A theme that I noticed the most in “A Tale for the Time Being” was place. There was a lot of detail about every place that was mentioned in the reading.
For example, Nao talks about what it looks like inside of the French Maid Cafe. She talks about the silk curtains and the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, she talks about the table she is sitting at and exactly what the maids are wearing. We are easily able to picture Nao sitting in the cafe.
In the Ruth section, it talks about what her house looks like, with all of her and Oliver’s books stacked up everywhere and the cat wandering around. We also see how close she is to the beach , and what it looks like as she is walking along the beach with all the debris washed up on the shore.
I think it is important that it describes the place that Nao is in and the place that Ruth is in because we see how they are in complete opposite parts of the world, but through Nao’s journal they are able to connect.
Through a few simple words inside of an old book, Ruth gets to know this little girl and become close to her and care about her.
Author Archives: Molly
My Name is Khan
My name is Khan is now my all time favorite movie! Since we watched it last week, I have been telling everyone to watch it! I swear I cried every few minutes while watching this movie! Khan and Merida were so cute together! I am such a sap for cheesy romantic scenes in movies! There were quite a few things in this movie that I was able to connect back to my life.
The first one was that Khan had Aspergers Syndrome, which is a form of autism. My 13 year old nephew is also autistic, but he is able to communicate with us well like any other person can. Something we do worry about though is that sometimes he doesn’t realize when we are being serious. This can be dangerous because if he is ever in a bad situation with a cop, he might think they are joking around with him when they are really being serious, which can lead to violence. Something I realized is that he should carry a card in his wallet that says he is autistic like Khan did, or something similar in case of a situation like this.
The second thing that I am able to connect with, which absolutely breaks my heart to talk about is… when Merida was in the middle of the soccer field where her son died, and she went absolutely crazy. In April 2010, my 3 year old niece was hit by a car and she died. I remember being in the waiting room at the hospital, and the doctor came in and sat down next to my sister, who was already crying, and he told her “She didn’t make it.” My sister went crazy. This was her second child that had died. It is so heartbreaking to not only have lost my niece, but also seeing my sister in so much pain. She had to be admitted to the hospital that night and was sent to the 13th floor of Tacoma General. ‘Where the crazy people go.’ Now, she is a lot better, but she will never be the woman she once was.
R,I.P. Saniah, I love you.
Kato/Enter the Dragon
“Senior Monk: I see your talents have gone beyond a mere physical level. Your skills are now at the point of spiritual insight. I have several questions. What is the highest technique you hope to achieve?
Lee: To have no technique.
Senior Monk: Very good. What are your thoughts when facing an opponent?
Lee: There is no opponent.
Senior Monk: Why is that?
Lee: Because the word ‘I’ does not exist.
Senior Monk: So. Continue.
Lee: A good fight should be like a swordplay but played seriously. A good martial artist does not become tense but ready. Not thinking, yet dreaming; ready for whatever to come. When your opponent expands, I contract. When there is an opportunity, i don’t hit; it hits all by itself.”
When I first read this little section, it made me laugh a little because it sounds like Lee is being a smart ass! But as I kept on reading, it made a lot if sense. Just to be ready for whatever comes, without even thinking about it. It seems like that would be the perfect goal to achieve for any martial artist. It was interesting reading this then watching the movie, and getting to see how Lee was ready for anything!
Friday’s Kato Reading (2-14)
I enjoyed reading about Jimi Hendrix in today’s reading. It is refreshing to read about people like Jimi Hendrix because he was so inspiring and didn’t pay attention to stereotypes. He also contradicted colonialism, imperialism and capitalism. It is too bad that most of today’s music doesn’t have as much meaning to them as songs used to.
“Hendrix’s performance, nevertheless, was undoubtedly of historical significance, as revealed by the video that exclusively features his performance. It marked the beginning of Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsy’s period, which broke free of the genre of Rock and the style defined by the psychedelic artistic paradigm of the 1960s. Dressed in a Native American fringed jacket, blue jeans, and moccasins, Hendrix led an unusual ensemble in which his conventional trio format was expanded with the addition of a rhythm guitarist and two bongo and conga players.” (Kato, P.83)
Pop-Osition
The pop-osition that we came up with in my group that I will focus on is:”Martial Arts is very integral to culture. Starts in China, spreads to Japan. It spreads in a way that is iconic to the second group.”Kung Fu films became very popular in China, and Bruce Lee was the biggest actor at the time. The films compared to Samurai films in Japan. This was during the time where Japan and China had animosity after the Japanese Occupation.
