Make-up Assignments

[Evelyn Mendoza]

Make-up Assignment

Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden at CSULB

My son, three years old, and I visited the Japanese garden at CSULB this past Friday, and we both loved it. Walking in to the garden, you really feel like you’ve entered a new, more peaceful, world. Upon entering, we were greeting by one of the several workers there, they gave us a small introduction, and let us on our way. My son immediately ran toward the coy fish pond, and yelled “duck!!!” at the top of his lungs! Before entering the trail, there is a small kiosk where you can get $0.50 worth of food to give the fish and the ducks while you admire them. The coy fish are really a wonder to look at! They are huge! And they don’t get startled by our presence; they’ve grown accustomed to it at this point. The next point we spent time at was the bridge next to a small cascade. My son looked over the bridge at more coy fish, and liked seeing the water flow. My son really enjoyed visiting the garden, and didn’t want to leave the ducks!

Visiting the Japanese garden would be a great fieldtrip for elementary grades, not so much for middle school or high school. While the garden is very beautiful and tranquil, it’s quite small, and I could foresee middle and high school students getting easily bored, especially if there are other schools there. When my son and I visited, there were about four others groups: two large classes and 2 smaller groups. For elementary, having two or three classes at the same time probably will work, but I don’t think it will for middle or high school. For these grades, it would be cool if you could book the entire garden just for your group! That way students can break up in to smaller groups and explore different things, without rushing to see the entire garden. For example, something I would like to do there is have students describe what makes up this ecosystem: What are the abiotic factors? What are the biotic factors? Who are the producers? Who are the consumers? I would have them draw a food web found within this ecosystem, etc.. 

[Gerlinde Goschi]

A Visit to the Japanese American Museum Los Angeles

I spent a couple of hours recently learning about 130 years of Japanese American history at the museum dedicated to these important  events of the past.  I spent most of my time learning about the internment camps.  A group of volunteers traveled to the Heart Mountain camp in northwestern Wyoming.  They disassembled a barrack and reassembled it inside the museum.  Many artifacts such as photographs, tools, suitcases, letters, reading glasses, and kitchen items are displayed.  More than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated (two-thirds of them American citizens).  According to the information posted next to the exhibit entitled "How Priceless is Liberty: America's Concentration Camps," "the United States Constitution failed to protect their rights.  It was a failure that would affect all Americans."  One of the inmates named Jinji is quoted: "Little did I value freedom when I was once free, but once penned up, how priceless is liberty..."              

Another interesting reading was entitled: "What's in a Name? U.S. Government Euphemisms"  It explained how the U.S. government used euphemisms to "cover up the unconstitutional imprisonment of political prisoners."  It used inoffensive terms like "evacuation" and "relocation" to describe the internment process. The term "concentration camps" was replaced by the term "relocation camps." The most blatant euphemism according to the information posted, was the term "non-aliens" used to refer to Japanese American citizens.

I was searching the museum to find an anchor point for a visit with my first-grade class in the future.  I found it in the section that talked about ordinary non-Japanese Americans who voiced their disapproval of the treatment of Japanese-Americans during WW II.  Among them, was a librarian, Mrs. Breen, who admired her young Japanese-American patrons who spent numerous hours reading and checking out books before they were forced into internment camps.  She wrote letters to her young friends, and the students replied to her.  Their correspondence is available to all visitors.  I will spend a lot of time with my class in this area as I would read the letters and ask my students how they think these children felt based on their words.  

This is a great museum for a field trip for any grade level.  It is rich in resources and materials about this era in history.

[Evelyn Mendoza]

My son and I visited the Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple in Hacienda Heights. Entering the temple is quite breathtaking, you are transported to a different place and possibly time. The Gateway that welcomes you to the temple is prominent and majestic, really.  The architecture is beautiful, elaborate and colorful, I would even say authentic, though I am in no way an expert on Buddhist temples.

My son and I visited on a Monday, some part of the temple were closed off. However, we still enjoyed ourselves. My son had a lot of fun stretching with the baby monks throughout the landscape, he liked coping their expressions and poses.  After walking along the paths and admiring the baby statues, we walked up to Bodhisattva Hall were many followers of Buddha in meditation and making offerings. After spending some time in Bodhisattva Hall, we walked about the temple some more, trying to visit the other landmarks. I wanted to visit the Main Shrine and the Pagoda, but both were closed. We also wanted to have lunch, but we had arrived too early for that.

Taking this experience to the classroom would be a great cultural experience.  Students could learn several different topics from visiting the Hsi Lai Temple. Students could learn about world religions, history of Buddhism in the United States, about symbolism and even about architecture. Overall, this was a great experience for my son and I, and I would love to be able to extend this opportunity to my students. 

