Eths 210: Asian American Culture

Ethnic Studies 210 has got to be by far the best class I have taken in my one and a half years at state. I would definitely recommend this class to other students. In the beginning, I was questioning whether or not I would like this class. I’m not the type of student that likes to put myself out there. I rather be the student hiding in the corner. When I heard that this class was not going to be like any or our typical lecture all day classes I was kind of nervous. I remember thinking to myself, “oh man, this is going to be a long semester.” I also wasn’t to please when we were told we were going to have to form groups for group presentations. I’m not too fond of group work especially if it’s with unfamiliar faces, but because we stayed in the same groups the whole semester we got comfortable with each other and go to know one another and were able to work together as a team. As weeks went by I discovered that this wasn’t going to be so bad after all. In fact it was actually a fun class. This class was actually a great class to start off the morning. Even though class started at 8 in the morning, all the interacting and ice breakers and moving around on our feet and other activities we had to do was a great way to wake us up. I am a student who learns by see and doing and that is exactly what this class did. We learned what Asian American Culture was by going out and experiencing it ourselves. Asian American Culture is all around us we experience every day by the food we eat, the places we go, and even at home. This class also taught me that we should not be afraid to be heard. We should stand up and voice our opinion, like we experienced in our midterm the ’68 strike; we should stand up for what we believe in. Though this class is not our typical math science history classes with seem pointless at times, this class is probably the only class I actually learned something in and what I learned I will remember years from now. I learned important life lessons for this class. I’m really glad I signed up for it. So thank you Irene and class for a wonderful semester. I’m sad that it had to go by so fast. It truly was a fun class. A classroom full of energy and excitement and at times an eagerness to learn; it’s been fun. I will always remember the students united will never be defeated. We started and ended big!.. or was it we started and ended with a bang! (haha I don’t remember)

POP: Producing Our Power

POP other wise known as Producing Our Power was the final for all Eths 210 classes. On the night of Monday December 8, all four Ethnic studies 210 classes came together and put on a performance at the Brava Theater on 24th and York defining what Asian American Culture meant to them. Each class had their own way of expressing Asian American Culture many forms included expressions through music, dance, skits, poetry, and video. Each class did a fantastic job. It’s not easy performing in front of an audience I know I for one am scared to perform period. But the night turned out great.

My class divided into five different categories groups: video, skit, poetry, dance, and music. Within our groups we were asked to come up with ways to put what we learned throughout the class into a way of performance. We had about a week to put this all together and yes, we can complain and say we should have don’t this, we could have done that if we had more time to prepare, but I think with the little time we had we still put on an excellent show.

Many parts of our performance did not go the way we would have wished. We can complain all we want about how the lighting was not how we wanted it, the microphones were not loud enough, or all the technology stuff was not working for us, but if you think about it. People aren’t going to remember the things that went wrong in our performances, they’re going to remember the message we gave through our performances.

POP was an excellent way to wrap up the semester. The traditional way to see if students learned anything throughout the semester is by putting pen to paper and giving them an exam. But honestly, I feel that exams don’t prove anything at all. I am the absolute worst at taking test. I understand the material and everything but when it comes to test I just can not do it. I am just a bad test taker. That is why I really enjoyed POP. Yes, I said I don’t like performing, but I felt that this was truly a way to show what we learned and comprehended throughout the semester. This was a way to show, express, and voice our opinion and to be heard by others and that is exactly what this class thought us. This final was definitely an impacting one. I say it really left a mark for Eths 210 classes and teachers. If I wasn’t in Eths 210, I know I would be jealous of the students who were and have wished I was in it one of the classes after watching POP.

