taxonomy of learning, 1.Knowledge, 2.Comprehension, 3.Application, 4.Analysis, 5.Synthesis, 6.Evaluation)

or

"Postmen Fake Interest In Girls"
(Johnson & Johnson's five essential elements of cooperative group learning, 1.Positive Interdependence, 2.Face-to-Face Contact, 3.Interpersonal and Social Skills, 4.Individual Responsibility, 5.Group Processing)

Funny, huh? Big sounding words for a lot of (what seems to me to be) commonsense concepts.

It's strange to think that the last midterm I took before this one was back in March 2002, which feels like another lifetime ago. Trying to think back to what exactly I was doing around then, it was pretty much school, working, and working on stuff for CoHi 2002. Sadly nowadays, there's neither work nor CoHi, but I guess that's how it goes. Different seasons of life, right?

I just hope when I start teaching, I won't teach like this guy. Haha. (link from Mr. Brown)

I forgot what the point of this entry was.
posted by G at 11:46 PM   | (3) comments

day of blunders



I had a craving for some Japanese food today, but I forgot that the restaurant above is not open on Sundays. Nothing's more pathetic than that feeling of the growl of your stomach as you stand in front of the building, eyes staring at the big "CLOSED" sign... but it was just one of many blunders I made today. The rest of don't need detailing.

I'm not sure what's sadder, though... the fact that so many things didn't go right, or the fact that I'm starting to get too used to things not going right. Bah.
posted by G at 9:27 PM   | (2) comments

walking on water, sinking into the sea

I was asked to speak tonight and give a short message to the high school / junior high kids at my church on the topic of "faith". It's a bit hard to imagine covering every thing about a topic as big as "faith" in a single lesson, but I did my best to try and give the them at least a couple of things to think about... though reflecting on my own struggles, it was almost as if the lesson I was writing was for myself as much as for them.

.:.

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowd. After He had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw Him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." (Matthew 14:22-33)

.:.

As I prepared for the lesson, the one thing that kept coming back to me about the passage was Peter and what he did. He had enough faith to see Jesus and to try to walk out on the water toward him, but despite his best intentions, he fails... he sees the storm, the howling wind, the water, and it distracts so much, that he begins to drown. I guess that's the point where I empathize the most with him, because I see my own struggles mirrored in his place in the story.

For much of my life, especially since the time I was baptized back in 1997, I've tried to do my best to follow God, to focus my attentions on serving Him and others, but I always feel like I come up short... that no matter how far I manage to walk across the water, I always end up sinking into the sea, whether it's through circumstances or my own stupid mistakes. I guess it's only a combination of divine grace and my own stubborn, silent survivor tendencies that has carried me through life so far. And maybe that's part of the problem.

Having faith means having trust. And that trust means that somehow, I have come back to a place of vulnerability when I can believe in my heart that when I slip beneath waves, He will reach out and save me just as He saved Peter. I know I need to be at that place, because I don't want to be another idiot just living a thoughtless, meaningless, and -worst of all-, a hopeless life.

But I'm not there yet.
posted by G at 11:58 PM   | (0) comments

home alone

So I'm by myself at home the next few days while mom is off in Cali, visiting for cousin Ryan's wedding. I really wish I could go, but sadly, I can't afford to even miss a single day of grad school. After getting picked up after school today, I dropped off my mom around 5:30-ish at the airport and then headed home.

Traffic was ridiculous on the freeway at the time, so I ended driving along the backstreets to wait out the endless hordes of cars at the Barnes & Noble near Southcenter. Walking around the store, I briefly considered buying a copy of Jarhead to read before the movie comes out... but decided that since I haven't gotten my paycheck yet from Wing Luke, I have to continue holding my big budget of [z e r o]... which is actually pretty easy to do when you don't have penny to your name. I ended sitting down at a chair, reading Neil Gaiman's 1602, a graphic novel where classic Marvel characters (Nick Fury, Dr. Strange, the X-Men, etc.) exist in 17th century England. Pretty interesting to a closet comic book geek like myself.

After rush hour passed, I went home, ate dinner, and took a nap on the couch. As much as I appreciate my mom, it feels a little bit more calming to be alone in an empty house. As if being alone is my natural state or something.


.:.


On a completely unrelated note, a vending machine stole my money today. Twice.

The first time, I didn't even see it coming. I just put in some money to buy a soda, hit the button, and then, *creeeeak*...

...nothing drops out of the bottom.

I shake the machine a little, but nothing happens, so I figure it must be just stuck. The idea that the next person to use the vending machine would get two sodas was too much to bear, so despite the fact I had used the last of my loose change, I borrowed some more from classmates. Shiv came with me to bear witness and as I marched back to the machine, and as I inserted the money, I muttered to myself Please God, just give me the soda. I'm thirsty... just a soda, ok? I insert the coins, press the button, and then, *creeeak*...

...nothing drops out the bottom.

I shake, shove, kick, punch, and glare at the machine. NOTHING.

Dammit.

