[Kayla Kolean]

Konnichiwa! - I'm Kayla Kolean. I am currently a Japanese instuctor online for both middle school and high school students across the United States. I teach both level 1 and level 2 Japanese. I am very interested in online instruction and engaging my online learners in new, challenging, and rewarding ways. I am very excited to learn more about Japanese objects and rituals in order to share my newly aquired knowledge with my students.

This summer I plan to visit Scotland. This will be my first real vacation in 2 years, so I am very excited. Have any of you been to Scotland before? It will be my first time there.

[Kayla Kolean]

Hi Todd,

I am a fan of Hikaru Utada! This is so neat!

My students are very interested in gender and often let me, and their classmates, know their pronouns and any name or nickname they prefer. 

One topic they get really excited about is BOKU and WATASHI. Both of these words means "I/me" in Japanese. However, BOKU is a masuline form used by highschoolers, young adults, and anime characters. WATASHI on the other hand is gender neutral and can be used by everyone, and usually adults will use this once they enter the workforce. I personally have to keep up with this word, as a popular singer in Japan (identifying as female) started to use boku to refer to themselves. I wondered if this was a cultural shift and it was okay for femine individuals to use BOKU, but alas it turned out to be a way the singer used way to grab attention. I often have students who identify as a masculine, but born female, if they can use BOKU, to which I reply "of course". This word differentiation is a great way to get students to talk about gender and gender as a construct as people who might not have the male anatomy, but present as masculine, can use this word. Interesting, right?

Kayla Kolean

[Kayla Kolean]

Being a Japanese teacher, I often like to visit sites like JapanTimes to see how Japan is presenting events both within their own country, U.S. based events, and global issues. Comparing what Japan Times finds frontline news versus New York Times (or another US based news outlet) is very interested as well.

I also like to check out TikTok as well to get news. I follow a Chinese-American who covers news from China. She provides translations of articles from China and posts stories that might not be getting a lot of traction (either because it is not big news to Americans, or the Chinese government is actively suppressing the information). She posted about the story out of Xi'an days before sources like the BBC posted. This can be due to her sources usually being social media account posts in China and her reporting is not as regorious or as thurough as the BBC article found here (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-59864266). While I do like to use social media for news, especially in countries that do not use my native language as their main language, I do take them with a grain of scepticism and look for other sources like the BBC to post articles as well.

What sources to you use to get information and current events from any of these Southeast Asia countries?

[Kayla Kolean]

Thank you for sharing this information. I would think this would be a great addition to any course that goes over Climate Change since so often we are focused on how much needs to be done to keep out Climate livable, but not a lot about how other's view the U.S.'s efforts to combat Climate Change.

I really liked the graphs on the difference between "I would make personal changes to combat climate change" 80% affirmative, to "Society is making good job and dealing with climate change" 56% affirmative. I remember listening to an NPR interview with a climate scientist that talked about how America's overall strategy is to put climate change on the individual, like telling people to stop using plastic straws or drive less. However, the scientist said this is unreasonable since these changes do not do as much good as societal changes such as banning plastic packaging (like France did in 2022) or making recycling efficient and easy or create a system for electric cars to be easy to charge and use. This data showed me that other countries may be making the same message to their citizens that "everyone should do their part" to stop climate change, but that companies and society itself can stay the same. Did anyone else hear this NPR special or know more about climate change messaging at a personal level vs. societal level?

Kayla Kolean

[Kayla Kolean]

Wow! This is a very powerful poem about how the author feels that their effort (China) will never be seen as correct or write.

This feels a bit like a child to a parent almost, which is not really the relationship I see the U.S. and China having.

It is a poignant poem for pointing out the dichotomy of U.S.'s media and political stances against China. Reading the various lines, I can remember certain news clips and headlines that sensationalized China as this "other". Throughout history, the concept of "other" has been a strong force to mobilize people and to point finger and lay blame at.

Many of the lines are sensational because they boil down complex issues to one line as well. For example,

When we buy oil, you call it exploitation and genocide.

When you go to war for oil, you call it liberation.

 

I am not sure what the first line is referring to. Can you explain Clay, Todd, or someone? However, the second line I link to 9/11 when the U.S. went to war because of "terrorism". However, there was definitely another agenda, that being the protection of oil that the U.S. needed from at the time. However, boiling the whole events and actions that lead up to this war and its aftermath is a bit sensational and detrimental.

I found this too in many other poems and memes that large issues and problems are boiled down to 1-20 words.

 

Thank you for sharing this poem, it is indeed thought provoking and I am already wondering what other poems I might be able to find with the same sort of messaging or tone.

