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AnonymousI actually watched a documentary about a company in Japan who rent out men/women to play roles of boyfriend/girlfriend for their clients. The pressure of marriage has pushed many young people to lie to their parents and family about their relationships. It was interesting to see how desperate young people are becoming to please their parents and families that they are following tradition of marriage and continuing the family lineage. It's pretty intriguing to see how many Japanese are not able to speak freely to others about their feelings, thoughts, and relationships to their loved ones.
AnonymousI can honestly say I was shocked to read about the number of Chinese soldiers in World War I, especially the sons of famous Siam twins. I've taught middle school and high school history for many years and rarely do I see any mention of Asian soldiers and their stories of their heroics in World War I. I am embarrassed to say the only time I mention Asians in United States history is during the gold rush in America. It was really interesting to read the methods used by Chinese to travel to America and their experiences living a racially segregated country.
AnonymousToday, Clay mentioned that Taiwan has their first female president, Tsai Ing-wen. I wonder how people in Taiwan feel about having a female president, or if it is even a topic of contention. According to CCN, it states "Of course, there are some people in Taiwan that are still rather traditional and they have some hesitation in considering a woman president. But among the younger generation, I think they are generally excited about the idea of having a woman leader. They think it is rather trendy," she said. (Source: http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/18/asia/taiwan-president-tsai-ing-wen/) I wonder however, where this information comes from . . .
I also think it will be very interesting to see how our future president (whether it is our first female president or a president that has said negative comments about women) will work with, and develop relations with Taiwan and other Asian nations. I am also wondering what the differences are in the thoughts on the American presidential race among the rich, poor, and political leadership within the people of China, Korea, and Japan.
AnonymousInterracial marriages have always being polemic all over the world; however, I would expect more acceptance especially in developed countries. It was shocking to see that Africans were given visas for limited time even though they had Chinese kids and were contributing positively to the economy. This article reminded me to immigration laws and deportations in the US and the tearing apart of families with illegal immigrants parents. This article in particular is very helpful in my classroom when covering the unit on “Las familias y las comunidades” that touches on immigration, alienation and assimilation issues. Definitely, quite a few students can relate to this and I believe we can have a productive discussion out of it.
Classroom Questions: What are their views on immigration? Should illegal immigrants who are parents to legal citizens should be sent back to their home country? Should children of illegal immigrants not be considered citizens?
AnonymousI knew Japan has strict laws on immigration so the article was not really surprising to me but the reason behind it was. I always thought Japan was a very friendly and welcoming country to tourists but not so much to expats or foreigners looking for citizenship. I felt this was due to the strong Japanese culture of being well-mannered and polite to all, even though they may feel otherwise. Until reading this article, I believed Japan wanted to keep their culture and race pure and homogenous. It was kinda a shock to know that Japanese didn't want to offer citizenship not due to racism but to financial reasons. It blew my mind because I never even considered that idea.
AnonymousFor the past several years Japan has suffered from an extremely low growth rate. There are several elements that have led to this severe problem, among those the treatment of postpartum women. Traditionally, expectant women and women with young children, are expected to remain at home to take care of the children. Their husbands are to be the source of income while the woman takes care of the needs at home. Women are expected to leave their jobs once pregnant, and even though given maternity leave so they may return to work, many do not. This traditional view, however, has led to a movement among today's modern woman to shy away from getting pregnant because they realize that having a child essentially means giving up their careers. Japanese women want to aspire to be more than just mothers-they want to fulfill their own acheivements and goals. Corporations and companies are now beginning to accommodate to this trend and providing for better conditions for expecting women and those who have young children, hoping that this can ignite a trend towards positive population growth.
AnonymousIt was interesting hear about what it means to travel, what a traveler brings when they travel is not just materials but also ideas and arts. As Chinese move around the world they bring their culture with them and with that they integrate it with the cultures they encounter. I think its really cool that this happens because I love to travel and I love interacting and telling people how we do things here and I love to learn how they do things in their countries. It's intereresting to realize what a big impact travelers have on cultures around the world.