Yeah, I know it's not as bad as an Italian guy and leather armani coats, but man... I was thirsty. Of all the times for a vending machine to not work and take my money. Sigh.
posted by G at 12:31 AM   | (6) comments

raising kids wrong



The kid's smiling, but I'm not laughing. Is it just me or does it seem people too often let kids perpetuate racist stereotypes just because they're young and naive?

A lot of costumes these days are pretty offensive (ever seen all the "Oriental" crap at costume stores? Geisha, coolie, etc.), but I guess some parents just like to pass on their prejudice and bigotry to their kids (*cough* Prussian Blue *cough*).

The way some people "raise" their kids is criminal these days.
posted by G at 7:39 AM   | (0) comments

death of an icon, reflections on a movement

Well, it's been all over the news that Rosa Parks died yesterday, at the age of 92. Her refusal to move to the back of a Montgomery bus in 1955 is seen by many as the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement, when a young unknown minister named Martin Luther King Jr. helped to organize a boycott of the bus system (he was only 26 years old at the time!). She was a symbol of an era, and her work in the area of civil rights is commendable... I can even forgive her for trying to sue Outkast.

May she rest in peace.


.:.


Is the Civil Rights movement dead? Sometimes, it really feels that way.

As well known and celebrated as she and MLK Jr. are, I often think how much of their work is left unfinished. Though racism, sexism, classism, and every other -ism are no longer overt in most parts of our country, they still exist on some level everywhere on a covert and systemic level... but this is rarely acknowledged publicly by most people.

Many Americans, especially those who are privileged to be white and well-off, feel content to celebrate MLK Jr. day once a year and say to themselves, "Hurray for Rosa Parks and MLK Jr! Thanks to them, there's no more racism in America today!" There's a blindness in this country that we still have a long way to go in confronting the ugliness of racism.

Progress has come slowly, and there are many reminders of the injustices in our country - the imprisonment of Mumia Abu-Jamal; the false accusations against James Yee and Wen Ho Lee; the murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi; the disgusting Michael Lohman; biased media coverage during Hurricane Katrina; the kidnapping of Anna Marie He. Racism didn't end in the 1960s. And ignoring that it still exists won't make it go away either.

Everyone should be fighting to keep 'The Dream' alive.
posted by G at 11:08 PM   | (3) comments

sick, dammit

Sore throat. Tired. Coughing up phlegm and blood. YES.

Trying: hot tea, cough drops, JW.

But hey, this is funny. Ojii-chan, ganbare!
posted by G at 11:54 PM   | (1) comments

the face of hate?



Meet Prussian Blue, the "Olsen Twins" of America's white supremacist movement.

From the ABC News article about them:

Known as "Prussian Blue" � a nod to their German heritage and bright blue eyes � the girls from Bakersfield, Calif., have been performing songs about white nationalism before all-white crowds since they were nine. "We're proud of being white, we want to keep being white," said Lynx. "We want our people to stay white � we don't want to just be, you know, a big muddle. We just want to preserve our race." Lynx and Lamb have been nurtured on racist beliefs since birth by their mother April. "They need to have the background to understand why certain things are happening," said April, a stay-at-home mom who no longer lives with the twins' father. "I'm going to give them, give them my opinion just like any, any parent would." April home-schools the girls, teaching them her own unique perspective on everything from current to historical events. In addition, April's father surrounds the family with symbols of his beliefs � specifically the Nazi swastika. It appears on his belt buckle, on the side of his pick-up truck and he's even registered it as his cattle brand with the Bureau of Livestock Identification.

While my first reaction to reading about these two girls was to be utterly revolted and disgusted, the second reaction I had surprised me - pity. After all, these two young girls have been home schooled since birth and raised by parents with the same racist beliefs - how else were they supposed to turn out? It's tragic they've now become a tool of music propaganda via the Lolita-esque fetish.

I guess it's another reminder for me and other teachers about the responsibility that comes with educating AND socializing students. Children learn exactly what they are taught - whether good or bad, is dependent on the who's doing the teaching.

Thanks to The Fighting 44s and AngryAsianMan for the heads up on the story.
posted by G at 10:44 PM   | (2) comments

"that's not SOP, Sarge..."



Today's accomplishment: getting Shiv to go and watch DOOM with me. Hoo-rah! It was actually a lot better than I thought it'd be (it reminded me of the sci-fi cult classic Aliens), and of course, The Rock is a pretty funny guy.

A funny guy with a gun.

Ah, the joys of a well-done mindless, popcorn sci-fi action flick.


.:.


The Seattle Times has an article on the Sikh Community exhibit I helped work on. Nice.
posted by G at 11:56 PM   | (2) comments

doing my part...

the father type that was once on the scene vanished/
supreme famish the couples that match these
producing generations of kids with latch keys/
her daughter learned from momma how to reject men
her sons attracts women that don't respect men/
and then/
one parental provider can be the plan
but no woman can truly teach a boy to be a man/
that's why I'm always telling these many pals of mine
the most that you can spend on any child is time...