Kayla Kolean

 

[Kayla Kolean]

Thank you for this PDF. I really like how straight forward this article is in showing the various attached on AAPI populations. 

As a teacher, I would like the start from a base like this and add links to articles and primary sources (if possible) to have the opportunity for students and other viewers to research more into any events they are interested in. I can see this as the start to a discussion or research topic when students themselves review an event and add links and infromation they found to this ariticle, type an essay, or create a presentation compiling the information they found.

I do agree that by looking at these events we can see how agression agains AAPI is not some sort of outlier in American History, but rather a series of events that leads up the present day unfortunately.

Kayla Kolean

[Kayla Kolean]

I get the sentiment from your comments that "the grass is greener on the other side". 

Marriage is difficult in any culture, and I think some of the jealousy cultures might have to have their marriage or partner look more like another culture’s marriage or partner is a bit of escapism. I also think that the media does a wonderful job of creating an image of marriage that is fantastical, and largely very different from reality. I do find it so interesting that Japanese men are usually shown as stand-off and working even in the media. Meanwhile, Korean media shows men who show emotions and dote on their partners. Recently, China has been putting interesting laws in place regarding men’s portrayal in the media by banning effeminate males (2019) and most recently idols and queer stories (2022). As a woman, I have become well versed in how media sends messages about how women should act and look. I wonder too how the portrayal of men in the media teach males on their own roles, looks, and actions. Coming back to this topic of gender roles in marriage, I wonder if men too like the role they are set up to take in a relationship. What if the man wants to spend more time with the children or does not want to work overtime or attend an after work dinner? Is there an opportunity for males to express themselves emotionally and talk about issues with their partners? I have talked to my Japanese male friends, and they often mention that they really do not like attending the extra office events and would rather relax at home or spend time on a hobby. I think that this will reach a tipping point and gender roles will change in Japan, especially with the pressure to change the gender roles to promote marriage and couples to have children.

Kayla Kolean

[Kayla Kolean]

I also chose this article Antonette. While gender is a key part to this article, I think another key part is the dual adentities of the three women. Each of the women have ties to another country. Having lived in Japan in the 2010s, I noticed a lot of discrimination to Japanese of mixed race or those who are from outside Japan. At the end of two years, I too still felt like an outsider many times. I felt like my ideas and discussions I had listened to my ideas, but they were not valued since I was not part of the "in-group". This seemed weird coming from a country where diversity is valued, and having critical thoughts and discussions is thought of as a good characteristic of interactions. There is tension is these kinds of discourse, but so too comes inovation and change. While in Japan, I learned that the people grew up thinking that getting along and "not rocking the boat" is best. This will lead to issues in the future as the country becomes from diverse. 

This also make me think of issues America has will allowing voices of minorities as well. For example, should a migrant worker who only lives in the country for half the year get a say in the laws where they live? Should residents who have lived in America for 10+ years illegally get a say in the issues facing their communities?

[Kayla Kolean]

Thank you for your summary and reading suggestions. 

I agree that I learned so much from Prof. Kamei's lecture. And that is what is was, a lecture. There is not really room for debate during the presentation, but rather save the discussion for the Question and Answer time. This is common curtousy. 

I agree that I learned so much from Prof. Kamei's lecture. And that is what is was, a lecture. There is not really room for debate during the presentation, but rather save the discussion for the Question and Answer time. This is common courtesy. 

I really appreciated the primary sources and first-hand accounts she has collected of this event. It is so important to present multiple views on a topic like this to see how complex the issue was.

I think that fear has a strong hold on the views of people. Fear from non-Asian citizens that “others” could be spies during this time of war. Fear from the Asian citizens that they might be attacked by the government or be sent back to a country they fled or have no knowledge of. Fear of the government to how the war will progress and turn out. Fear drives so many of these actions.

I wonder if various perspectives that have emerged in America to Covid-19 Pandemic will be taught through the lenses of fear. Fear for the health of oneself and whatever steps they might take to keep themselves safe (isolation, quarantine, vaccines, masks). Fear for the loss of “normal life” that drives people to dismiss the pandemic as propaganda or something not very serious. I assumed that many educators had thought that the camps for Japanese-Americans was a bad act, but it seems I was wrong as we did have a voice of opposition. I wonder in 10-20 years with more information, we will still have opposing views on correct actions to take in a pandemic.

Kayla Kolean

 

[Kayla Kolean]

Thank you so much for this overview Todd! After living in Japan and traveling everywhere by train, I was so sad to be forced to drive when I returned to America. I postulated that America was just too big for the same system. However, if I looked at China, I would see an example of a country that is very large and uses trains. The reasons that you listed are really easy to understand. I can see where articles can be used to get students to these points in a project of class lesson. 

