[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

As usual, you've shared some valuable resources.  I really like the idea of promoting donations to feed hungry people around the world.  I've noticed that most of my students have not had many opportunities or challenges to give to the less fortunate.

The freerice English vocabulary exercise is especially cute.  I noticed the site says it will be migrating in July.

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

They could role play "A day in the life of (a person who lived in Asia before the existence of cell phones, televisions, remote controls, audio/video recording devices, automobiles, flush toilets...)"  They could make their own lists of modern-day conveniences we take for granted, but members of ancient civilizations lived their whole lives without.  To those people, our lives are like a science fiction movie or novel--neither of which existed in the distant past.

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

Thanks for the ideas, Marcos!

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

I’ve heard that the largest Christian church in the world is in Korea (Yoido Full Gospel Church, in Seoul, reportedly has 800,000 members).  So, visiting a Korean church near my home seemed like a relevant cultural experience.  I have often driven by a campus of some sort, with signs indicating that it is the location of a church and preschool.  I pass it on the way to my own church service on Sunday mornings, and see a lot of cars parked there.  So I thought I’d check it out.

The website http://rpcsc.com/ is all in Korean, so I wasn’t able to get much information regarding services, but I could tell they had something happening at times that included 11:00.  A Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rejoicing-Presbyterian-Church-of-SC/232840176836335 mainly features the children’s VBS (vacation Bible school) program.  Hoping they had an English language service, I showed up at 11:00 this morning.

Following the sounds of music, I did indeed find a small group of about 20 people singing worship songs in English.  Then there was a young pastor who led the congregation in reading catechism (questions and answers regarding doctrines of the faith) and preached a message based on scripture from the gospel of John.  An upcoming missions trip to Paraguay, providing medical services, clothing, and general assistance, was mentioned.  It was very much like I would expect an American Presbyterian church service to be like.  I suspected that the young people in attendance were children of immigrants attending the main (Korean language) service.

Afterwards, I was invited to join everyone for a simple lunch of beef broth with noodles, rice, and kimchi.  There were people of all ages, but the middle-aged and older adults pretty much spoke exclusively Korean with each other.  I conversed with the (English ministry) pastor’s wife.  She teaches elementary school for ABC School District.  She told me the story of immigrating from Korea to Michigan at age 7, with a family of 8.  Her older sisters as middle school students were placed in Special Education classes, because the school they attended had no strategy for children who did not know English.  She described her parents’ working long hours in their determination to make it in America.  Her father, who had been a military fire inspector in Korea, was able to get a job at GE, and both parents worked as nighttime dishwashers.  His dream was to own his own business, and the family moved to Texas, where he opened a very successful Chinese restaurant.  Then they moved to Southern California.

It was a fascinating story, but I’ve gone way over my word limit already.  In conclusion, my visit to Rejoicing Presbyterian Church was a step into a culture that is right around me.  If I want to get to know East Asian Americans, the opportunity is easily accessible—within walking distance of my home.

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

It’s been 30 years since I attended university (a very small university far away on the East Coast), so it was really cool to take classes at USC in the 21^st century.  That has been a special treat.

 

Taking a close look at the history of East Asian countries including China, Korea, and Japan immediately revealed how little I’ve been exposed to these cultures over the course of my education up to this point.  Truth is, when I was in school, the textbooks and lectures focused almost exclusively on the Fertile Crescent, Mediterranean-centered empires, Europe, Britain, America (mainly the United States), and the Judeo-Christian aspects of U.S. heritage.

 

Reality is, our lives in present-day Southern California—not to mention life around the globe-- are hugely influenced by Asia.  And the Asia of today is a reflection and product of millennia of cultural development.  This course introduced us to people from ancient times who were both remarkable and depraved, just like human beings have been throughout the whole world.  We were challenged to question preconceived ideas and assumptions we have held without much information to back them up.  We were exposed to warriors and peasants, missionaries and explorers, emperors and aristocrats and despots.  A wall constructed over the course of a couple centuries to keep out nomadic people who invaded, took over, and eventually were replaced by someone else.  A trade route so long it took lifetimes to travel back and forth between the sources of cotton, wool, horses, ivory, gold, and silver and the source of fine porcelain, paper, tea, exotic spices, and precious silk.  Peasants who worked harder, but not smarter, to get ahead on a short-term basis.  Scholars who studied classical literature and Confucianism in hopes of passing exams that would land them a prestigious government job but take them far from home.  A reclusive society that scorned the advances of Europe and Great Britain.  Tyrants who suppressed education and eliminated perceived threats.  Monks who devoted their lives to seeking a balanced world.  A written language that could be read by people who spoke completely different words.  All of these paving the way to a global superpower with 25% of the world’s population, a mountainous island nation with far-reaching influence, countries with nuclear weapons that keep the world on its toes, kung fu, manga, and K-pop.  So much to think about!

 

I feel like visiting East Asia would be an essential next step.  But actually a much easier step would be just to start taking better advantage of the opportunities that surround me right here in LA to experience Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese culture.