-Jurassic 5, "Contribution"

(for a taste of the song, go here... right click + save as)

The interesting (or is it strange?) part of this whole process of "becoming a teacher" and getting my master's degree is the way that everything causes you reflect on your own experiences as a child and as student. It's like every day that I work with the kids, a part of my past is reflected in their lives.

Something that I really started to pick up on early is how starved the kids are for love and care from an adult. Granted, kindergarten kids are pretty needy, and some of the kids come from really great families... but some of them don't. I'm just generalizing based on official statistics, but some of the parents are working 2, 3, or even 4 different jobs to make ends meet; other families pour all their time into keeping a small business afloat... still other families are just single parents, who barely see their kids. I wonder about the kind of society we live in where kids are so deprived of the interaction that they need from their parents... especially the interaction that the boys need from their fathers.

Not to hype up my popularity as a teacher, but the boys in my class seem really attached to me. Just today, during one of the lesson times, I was doing an observation for my peer teaching partner and one of the Chinese boys refused to sit anywhere else except by me, even though I was sitting in the back of the class. A few days ago, one of the boys (a half-black, half-latino kid named after a famous river in the Middle East) excitedly handed me a small envelope with my name written on it - inside was an invitation to his 6th birthday party this weekend (pinata, pizza, and painted faces, oh my!). I caught another boy purposely UNTYING his shoes just because he likes asking me to tie his shoes for him... funny, huh? I guess it's all a part of the awe of having a male teacher around (all the kindergarten teachers at my school are female).

But yeah... being a teacher really is being a surrogate father/mother for the kids at times. I suppose that's where the satisfaction and the immense pressure of teaching comes from.

Next couple of weeks, I'll be back in class... then I'll be returning to the same school again. Hopefully the kids will still remember my name.


.:.


authentic pizza and opening day

Yesterday after school, all the SU student teachers went out to eat at Tutta Bella, a not-so-ordinary pizza joint in Columbia City. Tutta Bella is one of only 10 restaurants in the US that has the coveted certification from the VPN (Verace Pizza Napoletana), the Italian organization that regulates what is "authentic" Italian pizza. I ended up getting a tasty 4 cheese pizza, which I downed with a tasty bottled Italian beer. Two thumbs up.

After eating the pizza, I headed to Wing Luke for the museum's grand opening of the Sikh Community exhibit that I've been helping with as a PT job. It was a great event featuring authentic Punjabi Indian food and finally meeting many people I had only been in contact with via e-mail while researching and writing some of the exhibit text. It was also fun to see my videography piece up on the monitor for people to watch.

But now that the project is over... I gotta find a new job. Sigh. >_<
posted by G at 6:10 PM   | (0) comments

he's a complicated man...



...and nobody understands him but his woman.

It was a great episode tonight for LOST, not just in terms of plot, but that the show continues to flesh out the character of Jin.

I admit, when I first started watching the show, I was inclined to not like his character and agree with other people who thought it was conforming a little bit too much to stereotypes of Asian men - the domineering, wife-abusing, arrogant jerk-off. However,a as the show has progressed, the writing of his character has improved and he's actually a human being now, not a caricature. Some Asian Americans may still bristle at his flaws, but I think that if Asians/Asian Americans are ever to represented accurately in the media, the representation is more powerful when a character's flaws are held in tension with their virtues.

But yeah... a primetime network show that has an Asian male character who's actually shown as imperfect, but still shown to be basically a loving husband, loyal friend, and *GASP*... a "good guy"? I'm both amazed and barely able to contain my disbelief that's it's happening (finally)... the Apocalypse must be near.

They better not kill Jin off.

In other LOST news... I recently read an interview with actress Yunjin Kim (who plays Sun) on this site. I can't believe she's single!


.:.


Patriotism & Faith?

Capt. James Yee (ret), the Chinese American Muslim chaplain and West Point graduate wrongly accused by the US government of treason, recently spoke at a Seattle library and shared his new book. His story, a mixture of tragedy and warning about the times we live in today, is one that I think everybody should know - the Seattle Times wrote an excellent 9 part series about Capt. Yee.

I definitely want to read his book... time to add it to the reading list.

Apparently since being honorably discharged by the Army, Capt. Yee's family has been burdened by legal bills and sadly, his book is now one of their only sources of income. Not surpringly, the Army hasn't apologized either for what happened.
posted by G at 10:48 PM   | (4) comments

new school, old problems

So I'm back student teaching again and I got the school I requested for this round of placements - it's a school in the same area as my church on Seattle's Beacon Hill.

Compared to my last elementary school, there's a lot of differences, most notably the demographics - at the school I'm at now, it's overwhelmingly students of color - according to official statistics, only 10% of the kids are white, and 54% of them are Asian American (predominantly Chinese, Vietnamese, and Filipino). The format of the school is also different in that it utilizes an open classroom / pod unit idea, where several classes in the same grade level meet in a large room that is subdivided and shares resources like books, sinks, etc.