Asian American Culture Groups

This assignment was actually one of the very fist assignments but I will write about it now. (Haha) One of our first group presentations was our Asian American culture group project. Each group was assigned an Asian American culture group; Filipino American, Chinese American, Japanese American, Vietnamese American, Korean American, or Cambodian American. My group was assigned Vietnamese American. Our assignment as a group was to research the hot spots in town finding out where they are located in the city, or what kind of food they eat, their big holidays, and other interesting facts. Our group decided to divide this task into parts because our schedules did not allow us to meet up with one another. My part was to research where the Vietnamese Americans were located in the city. This is what I found out…

The Vietnamese American society is called Little Saigon, the name refer to the
capital of former south Vietnam, it is located in the Tenderloin district on
Larkin Street between Eddy and O’Farrell, about 250 Vietnamese American
owned businesses such as tailors, doctors, dentist, travel agents, jeweler,
restaurants, acupuncturists and more work there. And there are two other
little Saigon in California, one in San Jose and one in the orange county.

I have never been to Little Saigon, but I do plan on visiting one day. I love Vietnamese food, especially pho, and what better place to get a nice delicious bowl of pho than Vietnamese town? Last summer, my family actually tried looking for the little Saigon down in Orange County but we had no luck. Our family friend told us there was great Vietnamese food over there but we were unable to find it. Maybe next time!

This assignment helped me learn a lot of interesting fact about the different Asian American culture groups. Honestly, I knew very little about the different AA culture groups but after this presentation I was able to gather a few key details about each group. After presentations were over, Irene had us play a game/do any activity where each group had a minute or two to name as many facts and details they could about the different Asian American culture groups and the winner received a prize. This was to see what we learned and also a test to see who was paying attention or not. I don't know about you, but I do not work well under pressure, so everything that was in my head to begin with suddenly slips out. But nevertheless it was a fun and exciting game/activity and it helps us learn from one another and refreshes our memory about the different cultures.

A Taste of Home

What home taste like to me…I can name a lot of things I love to eat but I guess three things I can not live without...grandma’s and or mother’s homemade soup, white rice, and instant noodles. Of course, like I said there is a lot more I can eat and love to eat, but I can live off of these dishes anyday! As I grew up there was nothing more filling than having a bowl of soup with rice for dinner, it always hit the spot. And though we drink soup every day (because it’s supposed to be good for our health or something about cleaning out our system or some soups are supposed to help with acne problems and the list goes on for how healthy soup is…) I can never get tired of soup. I love soup! Its one of the only dishes I like and enjoy during Chinese dinner gatherings. White rice is another favorite of mine; sometimes I eat white rice by itself. I remember when I was younger I had a contest with my aunt to see who could eat the most bowls of white rice, and I won because it got too plain for her (haha) but yes, I love white rice. And lastly instant noodle, I cannot live without it. Instant noodle was always a delicious snack and for me and it was always a welcome home meal. Nothing yells home like a bowl of instant noodles. Everytime, when I went away on a trip for more than a day or two; I would always crave an instant noodle and mother knew I always did too. So, once I got home from my trip she didn’t even need to ask me what I wanted to eat. She could already predict it and she would prepare a nice comforting bowl of noodles for me to eat. That was plenty more than I could ask for. Instant noodle is actually a comfort food for my whole family. During thanksgiving break, my family headed down to Los Angeles for the weekend. We spent two days eating amusement park food we couldn’t eat another bite. For dinner that night, we actually stopped by 7-11 to pick up some cup noodles which is the next best thing to instant noodles. It was so satisfying I couldn’t ask for anything better. Healthy or not it hit home for all of us.

You Speak Chinese?

“My attention turns to the young white man with blue eyes and short-cropped hair
in the ubiquitous blue jeans and sweatshirt. I say, "You speak Cantonese
beautifully. Where did you learn it?" –Nellie Wong, Wintry Interlude

The other day, on my way home from school, I overheard a conversation. This conversation was like any other conversation except it was spoken all in Cantonese. I look around the bus quickly glancing over to see who was talking and to my surprise the conversation was between a Chinese woman and a Caucasian man. Being born and growing up in an Asian neighborhood when it comes to languages I forget that the world is not black and white. There is no rule saying if you’re this race you should speak this language and if you’re that race you should speak that language. We’re in America now and in this culture we are a mix of different ethnic cultures. We like to learn and experience different cultures and there is nothing wrong with that. We should be opening minded and we are. We are open to learning about different ethnic groups. I guess what surprised me was not the fact that he was a Caucasian man speaking Cantonese, but the fact that his Cantonese was a lot better than mine! I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be better than mine, but I guess I was kind of jealous (haha). It turned out that this man was actually a Chinese teacher and the woman he was talking to was one of his students. This incident reminded me of a quote from the poem Wintry Interlude by Nellie Wong because she also encountered a white man speaking Cantonese. It makes me wonder where he learned his Chinese from and how he speaks so perfectly because I know my Cantonese is not good at all and going to Chinese school did not help.