AnonymousThrough my travels of Asia, I knew of pockets of Asian countries had African traders and merchants. I didn't expect many of these African traders and merchants marrying Asian women just to further their business ventures and vise versa. Chinese marrying Africans as a safety net from the government and their tendency to repossess property. Not all couples married for convenience or financial gain but for love. I am a little wary of those couples but many marriage can be said was done due to mutual gain. It reminds me of a story about arranged marriages between Vietnamese women and Korean men. Most of these women live in poverty and arranged marriages to strangers seems like a good way out of that life. Sad to say, most of these women face a life of multiple hardships.
AnonymousI was mind blown by Stephen Cheung’s presentation on the LA and LB ports. I know very little about trade, but I was amazed to find out that throughout my trip, I basically traveled to all of the main location of trade (Shanghai, LA, Chicago)! I am so impressed that our area’s trade is much larger, economically speaking, than many other countries in the world! I truly enjoyed his presentation because it got me thinking about a lot of possible ramification of trade for both countries. When he was talking about JC Penny and other businesses’ effect of shipping during slowdowns, before their 4 corners approach, it reminded me of an article that I read last year on how the slow down at the ports affected the sale of Chinese New Year products (http://www.npr.org/2015/02/14/386199926/west-coast-port-closures-are-hitting-several-industries-hard). I guess this isn’t just an issue of LA and the US, but also for people around the world and our cultural traditions. I wonder what will happen in the next few years once the Panama Canal is open for more shipping?
edited by kluna on 7/25/2016
AnonymousOne of the topics brought up during our introductions this morning was the question about the two belief systems in Japan. I am half Japanese and half Korean and I grew up with no real religious affiliation but I knew that when my parents were young they grew up with a Buddhist mindset. To my surprise, when I went to Japan to teach from '03-'06, I not only saw Buddhist influences but also Shinto. What is really interesting to see is that harmony between the two religions, especially considering that in Japanese history the two were at odds. Like Clay mentioned, birth is celebrated through Shinto but death is honored through Buddhism. Japanese people today balance both belief systems today; for example when they speak of nature and the environment, they believe that there are kami, or spirits, that surround us and guide us. However they might also visit Buddhist temples to pray for their health or the health of a loved one. This coexistence is definitely a unique one to say the least.
AnonymousIt was enlightening to find out how powerful the greater Los Angeles area is when it comes to the economic impact and influence. Growing up in Los Angeles I just thought of LA as just a large urban city with beaches fifteen minutes away, mountains and amusement parks thirty minutes away, and traffic gridlock! Learning about how much influence Los Angeles has on world trade and movement of people will give me more information that I can also use to teach my students about diversity and also how they can prepare themselves for an evolving society/economy. We know that foreign companies are heavily investing in the greater LA area so the new generation of students must be aware of this changing world and economy and adapt themselves in order to succeed.
AnonymousGlobalization has given tremendous leverage to capital because capital can be easily moved around. Its not surprising that capital would move to areas that are politically stable and have a large number of reliable workers for low wages. I hope economic opportunity will be linked with economic justice and environmental protections.
AnonymousThe presentations by Stephen Cheung, Los Angeles World Trade Center was eye opening on how important Los Angeles is not just to California but to the whole nation. He made a good point about how we need to keep on educating out youth so we can keep up with the demand of workers in the city from low skilled to highly skilled.
AnonymousThe map that Clay showed during class without the borders got me thinking about the creation of nationalism within Asia. I have noticed that most students know little to nothing about Asia, including the countries that are located in Asia, and the cultures that lay within the boundaries. I think that it would be interesting to discuss the islands that are currently in dispute and pose the question to students about how to settle the debate. How do we decide who owns what? What leads to the conflict between countries in a region? And how does nationalism and history effect relations between a country and its neighbors?
edited by kluna on 7/25/2016
AnonymousInterracial marriages have become more and more popular in China. When I was little, I only see foreigners on TV. Now people from different countries are living everywhere in China, especially in big cities. Chinese reality TV shows are full of foreigners with different accents and mixed-blood children. It is possible for people from any countries to fit in China as long as they can speak Mandarin.