Probably the largest difference going from a school in (bling-bling) north Capitol Hill to Beacon Hill is that about 66% of the kids are eligible for free or reduced lunch - meaning their families are at or below the poverty line. Even more serious is that fact that it's likely that an additional large percentage of kids are eligible for free lunch, but don't receive it because their families don't register for it, or don't want to register for it (one or both parents are illegal immigrants and registering for a government program would bring unwanted scrutiny).

Welcome to the hood.

Still, I love working with so many Asian, Latino, and African American kids... for them, it's a bit of shocker to see a non-white, male teacher. I'm in a kindergarten class, so it's also been adjustment for me since at the last school, I was working with 3rd graders. At the 3rd grade level, you're building reading skills... at the kindergarten level, it's back to learning how to write basic letters and read high frequency words (the, and, me).

I'm teach an hour long lesson this Friday on the letter "p" and words that start with the letter "p" - park, pot, pit, pet. And no, I'm not going to be teaching about any "p" words that rhyme with Venus. That's for 7th graders.


.:.


educational iPods?

The Washington Post has a cool story about an elementary school using podcasting as a teaching tool. Right on.
posted by G at 7:54 PM   | (1) comments

multilingual education vs English language tyranny



This is pretty sad.

This past week, the NW Asian Weekly ran a cover story about a Chinese American woman named Joyce Shui being ordered by a court arbitrator to remove her daughter from a preschool with a Japanese language immersion program (click here for the story). Though the Japanese school (Megumi Pre-School) is an established school and meets state requirements, the court ruled against her because of litigation taken by the woman's white ex-husband, Shawn Rose. From the article:

Shui, whose parents grew up in Japanese-ruled China, says she wants her two daughters to be aware of their Japanese and Chinese backgrounds. �We are multilingual. That�s our heritage,� said Shui, who requested that the names of the children not be printed. �We need a judge who understands. The court sees (multilingual education) as ancillary. To me it is not ancillary. To me it is integral to my role as a parent. As an Asian parent, for me this is how I want to raise my daughters..." ...Shui claims her ex-husband does not want their daughter to finish the Japanese program because the girl would be developmentally delayed and her English skills would be stunted. Shui also said her ex-husband fears that their daughter would grow up confused and that learning another language would put too much pressure on the child. Shui added that he would feel distanced from his daughter because he does not speak any languages other than English. �He�s exploiting the fear of the American public to his favor,� Shui claims. �He knows what mainstream America is willing to accept. There�s a fear that a multi-language education will stunt a child�s growth. That�s simply not true."

Shui is appealing the case, but as she noted, the US legal system hasn't always done what's best for families in cases of culture and ethnicity - since much of family law is subjective in judgement, case rulings can end up extrememly biased (anyone else remember the horrible case of the He family?)

Personally speaking, I think it's sad that popular American culture still frowns upon people being multilingual, especially in regards to non-European languages. Even today, our country has vastly failed to recruit enough fluent speakers of Arabic, Mandarin, Persian-Farsi, Korean, etc. to serve in government and military positions. History has shown that language is a powerful tool in both warfare and diplomacy (Nisei in the MIS during WW2 being a great example), but is it any surprise that the efforts have been largely ineffective, given the ill treatment most Americans inflict on people who are multilingual?

People need to speak out against the stupidity and racism of the American "English-only" mindset.

Another excellent quote from the article:

Shui points to recommendations from the children�s pediatrician, Dr. Ruth Ann Parish, that an early multilingual education is beneficial to a child�s development. In a letter to King County Domestic Court, Parish referenced the book The Language Instinct by Dr. Robert Pinker. She pointed out that �while it is true that a child can learn a new language beginning at age 10 or 11, it is much easier for that child to be learning a second or third language at the ages of 4, 5 and 6.� Parish said both daughters would benefit from a multilingual and multicultural education because of their mixed ethnic background. �I feel that it is important for them to have the ability to communicate effectively with extended family members in both Chinese and Japanese,� Parish noted. �To rob a child of his or her language heritage is to rob that child of part of his or her identity, and to separate him or her from the culture and stories of his or her people.�

I couldn't have said it any better... it bears merit in repeating, I think. "To rob a child of his or her language is to rob that child of part of his or her identity, and to separate him or her from the culture and stories of his or her people."


.:.


rock on

In happier news, I just got back home from watching my friend's band, The Audiobiography, rock the house at the EMP Liquid Lounge. Even though they didn't take the stage until midnight, it was a packed house and a great performance. The band's popularity continues to grow.

The only downer of the night: the computer network malfunctioned and rendered the cash registers lifeless, making the bar unable to sell anymore drinks... ouch. Apple lovers will probably take delight in the fact that yes, ex-Microsoft founder and millionaire Paul Allen runs and owns EMP: all the computers are Windows-running PCs.
posted by G at 2:37 AM   | (2) comments

O_o

t i r e d.


.:.


LOST has been moving pretty slow so far... but here's a cool fan site. Awesome design.

