[Cindy Nguyen]

I was also greatly surprised about the sheer number of minorities who are currently living in China.  Sadly, it was only recently that I became aware of the minority group Uyghur being imprisoned in Xinjiang.  Thanks to Professor Dru's lecture, I am able to somewhat grasp why the Chinese government is persecuting the Uyghurs.  After 9/11, fear and uncertainity did not only grip America but many countries all around the world.  I understand this fear but I do not condone China's method of reeducation and their unjustified treatment of Chinese Muslims.

[Cindy Nguyen]

Thank you for bringing this to light Mike.  I would like to include the history of Korean Comfort Women in my unit lesson plans on Korea.  Korean drama and music is a great ice breaker to create interest and grab the attention of the students.  I would create a Kahoot game to test the knowledge of popular Korean culture with my students and then we would dive into the history.  Once the students are familiar with the background, I would then introduce the subject of Japanese occupation (1932-1945) and Korean Comfort Women and how this was one method the Japanese used to degrade and humiliate their victims.

[Cindy Nguyen]

I was fortunate enough to be exposed to Korean culture early on.  Growing up, some of my best friends were Korean so I was greatly influenced by their likes and interests. In middle school, we would spend hours watching Korean drama and listening to K-Pop music.  (The Bodyguard was my very first Korean drama and Solid was the hottest Korean band in the 90s) On many weekends, we would take bus rides to KoreaTown in Los Angeles, CA to spend hours shopping, eating, and singing at karaoke studios.  I was so young and naive that I believed everyone had the same exposure to Korean culture as I did.  It didn't dawn on me until I moved to Westminster, CA in the 90s that I was only a handful of Vietnamese people who knew about Korean culture.  Among my non-Korean friends, I would say Secret Garden and Boys Over Flowers were the Korean dramas that opened the flood gates to Hallyu.  From that point on, it seemed like almost everyone in Orange County had Korean fever.

[Cindy Nguyen]

I also watched the youtube video of Jasmine Tang singing marachi songs in Spanish and traditional Chinese music.  I was very impressed to find out she migrated to Mexico at a young age and used music to as a tool to learn the language.  Many students in Los Angeles would be able to relate to Jasmine's story because they too had to migrate to a foreign country and begin a new life.  In the beginning of the school year, I would include this video in one of my lessons on self and/or culture.  This video would help students realize they are not alone in their struggles to assimilate to a brand life and culture.  I want to realize that they don't have to lose their hertiage to be successful in another culture.

[Cindy Nguyen]

Hi!  I hope everyone is enjoying their last few weeks of summer break.  My name is Cindy Nguyen and I am currently a high school history teacher for LAUSD.  I am excited to participate in this class because I hope the resources I obtain in this seminar will help my students gain a better perspective of East Asian culture.

[Cindy Nguyen]

After reading your post, it reminded me of a documentary I watched on Vice.  "Suicide Forest in Japan" was an episode focuses on a forest guard who patrols Aokigahara Forest for bodies or peoplel who are on the verge of suicide.  He explains that poor peasant families in the feudal era would leave their elders, sick, and disabled in the forest to ensure the survival of the family.  Seppuku is also a form of suicide committed by mostly samuarais as honorary deaths or self punishment.  The suicides that are committed in Aokigahara Forest in recent times can be seen as similar.  Many people who enter the forest feel they have dishonored their families by being a failure or they cannot live up to their families' expectations.  I wonder if this is culturally exceptable because of the long history of honorary suicide?  This subject makes me wonder if certain aspects of history is still influencing the attitudes and thoughts of the people in present time.

[Cindy Nguyen]

Maybe I just did not pay attention when my Korean friends would make comments about Japanese people or their attitude towards them. I think I was blind to the animosity between Japanese and Koreans until I met my friend who is half Japanese and Korean.  He had to explain to me that his parents' relationship was so taboo that many saw it was almost a cardinal sin.  After reading "When My Name Was KeoKo" I can see why my friend is torn between cultures and why his parents were ostracized by some family members.

[Cindy Nguyen]

It sad to say that it's not just these East Asian countries but probably most of Asia have similar expectations of women and their duties in life.  I  may have been born in America, but I still had to endure the same pressures of marriage and children like women living in Asia.  All through college, my parents would constantly nag me about going out too much and not studying enough.  They would make comments like, "a proper young Vietnamese girl doesn't act like this...you may have been born in America but you're still Vietnamese".  Once I graduated from college, my parents started to nag about marriage and childrent.  I felt such animosity towards my parents and their expectations that I did everything I could to not fall into the stereotypical role of an Asian woman.  I know I am only able to live the life I want because I was born in America and I am the youngest of five daughters.  I am lucky to live in a country that does not base a woman's value on her ability to marry and give birth.

[Cindy Nguyen]

I found this propaganda poster at the Vietnam War Memorial Museum located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam a few years ago.  I was attracted to this poster because it showed a passionate and patriotic young woman fighting for her country.  With my limited Vietnamese I think, "mung tay nguyen giai phong" means to lend a hand in the liberation of Vietnam from foreign powers.  I asked my parents their thoughts on this poster and how life was like during the Vietnam War.  Both of my parents said there was a lot of propaganda being presented from both sides: the Northern Communist and the Southern Republic of Vietnam.  During the 1950s, I believe 90% of the population were peasants living the rural regions of Vietnam.  I feel the Communist party in Vietnam and China used propaganda images to manipulate the mass.  Young working class women and men are usually portrayed in these posters as glamarous and patriotic freedom fighters.  I really like to use this activity with my students and have them analyze image I provide for them and then have them research for another.

