[Jazmin Luna]

I agree with Lin.  He made a topic not so interesting to me before, a topic that I would like to learn more about.  Even though class was after a long day of work, he made the lectures enjoyable and the presenters were very knowledgable as well.  Learning about different cultures helps you understand and get a better perspective as to why certain things happened.  Even though many of the topics discussed here do not apply to second grade standards, I can use many examples when discussing certain topics.  This will give my students different perspectives and help them understand that not every country is the same yet can experience similar events.  Thank you for everything that you taught us and making this an enjoyable experience. 

[Jazmin Luna]

This video showed how anywhere you go there will always be corruption and scandals.  It's sad to see how government officials and their family members enjoy things by taking away from others.  There will always be lies that journalist uncover by investigating those in power and sometimes even risking their lives.  It's also interesting to see how social media pictures sometimes expose things that people don't want exposed.  This is why privacy is a major issue all over world. One needs to be careful about what one says or posts because it could either shed light on an ugly truth or can be misconstrued.  I always tell my students that as long as they are doing the right thing they have nothing to fear about. 

[Jazmin Luna]

This is a very important point to teach our students.  We can briefly mention, just like the maps, that each country has their own point of view and that people stand up for what they believe is right.  I can mention this in units like People Who Make a Difference and Many Characters, Many Points of View.  In our grade level, we can't go much into details about these wars but they are useful examples. 

[Jazmin Luna]

It was interesting to see how a male played the role of a woman in the Peking Opera.  I had never heard of this.  Mei Lanfang made a difference in history since he was the first artist to spread Beijijng Opera to foreign countries, while participating in cultural exchanges.  As a second grade teacher I wish I could mention this but I really don't think it's appropriate since it will bring up the question about sexuality.  This is due to the fact that there was even some opposition to us teaching about Harvey Milk on the People Who Make A DIfference unit.

[Jazmin Luna]

Yes, it was interesing to see how they were classified into five categories, from rich to poor.  Yet, even those who were rich did not escape being ridiculed. For some many of their lands were consficated and redistributed in addition to being punished for past offenses.  In the end this led to their desmise and disappearance of the elite.  I enjoyed reading how this fictional group of peasants stood up to fight for their rights and how this author was the first prominent woman writer, which didn't happen until the mid 1900's. 

[Jazmin Luna]

It was interesting to learn that this rebellion was also called the Boxer Rebellion because they believed that martial arts could protect them even from bullets. It kind of seems that they are spiritual in their name since many religious people believe they can be healed just by faith alone.  Yet they were anti-Christian who targeted Chinese Christians.  This is similar to the Civil War and how people from even the same family were fighting each other in order to protect what they believed was right.  Once again I could use this as an example to show my students that everyone has their own point of view depending on how they grew up. 

[Jazmin Luna]

This is very true because not once had I heard of the Chinese Revolution of 1911 and yes, it is similar to how the United States started their own country away from Britain.  Just like the U.S. revolution, the Xinhai Revolution had many uprisings and revolts.  Similar to the U.S. as well, two main parties formed after the revolution.  In the U.S. it was the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party and in China it was the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China.  But unlike the U.S. the revolution in China overthrew over 2,000 years of Monarchy.  This topic could be used as a compare contrast question, in which students analyze how they were similar yet different. 

[Jazmin Luna]

To add to that, even within one country, the standards of beauty change every 10 years or so. Whomever does not follow that trend is seen as an outcast or weird person.  Body ideals just like music are just a trend.  As a second grade teacher I am always giving a positive comment to each of my students on something that is different from the others, that way they don't see one comment as a reason to do that. I show them that they are all unique in their own way and that those differences makes them who they are.  It is sad to see how much t.v. influences our students with what is suppose to be right, yet glad that there are more and more people with disabilities or whose body that are outside the norm, making it big on t.v. It's all about confidence and instilling this into our young minds. 

[Jazmin Luna]

I agree in part with what you say but here as a worker in the United States you have the right to speak up and you have a choice.  I was a T.A. for 6 years and yes the pay was not great but you had to make the best of it.  Yes, I had to appIy to medicare but there's no shame in that. I was able to live alone for all that time with the pay of a T.A., while working a second job tutoring.  If someone is fed up with their way of life then you do something about it.  If you plan ahead of time and research your options then there is a way out, there is always a solution, unless you have committed a crime then it's harder. And something that frustrates me is when people complain about their way of life.  You are where you are because of your actions.  You can easily change jobs or go back to school to change your career. Yes you might have to sacrifice some things, but it the end if there's a will, there's a way.  We are not bound to our social status like other countries. This is something that I always tell my students everyday.  If you are responsible and respectful things will come much easier to you.