Hurley's dream with Jin speaking English cracked me up.

J: Hurley?
H: Jin, you're here!
J: Yes, I am.
H: DUDE... you speak English.
J: No... you're speaking Korean.
H: Naah?

hahaha.
posted by G at 10:15 PM   | (2) comments

it's been bugging me



Lately, it's been hard for me to relax and get restful sleep. I can't seem to stay asleep for more than a couple of hours, and even when I get 6+ hours of sleep, I'm still waking up not feeling refreshed. I even had a dream about being in Nara again and being followed around by a bunch of noisy deer. Very strange.

I suppose it's the stress of life, the particular combination and convergence of my current spiritual life, relationships, grad school, work, car, etc. that is sapping my energy, but I can't exactly pinpoint a single cause. I sorta feel like my friend up there in the photo... stuck in place that I can barely reach out to touch while at the same time, I can't see it or hear it blocking me in. It's a silent and invisible confinement. Sometimes I just want to rage against it and break out... but lately, I just sorta feel resigned to things being how they are.

Self-defeating, I know...


.:.


New Orleans police brutality... on video

Anybody remember Mr. King?

I read this blog posting and I was shocked that I hadn't heard about this incident yet. The full CNN article is here, with video clips of assault. [WARNING: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE]. Don't watch the 2nd clip if you can't take blood.

For those of you who are too lazy to read the full article or scared to watch the clips, basically an African American man (Robert Davis, 64 years old, retired schoolteacher) is walking in the French Quarter of New Orleans when he exchanges some words with officers. The police have claimed that Roberts was intoxicated, but it's difficult to see on the video - you can't hear what's being said. A mounted officer moves in and out of the shot, obscuring the action, but clearly, there's a group of officers attacking him, punching him and slamming his head against a wall. At least three of the officers assaulting him appear to be white.

Later, another officer pushes a newscaster against a car and verbally berates him (with lots of 4 letter words, of course), saying "I've been here for six weeks trying to keep myself alive. ... Go home."

In a second video, "the aftermath", Davis is handcuffed and laying on the street in a pool of his own blood. Two uniformed officers casually walk up to him, but don't immediately render any medical assistance - in fact, one officer uses his foot to try and keep Davis pinned to ground.

The Justice Department is already opening up an investigation and three officers have been charged. Expect to hear more about this soon in the news.
posted by G at 11:12 PM   | (0) comments

international man of mystery

So today it's Columbus Day, a holiday of rather questionable value. While it's a commonly asserted notion that the guy was Italian and he 'discovered' America, the reality of it all is a bit harsher. The Internet's fount of knowledge, Wikipedia, has an excellent article about him clearly titled Christopher Columbus.

Probably the most bothersome thing about the guy were the prescendents set in dealing with Native peoples of the New World. It's probably a good thing that celebration of Columbus Day is now a muted event, given the historical facts. Some of the more disturbing acts by Mr. Columbus (quoted from the article):

Before he left on his second voyage he had been directed by Ferdinand and Isabella to maintain friendly, even loving relations with the natives. However, during his second voyage he sent a letter to the monarchs proposing to enslave some of the native peoples, specifically the Caribs, on the grounds of their aggressiveness. Although his petition was refused by the Crown, in February, 1495 Columbus took 1600 Arawak as slaves. 550 slaves were shipped back to Spain; two hundred died en route, probably of disease, and of the remainder half were ill when they arrived. After legal proceedings, the survivors were released and ordered to be shipped back home. Some of the 1600 were kept as slaves for Columbus's men, and Columbus recorded using slaves for sex in his journal. The remaining 400, who Columbus had no use for, were let go and fled into the hills, making, according to Columbus, prospects for their future capture dim. Rounding up the slaves resulted in the first major battle between the Spanish and the Indians in the new world. The main objective of Columbus's journey had been gold. To further this goal, he imposed a system on the natives in Cicao on Haiti, whereby all those above fourteen years of age had to find a certain quota of gold, which would be signified by a token placed around their necks. Those who failed to reach their quota would have their hands chopped off. Despite such extreme measures, Columbus did not manage to obtain much gold. One of the primary reasons for this was the fact that natives became infected with various diseases carried by the Europeans. In his letters to the Spanish king and queen, Columbus would repeatedly suggest slavery as a way to profit from the new colonies, but these suggestions were all rejected: the monarchs preferred to view the natives as future members of Christendom.

Cheery stuff, right?

.:.


When I was a student back in elementary school, it's funny how none of these things were ever discussed, except the issue of disease.

Though it never occurred to me back then as a kid, I can see now that in fact there was an over-emphasis on the role that disease played in European-Native interactions. Since most of my teachers never taught me to think critically about what I was reading, it's only now that I can see the facts for what they are - that disease, by itself, was not the sole culprit of the next few centuries of Native extinction. History books and the American public don't like the implication that there is (white) European responsibility in the death of Native Americans - disease is the cover to hide the fact that there was a willful and systematic intent to exploit and kill all non-European peoples they "discovered". Those details became glossed over because the history I was taught as a student came from eyes of the conquerors rather than the conquered.

