what a playa learned this semester

wow i did have quite a journey this semester, I did manage to graduate this Spring lol i am getting old......geeeeeyyyyahhhh another day another dollar. I guess when i get out of school ill keep it 100 and start slanging houses. (Real Estate Agent) Hey a playa got keep it hood right? lol jk
But yes the semester was filled with good times, i met some real good ppl and they kept me sane through all the worst of the studying . Yea so my alter ego Jupac is just a way to release stress. lol I ddont really talk this way and act like this becasue then id just be dum. I hope that i get to see some of my classmates after this class but prob not cuz i am a senior and im outtie here....
If the point of the class was to learn about sterotypes and how to work as a team then
Mission Accomplished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I do hope that Asian American Studies gets the attention it deserves....
Im bringing Sexy back this summer!!!!!
Im going to So cal straight putting it down for the BAy
and hopefully go t the beach and take a nap and never come back
yea right!!


Jeffrey Jupac

what a playa learned this semester

Last hoooorah

So the last field trip was pretty cool i had a shitload of finals to do but , a playa can hang so dont even trip skip. i arrived at school late.... so i met the group at the first stop..in Chinatown, Portsmith Square, that was qutie educational, from there we took pictures and kept in 100% gangsta. Posed for some pretty snap shots. Then we took off to Japantown, where there was quite a few places to park..... Yes! and we met in the Miyako Mall and took a few more pictures! Kept it even more Gangsta!!! Then i was starvin like marivn and so a playa went to get some Popeyes near taht ghettoass Safeway almost got shot outside lol jk. But some guy tried to sell me some bootleg shoes. hahaGOddamn the dollar menu at Popeyes is goood! So I headed back to Jtown and ate most of the grop members had to go to some work, and SO me Josh, Dolly, and Donna headed to Little Saigon and tok more pictures. wow Little Saigon is small, Lees Sandwiches was pretty cool. I like how they throw the Sandwiches after they make them. Thats some Jupac stufff right dere.
So after all that I drove the remaing classmatesback to school.
I had a great semester


Jeffrey

Inspired.

For my last blog, I'd really like to thank everyone in my group for getting thru all those projects and I really had fun working with you guys! Thanks to Irene & the TA's for a great and inspiring class (:

I'd have to say that this ETHS210 class has been pretty crazy. It's soooo different from what I'm used to - readings, quizzes, papers, tests and all. I honestly didn't even think that we'd do so much performances. What I liked best about this class was being able to learn so much more about who I am as an Asian American. Before this class, I never really looked at my self as being 'asian american'. I just thought of myself as a filipina that doesn't look like one, but whatever. In this class, I learned so much more about the struggles my grandparents, parents, family had gone through as immigrants trying to make a living here in the US. I'm honestly grateful for their support. I've also learned the importance of self-determination and how I gotta strive for my rights against so many factors that prevent me from being who I am.

This class has also given me the chance to learn more about myself and see my creative side. I feel that I've gained a whole lot more confidence in expressing myself especially thru our midterm invasian, POP, and even thru those class activities we had. I'd have to say that my favorite project would have to be the iron chef challenge, not only cause i love food, but our group just had a crazy fun time with it, and we kicked ass even though we didn't win.

All in all, this class was a great experience for me and I've learned to appreciate who I am as an Asian American. I've been officially inspired. (:

-Always, Angel

I hella <3 SF.

I really do (:

So, I couldn't stop thinking, "OMG, everyone actually came" while we were out touring SF cause schools almost over and everything. But anyways, I'm glad everyone pulled thru with this last project! Also, I'm glad that we got to do one more project with our original group.

Our first stop was Chinatown, and it was pretty cool. Even though traffic was a b*, we got thru. The car ride with julie driving and dolly & josh in the back was pretty funny cause we almost ran a red light and everything. Chinatown was sooo packed with people, it was crazy. There were so many alleys filled with laundry hanging from the fire escapes and I remember thinking to myself, "thats so asian". And like, it really is. Even my fambam still hangs our laundry out to dry in the backyard. It was a really nice community in that everyone seemed so together. For example, in the square, there were soo many little groups playing cards and gambling or old ladies walking around with their neighbors, maybe to do some grocery shopping. I have to admit, I felt like a tourist taking so many snapshots of every store we walked by.

Our next stop was Japantown, one of my favorite spots in SF, thanks to my boyfriend(:<3 Japantown was much more quieter and had its own way of presenting its history in comparison to Chinatown's population. There were a lot of monuments and such, like the Peace Pagoda. We walked around thee Kinetsu Mall in the Japan Center for a while. I sooo loove that sticker picture taking place on the 2nd floor, its so fun! People should try it out if they haven't yet, you'll love it (: Donna & Kim even bought some yummy-looking crepes. There was a great variety of Japanese Cuisines and I wondered how people were able to choose where to eat. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to tag along with the gang to the last spot cause they had to drop me off to work & i was late, but its okay haha. Overall, I'd have to say that it was pretty fun touring the city and going to these sites. It was a nice way to be with the group one last time before the semester ends.

And so, I made the slideshow/video thing we have to present to class tmr. I'll post it here as a sneek peak for whoever wants to check it out. Oh, stupid photobucket cut a little bit of the video off.. the rest of the members are: Dolene Simmalavonge, Julie Truong, & Amanda Whipple.
Hope you guys like it (:


-Always, Angel

The Last Quest..

The last quest was definitely a fun one...

this day was so great because for once we were tourists in our own city..

i cant believe how well we fit into every place we went..

chinatown was sooo packed... i forgot how many people actually go there on a daily basis like its a mall or something? i havent been there for years and going there brought back many memories.. parking is sure a bitch though.

japantown was so cute. i feel like it is more quiet there than in chinatown and i definitely like it that way. the best part of the whole day was just taking random pictures everywhere and spending time just looking at the details at these places ive never realized before. im glad that this was our last experience together as a group and im sure that it wont be forgotten.

-Amanda

MSG little do we know..

After reading this article in Hyphen.. i found it pretty damn amazing at the fact that the majority of people think that MSG is only associated with asian food. i am guilty as charged because honestly thqat is what i though before reading this article in Hyphen. i could not believe that MSG is in soooo many foods americans eat like KFC and pizza.

unbelievable. why doesnt the media say all of this? beats me. just like the media always wants to stick to damn stereotypes. no wonder KFC is so delicious? in this article i learned that MSG did not originate in china and it ws actually influenced by the German way of developing a low cost/mass producible form of nutrition. in 1908 a japanese chemist was able to isolate something called glutamate. i learned that large amounts of glutamate occur naturally in some food and that there are high quantities of glutamates in parmesan cheese. !!

one more thing i couldnt believe... MSG was added as an ingredient in majority of AMERICAN cookbooks!!

pshhhhh... another thing americans should realize before they start talking shit about asians right?


-Amanda

What home tastes like..

When i was little my home was basically Lola's house. a small ass apartment in downtown sf. i guess thats where my parents would leave me while they were at work? although my Lola passed away (r.i.p) my Papa still lives there to this day. its on the 8th floor overlooking the beautiful view of downtown san francisco. i would sit on the balcony for hours watching the crowds of people walk by. it amazed me. the smell of my Lola's cooking was never absent on those days. if i was there i could bet on a freshly cooked meal and a night watching jeopardy. when i was called inside i would wait patiently at the dining table for lola to bring me my delectable food. and trust me it was always delectable so i didnt have to worry about if i was going to like it or not.

my favorite dish= lola's adobo

i dont know what the hell was in it that made it so damn special and i never will to this day. (she refused to give anyone her recipes, even my mother)

all i knew was that i was content everytime she brought that plate of food to me. i will never forget the way it tasted, smelled, and felt as i consumed every last grain of rice. all i know was that meal was what i looked forward to everyday...it was home for me.


-Amanda

Walk out

The walk out was definitely not on my to- do list when i came to school but i guess thats why plans change and life goes on. who would have thought it would be so fun to walk in the middle of the street? well it was for me at least. most of mixedpersuasian was at the walk out so it was another group bonding time for us. thats always a plus ;) i couldnt believe how many people actually attended the walkout and how strongly people feel about the budget cuts and how we are all being affected by them. this was the first time i have ever participated in a walk out during school and im glad i did. i learned a lot of information about what was going on just by attending the walk out.




-Amanda

POP

POP was a huge improvement compared to our midterm i know that for sure. not only was it an improvement but it was a success. everyone did an amazing job and i still cant believe how well our class did in the time span we had to rehearse.

although we had doubts im so glad we all overcame them and came together as a class. the unity of our class was amazing and the only way we could have pulled this together was through all the positive attitudes we had from every individual. although this was really stressful considering we didnt have that much time to get everything prepared and settled like always. i feel like since the pressure to get everything together was so intense that it motivated everyone to get their own act together and work as a team.

i know that for the dance group it was once again an issue that people could not all learn and practice the dances at the same time but it was crazy how each person somehow managed to learn a part and contribute to the group.

ALL of the groups did an amazing job and i honestly had so much fun that night. i know that this performance not only made the dance group a little closer but unified our class. im very proud of our class and the performance and i am definitely not ashamed of the outcome of pop.