Thinking back on this situation this shouldn’t be foreign to me because a number of people speak different languages. I myself took German and Spanish for a foreign language class and I’m neither of them. For a couple summers now I go down to Mexico and try to speak Spanish. The Mexicans there probably have the same reactions I had when they hear and see a Chinese girl speak Spanish. So this shouldn’t be a surprised to me at all. I think it just caught me off guard as it would to anyone when they see or hear someone of another race speak their native tongue.

Free? Don't Mind If I Do!

Freebees, who doesn’t love free things? I remember on the first week of my Asian American Culture class, we were asked to list out stereotypes of Asian Americans. One of the stereotypes listed is Asians being cheap or another thing I hear people say when they are refering to cheap is "being Asian". For example, "I'm going to be Asian and take a lot of napkins." Many come to conclusion that Asians are cheap because like i said asians like to take a lot. For instanst, at fast food restaurants liek i said they take more napkins than they need or any free thing they can get their hands on they take more than one. I confess I am guilty of this act myself, but in a way I think it’s a smart thing to do. Napkins alway come in handy! You never know when you're going to need one. and if they don't want you to take them then why put things out there for people to take? And if they are free why just limit yourself to one?

Over Thanksgiving break I went with my grandparents to the 2008 Auto Show in downtown, and at the auto show place there were free bags for people to take a fill up with brochures and other knick knacks. My grandmother tells me to go get a bag for her so she can hold her jacket. After returning with one bag, she tells me to go back and get her a few more so she can bring them home and use them to hold groceries. The whole time I was thinking, this is where I learned it from! I learned how to take advantage of free stuff from grandma! Everytime I go to a big event I always go for the free stuff and not only do I take one of everything, but I take a handful more!

Like I said, if you leave it out in the open that means you want people to take it. And if it doesn’t have a take only one sign then that just means take as much as you please and believe me I will. I see this as not being cheap, but taking advantage of what they offer. My favorite freebees are t-shirts, bags, and pens! I love free t-shirts. They’re good for workout close, pajama shirts, or just shirts that I don’t mind getting dirty. Bags are always useful for anything; groceries, book bags, or whatever else needs to be carried. And pens! I could honestly say that I have enough free pens to last me couple semester of school. I may sound cheap because these are all free stuff, but I just think of it as being smart and taking advantage of what is being offered in front of me.(haha)

Panda Express

Asian or not, Panda Express seems to be the most popular Chinese food place. As we learned from the food unit in our Asian American Culture class, Panda Express is 90% Americanize, maybe that’s why everyone likes it so much. It’s Chinese food with an American twist to it. At Stonestown, Panda Express always seems to have the longest line. But why? Can it be because it’s cheap? because its fast? Or perhaps is it because Panda Express’ food is really that good.

I went to Los Angeles last weekend and my family and I went to each lunch at a Café place in Universal Studios. This café served a variety of food items such as fried chicken, panda express, pizza, hot dogs, and others. As I waited in line, I looked around to see what kind of food people were eating and I saw a lot of people eating Panda Express; majority of which were not Asian. I guess everyone was just in a Chinese food mood that day. After I got my food and sat down, one lady even stopped to ask me where I got my Chinese food. And shortly after we ran and got her whole family and went to go get some.

Another time a friend was telling me how he brought some panda express and gave some to his Mexican friend and that friend fell in loved with it. Better than any imitation Chinese food they have down in Mexico. When his friend came to visit from Mexico, the one place he requested to eat at before he left was Panda Express. The friend tried other Chinese restaurants before, but his favorite is still Panda Express. Again, perhaps its because Panda Express is made to acquire the American taste.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against Panda Express food, but at the same time I don’t see what the craze about Panda Express is either. But then again, I guess I can’t really say much because I’m not really a big fan on Chinese food either. I’ll eat it, but it’s not very appetizing to me partly because I eat it too much. But it’s just a question that’s being floating around in my mind, what’s so good about Panda Express?