“At one point in the film, he [Bruce Lee] said the Japanese toughs were telling the member of Chinese dojo [sic] the Chinese were the “Sick people of Asia”. Silence. You could hear the bus traffic on Nathan Road outside the theater…Brice- as the character Chen Chen- went to the Japanese headquarters to confront the murderous villains. He single handedly laid to waste to the entire orginization, sending the audience to hysteria…. following a dramatic pause he said “The Chinese are not the sick people of Asia.” Pandemonium! Everyone rose to his [sic] feet. Wave upon wave of earsplitting sound rolled up to the balcony. The seats were humming and the floor of the old balcony was shaking.” (Kato p.12)
J.R. Celski
J.R. Celski is a half filipino, half polish man who was in the 2010 Winter Olympics for speed skating. He came home with a bronze medal. He was also raised in Federal Way Washington, which isn’t very far from us! He was recently interviewed by Merideth Vieira on February 5th on NBC’s special “How to raise an Olympian”.
Paper Lanterns
Paper lanterns are pretty and we often see them for decoration here, but they have a lot of symbolism in China. Every year China has their lantern festival during the 15th day of the first lunar month… which happened to land on Valentines day this year…just a few days ago!
The lamps were first made during the Han dynasty, and were first just used for lighting. They would make them out of bamboo and red silk or paper because red resembles good fortune and joy in China. Later, the monks would light the lanterns to worship Buddha. The Emperor had everyone light the lanterns to worship Buddha. This later became a custom, and everyone would light the lanterns to celebrate and represent their strong and prosperous country. Now the lamps are mainly used for decoration during the year, and for the Lantern Festival. Traditions during the Lantern Festival are watching the lanterns, guessing lantern riddles, eating Yuanxio (rice ball with fillings) and doing different folk dances like the lion dance.
There are 5 different lanterns and they each are used for something different. The smallest one is “The Baby’s Bottom” they are used with Christmas lights on a tree. (In modern times of course) The second is the “Rolling Paper” they are the cylinder shaped ones and they are most commonly at restaurants. The third one is the “Big Red” which is the classic one we are all used to seeing. The fourth one is “Crystal Magic” and they are the geometrically shaped lanterns. Finally the fifth lantern is “Buddha’s Gastronomy” they are the largest and are seen in temples and at festivals.
Shaolin Ulysses: Kung Fu Monks in America/ The Black Kung Fu Experience
So before the movies started, I wasn’t very excited about watching them. I was just thinking “Ughhh Kung Fu movies? That’s gonna be boring!” But they actually were a lot better then I expected them to be. Both movies were very inspirational, and I think by seeing the history behind the art, it really gives me a different outlook on it. The Shaolin Palace was very beautiful, and it just seems very relaxing. It’s amazing that over 12,000 students are there every year…I guess I just didn’t realize how important Kung Fu was to Chinese culture. I initially just thought of it as self defense and nothing more.
It was also interesting to learn about Bodhidarma, and how he brought Zen Buddhism and Kung Fu to the Shaolin palace from India. That relates back to our book we were reading this week…”From Kung Fu to Hip Hop”. And the examples we were thinking of in class the other day for globalization. After the movie was over, Chico was bringing up Bodhidarma, and I think I was a little confused about it… it was a myth because Buddhism was already in China ? I don’t know. But either way, it connects back to globalization.
The second movie , The Black Kung Fu Experience was very inspirational. I like how all of the men in the movie took hardships in their life, learned to let them out in a positive way, and connect to something that they can express their self with. This was also another Idea of globalization because they would bring this art form from China and take it back to America, and teach the children the ways of Kung Fu.
Asian Americans in the News… Scavenger Hunt
The Challenger:
On January 28, 1996, The Challenger, a space shuttle was only 73 seconds into it’s flight when it fell apart and all 7 crew members died. One of them was Ellison Onizuka. He was a Japanese American astronaut who died on the space shuttle.
Paull Shin:
Paull Shin was the first Korean American elected to the Washington State Legislature.
WWII Stragglers:
Not all of the soldiers in Japan during WWII surrendered on September 2, 1945… some of them kept fighting without realizing the war was even over, many of them fought for years afterwards.
How I Met Your Mother:
In the episode “Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra” the white characters in the show were playing a stereotypical Asian American character. There are normally no Asian Americans on the show.
One girl tweeted to CBS: “My race is not a costume.” -Suey Park
The Slanted Screen
The Slanted Screen talked about Asian American actors, and how they are portrayed. The main ones that were talked about were Sessue Hayakawa, Bruce Lee, James Shigeta,
I thought it was interesting that we got to hear about Sessue Hayakawa, mainly because we learned about him last quarter so he was one of the few faces I recognized.
It was a good turning point when Bruce Lee films started coming out so that there was finally an Asian American role model on the big screen for kids to look up to. It was also positive because it gave Asian American men more pride, because they look like such bad-asses in the films!
Another interesting point that was brought up in the movie was that in many Asian American roles, they are the villain, but often they would take this role even if it portrays them in a bad light because this role in a film is better then no role at all.