-Amanda

iLL-Literacy

The asian american artists that i came across were in the latest Hyphen magazine. their name is iLL-Literacy and what is really cool about them is that they are unique. the reason why this group is so unique is because they are mainly spoken word artists they just incorporate hip hop and music into their poetry.

the group started at UC Davis and evovled to incorporate funk/soul/hip hop and electropop. they have made it so that not only do they have spoken word fan's attention but the music community as well. this enables people to dance to spoken word which i think is amazing. they record their music in sacramento ca and are currently finishing their first EP.

since this group is so different from others i believe that they will really suceed. i hope to hear their music in the future and possibly see them make it big. i think that a group like this deserves a whole damn lot of credit because you can imagine how many stereotypes and molds this group has broken. i definitely respect the fact that this group is so dedicated to what they do and it seems to me that their creativity will tkae them to the top.



- Amanda

Midterm- Dance group

I would have never thought that the midterm would have ended up the way it did. that is good by the way. my first thoughts were that we were going to do horribly considering we barely practiced and when we did we didnt know what the hell we were doing. thanks to jon and butters for the choreography, without their effort we probably wounldnt have pulled it together in time. the overall experience of the midterm was crazy to me.

i would have never thought i would be walking around campus with my class screaming chants and performing in front of SFSU students. i know that if i had not performed before i would have been pissing my pants. being the center of attention at lunch time was not one of my goals here at SFSU. im so surprised as to how many people were watching us and how much attention we actually received from the student body. we had so many people encouraging us and asking us questions about what was happening and what our purpose was to begin with. i think that when we first walked towards the plaza the whole class didnt really assume that we were going to get as much attention as we really did. we definitely exceeded our goals as to how much attention we got and how many heads turned as we walked by/ performed.

i know that when the dance group performed we all didnt think we would see such a big crowd we had in a circle around us. we had so many people watching around us that most of us didnt even have enough room to dance! im so proud of all the groups because you can clearly see how much effort was put into this midterm and everyone did an A+ job in my eyes. i know that the only room for improvement in the dance group at least is to make sure EVERYONE knows the dance and that everyone is willing to practice at the certain and limited times we have.



-Amanda

Fashion Show

The fashion show was another fun activity and another great time for group bonding. im so proud of our group and was more than thrilled with the outcome of our dress. the best part was realizing how talented our group members are and how many skills it takes to put everything all together.

i loved seeing all the other outfits that everyone else created and how everything came together as a whole. at first when we were given this project i was a little skeptical as to how everything would turn out because i didnt really know how we could turn the fashion in vietnam into our own style and put that american twist in it. luckily my group knew how to put the puzzle pieces together and make some fabric and embriodery into a dress i could actually find in a store! this challenge was well worth all the time we spent putting everything together and researching all the backgroung information. when we first started on the milestones i was a little confused and didnt know where this fashion show would end up. i didnt think that all the groups would end up with amazing ideas and turn those ideas into something tangible. it is always easier to think and or put something on paper than it is to actually physically MAKE.

once again this was an experience i will always remember and it was definitely the first time i had ever seen fashion show in a classroom at school.

-Amanda

Asian American Dreams

When reading asian american dreams i not only learned a lot about a few of the struggles asian americans have gone through but i learned how strong some people can be and how determined you become when you are faced with denial of your own rights. In chapters 5 and 6 the asian american people were faced with standing up for their rights and finding a way to beat the system and learning to get what they deserve. many asian americans had to fight for what was rightfully theirs and for what they truly deserve. in some cases asian americans are still fighting for what they deserve and for rights that should have been granted to them many years before. i realized that things do not some so easily and that it is worth the fight because when you finally attain what you are fighting for you make history. the fight for their rights just made the strive within them stronger and set goals for the generations that came after them.

-Amanda

Asian American Poem

I am

I am a stranger, an apparition at the peripheral of your vision, someone to pass over, a non-entity to be glanced at once then immediately forgotten. I am a pedestrian, someone moving in the flow of traffic a little awkward in movement, and when our shoulders brush in passing, you look back but see nothing. I am silent even when you hear me speak, you put up an invisible shield so my voice crumbles, oh dear oh dear. I am a man typecast into a race, I am a man who carries a country on his back, I am a man who sees everything but is never seen.

By: Yin Chu

I liked this poem because it reminded me a lot about all the issues that we talked about during this whole semester. i feel like the author is trying to portray the fact that asian americans are put into a certain stereotype just as we discussed in class. he mentions that he feels invisible and that although he may see everything he is never seen. most asian americans feel the same way and they feel as though they never have that time to shine through and show their true colors because they are automatically put into a certain role or stereotype that is impossible to break. asian americans do not get the credit they deserve and most of the time this enables the feeling of isolation and weight carried upon them. i know as an asian american i sometimes don't feel as though i am taken seriously and sometimes what i say is heard but is quickly forgotten.



-Amanda

Letter to Hyphen editor

Dear Hyphen Editor,

I have just read the latest issue of Hyphen (the family issue) and I wanted to comment on how great and inspirational the issue really is. I was impressed by majority of the articles and I basically wanted to read every page. Unlike other magazines I usually skip through them or look at all the pictures like a child with a picture book. This issue really captivated me and drew me in. I feel like if a People magazine can't even make me read all their magazines than who figures Hyphen magazine could? I basically want to encourage the writers to keep doing what they are doing and that Hyphen magazine will only have good things to come in the future. After reading a couple of issues it has now become one of my favorite magazines. I look forward to reading more about the Asian American culture and learning more about myself and the issues my ancestors and fellow Asian Americans go through. Hyphen enables Asian Americans to break the molds and stereotypes placed and gives courage for people to move forward. I'm confident and know there will be many more issues to come...

From,
Amanda Whipple

Now thats a wrap

So the semester is finally over. Chances are everyone is relieved that summer is upon us. I for one am glad that I have nothing to worry about besides work, GREs, and bills. Actually on second thought I have plenty to worry about still 0¿o. As a final blog, I just wanted to reflect on my experience in the class. Initially, I thought the class was an ethics class (ie right and wrong, good versus bad, etc.) and I was surprised after the first two classes. Although not the class I had in mind when I signed up for it, the experience in here has been a lot different from what I am accustomed to. I’ve always been the type that excelled in solo assignments, papers, tests, etc. For the most part, I’ve never really had to work with others. Never before have I been in a class that does not focus on the individual, but rather on the collective body. Let me just say, it has been a very humbling experience.

On a side note, I want to express my heart felt gratitude to the individuals in Mixed Persuasian (I have a feeling I won’t be able to spell that word correctly ever again). Coming into the class, the majority of us was strangers with our own agendas and probably wouldn’t have given a damn if we weren’t in the class. Through our assignments, we have not only learned how to communicate as a cohesive unit despite a couple gaffs here and there. If anything, it was the adversity from these challenges that united us. To everyone: It’s been great learning about who you are as a person. I know that there were times when everything seemed like nothing was going to get done or work. This was especially true during the Iron Chef night. We didn’t know what the hell we were going to make and when we finally got our act together, the chicken took 3 hours to cook!!! Even though these unforeseen problems arose, we still managed to pull through. Not only that, but the results were often times damn good. I know that if I was placed in a situation where I had to sew a dress or dance in front of strangers alone, I would flounder and fail. In closing, I just want to say that I hope everyone has a great summer and I hope to see everyone around sometime in the future, perhaps drinks at Jeff’s again?.

Some closing words...

I’m writing this blog in hopes that it will be taken as constructive criticism. I have an opinion and I believe that everyone has a right to their opinion. So here's mine on this past semester and my experiences in ETHS 210.

Overall, the class was ok. It had its ups and downs for me. There were some things that I found to be a bit unfair at times and some projects got a little far fetched. At some point I would have been just as happy reading a book, taking quizzes, and writing papers. Call me boring, but that's just me.

I understand that Irene’s reasoning for setting up the class the way she did this semester was to enlighten us and make the class fun and exciting as well as educating. And it was fun. But at times some of the projects got a bit annoying, I have to say. And I’m sorry if this hurts anyone's feelings, but just felt like the projects needed to be more thought out. Deadlines needed to be more enforced. Criteria needed to be carefully explained. I felt like some of the assignments for our projects seemed a bit vague at times.

I thought that having four TA's was a bit unnecessary. Two would have been fine. And there seemed to be a conflict of interest with the TA's. I found it interesting that 3 of the 4 TA's were known to be associated with PACE and a good amount of students in the class were also in PACE and were friends with the TA's prior to taking the class. Since none of mixed persuasian is either, I felt that this may have given other groups a higher advantage when it came down to group competitions or projects.

In all honesty, I did not learn much in this class this semester, and I wish I had. Although I found our activities to be fun, I did wish that there may have been more reading and analyzing involved in the curriculum.

In spite of all of this, I did enjoy, for the most part, being in this class. I met new people, made new friends, and had new experiences. I’m sorry if this blog hurts anyone's feelings and I hope it won't affect my overall grade. I just hope everything I said is taken into consideration for the future ETHS 210 classes.