Poem by Nellie Wong

Mama, Come Back Mama, come back. Why did you leave now that I am learning you? The landlady next door how she apologizes for my rough brown skin to her tenant from Hong Kong as if I were her daughter, as if she were you. How do I say I miss you your scolding your presence your roast loin of pork more succulent, more tender than any hotel chef's? The fur coat you wanted making you look like a polar bear and the mink-trimmed coat I once surprised you on Christmas morning. Mama, how you said "importment" for important, your gold tooth flashing an insecurity you dared not bare, wanting recognition simply as eating noodles and riding in a motor car to the supermarket the movie theater adorned in your gold and jade as if all your jewelry confirmed your identity a Chinese woman in America. How you said "you better" always your last words glazed through your dark eyes following me fast as you could one November evening in New York City how I thought "Hello, Dolly!" showed you an America you never saw. How your fear of being alone kept me dutiful in body resentful in mind. How my fear of being single kept me from moving out. How I begged your forgiveness after that one big fight how I wasn't wrong but needed you to love me as warmly as you hugged stranger

You don’t realize how much you love someone until that person is gone from your life. You don’t realize how much you take someone for granted until the day they are gone. You don’t realize how much you miss someone until the day you realize they are never coming back. And this is all very true. We are so into our own lives and our own interest that we take people around us for granted. We boss people around for our own pleasing. We say things to people we don’t really mean. We get mad at people when things don’t go our way, but its not until they day that person has left our lives that we realize what a terrible friend or family member we are. But usually by then it’s too late. We want to take things back but we can’t. We want to apologize but we can’t. We want to see them one last time to tell them we love them, but again we can’t. A lot of times, I know I can say so for myself, we are blinded by our own interest that we don’t see how much of an impact others are in our lives. We don’t realize that by our selfish acts we push the most important people in out lives away. And we finally do realize it. It is too late. So, by thankful for those around you don’t go anything you’ll regret later. Tell those you love how much you love them and how thankful you are for them before it’s too late.

I found this poem really inspiring. And it just makes me think about how much my mother has done for me and yet I fail to thank her. I can’t even imagine how my left would be if my mother was gone. This poem actually reminded me of a poem I wrote for my great grandmother when she left us. Just acknowledging and realizing how much she impacted my life and just not being able to thank her for everything. It just reminds me that life is too short. Live life to the fullest and again to just remember to tell those you love you love them and how thankful you are for them to be apart of your life.

Poet: Bio of Nellie Wong

On September 12 1934, Nellie Wong was born in Oakland, California to Chinese immigrants. During World War II, the internment of her Japanese American neighbors left a huge impact in her life. It brought to her attention the issues of racism and the concerns of Asian Americans. In her mid-30’s, Nellie began studying creative writing at San Francisco State University. She was inspired by her feminist classmate who encouraged her to write ad publish her poetry. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Nellie co-founded the Asian American feminist literary and performance group “Unbound Feet”. She traveled to China on the first U.S. Women Writers Tour and was also a speaker for many national and regional conferences. She has taught Women’s studies at the University of Minnesota and poetry writing at Mills College in Oakland, California. Now, she is currently residing in San Francisco, California.

I wasn't able to get a book of her poetries, but I was able to find a couple of her pieces online that I can work with. I'm excited to read her work and hear what she has to say about being a female Asian American living in California.

I decided to pick Nellie Wong as my poet because in some ways she reminds me of myself so i figured perhaps I would be able to relate to some of her writings. As I was reading her poems, one of her poems was about her going into a Chinese Bakery and encountering a white man speaking Cantonese. The way she responded to him is exactly how I would have reacted. Her poems also reminded me of the book The Dim Sum of All Things by Kim Wong Keltner which I really enjoyed reading so I figured I would enjoy Nellie’s writing too. Another reason I picked her was because she went to SFSU which I found really surprising. It's not everyday where you find out you went to the same school as a writer or any other famous person.