If I'm ever charged with teaching American history, you can bet that I won't repeat the same mistake that happened when I was a student. My kids will be reading books like A People's History of the United States, fo sho.
posted by G at 7:25 PM   | (3) comments

AngryAsianMan in Washington Post

A friend gave me a heads up about one of my favorite sites, AngryAsianMan, being profiled in the Washington Post... cool.

You can check out the article right here. The text follows.

.:.

Incensed And Empowered Angry Asian Man, Only Half Joking By Jose Antonio Vargas Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, October 9, 2005; Page D01 What are you so angry about, Mr. Angry Asian Man? Phil Yu laughs heartily. "People ask me that question all the time," says Yu, a 27-year-old Korean American who has graced us with AngryAsianMan.com, a personal clearinghouse of everything Asian American. Its mock catchphrase of empowerment: "Keep it real with the rice fields." ("Can't you visualize the Chinamen?" Yu explains on the site. "Wearing those funny hats. Holding a stick or something. Squatting.") The refrain "That's racist!" also appears regularly -- sometimes half-jokingly, oftentimes not, when Yu stumbles upon what he views as stereotypical depictions of Asian Americans. But no, he's not actually that angry. He's just like a lot of other bloggers in the URL-littered landscape, a man who has something to say that he thinks other people aren't saying. Latinos have a right to be angry, blacks have a right to be angry -- why can't Asians be angry, too? "I wanted to play with this idea of being 'angry,' to take on this persona of an Angry Asian Man, because we as Asians are not usually seen as an angry, militant, conscious group," Yu, a graduate student in the University of Southern California's cinema and television school, says by phone from his home in west Los Angeles. "That's the stereotype that's been attributed to us -- you know, the model minority -- so much so that we start to believe it ourselves." (Indeed, at first Yu declined to be interviewed, so as not to be seen as the personification of the Angry Asian Man: "I just like to do what I do and not draw attention to myself." But perhaps not talking could lead to another stereotype, the Unassuming Asian Man?) A droll lack of pomposity draws visitors to the site, where an action figure of Quick Kick, the bare-chested character in the "G.I. Joe" TV show, welcomes visitors to Yu's online world. "Quick Kick is angry, too," says Yu. "Why does he have to be bare-chested all the time? Even on an episode of 'G.I. Joe' when he's fighting the enemy outside and it's snowing?" AngryAsianMan.com has nothing to do with the Angry Little Asian Girl T-shirt and comic strip you might have seen somewhere, though Yu does sell "Nobody Loves an Angry Asian Man" T-shirts through his site. He's sold about 40 of them so far -- "40 more than I've expected to sell," he says, laughing. The site doesn't boast big numbers -- about 60,000 hits a month, Yu says -- but since launching in February 2001, it's become a daily must-read for the media-savvy, socially conscious, pop-cultured Asian American. It's part Gawker ("Check out this Bud Light commercial. Just another Asian karate dude . . . getting his [butt] kicked . . . By an old lady . . . That's racist! "); part Drudge Report ("New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson acknowledges in his new autobiography that Wen Ho Lee was 'mistreated' "); part Ain't It Cool News ("The new TV drama, 'Inconceivable,' starring Ming Na, premiered last night on NBC . . . Hopefully, they'll give her more to do than they did on 'ER.' "). But it's also altogether original. "He has his finger on the pulse of everything that's Asian American -- the good news, the bad news, the things we didn't know but should know. They're all there," says District resident Dennis Chong, a 32-year-old Korean American lawyer. "What he encompasses is the Asian American Everyman. The site isn't really about him, it's about the community, about how the basic Asian American person would react to things," adds Todd Inoue, 39, a Japanese American and music editor at the alternative weekly San Jose Metro. "There's that key line, 'That's racist!' I think it's perfect. It's funny and silly and serious all at the same time. It's activism at DSL speed." For example: In April 2004, Details magazine ran the headline "Asian or Gay?" over its "Anthropology" column. "Don't be duped by ghetto knockoffs," the column read, referring to a Louis Vuitton bag the male model is shown carrying. "Every queen deserves the real deal," it continues, taking a crack at stereotypically brand-obsessed Asians. Angry Asian Man solicited protests to the magazine's editor, writing: "To me, this piece is written . . . for a straight white male's racist, homophobic frat-boy sense of humor -- a major men's publication effectively categorizing Asian men (and gay men) as an objectified 'Other'. . . . That's racist! " After Jun Choi, 34, won the Democratic primary in the Edison, N.J., mayoral race this past summer, a radio host said on-air: "I don't care if the Chinese population in Edison has quadrupled in the last year, Chinese should never dictate the outcome of an election, Americans should." (Never mind that Choi is Korean American.) Yu posted the radio station manager's e-mail, phone number and address on his site: "Do I need to say it?" he wrote. " That's racist! " Daniel Dae Kim, a star on the Emmy-winning ABC show "Lost," recently gave a shout-out to AngryAsianMan.com, where he had read about the radio host's comment. "I really like that site," Kim told New York-based Asian Media Watchdog. "I like him because he not only takes people to task when they're offensive, but he praises those who make a positive impact as well." Where Phil Yu begins and where Angry Asian Man ends isn't entirely clear, though Angry Asian Man definitely says things that his creator would never say out loud at parties and other social gatherings. Aside from "What are you so angry about?" the question he gets most, Yu says, is "Why did you start the site?" "They want a defining moment. But I wasn't a victim of a horrible hate crime when some dude called me a chink and I went all crazy. It was a gradual understanding of the things I was seeing and experiencing," says Yu. The eldest of three children, he grew up in Silicon Valley, where his second-generation Korean American family (Dad's in real estate, Mom's a nurse) fit right into the racially diverse town of Sunnyvale. It wasn't until he moved to Chicago -- he studied radio, television and film at Northwestern University -- that he started thinking deeply about his ethnic identity, undergoing a hypersensitive, almost comical phase, he says, when everything around him was offensive. The portrayal of the Asian woman -- fetishized, eroticized -- in that magazine ad? Racist. The word "Chinese" on a random page of Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov"? Racist. The yellow traffic light? You got it: racist! Of course he's not that knee-jerk and splenetic now. Still, Yu says, a little anger does help with keeping it real. ... Photo caption: "We as Asians are not usually seen as an angry, militant, conscious group," says Phil Yu, whose Web site mixes humor and criticism.