Take care,
Donna

Learning Outside

So yesterday, the entire group managed to come together for the final assignment. Our first stop was Chinatown in San Francisco. Originally erected in the 1850’s, this community served as a home for the migrant workers that laid tracks for the Central Pacific or Transcontinental Railroad or became gold prospectors during the gold rush. When everyone arrived there, we visited a couple of the local shops. Coming to the area on a weekday proved to be more fulfilling, because we were able to see how the local residents lived on a daily basis without the usual flow of tourism. Throughout Portsmouth Square, elderly individuals were seen gambling on any surface they could. Storefronts weren’t as packed with outsiders coming in for groceries and other trinkets. Before we left Chinatown, we decided to stop by the cultural center to learn some historical facts like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

The second stop on the list was Japantown. Compared to Chinatown, the surrounding area was a lot calmer and much less busy. Just like the Chinese, the Japanese were brought over to initially work on railroads. They originally did not nestle in this area until after the 1906 earthquake. The buildings in the area underwent renewals in the 1960s and 1970s to accommodate an authentic feel. Nowadays, many of buildings are outdated and more changes are said to be coming to the area. Once again, we started to do a bit of exploring in the area. We started near the Peace Pagoda, which was designed by a Japanese architect and given by the people of Osaka. Inside, glanced at the specialty and novelty stores in the mall. Along the bridge connecting the two malls are a number of specialty stores that are locally owned. With the exception of the restaurant, the stores on the bridge are filled with traditional Japanese crafts.

The final area we went to was Little Saigon on Larkin Street. Although it is literally only two blocks long, the area hosts a lot of cheap eateries. The area itself has no real history unlike the previous destinations, but the area does serve as a central hub for many Vietnamese merchants. For the most part, we stopped by Lees to pick up some uber cheap food and looked around the surrounding area. Not too many historical buildings or landmarks for us to see.

To China, Japan, Vietnam and back... Well Almost :)

For our last assignment in eths 210 we were told to go visit three Asian American destinations. We were told that we could go to restaurants, shops, museums, and what not. We decided we would visit all of the little versions of Asian countries that we could find in the city: Chinatown, Japan town, and Little Saigon.

We first arrived at Chinatown. Me, Amanda, and Kim checked out some shops while we waited for the rest of our group. Once we all got together we walked around a bit more looking at all the restaurants and shops. although i've never been outside of this country before, Chinatown gives you a feel of what the real china would feel like, even how crowded it can get. You get a sense of Chinese culture when you’re there, although I know that for those who have been to china, they’ll probably say it’s nothing like that.

Our next destination was japan town. Japan town was much more quiet and not as crowded as Chinatown. Once again we walked around looking at all the shops and all of the cute trinkets in the stores. Me and kim got crepes. Japantown gives you a sense of modernization. Everything is very clean and simple. Me, Julie, Dolly, and Angel went to Sanrio. sanrio is like a link from the asian world to the American world. Hello kitty has become an icon in America for most young American girls asian or not. We all walked around a bit and went into different stores. We walked into this one place that had all of these picture booths. Japan has a niche for coming up with cute things.

Our final destination was little Saigon. We didn’t spend too much time there because lots of us needed to go somewhere after our little outing. We ended up at lee’s sandwich shop where dolly and josh got food. We took a couple of pictures but little Saigon wasn’t as extravagant as Chinatown or japantown. It almost looked like just a block with lots of Vietnamese restaurants.

Out of all of these venues, I would have to say I enjoyed japantown the most. And although our adventure into the city was to visit these little versions of asian countries, living in daly city makes me feel like I’m in one of those already. Afterall, a lot of people say that daly city is a little manila. Or maybe it’s just a little asia. Although our outing was a bit short, I had some fun. It was a good day.

-Donna

my point of view of ETHS 210 spring 2009

so this semster went by quick and i must say that this is one of my easiest and fun class to be in. And this is my first class that i actually was involved in performances and activities and social to my classmates because usually i'll just go to class, listen to my ipod or on my phoneee and i'm out when class is over. i usually dont talk to anyone in classs but this class, i've met many many peo0ple that i enjoy conversating with. I've never perform in front of a crowd at State before or a big performance like POP. this was my first and i thought i would be shy and afraid but i wasn't and i am so proud of myself. :) i enjoy almost everything in this class but sometimes i would think that we may not have enough timee to practicee or reherse since everyone schedule is so bussy and always conflicting. I L0VEEEEE the fact that we didnt have to write any papers and tests :) LOVEEES IT MAN ! ! ! i would definitely reccommend this class to others and i have already because i think they would enjoy it as much as i did and our professor IRENE.....you'reee awesomeeee ! ! !

theeee nameee is julieeeeee joiiiiii, i'm frommm oaklanddddddd and i'm outsss !!!!! see everyone on campus:)

xoxo,
Julie Joi

....people in general....

okay so i just wanted to get something off my chest...."I cannot stand fake ass lil immature girls" :) i mean shit i'm pretty sure if you have something to say about someone i'll be there instantly to hear you out. but if you're going to talk behind someone's back then you're better off looking in the mirror saying it to yourself. don't act friendly in front of someone and laugh blah blah and go behind someone's back then talk shit. come on growww upppp. im not pointing no fingers but this is just in general and i KNOWWWW everyoneeee agrees with me. i'm a very straight forward person and very blunt. if i don't like you, i'll let you know up front. if i think you're annoying or irritating, believe me you'll knowwwww also. i think the talkin behind someone's back, myspace or facebook messages, away messages are hella immature and childish. COLLEGE students don't do that. get a life, deal with it or just shut the fuck up. right???? yes tell meee i'm righttt......hahahahahahahahaha...

i'm not a mean person. i'm very nice and friendly but pleasee pleasee don't get on my bad sideee.....trustttt meeee. other than that i'm willing to meet anyone that's nicee and friendly themselves.

xoxo,
Julie Joi

Final Adventure

so our final was to attend 3 asian places. blah blah so of course we went to chinatown, japantown and little saigon. everyone attended and it was a shock because usually there would be one or two person missing. well i must say that this was my first time going to japantown, i know i know i'm lateee but oh wellls.....but it was coool and i'm glad this semester is over. :) all the sressing ugh.

but anywho so we met up at school and i drove angel, dolly and josh. and of course i dont know my away around the city and i hate the their streets so josh had to give me directions to chinatown and he gave me the wrong direction and almost ran a red light ! THANKS JOSH ! hahaahahah.....i hate driving. literally. but you're welcome to drive my car. ah.

i'm finally done with my 10 page essay for my other ethnic studies class. YAY ME ! and thursday will be my last day of finals :) than i have a 2 week break til summer schoool. :(

i'm am in need of a shopping spree literally ! summer is almost here and i neeed mucho mucho summer clothes. feeel me? some shorts, tanks, flip flops and swimsuits. then i'm satisfied. !

xoxo,
Julie Joi

summer plans

so summer is right around the corner. literally ! ! ! sucks that i have summer school from june 8- august 14. booooohooooo. kissing my summer gooodbye. but this summer, i plan to do alot of swimming, bbqing, camping and hopefully tahoe since i will not be working until august. i must say that i am proud of myself this semester because i have balanced my work, school and partying. :) 10 points for me ! it make seem as if i partied alot but i gets things done.

well this weekend is gonna be great ! i cannot wait. memorial weeekend here i come. nothing but fun fun and lots of fun. life is what you make of it right? so of course i wanna make it gooood and worth my time. anywho, i have about 2 years lefted of school? hopefully i graduate sooon and get my dreammmm carrrr....a mercedes benz or bmw. and my goal this summer is to learn how to ride a motorcycle. :) yes i'm such a dudeee.

i've beeen eating alot lately. ugh. i've been craving for like everythingggg......i'm such a fatassss.....but damn ....i had some steak fries earlier and it was daaaa bombbbb...

labtop is running out of batterryyyyyy n i cannot find the charger at the momenntttt sooo i'll continueee laterr....

xoxo,
Julie Joi

POPPPPP!!

Hey everyone,

This blog is kinda late, but better late than never, right? [=

Anyway, I felt like everyone did a great job for our final - POP! Although ours was short - it was short and sweet. We were able to provide a vast variety of entertainment in 20 minutes, rather than taking an hour and 15 minutes to do so. I mean, don't get me wrong, the other classes had some great performances, but I felt like theirs were WAYYY too long and they definitely weren't up to par with what we had.

I had friends [who actually STAYED to watch us perform rather than RUDELY leave after the first two classes] say that ours was hands-down, the best of the night! They told me that our performances were the best because they all went together - rather than appearing like a talent show, it was a cohesive story which made it much more interesting to watch. Just to put it out there, I think we should've performed first because ours was the shortest and the best, and I thought it was really rude that a lot of people just left before we even had the opportunity to perform.