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

I explored just one of the many lesson plans listed here--"Religion and the Environment in China."  This lesson is based on a 20-minute documentary produced in western China.  The authors of the film presented evidence that in recent generations, communism and atheism have been connected to a careless attitute towards the environment.  They gave examples where a return to traditional culture and religion--specifically Buddhism--has been linked to a movement towards conservation of habitats for wildlife.  They depicted that the government, which up to now has opposed spirituality as being superstitious and useless, is now considering that spiritual connections motivate people to care more and work to preserve the environment, and that is a good thing.

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

The text describes the elite culture of the Japanese aristocracy between the 9^th ans 12^th centuries as being extremely attentive to taste, style, and aesthetic beauty.  It states, “Later, after powerful forces had destroyed the insular world of the status-conscious Heian elite, those tastes… would persist as core elements in Japanese higher culture even to the present day.  It also describes without apology a society where one’s rank, rather than personal qualities such as character and integrity, dictated the respect or rudeness with which one could expect to be treated.  Education was a privilege of the aristocratic class, and there were not opportunities for commoners to advance themselves.  So the rich became richer and the poor became poorer.  “The cultural gulf that separated the elegant few from the inelegant many reinforced the former’s sense of exclusiveness.  It prompter them to huddle in their civilized metropolitan oasis, isolated from the hinterland whose production underlay their very survival.”  Not a good situation.

I have not studied similar documents describing European, British, or American society during the same time period, but imagine that (unfortunately) the same could be said about the way people are treated according to their status.  I wonder if there have been any cultural groups where this was not the case.

Due to my media-free lifestyle growing up, I did not have any preconceived ideas about Samurai.   Guess that’s a good thing!

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion on the topic of the Great Wall, given recent politically controversial discussions regardng walls (or proposed walls) much closer to home.  Not that I'm one to provoke such discussions!  Quite frankly, I hate controversy.  The first question that comes to mind for me when confronted with the enormous amounts of time, energy, resources, and people's lives that building and maintaining the Great Wall cost, is WHY?  What was it worth, what was the perceived value, the motivation?  But then, the same questions could be asked about the Egyptian pyramids.  Also built at great expense, with abuses of human rights presumably involved.  For very different purposes, but otherwise many comparisons could be made.  I see potential for a 6th-grade ancient civilizations research project here...

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

I had the same exact reaction from 6th grade students.  Technology is considered one of the pillars of civilization, and on every graphic organizer for various ancient civilizations, they wanted to draw computers!  I'm sure there are some great resources out there clarifying the concept that every convenience we take for granted was invented at some point in history, and it is our responsibility to generate ideas and develop them into realities for ourselves and coming generations.

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

I can personally identify with this dilemma.  Would have been great if I'd focused more on development earlier in my career!  Now I feel responsible to guide my students to understand the impact these two factors will make in their lives.

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

Great connection, Marcos.  I'm struggling to find connections.  Although I teach multiple subjects (to a wide range of grade levels), I am especially drawn to teaching math.  Do you have any math connection ideas?

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

It's fairly depressing to read this exerpt from a novel written more than 500 years ago, in which a teacher is underpaid for a challenging assignment in which the pupils turn out to be mischievous ("The children were a wild lot.  The moment Zhou Zin took his eyes off them, they slipped outside to play hopscotch and kick balls"--sounds like my students today!).  This is especially alarming, considering that we teachers stereotype Asian students as the most serious about their studies...

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

this was written (in Korean) in the 17th century, but seems pretty contemporary. It was posted on the Sejong Cultural Society sijo contest.

If everyone were a government official,
     would there be any farmers?
If doctors cured all disease, 
     would graveyards be as they are?
Boy, fill the glass to the brim;
     I’ll live my life as I please.

벼슬을 저마다 하면 농부 할 이 뉘 이시며, 
의원이 병(病) 고치면 북망산(北邙山)이 저러하랴. 
아희야, 잔 가득 부어라, 내 뜻대로 하리라.

Kim Chang-Up (1658-1721)

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

The pdf's of Ebrey_Buddhim, Aristocracy, and Alien Rulers.pdf and Ebrey_A Cosmopolitan Empire.pdf look interesting, but they are not entirely legible.  Birch_Period of Division.pdf and Birch_Tang Poetry.pdf are sideways, which makes them difficult to read.

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

ok, obviously i have no life and i decided to stay home and do homework on friday night...

The additional resource, Lady Hyegyong 1795 memorial is remarkably readable.  Although the first thing you will want to do is make a visual chart to place the characters described in the first 11 pages!  I can definitely imagine 6^th grade girls reading it voraciously, if it were available.  I’m guessing it’s long since out of print.

ps: googled it.  no amazon hits.  according to thriftbooks.com, it's not currently available, 5 people are interested in getting a copy, but they only receive one every 6 months, on average.  will check out the library next.  but not tonight.

 

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