I still really miss trains. Anyone else a fan of public transportation?

A reason I might add is the cultural perspectives. In America, we are very focused on the individual so personalized transporations like cars is hugely popluar, where the group and group benefits are highlighted in countried like Japan so a great public transportation system that can support the group is popular.

Kayla Kolean

[Kayla Kolean]

Growing up, we are taught that bad people go to jail, so you do not have to worry about that because you are not a bad person.

However, there are issues with this because as you look closer at incarceration rates, you wonder if there are truely that many "bad" people. As I grew older, I remember thinking, "who decideds who 'bad' people are" and "are there levels of jail to match the level of 'bad'"? Looking back these are questions that I never asked in school, but that I wish were something that I could have explored more.

I know that recently I hear more about jail than in recent history from people being unjustly jailed, how the jailing system in America is big business, and other countries jailing people due to social or political issues.

The question about human rights violations in China vs. America because is reminds me of the Treaty we learned about the first week and how Britian did not want to be judged for crimes in China by Chinese law because the punishments were viewed from the British and too cruel. If teachers do open a discussion about this, the cultural perspectives of what is "fair punishment" and "cruel punishment" should be explored. For example, after 9/11 some cruel techniques like water-boarding were used, and later outlawed. Another example is "isolation" that is being reassessed because of the harm it does to humans. Lastly, California just passed new laws for its police force on techniques that they cannot use, like choke holds. I wonder what typed of punishment forms China is rethinking now or even using that might be considered cruel by American perspective.

Kayla Kolean

[Kayla Kolean]

Thank you so much for your time to dicuss China's government changing their history taught in this lecture. As an educator, I know the value of perspective when looking at any event or topic. As a teacher, I will be giving the students information on a topic, and I am more of a currator because there is always some information that I will not include in my teaching. 

While some may move towards teaching multiple prespectives in order to give focus and information from multiple lenses, I know that sometimes schools will take a stance to either teacher something a certain way or not at all. One major issue for American school still is Sex Education where each state, and even each school, are in charge of what is taught in regards to this topic.

As an educator, I see China's government is being a bit more propoganda-based in its retelling of history as it provides a very positive portayal of China. This has some similairies to the debate in 2020 about how U.S. schools should teach about slavery and its influence on America formation and effects still felt today. Both the Chinese government and U.S. schools are figuring out what the purpose of their history is for. Is it to glorify the past, highlight heros, give voice to minorities, present multiple perspectives to highlight complexity of the events, or something else. Growing up in the early 2000s, I experienced a cookie-cutter telling of history with a few different perspectives. Being a teacher in 2020s, I see more perspectives and primary sources being used, which leads to what many educators believe is best practice to get critical thinking. This is why my gut reaction to the rose-colored-glasses rewrite China did as less ideal in the long run. 

What type of history do you highlight in your teaching?

[Kayla Kolean]

3. I would like a certificate of completion please.

-Kayla Kolean

[Kayla Kolean]

I watch many TikTok videos on fashion, both in the US and abroad. One of the Chinese TikTokers was showing that the current trend (2021-22) features lolita, JK (school uniform), and hanfu (traditional Chinese dress). Here is an article with more detail on these trends in China: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1223392.shtml It was interesting to see that in other Southeast Asia countries, the fashion of decades ago is popular again. Japan is very simialar with its modern takes on the kimono and yukata.

What I do see in the ads for Korean, Chinese, and Japanese fashion online is that the clothing is marketed as "fashion" and "[country's name} clothing". This shows that companies are thankfully moving away from 'costume' now. Here is a link to a popular company that sells 'Korean Clothing' in the US: https://www.yesstyle.com/en/home.html This shows the fashion of the country for both women and men without it being labelled as "oriental" or "costume", which I find a welcome change.

[Kayla Kolean]

The Chinese Card Game that is showing images of Chinese citizens and national proganda. While I might not use this in my Japanese course, I was struck by how much like these cards are to Japanese board games produced at the same time and distributed via newspapers and magazines. The games were called Sugoroku, and they look like Chute and Ladders. However, they can been seen as a way to gamify lessons and ideals the government wanted in its citizens, which are simialar to the playing cards China made.

Talking about how the Japanese invaded Japan, here is a Sugoroku printed in 1890 showing Japan defeting China: https://dpul.princeton.edu/cotsen/catalog/5999n4690

Here is one from 1915 teaching "how to be filial to you parents properly": https://dpul.princeton.edu/cotsen/catalog/xs55md356

Here is the link to browse a whole collection of Sugoroku game boards: https://dpul.princeton.edu/cotsen/browse/japanese-game-boards

 

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