Anyway, I can honestly say that our class works extremely well under pressure! We pulled everything together not ONCE, but TWICE! Even though we begin unorganized and disarrayed, we pull it all together as a team. Anyway, I know that the dance group was struggling because it was difficult for all of us to meet to learn the choreography and to practice, but in the end, we still managed to do it. Most of us learned the choreography in a few days, and I want to thank Jon for making up the choreography for us! Yay Jon! *claps* All the other groups that went did extremely well because everyone was really into and played the part that they were supposed to play. Overall, our class kicked ass in POP, and we didn't take a lifetime and a half to do it! =D

-- Kim [=

Asian American Poet - Marilyn Chin

Marilyn Chin was born in Hong Kong and raised in Portland, Oregon. Her books have become Asian American classics and are taught in classrooms internationally. She is the author of Rhapsody in Plain Yellow (W.W. Norton & Co., 2002), The Phoenix Gone, The Terrace Empty (1994), and Dwarf Bamboo (1987).

Chin has won numerous awards for her poetry, including ones from the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She has received a Stegner Fellowship, the PEN/Josephine Miles Award, four Pushcart Prizes, the Paterson Prize, a Fulbright Fellowship to Taiwan, as well as residencies at Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, the Lannan Residency, and the Djerassi Foundation.

Her work has been featured in a variety of anthologies, including The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry, The Norton Introduction to Poetry, The Oxford Anthology of Modern American Poetry, Unsettling America, The Open Boat, and The Best American Poetry of l996. She was featured in Bill Moyers’ PBS series The Language of Life.
She has read and taught workshops all over the world. Recently, she taught at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and was guest poet at universities in Singapore, Hong Kong, Manchester, Sydney and Berlin and elsewhere. In addition to writing poetry, she has translated poems by the modern Chinese poet Ai Qing and co-translated poems by the Japanese poet Gozo Yoshimasu. Presently, she is writing a book of poetic tales. She co-directs the MFA program at San Diego State University.

"How I Got That Name"

by Marilyn Chin

I am Marilyn Mei Ling Chin
Oh, how I love the resoluteness
of that first person singular
followed by that stalwart indicative
of "be," without the uncertain i-n-g
of "becoming." Of course,
the name had been changed
somewhere between Angel Island and the sea,
when my father the paperson
in the late 1950s
obsessed with a bombshell blond
transliterated "Mei Ling" to "Marilyn."
And nobody dared question
his initial impulse--for we all know
lust drove men to greatness,
not goodness, not decency.
And there I was, a wayward pink baby,
named after some tragic white woman
swollen with gin and Nembutal.
My mother couldn't pronounce the "r."
She dubbed me "Numba one female offshoot"
for brevity: henceforth, she will live and die
in sublime ignorance, flanked
by loving children and the "kitchen deity."
While my father dithers,
a tomcat in Hong Kong trash--
a gambler, a petty thug,
who bought a chain of chopsuey joints
in Piss River, Oregon,
with bootlegged Gucci cash.
Nobody dared question his integrity given
his nice, devout daughters
and his bright, industrious sons
as if filial piety were the standard
by which all earthly men are measured.
*
Oh, how trustworthy our daughters,
how thrifty our sons!
How we've managed to fool the experts
in education, statistic and demography--
We're not very creative but not adverse to rote-learning.
Indeed, they can use us.
But the "Model Minority" is a tease.
We know you are watching now,
so we refuse to give you any!
Oh, bamboo shoots, bamboo shoots!
The further west we go, we'll hit east;
the deeper down we dig, we'll find China.
History has turned its stomach
on a black polluted beach--
where life doesn't hinge
on that red, red wheelbarrow,
but whether or not our new lover
in the final episode of "Santa Barbara"
will lean over a scented candle
and call us a "bitch."
Oh God, where have we gone wrong?
We have no inner resources!
*
Then, one redolent spring morning
the Great Patriarch Chin
peered down from his kiosk in heaven
and saw that his descendants were ugly.
One had a squarish head and a nose without a bridge
Another's profile--long and knobbed as a gourd.
A third, the sad, brutish one
may never, never marry.
And I, his least favorite--
"not quite boiled, not quite cooked,"
a plump pomfret simmering in my juices--
too listless to fight for my people's destiny.
"To kill without resistance is not slaughter"
says the proverb. So, I wait for imminent death.
The fact that this death is also metaphorical
is testament to my lethargy.
*
So here lies Marilyn Mei Ling Chin,
married once, twice to so-and-so, a Lee and a Wong,
granddaughter of Jack "the patriarch"
and the brooding Suilin Fong,
daughter of the virtuous Yuet Kuen Wong
and G.G. Chin the infamous,
sister of a dozen, cousin of a million,
survived by everbody and forgotten by all.
She was neither black nor white,
neither cherished nor vanquished,
just another squatter in her own bamboo grove
minding her poetry--
when one day heaven was unmerciful,
and a chasm opened where she stood.
Like the jowls of a mighty white whale,
or the jaws of a metaphysical Godzilla,
it swallowed her whole.
She did not flinch nor writhe,
nor fret about the afterlife,
but stayed! Solid as wood, happily
a little gnawed, tattered, mesmerized
by all that was lavished upon her
and all that was taken away!

Marilyn Chin's poem, "How I Got That Name" is a clear representation of how many Asian Americans feel about their names. People think that our names are "weird" or "abnormal" because it's not one that's easily pronounced or easy to spell, and in reality, instead of being ashamed or embarrassed by these thoughts, we should embrace it and be proud of our individuality and our unique names. The face and personality that matches the name given to us by our parents can be as Americanized as we like it to be, but with the uniqueness of our names, it provides us that step ahead of the common person because it gives us culture and individuality instead of assimilating to the expectations of American society.

--Kim [=

PS: The website where you can find the information on Marilyn Chin is http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/90

Asian Amerien Poet

Bryan Thao Worra is a Laotian American writer. His books include On The Other Side Of The Eye, Touching Detonations, Winter Ink, Barrow and The Tuk Tuk Diaries: My Dinner With Cluster Bombs. He is the first Laotian American to receive a Fellowship in Literature from the United States government's National Endowment for the Arts. He was born as Thao Somnouk Silosoth in Vientiene Laos during the Laos Secret War. Bryan Thao Worra has written creatively from an early age, but began seriously writing in 1991. A widely published Laotian writer, his work appears in the Bamboo Among the Oaks anthology, as well as Whistling Shade, Urban Pioneer, Unarmed, the Asian Pacific Journal and the Journal of the Asian American Renaissance and the anthology Outsiders Within. Thao Worra's writing explores many themes including transience, identity and home. His style is frequently experimental and draws from a variety of modern and contemporary influences, including science fiction and horror. His first full-length book of poetry, On The Other Side Of The Eye was released in August 2007 from Sam's Dot Publishing, based in Iowa. He often writes as a freelance reporter for several Asian American newspapers including Asian American Press, interviewing numerous Asian American writers and artists as well as covering community events and programs.

xoxo,
Julie Joi

finally school is over !

i must say that this semester went by quickly. but i think fall is gonng be a drag for me because i may have to take classes everyday. weak ! so i got my final paper back for my SW 350 class and got a 95% ! ! ! i am so proud of myself. staying in on a friday and staying up late working on my paper did pay off ! ! ! now i just have to do good on my final exam tomorrow morning ! wish my luck. work is coming to an end in about 2 weeks or less. Boooooo cos no more paycheck until august. sucks asss man. no more shopping :( Friday night we held a special dinner for the SYTFU members that helped out with the childrens hospital fundraising and dinner was delicious. Saturday morning was sooo not fun at all. Had to wake up super early to do my walkathon fundraising for work which was not the businness. Walking 6 blockssss around the school in the heat was sooo not cooool. But the water fight afterwards was awesome. Headed home and showered and straight to the nailshop. I needed to get my nails, eyebrows and toes done for my friend's bachelorette party ! it was soooo packed at the nailshop because everyone and their mamas were getting theirs nails done for prom. After the nailshop went to the mall to pick out an outfit for the party and after 2.5 hours i finally did !!! I must say that i hate going to the mall when its packed with peopleeeeeeeee........the night finally cameee and we was up in the pink stretch hummmmer y0 ! it was so nice insideee and the night went pretty koooo....nothing tooo biggg but lets see what happens at the wedding next weekend ! Sunday came and woke up early because the AC was on sooooo high that i was super cold....I felt like swimming so my boo and I went swimming at cull canyon. It was packed with lil kidsssssssss and hellllaaaaaaa peopleee.....but it was funnnnn.....I got hungry and was craving for bbq foood so i decided to do a mini bbq and it was delicious. :) yes i eat alot huh? well there was my weekend, can't wait for the next weeekend and helllo reality .

xoxo,
julie joi

PCN`09

So I went to PACE’s annual Pilipino Cultural Night entitiled “Mahalaya.” I found the name of the production to be really creative since it was from one of SFSU’s professor’s daughter’s name. Mahalaya is made up of two tagalog words - mahal meaning love and malaya meaning freedom. So, the story was based on two lovers that were separated by class trying to the freedom to love amidst all the obstacles they have to face, mostly brought upon by their families and friends. It was taken place around the 1960s in which there was a lot of political activism in the US and in the Philippines.

The main character’s name was Isa, short for Isabella. Her destined lover’s name was Gusto, short for Gusto, whom she worked for. She was his family’s maid and therefore, their feelings for each other was unheard of. Being the gentleman he is, Gusto didn’t care about what his family and friends thought and still pursued his interest for Isa. Gusto’s sister was the main factor that pulled the two apart from each other. She couldn’t accept the fact that Isa and Gusto liked each other and so she pulled them apart using magic and nasty tactics. In the end, Isa and Gusto ended up marrying each other despite everything that pulled them apart.

