messing around with the blog

so i was trying to make our blog pretty again. now i dont know how to put our picture back on the sidebar. and the info is missing too. ehhhh i tried. lol. i wanted to actually blog about a real issue or something, but i can't think at the moment. just to sleepy. i'll see what i can think of to blog tomorrow. night everyone!

-Donna ;]

Jin the MC THE FAKE JUPAC

Jin was born Jin Au-Yeung on June 4, 1982 in Miami, Florida.[4] He was raised in Miami by his Chinese immigrant parents who ran their own restaurant. In junior high, he became fascinated with hip hop music and dreamed of becoming a professional rapper. He was inspired by artists such as Tupac, Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, The Notorious B.I.G., LL Cool J, Big L and other well-known rappers from the early 1990s. When first taking up rapping, he struggled with the form of music but with much practice he realized he had a talent for freestyle rap. He soon began performing for his classmates, co-workers and whoever would listen. Jin began entering freestyle battles in local hip-hop clubs where he was usually the only Asian around.In 2001, he decided to move his family to Flushing, Queens, New York City. He began performing freestyles and selling his own mix tapes on the streets, in hip-hop clubs and wherever else possible. He quickly gained a huge following, just as he had done in Miami. His big break came when the BET program 106 & Park began inviting local rappers to hold battles in a segment known as Freestyle Friday. Ready for the national exposure, he auditioned and again was underestimated due to his ethnic background. Although he lost to Diabolic, he kept his head and proved everyone wrong by winning the battles week after week. His first battle was against Hasan, who had six straight victories and was one victory away from being inducted into the hall of fame. Jin began the competition by delivering strong rhymes during his round. Hasan countered during his thirty second round with rhymes; however, with ten seconds left in the battle, Hasan lost his focus and was unable to deliver any more lyrics and stopped his performance. Jin was then declared the new champion. After winning for seven weeks straight, Jin was inducted into the show's Hall of Fame.
NOW THAT'S GANGSTA!!!!!!
JEFFREY

POP!

i'm so glad pop is over. and i'm glad it all pulled through in the end. kind of like how our midterm was. i was just a bit irritated how the other classes took so freaking long to do their performances. kinda messed up that they took up most of the time and left us with a tired, sleepy crowd.

i think our class had lots of great ideas for our show. i'm sure there were plenty more ideas but just not enough time to incorporate them all.

i think this semester has been quite memorable in all of my classes, but especially eths 210. i made new friends and new memories. i think our group had its ups and downs but overall, i'm glad i got to work with the people in my group. i can honestly say i like each and every one of them. (and to be honest, that doesn't usually happen... hahaha)

so although we didn't win every group challenge, didn't always all show up to class, and weren't always able to meet up for projects and such, i still love everyone in mixed persuasian and our group will be one of the most memorable ones i'm sure.

and i STILL think we should have won the iron chef challenge. seriously. haha.
-Donna ;]

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