I wonder how many obnoxious letters the Washington Post is gonna get in response. I bet there'll be at least one "Why are you Orientals trying to be angry? If you don't like America, go back to where you came from! genre of letter to make the opinion / letters to the editor page.
posted by G at 12:40 AM   | (0) comments

taking a break to avoid breaking

break
v. 1. To separate into pieces suddenly or violently; to snap off or detach; to crack; to render useless or inoperative.

n. 1. An interruption, an opening a separation; the beginning of something; a pause or interval away from work.

.:.

In between everything that goes on during the week at school - the long commute, the lectures, the note taking, the discussions, the readings, the papers, and the assignments - sometimes it's nice to just do nothing. Maybe I'm just getting older and more cranky, but all the aggravation that builds up needs to be released.

After finishing some light chores around the house, I tried to relax a little by listening to some music and playing some War3FT, but surprise surpise... the internet was super laggy. So instead, I did the next easiest thing...

...sleep.

Hail Saturdays.
posted by G at 11:26 PM   | (2) comments

newshound

The latest stories I've been reading:

• An interesting story comparing the Japanese educational system to the US educational system, a sort of reverse trend of Japanese schools becoming more relaxed and non-traditional, while US schools become more heavily focused on standardized testing and academic achievement.
  
  
• In another Japan Times article, a writer discusses the changing roles of Japanese women in the workplace and the issue of mote-hara (popularity harassment).
  
  
• The NY Times features a story about how San Antonio leads the country in military recruitment, which on the surface seems perfectly fine... until the detail emerges that the school has a huge population of Hispanic students who come from mostly low-income and middle-class families. It's an interesting contrast to Washington state, where there are heavy controls on recruiters visiting high schools.
  
  
• The U-Dub is changing its admission policy, abandoning it's old grid system of an admission index. Back in the day, when I had a 3.8 GPA and 1320 SAT, I was considered as "easy in"... now, it's a lot tougher to get into the UW these days.
  
  
• A thought provoking column by my favorite columnist Jerry Large: Looking for a place where more isn't better.

posted by G at 11:55 PM   | (3) comments

a different kind of battle

The Wudan / bible study crew of guys and I cancelled our regular study to go and visit Dennis at the UWMC. As hard as it was to see him at the hospital again and hearing all the cold details of his current condition, I'm thankful that we could at least spend time with him to just hang out, talk, and pray for him.

I really think it is both God's grace and a testament to Dennis' character that he's the one whose seems strongest in dealing with the situation. If any of us other guys were in his situation, I'm not sure we'd handle it so well.

Of course, maybe the hardest thing that most of us are wrestling with is why this whole situation is happening in the first place. When you think of the things that guys of our age and background are supposed be dealing with, I don't think most 20-somethings expect to be fighting something like tumors and bad health. Dennis is neither a heavy smoker or a heavy drinker, and to my knowledge has never done drugs. He doesn't eat babies or massacre helpless woodland animals, and yet, this is the painful path that has been given to him to walk.

It all makes me say "WTF" a lot more these days too.

Honestly, visiting him at the hospital brings back memories of other hospital visits, and though I was never presume to place my own issues on a pedestal above his own situation (because obviously, they're different), they're there in the back in my mind. Like David posted, it's the thorny matters of theodicy that can make it tough for anybody to cope, both the person suffering and those who care for him/her.

Sometimes the hardest enemy to fight is your own doubt.

.:.


Though it's not completely related, a quote from a book I was reading back when I was in Japan comes to mind again.