In between scenes, there were so many cultural dances that I was never aware of. What I liked the most about the dances were the clothes that they wore. Although they were traditional, I liked how most were elegant and colorful, compared to what we wear now - baggy jeans and what not.

I also enjoyed how they show had some really funny parts where the characters would crack some Filipino jokes with the accent and everything. I just love how the audience could pretty much relate and understand it because we’ve experienced it with our own families.

I’d had to say that I truly loved going to PCN because not only did it bring out so many traditional factors about my own culture, but I became more appreciative of who I am as a Filipina. Shows like these make me feel really proud of where I come from and what I believe in.

-Angel

Roses are red, violets are blue?

Asian American Poetry

Aimee Nezhukumatathi

Aimee Nezhukumatathil was born in Chicago, IL to a Filipina mother and a South Indian father. She attended The Ohio State University (go Bucks!) where she received her B.A. in English and her M.F.A. in poetry and creative non-fiction. Aimee was the 2000-01 Diane Middlebrook Poetry Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing at UW-Madison and is now associate professor of English at State University of New York-Fredonia, where she teaches creative writing and environmental literature.

She is the author of At the Drive-In Volcano (2007), winner of the Balcones Prize which honors the most outstanding book of poetry each year, and Miracle Fruit (2003), which won Foreword Magazine's Poetry Book of the Year Award and was chosen by poet Gregory Orr for the Tupelo Press First Book Prize. Miracle Fruit was also named co-winner of the Global Filipino Literary Award, and finalist for The Glasgow Prize , and the Asian American Literary Award in poetry. Her first chapbook, Fishbone (2000), won the Snail's Pace Press Prize.

Other awards for her writing include an NEA grant, the Pushcart Prize, the Boatwright Prize from Shenandoah, The Richard Hugo Prize from Poetry Northwest, an Associated Writing Programs Intro Award in creative non-fiction, and fellowships to the MacDowell Arts Colony. Her poems are anthologized in Language for a New Century (WW Norton); Creative Writing: Four Genres in Brief (Bedford St. Martin's); 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Everyday (HarperCollins); New Voices: Contemporary Poetry from The United States (Irish Pages); 60 Indian Poets (Penguin); Seriously Funny: Poems about Love, God, War, Art, Sex, Death, Madness, and Everything Else (Univ. of Georgia); Beacon Best Writing of 2000; Babaylan: Filipina and Filipina-American Writing; Humor Me: An Anthology of Humor Writing; Asian American Poetry: The Next Generation; and Eros Pinoy.

Poems and essays are published or forthcoming in American Poetry Review, FIELD, The Antioch Review, New England Review, Black Warrior Review, Poetry Northwest, Prairie Schooner, Tin House, Shenandoah, The Southern Review, Chelsea, Mid-American Review, The Southeast Review, River Styx, Beloit Poetry Journal, Quarterly West, Crab Orchard Review, Virginia Quarterly, Slate, and North American Review.

Aimee was named the SUNY-Fredonia's Hagan Scholar in 2005 for a junior faculty member with distinguished scholarship-- the 1st time a member of the SUNY-Fredonia English Department has won this award. In April of 2006, she also received the SUNY's Drescher Award and SUNY-wide Chancellor's Award for Scholarship and Creative Activities for excellence in her record of publications, art production and performance.

She is working on a collection of nature essays and her third collection of poems. She lives in Western NY with her husband, son, and their geriatric dachshund, Villanelle. As of Fall 2008, she is on sabbatical and will return to teaching in Jan 2009.

**INFO from http://aimeenez.net/page2.html

-Angel

Rhythm&Blues; asianamerican style

I Loooove RnB (:

Some Asian American artists I listen to include:
Asia Cruise
Jordyn Taylor
Stevie Hoang
Karina Pasian
Nikki Flores
One Voice
Reynard Silva
Gabe Bondoc
Passion<3

"Introducing the young and talented singer, producer, and songwriter: Jeremy Manongdo aka Passion. A R&B artist whose calm and soothing vocals have made him pretty popular throughout the San Francisco and Bay Area. With his talents ranging from singing, to song writing, the guitar, piano and to a strong presence on stage, its no wonder his fan base has stretched beyond California’s borders.

You could say people are captivated by his “Passion” for making beautiful music (thus how his stage name came to be). He’s even been an opening act for Bobby Valentino, which isn’t bad for a 20 year old Filipino who merely labels himself a “Church Boy.”

So if you like music of the Christian and R&B variety, try giving these videos a listen. You just might end up a fan yourself." -Andre Pascual

I came across Passion while surfing up some of my favorite RnB songs on YouTube and I found some of his videos. I've even heard some of my friends talking about these videos and his music. I remember the first time I watched his videos, I fell in love with his voice. The song I love most that he solely produced and wrote is "Lemonade."




Enjoy(:
-Angel

POP`Pinn!

OMG so POP!

Let me just say, POP was thee craziest thing next to the midterm because I haven't performed on stage like that for a long while now and I'm glad to say that we did good! Even though we had so many things going on in our lives especially since we're at the end of the semester, we pulled it off; just like we did for our inv`asian'.

Even tho POP took forever because the other classes took hella long, I enjoyed it. I feel that Ms. Pelaud's first class was really good. I really loved that one guy's spokenword about him being a hopeless romantic. It was sooo sweeet and I mean, what girl wouldn't fall for that? And, I really liked that one video about identity and how it was like a real movie.

Since the room was getting really stuffy while our class was waiting for our time to shine, the dance group went into the other room to practice. Even though at first I felt really nervous about getting up there on stage, I got more excited to get it over with; probably because we practiced the dance soo many times already.

What I liked most about our class's performance was that we were united. We didn't have a variety show like the other classes, but each group was incorporated into one big story line- and i liked that. It pretty much reminded me of last years PCN with the structure of the production. We had our own jokes and puns which were really funny and enjoyable. It was great to see the support we gave and got from each other. Our class has come a looong way.

So, in conclusion, i loved POP!
I learned about my own culture and how much I appreciate my own identity. I learned about what Asian Americans face back then and now. How even though the discrimination against us still lingers, we found ways to acknowledge the fact that what they say about us isn't true and we have the ability to prove them wrong through song, dance, and words.

-Angel

Lao New Year

I attended the first EVER celebration in San Francisco, Ca @ the Civic Center. To my surprise, my entire family came down from Sacramento to attend this important event. My father told me about the celebration and I knew I wanted to go, especially since in the first public celebration for everyone. There would be music, traditional lao food, entertainment. & It's comforting to hear since I've been so distant from the Lao culture since I've moved here. The celebration was outdoors and there were hundreds of people waiting in line for papaya salad, ordering thai tea, and just hanging out. My personal favorite traditional food is papaya salad. It's a dish including slices of papaya, fish sauce, lemon, chili, tomatoes. A couple of more ingredients too but it varies. I must say, its a heavenly dish with all the elements of spicy,sweet and sour. Yum! Anyway!
After waiting in line for half an hour with people cutting continuously, my sister and I met a few nice fellows that dug their way into the front of the line to get us the food we have been waiting for. It's all about hustling! Just like back in the country! Lol. After buying so much moneys worth of food, we watched the performances that were taking place. Performaces were very diverse. There was a fashion show, music perfomance , dance sequence.

The overall celebration was a nice and refreshing way to celebrate culture, especiall my own. & It was great to see my family again. I can't wait to go again next year!

Dolly

this is so not gangsta

This story is a couple of weeks old, but it's worth bringing up because it's just so damn sad... 35-year-old Xiu Ping Jiang, a mentally ill Chinese immigrant, has been stuck for over a year in the solitary hell of deportation limbo -- suicidal, emaciated and deprived of proper medical treatment or representation:

Her bleak experience in the immigration system has only come to light because of a fluke -- she happens to have the same name as the ex-wife of Jiverly Wong, the gunman who fatally shot 13 people in April at an immigration services center in Binghamton. Not the same person, but as reporters tried to find the ex-wife, her court records came up.

The situation illustrates the vulnerability of the mentally ill in the immigration system. While Immigration and Customs Enforcement keeps putting increasingly strict enforcement measures in place, more and more people with mental illness are being put into detention -- and no one is really looking out for them.

There are currently no rules for determining competency in deportation proceedings, and no way to ensure representation for a mentally ill person facing deportation. So what happens in the case of someone like Ms. Jiang? Too often, people in the system just disappear.

Jeffrey Ju

Senior

im a senior and cant wait to get out of this school. It will be the best day of my life thank god.
gggeyyyyyahhha

Gone are the days of the bowl cut and assimilating to other ethnic men’s hairstyles. When it comes to great hair, Asian men have some of the most versatile sets of locks around. Thanks in large part to its characteristically thick, ultra-straight texture, Asian hair lends itself to today’s most stylish haircuts, even setting the trend in some cases.

