united. but defined.

there's always stuff that happens that i think i should blog about but i forget. this is one of them.

so maybe a month ago i was at my boyfriend's school with his fraternity brothers while they played soccer. as we walked through the campus we passed by a group of probably filipino students sitting in a cirle eatting their lunch on the grass. i'm only assuming they're filipino because they looked at me, like they thought i was someone they were expecting. maybe they were meeting up to work on a group project or something, i'm not sure. but there they were, sitting on the grass. and one of my boyfriend's frat brothers is playing with the soccer ball and says "i wonder what would happen if i just run over there and say (then he starts talking in what he thought was an asian accent) 'hi there! what are you eating today?'" i think he was trying to mimic a chinese accent. he also bowed. *rolls eyes*

i guess i got a little offended because the students on the grass were defintely not chinese. it made me think of how people generalize asians as "all the same." we are not all the same.

thinking about the pop show and our idea of unity and collaboration, i think people get the wrong idea. by united, we don't mean that we're all the same. united, yes. but defined as well. we are all different kinds of asian americans with different beliefs and experiences. we all have different opinions. we are all different. but yes, we are all asian. and i guess that's where we're united, but not generalized. we don't all have the same habits or tastes in music. we don't all eat the same food or dress the same.

my boyfriend's frat brother that made the stupid asian accent is kind of stupid anyway. so i didn't take it all that seriously. but it was something to think about.

-Donna ;)

Fashion show

So, since I'm already blogging.. I figured I might as well post another one because I forgot to address the fashion show, whoops! haha.

Anyway, I thought the fashion show went really well! I loved how everyone was so creative with their outfits and how we had people who really modeled the outfits down a makeshift runway [= It made everything feel more realistic [I don't know if that's the correct term, but I can't place my finger on the one I want to use] and a lot more fun.

First, I want to applaud Dolly [Dolene] for handmaking the entire dress that she was wearing! It was definitely something to be proud of. [= I'm glad that we had Vietnam since I already knew what the traditional costume was, it wasn't too difficult to find a picture of it so that we can make it more modern and to adapt it to something that wouldn't be uncommon in stores today. It was pretty stressful because we didn't exactly know WHAT we were gonna do.. but we work well under pressure. =D

Secondly, I want to congratulate all the groups on finishing the milestone overall! haha. I know it was a stressful week for us, so I'm sure it was for everyone else. We hadn't realized that the deadline was so close, but in the end, we still managed to come together and figure things out... sooo.. yay us! [=

--Kim [=

Interracial relationships

Hey everyone,

So it's been awhile since I've blogged.. I actually don't know when the last time was that I blogged, but that's besides the point! Anyway, I was reading Donna's blog about her relationship with her boyfriend, and it made me think of interracial relationships and how society reacts to them.

I know that most people expect people to date within their own racial groups, and I never really understood why it's something that is EXPECTED. I know that most people date within their own racial groups because it provides a sense of connection and understanding because you can relate in terms of personal backgrounds, history, and culture, so that allows you to become closer and relate on a level that someone outside of your racial group wouldn't be able to. This is how I felt with my ex-boyfriend. We were both Vietnamese, and because of that, we shared that connection about our culture and cultural history, so we had that understanding between one another. Because of that, I never felt awkward when I was with around him and his family, and it was always nice to be able to communicate with his mom in Vietnamese. An example of an interracial relationship that I've seen is between my cousin and her Caucasian boyfriend. I know often times, he feels awkward when he comes to family events because there was a language barrier, and Asian people have very different customs and ways of doing things in comparison to Caucasian people, and because of that, he never felt like he really fit in..

I also don't know why everyone expects an Asian girl to either be with an Asian guy, or a Caucasian guy. Why can't she be with an African American guy, or a Hispanic guy? I mean, yes, it's uncommon, but it's not like those relationships don't exist! I just find it interesting that Asian girls are only expected to date an Asian guy or a Caucasian guy and nothing in between. And why is it more common to see Asian girls dating outside of our race, but not Asian guys? I know there aren't too many Asian guys that date outside of the Asian race.. outside of their ethnicity, yes, that's really common, but outside of the race, no. I mean, how often do you see an Asian guy walking with a Caucasian girl? Hardly ever.. well, I don't anyway, but that's just me. I'm sure where you grew up has a lot to do with your romantic preference, so I assume that's a potential reason why...

