Attending this course made me realize how people's lives, their beliefs, traditions and gastronomy impact other peoples' way of living when cultural interaction occurs at a global level. During this seminar, I learned so much from the presenters, readings, and colleagues who happen to be very knowledgeable. It was a pleasure and an honor attending the Chinese Institute because the presentations made me understand the world I though I knew in a broader and more insightful way. I must recognize that before I attended the China Institute, I had little to no idea how the East Asia countries played such an important role in the development and growth of the economy of the United States and the world’s. Attending the China Institute made me gain a greater understanding about the impact that all East Asia countries have on a global, pungent economy. Before Stephen’s Cheung’s lecture on trading and his report on Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports, I had not much knowledge of the enormous magnitude international trading represented for the U.S.A. economy. I knew there was international trading occurring, but the insightful and data based report on how the local and international economy works in order to produce, keep, and maintain job stabilization in a community, it blew my mind. I had no idea how much traveling, negotiating, and how many human, and material resources were involved in preserving the integrity of a community. I will definitely address the topic of trading in my classes to assist them in gaining a meaningful insight of the elements that encompass a local, municipal, state, and international economy in order to preserve our current life styles. I really would like them to understand and appreciate how the social and economic factors that make a community functional, contribute to the stability of the community they live in. One of my goals this year is for them to raise awareness about other countries’ cultures by studying their people, geography, religion, traditions, gastronomy, political, and economic history.

The visit to the Getty Museum was extremely interesting and educational for me; visiting the display of the three full size replicas of the Cave Temples of Dunhuang where some elements of the Buddhist Art on China’s Silk Road was an incredibly spiritual and cognitive experience that I will never forget. In this exhibit, there was a large display of artifacts evidencing the expansion and preservation of Buddhist practices along the map showing the routes of the Silk Road that promoted a rich and extensive cultural and economic exchange through regions of the Asian Continent, and through the Mediterranean Sea. According to the information provided in this tour, replication of the symbols and historical elements in the caves has been a tradition and a common practice to earn rebirth and merit. These two are essential concepts in the Buddhism way of life; both highly correlated with each other, one has to devote his/her life to provide health, safety, and welfare to others before oneself in order to through rebirth, devotion, and merit, reach Nirvana. These would be excellent topics to introduce to my students in the Language Arts and Mathematics. I will try to introduce a piece of geography first, and then some poetry , drawing, history and finally a good glimpse to how international trading has been and still is an important part in the progress of old and contemporary societies.
edited by yreynoso on 8/21/2016

Final Reflection
Summer Seminar USC China Institute
First, as I reflect on the week spent at the seminar in July I first feel gratitude for the opportunity to attend. As usual USC has put on a first class event. The staff was extremely knowledgeable and professional. The presenters were of top quality exhibiting a wonderful combination of intelligence, expertise, humility, and had evident passions for their work and areas of expertise. What a great service you provide to remind educators of the Far East. Moreover, kudos for enabling us to impart a learning of the Far East to our students through the curriculum that we present to them.
There are so many ideas and experiences from that week that will be incorporated into our units of study. Just today we had a ramen dish presented in the teacher’s lounge and a flood of memories came back regarding our afternoon learning all about the history of ramen from its Japanese and Chinese beginnings to its predominance globally as a go to food for much of the planet. The concept of food being used as a bridge to cultures is not a new one, yet it is often overlooked in academia. Children are particularity prone to seeing these connections. I had fourth grade students pointing out to me the introduction of pasta to Italy through the stories of Marco Polo. This makes for a nice introduction into the teaching of geography, trade, cuisine of the Spanish colonial period in California. In Math we are calculating the prices for a Carne Asada meal and side dishes. When looking at how Carne Asada is made we noticed some Asian ingredients in the marinade. This leads to a discussion of the Far East, in particular the Philippines, China, and Japan. When learning about the Spanish galleon we can compare and contrast that with modern containers from the San Pedro/Long Beach docks. The discussions with the WTO head come to mind in this. Your presenters were well placed for k-12 curriculum and the learning that we absorbed from them can be interwoven throughout our curriculum. If nothing else, the idea that “The Far East Matters” permeates the thought of the teacher and from here we make the stories of learning even more diverse and interesting.
As we prepare our students for their future there are many learning opportunities available to them in the greater Los Angeles, Southern California area. We have for two generations now become the major point of entry for new generations of immigrants. These dynamics alone allow for great learning and I feel that I benefited from this growing up in the Los Angeles area. Yet, how much more powerful these experiences are when this synergy is harnessed in academia and educators are allowed to engage with working experts that see profound connections between our students and these changes. And how much more powerful again these things are when they present themselves in a well thought out and organized manner by a professor and his staff for teacher training. The goal of your mandate is to show that the Far East matters and should be presented in k-12 curriculum and you have done an excellent job of that. Thank you again for a wonderful inspiring week and a goal well accomplished.
All the best,
Richard Brady MUSD
edited by rbrady on 8/26/2016

Nancy Daza
9/2/2016

Final Reflection

When I first signed up for this seminar, I had no high expectations. I had very limited knowledge about this culture even though I have always been fascinated with it. I can gladly say that I was ecstatic to find out on day one how educational this seminar is and all the great educational benefits it provides for the educators and consequently the students.

As an educator, I like to teach culture awareness and diversity to my students. I will be able to integrate some of the resources provided into my lessons this upcoming school year. What a better way to teach culture awareness and diversity than through Art and gastronomy.

I was thrilled to learn so much about East Asia during this seminar. It was definitely a very rewarding experience to be fully emerged into this rich culture for a period of a week. It has always been intriguing to see throughout history the fascination of other cultures with Asia. It was an honor and privilege to have been able to participate in this seminar. Thank you Catherine Gao and Professor Clayton Dube for your dedication.

Learning about East Asia culture from the USC Us- China Institute was one of the most powerful cultural workshops I have attended throughout my teaching career. I believe there is so much to learn from the East Asia culture and although there are vast similarities from various countries that span throughout East Asia, there are also vast differences that I have learned about as well. I think in efforts of having our students be outstanding global citizens we must educate them and equip them with the knowledge and understanding of cultures throughout the world. I intend to incorporate East Asia into my teaching through reading informational text. With Common Core ELA shifts, our students must be able to read and answer and ask questions from more literature that is informational and has text complexity. Encouraging and exciting students to learn more about other cultures in a fun and engaging way where students can take ownership of their learning through planning their own trip to various countries throughout will help students to be successful in reading more informational texts that is now required of them. For this particular unit I focused on China, however I know that I can continue to build on their knowledge of China from this unit and have students to learn more about Japan and later compare and contrast the two which is a reading comprehension skill that is required of my second graders. After Japan, I can keep traveling and have students to continue to build on their prior knowledge to increase their cultural awareness. For my students, especially since I teach at the primary grade level, I feel that the ideas and issues that were raised during the seminar that are of the greatest relevance to my students are simply the traditions and culture that includes food, holidays and celebrations, language, early education, and family structures and values. These were the issues I feel are more so the foundations and my students will be able to relate to them and compare them to their own early lives more so.