If you’re of Asian descent, you should know that your hair is very porous, so it can absorb more moisture and hold different styles. If you’re not happy with your hair, then you’re not tapping into its full potential. So, to put you on the fast track to a new modern look that suits who you are, here’s a list of six super-sharp haircuts that will really play to your advantage.

The total shave

Asian guys (or any guys, really) with a bald head make a bold statement. Whether you need to do it or not, taking it all off the top shows you’re a man of true grit and determination; you exude confidence and class. Being bald looks so tough, Mark Dacascos dons it for his role as the Chairman on Iron Chef America; it allows him to be both smooth as steel and tough as nails. If you want to set that tone, then make the decision to go bald; it’s the perfect look for the take-charge guy who wants to come across as sharp, confident and sophisticated. Bald-headed men command respect and a style all their own. What makes this look even better is the fact that a lot of chicks dig it.

What it says about you: You’re on top of your game, you know who you are and you’re not afraid to show it.

Textured short

Traditionally, short hair can be a bore, but adding texture makes it classically cool. Due to their simplicity, textured short haircuts are spot-on for guys who like to walk one step beyond conservative. Sporting this ‘do makes it abundantly clear that you have a crisp, professional image to maintain. You know what it means to be in style without going overboard. Textured short hair looks timeless and sophisticated. No one proves this point more than Lost’s Daniel Dae Kim; his well-maintained coif affirms his cosmopolitan, erudite disposition toward style. Kim’s not trying to push the envelope anymore than he has to because he doesn’t need to; his stylish, grown-up haircut says it all for him. And for the consummate professional, you should let this haircut do the same for you.

What it says about you: Steeped in traditional, classic style, you have a mature approach to fashion that translates into an air of confidence, class and simplicity.

Jeffrey Ju

letter 2 the editor GEEEEEYYYAHHH JUPAC STYLE!!!!

Nearly 80 percent of Japanese-American 10th-graders passed the state's standardized math test last year in Seattle Public Schools. As a group, they did better than any other ethnic group in the district.

Only 14 percent of Samoan students passed the math portion of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning -- the lowest percentage of any ethnic group in the district.

There are vast social and cultural differences between the two groups that play into their success in school. Yet on a scholarship application, students from both would check the same box: Asian/Pacific Islander. So would students who trace their heritage to at least seven other Asian countries or islands.

The diversity of Asian/Pacific Islander students makes providing them scholarships complicated. Until five years ago, there wasn't a national scholarship fund for Asian/Pacific Islander students, even though funds for African-American and Latino students had existed for decades. A national group meeting Monday in Seattle is working to provide more scholarships to Asian and Pacific Islander students who need them.

"There are assumptions that all Asians go to college, that they are all good in math, that they are diligent, study hard, etc.," said Ted Mashima, the president and executive director of the group, the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. "There's a lack of a unified thread other than geography that lumps us all together."

The scholarship fund, or APIASF, is holding a community reception today at the Seattle Asian Art Museum from 5 to 7:30 p.m. On Tuesday, the group will hold its annual board meeting in Seattle.

The scholarship organization formed in 2003, after the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation began its Gates Millennium Scholars program. The foundation had money for Asian students, but no group existed to accept the funds.

"That was a wake-up call to the Asian/Pacific Islander community to say, 'Hey, we need to get our act together to do something for our youth,' " said board chairwoman Wai-Ling Eng.

Today, APIASF, a Washington, D.C.-based organization, gives out about 200 scholarships a year and selects Gates Millennium Scholars. As a fairly new group, it has no endowment and spends a lot of time raising money. A comparable group for African-American students, the United Negro College Fund, has existed for 60 years and is working toward a $1 billion endowment.

jeffrey

Film Festival yea yea

“How has the media created a negative image of Asian Americans, and how can we, as a community, reverse this?”

This is the question I am studying. I personally feel that it is important that all minorities eventually become represented accurately in the media. Stereotypes in the media cause great problems for minority groups. Being Asian American myself, I explored the background behind our unsightly image that has been created by the media. As i learned more and more about the struggles of Asian actors and actresses, I wanted more and more to change it. Although it is unlikely that a single person, alone, can undo what has has been growing over the years, eventually, I hope that enough people will show a desire for more accurate representation in the media.

~Hollywood is not going to change for the sake of ideals. They will only change if there is an audience for it–if there is a demand for it.

There are many things that we can do to show our disdain for the negative stereotyping that occurs in mainstream media. As long as we express our desire for more accurate representation, we are doing our part to reverse the negative image that has been created.

Jeffrey Jupac

Victims of their own success

With the worsening economy, thousands of individuals are heading back to school to get any type of degree. The problem is that many school systems are unable to accommodate the surge of applicants trying to get in. As has been the case for a while, the UC system has come under some debate about their admissions. Many believe that the UC system lacks diversity. The growing pool of Asian applicants has continued to grow over the years due to a constant growth in the Asian population and their prioritization for education.

Although I believe that everyone does have a right to an education, awarding enrollment should be given to the highest qualified candidates. About 13 years ago, Proposition 209 was passed in order to get of rid racial discrimination. For the most part, it worked. Not surprisingly, Asian American’s compose a majority of the students attending the schools. Many opponents of Prop 209 say that the lack of affirmative action has resulted in a precarious drop in the number of African Americans in college.

Do I think it is right to allow an unqualified individual to usurp the position of someone who is competent and qualified? The answer is simply no. If anything, those who do not qualify or barely qualify need to reflect about what they want to do with their lives. Don’t get me wrong. It is possible to become successful without ever going it college; however those who want to go on to further their education need to show how serious they are about learning. For me, it is far too often that I come to class to take down notes for the lecture. I’ll admit it, the classes are usually boring, but I still make an effort to pay attention. Meanwhile, I see a shitload of other students sitting in their seats sleeping, talking, texting, and etc. Basically, they come to class just for the sake of being there. After the tests are given back, many often complain about the teacher included material that they never talked about. If anything, many school systems need to purge themselves of individuals who have no direction or have no motivation to be there.

ASIAN AMERICAN DREAMS yea yea GEYYYYYYAAHHHHH!

Chapters 5 and 6 were quite informative to say the least...
Stereotypical stuff like hollywood perceptions....

Helan Zia uses these in-depth studies to analyze the deeper implications for Asian Americans in the US. This tour de force novelization of history provides a canvass for Helen Zia's astute analysis of the underpinning sociological and psychological forces affecting the course of Asian American history. Helen Zia's intermingles her personal history into broader context of societal events in each section, engaging the reader but also tying the diverse topics into a whole.

Helen Zia's Asian American Dreams will be an eye opening experience for many Americans, given the dismal state of US history in our schools over the years. Even those who have kept up to date on current affairs will find themselves understanding events and political statements in a new light, with the deeper understanding of the history and the issues rarely covered in the media.

Unfortunately, my enthusiasm for Asian American Dreams is slightly marred by the sadly uninformed discussion of international adoption. It is a great loss to the adoptive families embracing Asian American ideals that this well written and vital book includes a few paragraphs of unsubstantiated, prejudicial statements about mixed race families, a practice which she rightfully condemns when directed toward Asian Americans.

If she ever undertakes a second edition of this worthy and enlightening tome, I hope that Helen Zia will rectify this misunderstanding. In addition, her views on the impact of globalization and more recent immigration history would be helpful for understanding the current situation in the US. Given her unique outlook, an examination of the tension over the participation of women in Asian society would have been interesting as well. Lastly, more attention could have been paid to the historical differences between the various Asian countries - as this will have a huge influence on what the term "Asian American" ultimately comes to mean.

Most of these suggestions are a very small part of what is sure to be a remarkable, landmark source for anyone interested in Asian Americans and Asian American affairs. I recommend Asian American Dreams highly to anyone interested in this topic. Its a marvelous work in terms of scope and depth that is unique in its field.

Jeffrey JUpac

....the swine flu....

so all this commotion going on about the swine flu and how everyone is so scared about it. blah blah blah, it's just like every other flu nothing different so i dont know why people are making a big deal out of it. yes some people have died from the swine flu but many has also from common flus. The news says that approximately 167 people have died but only determined 57 of them were cause by the swine flu, therefore, so stop tripping. All you gotta do is take care of yourself. After that incident, i've seen so many people wearing face mask everywhere like godamn are you serious??? && it has gotten into people's head where they don't even wanna go out to eat, party or anything. I mean if you're sick then stay yo ass at homee right? But yeah speaking of the flu, i'm sick myself which sucks. I have a very very weak immune system and i tend to get sick easily which is whack. But i'm trying to take care of myself so that I won't get as bad. I hate being sick because I'm usually stuck at home doing absolutely shitttttt when i rather be outtt partyyyinnnngggg.....feeel me? the only good part bout being sick is that someone is always there to comfort you and give you all the love and attention you want. muahhsssss* thankksssss babeeee and of course my mommmmyyyy....hahahaha.