[Catalina Silvestre]

On November 27th my son and myself visited the Art of Korea Exhibit at the Los Angels County Museum of Arts.  This was actually my first time visiting this particular exhibit that holds art from Korea that was collected starting in the mid 1960s.  I learned that the museum hold over 400 pieces of art including art from the Goryeo dynast and Joseon dynasty which I remember being mentioned in the seminar.  Many of the pieces are also from donors that wanted to contribute to the museums collection.  However, the greatest amount of art work comes from the Joseon dynasty. One of the pieces that stood out to me aesthetically was the, “Memorial on Going into Battle by Zhuge Liang (181-234) originally transcribed by Yue Fei in 1138.  Yue Fei was a Chinese general famous for his defense of the Sothern song dynasty.  This piece of work was and is supposed to be a transcription as to why he believed that it was necessary to go to war, and for its advice on how to govern best.

 

Visisting The Art of Korea would be amazing to get a firsthand experience in the various arts created in Korea.  The level of crativity taht goes into art is someting that always motivates me and would serve as a great experience for my students   

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[Catalina Silvestre]

Being that I am an alumni of California State university Long Beach, I have had the pleasure of experiencing the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden many times..  This last time was the same week the seminars started. I personally used the garden a lot during my time at CSULB to go relax and study as it mimics and has the elements of a Japanese garden.  It feels like you are in a different country in this calm environment and cause you to forget that you are in the city.  The garden is 1.3 acres and includes a pond, teahouse, and zin garden.  The designer of the gardens visited Japan and Tokyo to get the appropriate designs.  It was a trip that created something amazing and design elements and import shops that helped with the designs.   The research and study that was conducted but allowed the garden to be constructed with a quiet feel.  I was dedicated to earl Miller was a lover of the outdoors and created in 1981.  The garden itself is very peaceful and I plan of frequently continuing to support my school and the garden by visiting and assuring that as alumni I continue to support such a beautiful garden.  I also encourage educators to visit that need a relief from a busy week and or day.

[Catalina Silvestre]

Upon my return to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art I visited and looked at the art in the Pavilion for Japanese Art. A piece that really stood out to me was the pair of scared monkeys.  These monkeys are from Japan, and the late Heian period between (794-1185).  The monkey served as deity and was worshiped as Gods.  These particular monkeys say outside of the Hie Shinto shrine.  The reason why this was of so much interest to me is because I like to study the religion and deities from other cultures.  It is interesting to gain background knowledge on various cultures and the reasoning behind why they worshiped certain animals.  I also try to align the purpose of certain deities together to show the similarities in systems of belief. Surprisingly, I have been able to track the purpose of many demi gods to many of the saints in catholic religion and as I continue to make varying connections it becomes more and more exciting.      

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[Alejandra Jimenez]

Korean Cultural Center

 

I visited the Korean Cultural Center mainly to find out about the activities offer to students’ field trips. The KCC offers monthly activities on performing arts. I took the opportunity to attend the Taekwondo/Rhythm Program in LAUSD. The presentation was composed of students in 1st grade to 6^th grade. Students had a choreographed routine about their Taekwondo Skills, these students are from various schools throughout the area and are pat of the LAUSD students. Other important performing art component of KCC is the Ari Project Open Madang, where visitors can enjoy more traditional drum performers that is full of energy, if you go on a field trip students will have an opportunity to practice with the center’s drums. Other performing arts projects in the KCC are the Ari Project and the poet for theater and poetry.

The Korean Cultural Center has monthly activities that will repeat at least once a month, if you are interest it in viewing a particular activity in their performing art, check their website for monthly schedule.

One important and surprising offer to the public is Korean language classes the start from beginning to advanced for $80 per semester. The classes do not include textbooks. I think this is a great deal if you are interested in learning a new language. The center also has “Movie Nights,” from Korean directors.

 

I enjoyed my visit at the Korean Center because is in down town L.A and if you are adventurous, you may continue your Korean experience outside the KCC and venture into Korean cafes, restaurants, and other local shops.

[Sonia Arrayales]

Five Myths about North Korea: History and (Mis)Perception since the 1950's, was a lecture that I attended that was sponsored by the National Humaties Center. This was a facinating lecture given Sung-Yoon Lee. He started of by discussing the 5 myths of North Korea that we have and dispelling those myths. He also discussed the extravagant spending of Kim Jong-un, which totaled $645,800,00.  This hefty amount was spent on liquor, watches, cars, handbags, and cosmetics. He went on further to say that North Korea is also involved in the production and selling of narcotics to produce revenue to pay for these luxury items. I have to say I was shocked to hear these things and was left dumbfounded. I was hanging on Sung-Yoon Lee's every word and was glad I attended the lecture. This lecture can be found as well on youtube, under the National Humanities channel. I highly recommend you listen.

[Sonia Arrayales]

I must first start off by saying this, I love this place! The price of admission is great too, free!  Maybe just pay for parking :)The garden is so beautiful and my son loved it too. He was enthralled with koi fish and could not get over the size of them. We stood there for what seemed for hours looking at the koi and the bamboo. I must admit that I believe that this is a hidden gem. This garden can give you a sense of tranquilty and peace, in a not so common place. I loved the little tea house that they have. This garden will almost make you feel like you are in Japan. I will definitely add this to my must go to places when ever I am in Long Beach!

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