Cultural invASIAN

For my Asian American Culture class, our midterm assignment was to commemorate the Third World Liberation Strike of 1968. Our class was split into four groups: fashion, poetry, skits, and visual and performing arts. My group, just so sick girls, combined with the Warriors and was in charge of the poetry section. We had a rough start, but in the end it all worked out. Our group decided to wake up early Thursday morning on October 30, 2008, and arrive on campus at 7am to “bomb” the school with poetry. We split into pairs and each pair was assigned to a building where they would write a poem or a quote from the 1968 Strike on the chalk board/white boards. To be honest, I wasn’t too excited about waking up early to write on boards but, as we went from classroom to classroom it turned out to be pretty fun. The sky was still dark and the classrooms were pitched black, it felt like we were breaking and entering. The anxiety of getting caught made this assignment exciting. I paired up with Sharon and we were in charge of the Business building. We hit up all the classrooms on the first floor and most of the classrooms on the second floor. On each board we wrote

Remember the strike!

Testament For My Students
"They're no different then the administration of this college,
which want to keep education for the select few."

- Kay Boyle

(student panel)
AAS: 40 Years of Struggle & Survival @ GYM 114 12PM Friday October 31st.

TWLF '68

Before heading back to class, we went back to one of the classrooms to try to get a video recorded reaction of someone who read our writing. We encountered one guy who read it, but he didn’t give us much of a response. We asked him what he thought of it and his response was “it was … interesting.”

I can read about the Third World Liberation Strike of 1968 over and over again. I can watch the video “On Strike” over and over again. I can listen to people talking about the 1968 strike over and over again, but honestly, I’m not the best at paying attention to these issues unless I am involved in it. I found this midterm to be very powerful. We all heard the saying “actions speak louder than words” which is completely true. Like I said I could read, watch, and listen to people talk about the strike over and over again, but nothing speaks louder to me than being apart of it. It may have not been the real strike but commemorating the strike of 68 by reenacting it, or taking excerpts from writings and sharing them helped me grasp an idea of what when down during the strike. Every little action we took whether it be from the skits group, the visual group, the fashion group, or the poetry group, helped the audience remember that because of the strike we now have ethnic study classes. We now have a College of Ethnic Studies, in fact, we are the only University to have a College of Ethnic Studies and it is all because of the people we stood up and fought. So now… in the year 2008… IT’S OUR TURN TO FIGHT!

Book Review: The Dim Sum of All Things

The Dim Sum of All Things by Kim Wong Keltner is a novel that touched upon themes such as Asian/Asian American Culture, stereotypes, cultural/ ethnic/ generation identity, and interracial dating. The main character, Lindsey Owyang, a typical Chinese American, struggled to define herself as an Asian American. I personally enjoyed reading this book because a lot of the themes Keltner wrote about were relatable to my own life. I could picture myself in Lindsey's Owyang's shoes experiencing the life she described and understanding exactly how she felt about it. This novel is humorous, easy to read, and personal. It was helpful that the setting of this book was placed in San Francisco because as Lindsey described the places she traveled to; it gave me a clear picture that brought this novel to life.

As an American born Chinese, I lived a life similar to Lindsey. Growing up, I was raised by my grandparents. I ate my grandmother's cooking every evening, my grandparents took care of me when I was sick, I walked the streets of Chinatown to buy groceries, and watched my grandmother play mahjong. As I was reading, Lindsey and I encountered many of the same experiences. When Lindsey was heading out of the house, her grandma, Pau Pau, would complain about the clothes she was wearing. I remember many times when my grandma always told me to wear more layers because it was cold outside. It didn’t matter if it was 80 degrees out or 50, it was never enough. Or when Lindsey ran around the house spraying air freshener so the house wouldn’t have a weird Chinese scent, I remember I would spray something on my clothes because I was paranoid that it smelled like moth balls or some other weird smell. One scene that got me nodding my head thinking “Yeah! That’s totally what I do,” was the scene of the Chinese banquet where Lindsey’s brother, Kevin, showed off his Chinese speaking skills by adding Chinese words in his sentences. “Chinglish” is what it’s called when Chinese and English words are mixed together in a sentence. I was speaking “chinglish” to my mother one time and she had a confused look on her face and said to me, “Are you speaking Chinese or English?” Other than being able to relate to Lindsey, I liked how Keltner explored the theme of interracial dating. It shows how in our generation today, interracial dating is not a big deal. It shows that as time changes, so does our view in relationships. However, many are still skeptical about telling their parents because in their generation there was no such thing as interracial dating. It was like a forbidden law and if you disobeyed you were frowned upon.