POP

So i'm gonna talk about the POP performance. I think that the dance crew did a great job learning the dance and learning it in such a short amount of time. But anyways, so the big day comes and supposedly the shows starts at 7pm. but it didnt start til almost 7:30 and we were told that we would be performing around 8ish and guess what....we were the last group to perform was not able to til 9:45pm LITERALLY! omg i know everyone was exhausted from practicing and rehersal and just sitting there waiting for our turn. UGH. i must say i've never been at school on a friday for that long and i know there were many people that were irriated and annoyed. So it was finally our class turn to perform and everyone started leaving, i thought that was very rude because our class had to stay til the end and the others could have done the same for us and especially when they didnt even follow directions because each skit/scene was suppose to be only 5 minutes long and they went as long as 20 mins for each scene. If we knew that was going to happen, we could have done our performance first and go home after. I was so tired and so hot and so so so hungry at the same timeee...But thank buddah it's over.

I can't believe this semester is going to an end. And I'm glad it is because school was so stressful for me. I'm not even excited for summer either because I'm taking summer school from June 8 to Aug 14. Wow what a summer right? Whatever. FUCK MY LIFE ! :)

xoxo,
Julie Joi

THE SOFTER SIDE OF JUPAC.......SHIEEET EVEN GANGSTAS NEED LOVE TOO

AS I TAKE A MOONLIGHT STROLL DOWN THE BEACH, I WONDER WHEN A TRUE TO LIFE PLAYA WILL MEET....... MY SOULMATE ON THAT ONE DATE ALL... THESE CORNY ASS BITCHES GONNA HATE....
SIIIIIIIKKEEEE! I BET YOU THOUGHT PAC WAS GOING TO SELL OUT TO THAT NO GOOD COOKIE CUTTER R&B SHIT.... I THOUGHT YOU KNEW JUPAC WAS ROBBING MORE HOODS THAN ROBIN.
YES IT IS TRUE THAT EVEN GANGSTAS NEED LOVE...
I THINK ID RATHER SELL A SACK OF WEED SO I COULD BE ROLLIN ON SOME DUBS...
YES I THINK I THINK I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THAT SPECIAL BITCH TO A CANDLE NIGHT DINNER...
BUT ID RATHER COP A PIMP MINK COAT FOR THE WINTER....
SO WHILE IM SPITTIN YOU SILLY MUTHAF**KAS CAN PONDER....
WHILE IM HITTIN DOUGHNUTS IN MY RICED OUT CIVIC HOND-ER.......
SHIIEETT... I BET U DIDNT KNOW JUPAC COULD RHYME SO FU**CKING SWEET....
PLEASE EXCUSE MY NO GOOD BIT** SHES A HOODRAT THAT NEEDS A BEAT....

JEFFREY AKA PUTTIN IT DOWN LIKE A MUTHAFUC** POUND (OF WEE*) THAT IS.

POP!!! POP!!! THERE GOES THE SOUND OF MY GLOCK!!!!

POP!!! POP!!! THERE GOES THE SOUND OF MY 9MM SHOTS....
AS WE PERFORMED ON OUR FINAL/ KINDA FINAL... BUT NOT REALLY.
AS USUAL I WAS KEEPIN IT HOOD WITH MY GANGSTA RAP AND MY FLAGRANT DISREGARD FOR SAFETY. IT WAS A SMOGGY FRIDAY NIGHT AND I PACKED UP MY GANGSTA ESSENTIALS ASIAN STYLE THAT IS. ( POCKET PROTECTOR, SCIENTIFIC CALCULATOR, CHAPSTICK, EVEN GANGSTAS GET CHAPPED LIPS, YOU KNOW REAL NI**A SHIT...) I GOT INTO MY LEXUS GS 300 AND PROCEEDED TO TAKE A RIDE TO SCHOOL ( ONE HAND ON STEERING WHEEL, GOT THAT GANGSTA LEAN GOING ON, SHIT.......)
SO A PLAYA WAS 39 MINS AND 24 SECONDS LATE FOR REHERSALS ( THATS HOW I ROLL SON!!!!) AND I WAS LIKE, " A YO!!!!! WHERE THE SHORTIES AT??!!!!!! ILL HOOK IT UP WITH SOME BACKSTAGE JUPAC PASSES!!!" AND AS USUAL THE HOOD RATS CAME FLOCKING.... BUT THATS THE LIFE OF A CERTIFIED G.
OH YEA BACK TO THE PERFORMANCE...... THE GROUPS WERE PUTTING IT DOWN BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, THE SPOKEN WORDS WERE OK, BLAH BLAH BLAH.
SHIIIIEEEEET. JUPAC WOULD HAVE SMASHED THAT BY THE WAY
IRENE WAS ILL WITH IT SOOO THAT SHIT WAS REAL HOOOOD.
SO I GOT ALOT OUT OF IT
JEFFREY AKA LEVEL 30 MAD HOODRAT SLAYER JUPAC SHAKUR
SIGNING OUT PEACEEE!!!

CHECK OUT MY FREESTYLE YO!!!!GEEEEYYYAHH! PREPARE FOR TAKE OFF BITCHES!!!!!!

FIRST OFF I WOULD LIKE TO SAY TO ALL THE ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES MAJORS GEEEEEYYYYYAAAHH!!!!!! SKEET SKEET SKEET! IM OUTTA HERE U SILLY SALAMI EAT BASTARDS. I JUST FINISHED MY POWERPOINT ON ASIAN AMERICANS IN THE MARINE CORPS AGES 20-29. SHIT WAS ILLER THAN AN AID PATIENT SON!!!! JUST KIDDING. SIKE!
I WOULD HAVE RATHER BEEN AT THE DENTIST TO BE HONEST. THE CHICKS WERE DIGGING MY SWAG LOLOLOL. YEA IN THE MIDDLE OF MY PRESENTATION I BUSTED A FREESTYLE, WOULD U LIKE A SAMPLE YO? " A JOSH DROP ME A MUTHAFUCKING BEAT!!"
A YO!! A YO!!
IM THAT SICK PLAYA FROM MIXED PERSUASIAN ! YOU SO BLACK YOU LOOK LIKE A SUNBURNTN HATIAN!
BREAD AND BUTTERS PSSSSH! U LOOK LIKE YOU LIKE IT IN THE BUTT! LIKE THAT GUY FROM NSYNC WHO WAS ADDICTED TO ANIMAL SMUTT!
I THINK HIS NAME WAS LANCE, HOW THE HELL YOU GONNA BE A WHITEBOY AND THINK YOU CAN DANCE????!!!
YOU LOOK THIRSTY, HOW ABOUT A HANSEN?! BITCH HOW U THINK YOU GANGSTA WHEN I HEARD U BUMPIN HAN-SON?????!!!!!!!!!!
I HEAR YER CORNY ASS LISTEN TO LIVE 105!!! BITCH!!! ILL BATTLE RAP YER MOM AFTER SHE TAKES A DICK DIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!
PEACE!!! IM OUT FOR DUECE ZERO NINE!!!!!

JEFFREY AKA "JUPAC" SPITTIN HOT FIRE ON THE MIC

Filipina American Poet: Luisa A. Igloria

Luisa A. Igloria is a Filipina American poet and author of various award-winning collections. Originally from Baguio, Luisa A. Igloria is now with the faculty of the English Department and the Institute for the Study of Minority Issues at the Old Dominion University in Norfolk Virginia.

She received her undergraduate degree from the University of the Philippines, Baguio in 1980 (B.A. Humanities - Cum Laude - major in Comparative Literature, minor in English, cognate in Philosophy), and the M.A. in Literature at Ateneo de Manila University at Manila, Philippines in 1988 as a Robert Southwell Fellow. She received a Ph.D. in English/Creative Writing at the University of Illinois at Chicago in July 1995, where she was a Fulbright Fellow.

While in Chicago, Igloria was an active member of PINTIG, a Filipino-American cultural and theatre group. She was a member of PINTIG's cultural and education committee and co-wrote some scenes for Chris Millado's stage play, Scenes from an Unfinished Country: 1905-1995. She was a Visiting Humanities Scholar in 1996 at the Center for Philippine Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She also taught briefly at De La Salle University where she became the Graduate Programs Coordinator and Senior Associate for Poetry at the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center at De La Salle University.

She has published five books under the pseudonym Maria Luisa A. Carino, and received eleven Palanca Awards since 1984, including its prestigious Hall of Fame distinction. She has been a recipient of numerous grants and honors, among others the 1998 George Kent Prize for Poetry (donated by the poet Gwendolyn Brooks) and the 1998 Illinois Arts Council Award.

Regarding History
by Luisa Igloria

A pair of trees on one side of the walk, leaning
now into the wind in a stance we’d call involuntary—
I can see them from the kitchen window, as I take meat
out of the oven and hold my palms above the crust, darkened
with burnt sugar. Nailed with cloves, small earth of flesh
still smoldering from its furnace. In truth I want to take it
into the garden and bury it in soil. There are times
I grow weary of coaxing music from silence, silence
from the circularity of logic, logic from the artifact.
Then, the possibilities of sunlight are less attractive
than baying at the moon. I want to take your face
in my hands, grow sweet from what it tells, tend
how it leans and turns, trellis or vine of morning-glory.
I wish for limbs pared to muscle, to climb away from
chance and all its missed appointments, its half-drunk
cups of coffee. Tell me what I’ll find, in this
early period at the beginning of a century.
Tell me what I’ll find, stumbling into a boat
and pushing off into the year’s last dark hours.