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[Cindy Nguyen]

I agree that Hong Kong became an economically prosperous nation under British rule.  I was lucky enough to visit Hong Kong a few years ago and saw first hand how diverse and affluent the small island had become since the Treaty of Nanjing.  I realized the Treaty of Nanjing was an unfair treaty created by the British to take advantage of the powerless Qing dynasty.  Although the treaty was unfair to China, the citizens of Hong Kong seemed to have acclimated to being under the British rule.  This was seen months prior to the transfer of sovereignty from British rule China with the a large number of citizens protesting against the switch.  It has been 20 years since the transfer and I would like to know if Hong Kong is still as prosperous as it once was being under the British rule.

[Cindy Nguyen]

The seminar has given me a wealth of resources and knowledge that I would hope to use in my class.  But to be honest, it is going to be really hard for me to incorporate all the things I have learned.  Countries in East Asia are not mentioned in 10th grade World History as often as European nations, so I feel that I would be limited on time.  I would like to incorporate the influences of imperialism on East Asian countries, Japan's colonization of Korea and invasion of China, and the Chinese Cultural Revolution.  These events will be easy for me to supplement my lessons with the readings from the seminar.  I want to try and use the reading, "Manchu Rule and Hair" as a hook to get the students interested.  I will try and relate that story to their own experiences of being controlled by others and/or institutions.  I want students to understand how tumultuous the history of China was and the effects it had on the on its own people.  Millions of Chinese citizens died needlessly due to constant wars with foreign countries and by senseless reforms.  By scaffolding these lessons, I can provide students with a different perspective of East Asian countries.  In many textbooks, Asians are either portrayed as weak and meek or as savages or violent.  By utilizing certain readings, my students would be able to see history in the eyes of the ignored.  I want them to form their own opinions about events in history from different sources and not mindlessly believe in just their history book.

[Cindy Nguyen]

The Fall Seminar has greatly impacted my perspective on Chinese culture and history.  Prior to this session, I honestly believed that the Cultural Revolution was a welcomed change for China and its people.  I knew the Great Leap Forward was not perfect with its rapid modernization of industry and agriculture but I thought it a successful program.  During Professor Dube's lecture, I realized the profound negative and deadly effect it had on the regular Chinese person.  The group of people who should've been benefitting from the social and agriculture reforms were the ones that suffered the most.  Millions of Chinese farmers died from starvation.  Many high ranking officials cared more about their reputation and the success of Mao's initiatives than the suffering of their own people.  I realized that history needs to be researched from multiple sources and perspective because many events in the past can be warped and shaped by the wrong people.

[Cindy Nguyen]

I like this article because it gives a more detailed account of the Korean War than most history books.  It hard to teach about the Korean War because its only mentioned as a side story to the Cold War.  The Cold War unit is more focused on the aggression between United States and Russia and little time is given to the raging wars in Asia.  In Liberation, Civil War, and Division gives the background account of Kim Il Sung and his rise to power in North Korea.  I was slightly surprised to read that Kim Il Sung was working with the Communist party in China and even sent his guerrilla soldiers to help Chinese in Manchuria.  Now I understand the connection between China and North Korea.  I would photocopy only certain parts of the reading and have the students annotate the reading as supplementary work to the cornell notes that would be presented on North Korea.

[Cindy Nguyen]

In his book, Professor Kurashige wrote about the different types of racism that Asian have experienced through the years.  The two forms of racism is the public harassment/violence or the subtle comments.  The two stories that really peaked my interest was that of Vincent Chin and Wen Ho Lee.  It amazes me how as country we always preach of equality and tolerance to others yet in our own country we don't follow what we preach.  Vincent Chin was murdered because he represented an "Asian who stole my job" to the two Caucasian men who beat him to death.  Wen Ho Lee was wrongly accused of selling secret information to China and only later to be exonerated.  It boggles my mind how small minded people and ignorant people could be to each other.  The saddest part of racism is no one is safe from it.  It jumps around depending on what is going on in the country at that time.  I use certain excerpts to compare the experiences of Asian population to other groups who have been discriminated against in America.

[Cindy Nguyen]

http://www.himeyuri.or.jp/EN/info.html

http://www.peace-museum.pref.okinawa.jp/english/index.html

These two websites focuses on the experiences of Japanese citizens during World War II in Japan.  Many times, history books forget to include the horrible stories of inhumane treatment and horrid living conditions of the regular citizens during the time of war.  Prefectural Peace Memorial provides its guests with personal testimonials of Okinawa battle.  Himeyuri Peace Museum is based on the real life stories of students from two secondary schools and their experiences being mobilized to help in the war efforts.  Less than 30% of these students returned home.  Students would greatly benefit from the stories of people who lived through that chaotic time.  Real stories makes it more relatable and believable for the students.  This could be used for the WW2 and even the Cold War unit too.

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