One thing the novel could have been without was the love story between Lindsey and Michael Cartier. Perhaps it was please in the novel to illustrate the theme of interracial dating, but this love story was not an important part of the novel. I also thought that some characters could have been left out of the novel such as Steve D. I honestly did not see his purpose besides his role of fulfilling Lindsey’s theory about the hoarder of all things Asian.

This novel by Kim Wong Keltner is more than just a novel. It is a life experience that I, and probably many Asian Americans, can relate to.

Kaiser Permanente San Francisco International Dragon Boat Frestival

This past weekend, on October 4 & 5, I participated in the 13th Annual Kaiser Permanente San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival held at Treasure Island! It was a long and tiring weekend waking up at 6 in the morning and leaving at 4 in the afternoon on both days, but none the less a fun and eventful weekend filled with racing, watching cultural performances, eating, sleeping, and other fun activities! In this two day event, over 100 dragon boat teams and 3,000 dragon boat paddlers from across North America came out to Treasure Island to race the 500 and 300 meter course.

You're probably wondering, what is dragon boat? Dragon boat originated in China over 2,300 years ago and is now one of the fastest growing sports in the world. I have been dragon boating for almost four years now and this is a sport that really depends on teamwork. It is the key to succeeding in this sport. There are 20 paddlers in a boat, ten on each side, and each and every paddlers should be in time with the paddler in front, behind, and next to them, so if someone was watching from the side line it should look like one big paddle going in and out of the water at the exact same time. As I stated above, the race course is either 500 or 300 meters, and yes it sounds like a long course, but once your adrenaline starts pumping at the start line and once you start paddling you just have the urge to keep going until you reach the finish line. It doesn't even feel like 500 meters!

Other than racing or watching the races, there was many forms of entertainment. For those who wanted to sit and relax, cultural performances were being performed on stages which included Chinese Acrobatics, Lion Dancing, Filipino Folk Dace, Taiko Drumming, Hawaiian/Tahitian Dance and much more. For children, there was a children's area called "Dragon Land" were arts and crafts were made. Or, for everyone, there were a number of food vendors and community booths advertising and handing out free stuff!

Not to be stereotypical, but it's true and I do it too. When there is free stuff being handed out most of the people in line are Chinese people. Chinese are known for being cheap because we do any to get free stuff even if it means waiting in line for hours... if its free it doesn't matter what it is we get it! There were endless lines of Chinese people trying to get all the free stuff they could. And I am proud to say that I was one of them. Fourteen free pens, a free car visor, a free nalgene bottle, a free draw string bag, a free tote bag, I could go on and on, but that is what I did during my down time between races. It helped make time go by faster. :)

Over all, despite waking up at 6 in the morning, I had an eventful and cultural day. Usually, I don't pay attention the the Cultural performances, but this year, thinking about my Asian American Culture class, I actually watched a few performances and experienced the different kinds of Asian American Culture out there especially how the style of dance in each culture is expressed differently. I can't wait till next year!

APAture 2008; Laugh On

On Tuesday Night, I went to Laugh On one of APAture’s 10 day events on Capp Street. I've never been to a comedy show, so honestly, I didn't know what to expect from it. The beginning of the night was a bit slow, after the first performance I wasn’t too impressed. The jokes the first performer made were not appealing to me. To be honest, they actually made me feel a bit uncomfortable for many of the jokes he made were sexual jokes. I was afraid the whole night was going to be like this, but the next performance was better than the first. The next performance was a group performance. They did an improv based on information they collected from an audience member. This performance caught my attention because Irene had told us that we were going to do an improv performance in class based on the information we read in our hyphen magazines and the whole time I was thinking… how on earth do they do it? There is no way I could ever pull something like that off. Performing in front of a class is hard enough, but to improv a performance… we’ll see how that goes. But seriously, I give them props for begin able to perform like that because it is something I definitely can not do. The next act was from a half Vietnamese half Jewish guy. This guy got the audience on the edge of their seats wanting to hear more. And the last performer, an Indian guy, just took the night away.