Anyway! That's all. Sorry if it's a bit scattered! [=

--Kim [=

yes, i am asian. no, my boyfriend isn't. no, he's not white either.

some time ago i was in calculus class talking to my friend and two other people in our work group. somwhere in the conversation came up the ethnicity of the boyfriend of one of the girls in my group. she's vietnamese. she mentioned that her boyfriend is mexican and my friend reacted with "why?". he was sort of in shock that she wasn't dating an asian or white guy. in fact he asked, "you don't like dating asian guys?" to her. and i said to him, "why are you so shocked? my boyfriend is israeli. we don't always date asian guys or white guys." and he said to me, "but still. it's just unexpected."

unexpected? so it's "expected" for an asian girl to date another asian person. or even a white person. but everything else is "unexpected". talk about unexpected: my boyfriend is israeli, and jewish. probably someone you wouldn't expect to be holding hands with me walking around serramonte. but hey, we're different. i hate that the sterotype of asian-white couples is "expected" these days. i have a white ex-boyfriend. i hated how people looked at us as being the sterotype. some people even thought the only reason i liked him was because he was white.

it's pretty amazing how a simple sterotype can affect the pre-assumptions in a person's mind.

-Donna ;]

Asian American Hip Hop Artist

Amerie Mi Marie Rogers is a R&B singer, songwriter, actress and a model. She was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Her father is African American and her mother is Korean. Amerie's first language was Korean taught by her mother. When I first heard about Amerie, I thought she was African American and Chinese because her eyes. HaHa but then I realize she was Korean. I think she is soo beautiful :). My favorite song is "Touch" and "Why don't we fall in love".

Another Asian American hip hop artist is Jin. Although I must say that I'm not really a fan of his but I do not dislike him as well. Jin is a rapper, song writer and actor. He was raised in Miami Florida by this Chinese immigrant parents. Jin is the first Asian American solo rapper to be signed to a major record label. I first heard about Jin on BET free style fridays where he battles against others and in the 2 fast 2 furious movie. I am happy that he was able to make it to the top and known because you do not see many Asian American hip hot artists because some feel that they will not make it or do not have the talent and Jin was able to prove people wrong.

xoxo,
Julie Joi

ahhhh

So it's been awhile since i've blogged but since i have some free time now i mind as well do so. well i was not able to attend class during the milestone 3. what a bummer because i really wanted to see how the dress turnt out but after seeing the picture it was beautiful. good job dolly !!! anyways, i've been really irritated and annoyed lately but every little thing and everyone, i don't know if it is because school is almost over or whatever it is. it seems like all of a sudden everything needed to be donee all at the same timee and i do not know where to start first. it feels like i don't have time to do this and that and not to mention, i just got a puppy. a maltese and it's alot of work. i'm already going to school, working and now having a puppy to take care of. it's like having a child of my own literally. i havent gotten much sleeep lately because i'm constantly waking up in the middle of the night because my puppy cries and havin to clean up after him and making sure he has water and food at all times and having to do house work is not the business. i've been having a hard time focusing on my school assignments because every time i start on it seems like something distracts me or too much commotion going on around me where i cannot focus. ugh ! i just need a place of my own where i don't have to hear anyone. AH.

i wouldn't say i'm a neat freak, but i honestly dislike dirty places and people that do not clean up after themselves. i do N0T like having to clean up after people and trust me. living in a house with about 7 others is not great at all. i hate dirty bathrooms and i do not understand how hard it is to clean up after yourself and how people can live under those conditions. when my room is dirtty or the bathroom, i feel dirty myself. i always make sure that it's clean or decent enough. sorry i just had to let that out ! because it is irritating the shit out of me.