"Your pain is deep, and it won't just go away. It is also uniquely yours, because it is linked to some of your earliest life experiences. Your call is to bring that pain home. As long as your wounded part remains foreign to your adult self, your pain will injure you as well as others. Yes, you have to incorporate your pain into your self and let it bear fruit in your heart and the hearts of others. This is what Jesus means when he asks you to take up your cross. He encourages you to recognize and embrace your unique suffering and to trust that your way to salvation lies therein. Taking up your cross means, first of all, befriending your wounds and letting them reveal to you your own truth. There is great pain and suffering in the world. But the hardest pain to bear is your own. Once you have taken up that cross, you will be able to see clearly the crosses that others have to bear, and you will be able to reveal to them their own ways to joy, peace, and freedom." -Henri J.M. Nouwen

posted by G at 11:56 PM   | (0) comments

Boondocks on TV

Looks like I'm going to have a new show to watch on TV... one of my favorite comic strips, The Boondocks, is going be on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.

Already, there's some controversy over the content, but I'm looking forward to seeing it.
posted by G at 11:57 PM   | (0) comments

natsu no owari



October has snuck up on me and it really hits me now that the summer is gone.

Maybe it's all the bad events that have been happening the past few months (like a friend's health situation), or maybe its just my own personal issues with the way life is right now, but I still can't shake the uneasy feeling that there's still more tough times ahead. If there's one thing this life has taught me, it's that you're usually only one breath away from from another hardship or disappointment. The the world seems driven to pick on those who don't deserve it, but that's the definition of "unfair", right? My cynicism shines brightly.

As Stone wisely (and sarcastically) commented, I can hear the platitudes already. Everything happens for a reason. Something will good come out of all of this. Things will be OK.

Uh-huh. Riiight. O_o

I don't know what drives my preoccupation for trying to understand everything that happens in this busted world, but sometimes, I really do wish I didn't know things I knew and I lived a simpler life. I wonder if I'd been content to have been born a goose or a shark or a porpoise. Ya know, something more mobile and less self-conscious. Sentience sometimes isn't the great boon that it's supposed to be.

But yeah... it really is the end of summer. No matter the regret, disappointment, hardship, hope, faith or pain... some endings always come regardless. I guess that's when we're supposed to make our peace with God about it.


.:.


Natsu no Owari (Summer's End)
by Naotarou Moriyama

mizubasho yureru azemichi
katanarabete yume wo tsumuida
nagareyuku toki ni sasabune wo ukabe
yakeochita natsu no koiuta
wasureji no hito wa utakata
sora wa yuugure

On the little path running along side the patty,
skunk cabbage waving in the wind,
we stood side by side and wove a dream together.
I set a bamboo leaf boat on the river of time flowing away.
The summer love song burning down,
the one I'll never forget is but a fleeting memory
and the sky is dusk.

tohou ni kureta mama furiyamanu ame no naka
anata wo matteita hitokage no nai eki de

Still unsure what to do, in a rain which never lets up
I waited for you at the station, not another soul in sight.

natsu no owari, natsu no owari ni wa
tada anata ni aitaku naru no
itsuka to onaji kaze fukinukeru kara

The end of summer, at the end of summer
all I want is to see you.
Because the wind of those days is blowing through here again.

tsuioku wa hito no kokoro no
kizuguchi ni fukaku shimiiri
kasumidatsu nobe ni natsukusa wa shigeri
arekara doredake no toki ga
itazura ni sugita darou ka
seseragi no you ni

Memory sinks deep into the wounds in people's hearts
In the field getting misty, the summer grasses grow thick,
How much time has gone by in vain since those days,
like the murmur of a stream.

dareka ga iikaketa kotoba yoseatsumete mo
daremo ga wasureyuku natsu no hi wa kaeranai

Even if I try to make sense of what someone tried to tell me,
Anybody would forget,
there's no going back to those summer days.

natsu no inori, natsu no inori ni wa
tae naru hotarubi no shirabe
kaze ga yurashita fuurin no hibiki

The prayer of summer, In the prayer of summer
the extraordinary music of the fireflies.
the ringing of the wind chime caught in a breeze.

natsu no owari natsu no owari ni wa
tada anata ni aitaku naru no
itsuka to onaji kaze fukinukeru kara

The end of summer, at the end of summer
all I want is to see you
Because the wind of those days is blowing through here again...

.:.


Help yourself to a taste of Mr. Moriyama's fine music right here. (right click + save as)
posted by G at 2:14 AM   | (2) comments

girl battle

A friend from class (she's half-Filipino) told me about this clip between an Indian American girl trading snaps with a Black girl on Nick Cannon's show "Wild'N Out", but I wasn't able to find the link until AngryAsianMan posted it.

In the clip, the Black girl says a cheapshot about curry and the Indian American girl comes back HARD...


The clip.

Yes, I'm Indian, I know it's true
but are you black? I got more ass than you!

Pwuaahahaha. OWNED.
posted by G at 3:56 PM   | (1) comments

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33