It’s sad but true, that most of the jokes that we find funny are stereotypical or racist jokes. It’s only funny because most of what we joke about is true. By laughing about it, it does not necessarily mean that we agree with it, but its reality and it is happening in our lives today. By making a joke about the issue doesn’t mean that we don’t care about it either, it just makes us realize that if we all understand the joke and understand the meaning behind the joke why don’t we do something about the issue?

I really enjoyed the last two performances; their jokes were incorporated into Asian American culture that we are well aware of. We laugh because we know it’s true.

Move Out of the Way!

Have you ever driven through Irving Street (upper Irving and/or lower Irving) on a Sunday afternoon? Well, if you haven't you don't want to start! Irving is always crowded in general, but for some reason Irving is especially crowded on Sunday afternoons. Why is that? I guess everyone has the same idea that on Sundays, Irving is the hot spot for lunch.

Today, a couple of my friends and I were looking forward to eating some cheap Japanese food at KiKi's located on 9th and Irving (if you’re looking for a high class Japanese cuisine, this is not the place for you! But there is a good Japanese restaurant right next door called Ebisu. KiKi’s is like a fast food Japanese restaurant if you ask me). However, plans quickly changed as we arrived on Irving. It was so crowded we didn't even try to look for parking because it was almost impossible to find any. Everybody was doubling parking or circling blocks competing for spots it would be a waste of time trying. We decided to try to find a place on lower Irving instead, but as we got closer we saw that it would be impossible to drive through there as well. Finally, we settled for Noriega Teriyaki and found parking right away. What is it about Irving Street that causes traffic to be bumper to bumper when all the other streets have no cars?

Another question I’ve always wondered was… Is it really necessary to charge for a bowl of soup? So as we were eating at Noriega Teriyaki, we ordered a meal for three people, but we had four people total, so we asked for an extra bowl of rice and soup. I understand that the price for rice is rising, so charging for rice is understandable, but for soup too? If you compare a Chinese and Japanese restaurant, the Chinese restaurant usually serves a bowl of soup per person; however, in a Japanese restaurant, miso soup is only included with a certain meal and if you ask for an extra bowl of soup it cost a little over a dollar. It’s a small bowl of soup, is it really necessary to charge so much let alone anything at all for a bowl of flavored water? You’re probably thinking; if it’s just a bowl of ‘flavored water’ then why get it? Well, I love soup, but I just find it ridiculous how much they could charge for it.

Letter to Hyphen Magazine

Dear Harry Mok,

As I read your article about "Commercial Success," your first two sentences explained it all "Something Odd has been happening... Asian Americans in commercials" and it is something I noticed too. Honestly, what are the odds of seeing an Asian American on television? I would say very slim, but I too noticed that slowly more and more Asian Americans are in commercials or bill board ads. I rarely watch commercials. When they come on I usually start channel surfing, but I remember one day when the Home Depot commercial about getting new cabinets aired I couldn't help but watch it. I remember saying to my sister, "hey look, Asians and not only one, but three of them!" It caught me by surprise that an Asian American family was actually on TV and for once it was not about "kung-fu fighter or garden-variety geisha girl." After reading this article, I had the urge to watch television to count the number of commercials with Asian Americans. It makes me wonder why the sudden change? Does allowing Asian American to be in commercials stand for a sign of acceptance into society? What message is being portrayed by having Asians Americans in TV ads? We won't know, but as it says at the end of your article " perhaps one day we will reach a point when Asian Americans on the tube will have become so common that we won't even care." I would like to see that day come.

Jaimie Lui
San Francisco, CA
ETHS 210