[Jazmin Luna]

It's interesting to see that many of us do not know much of East Asian History.  Even in college, for whatever reason it was, I was never interested in the topic since I focused on the history of the U.S. and Latin American up to WWI.  After reading "Two Faces of Exclusion," I realized that I too have stereotyped Asians.  Even my mom today said it and it made me think that they way we grow up does affect our views of others.  I too believed that Asian Americans were "uniformly smart and successful." That that was the reason why they were amongst the top students in all my classes and why they had better jobs. But that is just a stereotype, not a bad one though.  I never really thought that they faced discrimination since they seemed to have a better education and careers.  However, that is not due to the fact that they are Asian, it's due to their hard work and commitment to a better life.  After listening to Professor Kurashige and reading about Vincent Chin and Wen Ho, then it became real clear that they too have faced a lot of racism just like African Americans and Hispanics.  It makes you think, why is this country like this.  No matter what period of time we are talking about, any one certain race is always being discriminated more. 

[Jazmin Luna]

"Koreans are the most technogically linked people in the world." That quote makes sense as to why so many people are caught up in the Korean Wave.  Their culture has spread dramatically due to the use of techonology in Korea.  As the article mentioned, Korea has been the home of many inventions, starting with wood block printing.  About 2/3 of the population use cell phones. This allows for the spread of ideas and entertainment.  One of the units I teach in second grade is "Where do Ideas for Inventions Come From?" In this unit, I mention how inventions help people's lives be safer and better but also how it can allow for the exchange of ideas between cultures, as we see with the Korean wave in the U.S.  I can also mention how their achievement in ceramics have remained the standard in world art groups.

[Jazmin Luna]

I agree with Rick.  The most interesting part was that Korea is not small.  I always thought that China and Japan were the most populated countries in East Asia but never Korea, until I read this.  It was interesting to see that even though Korea is about the size of Minnesota, not that big (about half of California), it has more Koreans in Korea than French in France.  It also amazed me that five cities in South Korea have a populations of more than 1 million people.  Yes, Los Angeles has close to 4 million people, but only three cities here are over 1 million.  That really puts into perspective how overpopulated that country is and that we shouldn't be complaining about overpopulation here, it's just getting started. 

[Jazmin Luna]

You are totally right! Even though these topics might be too intense for my second graders, it is never too early to teach them about morality, equality, and fairness.  I am thinking that we can use what you said and tie it into discussions about how our goverment started and why we wanted to break apart from England.  I can also tie this in when we start discussing about civil rights and how one group of people thought of themselves as better just because of the color of their skin.  It amazes me to see how history repeats over and over, instead of learning from it.  That just because someone openly rebels against whomever is in power, they are to be punished harshly for trying to change the status quo. 

[Jazmin Luna]

I agree, there were many atrocities committed by the Japanese over many decades.  It surprised me to see how some of those cruel practices were even part of Japanase culture towards each other not so long ago.  I found it interesting how Daimatuse Hirobumi treated his own team.  Yes, he was a soldier and a prisoner of war but due to these experiences he was also known as the demon coach.  Through his practices, you can see how his wartime experiences marked him for life.  His training methods were brutal up to the point that he insisted his players to play regardless of their injuries.  As the reading stated, "He expected them to sacrifice everything for the chance to win, first for the company, then for Japan, just as he had sacrificed himself in the wartime."

[Jazmin Luna]

It is very important for students to understand that what they believe is not necessarily seen as right in another person's point of view.  The talk about civil rights and what is important to them and as a team will help them see that not everyone has the same opinion or thinks a certain way.  As Beverly noted, it is also very important for them to learn about all cultures in order for them to understand that everyone is different and that their point of view is based on what they were taught and/or what they are experiencing.  As seen in the Forty Seven Ronin incident, some of the problems that occurred may have been avoided if Asano were familiar with the intricacies of the Shogunate court.  Since he felt insulted, he attacked Kira, which was a major offense.  Here you can see how cultural differences play a major part in how things are done.  Because he drew a dagger, he was ordained to kill himself by disembowelment.  Not just that but his goods were to be taken and his family to be ruined.

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