on weekends, sometimes i usually am able to sleeep in a little more then on weekends because i do not have work but noooooooo. i cannot even sleep in 3 hours more. some people just don't have respect for others. its like 8 in the morning on a damn sunday and all you hear is laughing, talking so loud, the tv on blast and little kids running around the godamn house. wtf? it's 8 in the morning what the hell are people doing up so early on a sunday?

xoxo,
Julie Joi

Eths 210 Fashion show & a little bio of some Asian American Music Artists

i thought we did pretty good for having done everything pretty much last minute. unfortunately we all have hectic lives and plenty of other priorities (not like this class isn't one) but we all have trouble juggling everything. it's really hard to get a group together to work on something. i think we pulled through in the end. i know we all had great ideas but to create a real full on outfit wasn't very possible for us at the time. had we all known how to design and create actual clothes, maybe. lol. dolly did an awesome job though with making and modeling the dress i must say. big props to dolly!

now let's transition over to asian american music artists.

asian american artists i remember: amerie (korean/ african american), jin (chinese), cassie (filipino/ mexican/ african american/ hawaiian), Apl.de.Ap of black eyed peas (filipino/ african american), chad hugo of n*e*r*d (filipino), jasmine trias (filipino/ spanish/ chinese), and then a local artist, passion (filipino).
that's as far as singing and rapping goes. but where i think asians REALLY excel is dancing. just look at the first season of "so you think you can dance". the girl who got second place was melody lacayanga, a filipino-american from (drum roll please...) daly city! and the winners of the first season of america's best dance crew, jabbawokeez, were mostly asian american as well.
asian americans are just talented. end of story. haha.

take care,

donna ;]

A bag of topics

So we were told to blog about an Asian American hip hop artist. Only Asian hip hop artist I can think of is Gin. Hes a douche. I might be wrong though, sometimes I have a hard time distinguishing between rap and hip hop. In all honesty, I don’t really listen to any independent artist in general. Additionally, most of the artists that are main stream lack a certain je ne sais quoi that makes them appealing to my tastes. The only hip hop artists that I can think of off the top of my head that have decent lyrics are Mos Def, Common, and Lupe Fiasco.

As far as the “fashion show” goes, I thought it was a fun and unique experience. As I have stated before, I have not had many classes that are group oriented. Ironically enough, this semester alone has me in three such classes, but none are as heavily group based as this. Although we struggled mightily with the concept, luckily we had plenty of talent to take care of it. Dolene (and Donna to some extent ;)) did an exceptional job making the dress in a mere two days. I could only imagine what she would be able to make if she had more time. Additionally, our resident Viet, Kim, had a great explanation for the history of the dress. Too bad we were short changed with our time.

On a side note, there has been an awful amount of violence in general. Today's Examiner talked about increased police force near the night club Whisper since the owner is throwing an all out party for its closure. I've been there once. Didn't stay long cause we got there quite late. Lately the club has been luring in all types of shady folks and the city has revoked their business licenses. Additionally, I was haplessly browsing through the statuses of friends on face book and noticed that a modest number of friends were commenting about some person’s passing as a result of gun violence. This incident made me contemplate about a previous article I read about Oakland’s festering crime problem. In a brief synopsis, the majority of major crimes (ie murder, rape, kidnapping) are correlated with the incidence of minor, petty crimes. For the most part, people are not born with malicious intent. When society general decides to turn a blind eye to these minor infractions, it sets a precedence on which larger problems could manifest. In Oakland’s case, the inhabitants of the city are no longer surprised about the violent crimes that occur there. Crime has become a facet of society. Residents are unable to attain much control due to the widespread effects it has on the city’s culture. It is already too late too weed out the problems that have catalyzed the countless atrocities endured in the city and surrounding counties. A major overhaul in all facets of infrastructure is needed to combat the uncontrollable problems that haunt the city. By taking action in one of the country’s most violent cities, we might be able to discover viable programs that can be implemented in other cities as well.

I know I’m jumping around to different topics. Going to lunch during hot days makes my brain sleepy. ( "'\(--__--)/'")