-Donna ;]

AA Poet Jessica Hagedorn

Jessica Hagedorn is a poet, playwright, storyteller, and musician. Born to a Scots-Irish-French-Filipino mother and a Spanish-Chinese-Filipino, she was born and raised in Manila, Philippines. In 1963, she moved to San Francisco to learn at the American Conservatory Theater training program. She eventually moved to New York to pursue other opportunities in playwriting and music.

One poem that caught my eye was published in her book Danger and Beauty. It was published in 2002, but it has a collection of poems that date back to the late 1960s. In particular her poem Sorcery caught my eye (and I don’t know why).

Sorcery

there are some people I know
whose beauty
is a crime.
who make you so crazy
you don't know
whether to throw yourself
at them
or kill them.
which makes
for permanent madness.
which could be
bad for you.
you better be on the lookout
for such circumstances.

stay away
from the night.
they most likely lurk
in the corners of the room
where they think
they being inconspicuous
but they so beautiful
an aura
gives them away.

stay away
form the day.
they most likely
be walking
down the street
when you least
expect it
trying to look
ordinary
but they so fine
they break your heart
by making you dream
of other possibilities.

stay away
from crazy music.
they most likely
be creating it
cuz
when you're that beautiful
you can't help
putting it out there.
everyone knows
how dangerous
that can get.

stay away
from magic shows.
especially those
involving words
words are very
tricky things.
everyone knows
words
the most common
instruments of
illusion.

they most likely
be saying them.
breathing poems
so rhythmic
you can't help
but dance.

and once
you start dancing
to words
you might never
stop.


I am far from a literary critic/interpreter, but I managed to get a feeling that she was questioning contemporary views of the times. In the first stanza, she goes on to say that there is a certain beauty that is on the border of brilliance and despair. I believe that has something to do with the way beauty has traditionally been seen. Particularly, many try to envision the western concepts that are commonly associated with beauty. In this poem, however, she speaks about a different type of beauty. One that does not fall under the same accepted standards. Those who see it for the first time are wary of the looks, but there an alluring aura around it.

As we stare longer, we begin to accept this other standard. Conformists on the other hand tell us to heed their warnings. They say that what we see is a mere illusion. They believe that we have become disenfranchised. The more we believe in our own idea, the further from their reality we get. Eventually, we fall into a sort of slipstream. In a sense, we liberate ourselves from traditional levels of thinking. Once we find our own truth, we pursue it harder, faster. Eventually it comes to a point were we no longer look back at the ideas that we were taught to accept. Instead we get caught up in our own realm; a realm where we set the rules and create our own reality.

ASIAN AMERICAN poet

novelist, poet
Born: 1956
Birthplace: Liaoning Province, China

From the age of 14 until he was 20, Jin served in the People's Liberation Army in China.

THE poems on this page were written in English by a young Chinese poet and scholar, Xuefei Jin, whose pen name is Ha Jin. He was born in Liaoling province of Manchuria in 1956, entered the Chinese People’s Liberation Army at fourteen, served somewhat more than five years as a soldier (his father was at the time a soldier) and then three years as a telegraphist for the Harbin Railroad Company. In 1978 he entered Heilongjiang University and is continuing his studies at present at Brandeis. The poems he has written since he began his studies in America deal mainly with the experience of persons in China during the Cultural Revolution– "experience," as he writes, "not strictly personal, although in most cases . . . stimulated by memory of hard facts which cannot be worn away by time."

In Ha Jin’s poems we overhear the people of China–one at a time–speak to one another in the infinite particularity of his concern or her concern and in the deep solitude of a vast nation–the People’s Republic–which constitutes a fate no one can understand or change. Nonetheless, as Ha Jin says, they are "not merely victims of history. They are also the makers of history. Without them the history of contemporary China would remain a blank page." We hear in these poems the living and the dead–vulnerable, passionate, rational, unforgiving, heartbroken, relentless, gay–speaking of the interests which constitute their humanity in an uncanny language in which English is carried up into a region of pure human authenticity–the language of no nation but the nation of the person who speaks willingly or unwillingly the truth. In the introduction to his manuscript, from which these poems are drawn, Ha Jin remarks: "If not every one of these people, who were never perfect, is worthy of our love, at least their fate deserves our attention and our memory. They should talk and be talked about.



An Older Scholar’s Advice

After you get your master’s degree
you will have to work hard for some years
to be promoted to a lectureship. Then you can relax.
Don’t think that if you go on working in that way
you can get your professorship. First,
you must have enough teaching experience.
In my school, only after having taught for 24 years
will you be qualified for consideration
as an associate professor. Second,
you must publish enough papers.
it is not hard to write them but it is not easy
to publish them. In fact, you can publish anything
if you have connections. My colleagues told me that
publication is also an important field of study.
Well, if you "study" it thoroughly
you may be able to get your papers out,
but you will have to pay a lot for it.

For me the most practical thing to do now
is not to worry about my professorship.
So many lecturers are not qualified for it
until they are qualified for retirement
or for death. I just ignore it for the time being.
In the morning I practice Tai Chi.
In the evening I watch TV and go to bed early.
I have quit smoking but drink two cups of wine
every day. Wine can warm your blood.
Don’t indulge yourself in sex.
It will weaken your young kidneys.
As long as you are in good health,
as long as you live longer than others,
eventually you will get your professorship.

You can wait for that.






Jeffrey aka Jupac

Iron Chef

We all agreed to meet at a specific time and place after school, being my house. Kim and Donna bought the ingredients and we started cooking the food immediately. geeyyyyyah!
thats how we roll!!!! Spring roll that is !!!!!
During the Iron chef midterm Mixed Persuasion made Vietnamese fusion dishes that were a blend of American and Vietnamese. It was both tasty and cool to look at lol. We made Spring Rolls with a zesty Peanut and oil+ vinegar dip that was delicious. We also made a shrimp salad that had many American flavors it was derived from. We cooked the seasoning with butter and Shrimp sauce. The preparation was awesome due to the fact it was a group effort. After the cooking we took a short break by knocking back a few drinks. geeeeeyyyaahhhhh. After that short break i took a few more breaks and knocked back a few more.GEYYYYAAAH!
Jeffrey jupac

The Fashion show was an educational experience to say the least. Our outfit was a traditional Vietnamese dress with a beautiful look and appeal. Me [jeff] Julie, and Donna bought the materials on Irving St at an Asian fabric store. The group came over to my house to complete the design and overallit was pretty good,
I hope that we can win or kinda win that would be pretty swell
so yea thats great man shhheeeyyyyyyaahhhhhh

lissen up. lissen up
man, yus musta bin pissin up
I'm the baddest rapper in this game
My lines make others go insane
They so fine
they must be mine

all you punkass wannabe rappers
wit all your fake bling bling
wacked little lines
neva seen the streets or anyfing

Shorties, youd ben beten by cops
crushed like a petal
Give me the props
or feel my metal

Yus thinks you know it all, yu lazy n fat
Keep messin' wit me 'n feel my spiked bat

( Yeah! I now know how to use google! Yeah! No offense intended + not aimed at anybody, just playin' although I'm no PLaya! )

POP goes the weasel

So today I was filled with an overcoming sense of self-determination. I was determined to blog about the POP performance since I haven’t blogged in a while. I’ve been pretty busy working on other group projects. So anyways the day started out just like every other Friday. Wake up at 7, get to work by 8:40, and stay there till 4. Unluckily for me, I forgot to bring an extra pair of clothes and shoes. It sucked walking around in work shoes for 15 hours. I managed to get to the theater by 5 PM, and I saw that the class had already started rehearsing. During the rehearsal, I was entrenched with the perception that the groups were not ready. Going into the break, I was expecting the worst but hoping for the best.

The actual performances started a bit later than planned (7:20ish). The first classes variety show was pretty good. The one film that pretty much stole the show was entitled Identity. By 8:10 PM, the initial excitement for the shows began to die down. It was further complicated by the mounds of people stacking up in the back and the lack of air conditioning. When the second class performed, it was fairly obvious that the heat was beginning to bother a lot of people. Many of their skits and featured a couple of good one liners but nothing much else to rave about. Three fourths through their performance, our class was pulled out of the auditorium and we moved towards the back of the stage.

Nearly everyone was hit with initial jitters. I could recall the dance group frantically trying to get in as much practice as they could. Additionally, Ben was running around everywhere trying to locate Irene. As the second class finished their performance, everyone in our class was psyching themselves up for the performance. As we crowded the back hallway, we suddenly hear Irene and Ben give an unexpected lyrical performance. Looking at each other in confusion and awe, the rhythm and rhyme expelled from Irene and Ben were uplifting and encouraging to our own psyche. After they finished, we did our routines with little hitch. Overall, I think we managed to pull out a pretty good job despite the minimal practice we had. Our biggest shortcoming was setting up the stage and transitioning between scenes. Although we had the biggest class, our play/skit was the shortest. By 10:30 it was all over, and we let out a collected sigh of relief and joy. After a couple weeks of worrying, it was finally over in a flash.