Prompt 18

My first impression of Chinese views on American society was that they laugh at us. China is extremely versatile in their economics as culture. History and politics has a large place in society but China might think that America gives too much leniency to their citizens. For example, America allows guns for protection in the home when China forbides firearms of any kind. This can be viewed by the Chinese as a violation of the right to stay alive and have a society without fear. The Chinese government is very strict in their laws and on their people. With so many citizens that is the type of governement that is needed. The government seems to think that peace comes from structure, whereas in America peace comes from diversity.

Prompt 17

Two generalizations that I feel express the basic lessons in "Yellow-Girls" are first, the idea of natural born Chinamen that American born Chinese person's are not equal and second, the urge of American born Chinamen to be accepted by their fellow man. We, as humans, are born with compassion and from these generalizations, we must learn that people are all different and yet equal, no matter who they are or where they were born. For example, "It was there in the train station in Tainan that I realized that I was a foreigner everywhere I went, no matter how fluent I was in English or how un-American my facial features were." Meggy Wang said this in her essay, The Train, and I believe that everyone feels this if they are multicultural. I think the way these girls feel should be open to everyone so that maybe when we run into a multicultural person we wont push them out of a place they might belong even though they don't look like they belong in a part of a certain culture. For example a Chinese American has a Chinese culture and can be apart of it their whole lives, but still want to be a part of the culture that we as American's from time to time call our own and hesitate to let others into.

Prompt 16

When we went to the restaurant in Chinatown, we had an amazing meal! The food was prepared with care and love. There was so much food that we had to take it home or give it away! I ordered something safe and easy, something I knew that I could eat. However, when the food was brought out I tried it all. First I tried the hot and sour soup. It was really good and not too spicy at all. The menu was in both chinese and english, and for things that I did not know about, the waitress was very helpful in describing what I would be eating. The dumplings and pancakes were served first and most everyone gobbled them up.
I think having a meal out in a place that I have never was an extreme culture shock. It helped me to understand a little how eating and interacting in another country and culture would be different and strange, but knowledge baring at the same time.

Prompt 15

Chinatown in Honolulu is a self-contained community because there are homes, businesses and everything someone would need to live without ever leaving. Chinatown is a place of culture within the Hawaiian culture where the residents live, work, worship, and survive. I saw many tourists and people just passing through. I also saw businesses that catered mainly to the residents of Chinatown and not tourisits. There were banks, religious sites, churches, and there might have been a school. I think Chinatown is neccesary to the people who are from China or other similar cultures who need to have some connections with their home. However, Chinatown is neccesary so that others can learn about the culture who might not have the opportunity to go and learn in China. Chinatown contributes to the people by being there for learning opportunities and a place to go to feel like they are at home. The major implication of a Chinatown could be considered as the people who live there are cutoff from life and the culture around them. These people are so stuck in their way of life that they do not want to assimilate into what America considers "American Culture." This dynamic has changed over time because they welcome visitors but only leave if they have to. But in general the people who live in Chinatown work in Chinatown and are happy to accept tourists but generally do not want to leave what they know.

Prompt 14

In the movie, To Live, filial piety is not shown to be very important. Fugui does not respect his father nor the legacy he has built for him. Fugui gambles it all away without respect to his father, finally making himself and his family homeless as well as causing his father's heart attack. Harmony within a family is shown to be fleeting. When it is found it is usually pushed away or shattered by tragedy or stubborness. Fugui knows that hardwork will pay off in the end and lead to self-cultivation so after the war he works hard to provide for his family. At the time the movie is set in, survival is the philosophy of life. Fugui and his wife, Jiazhen fight and survive for their lives even though they do not believe in the Party's cause. At this time in history I believe that the philosophy of life was survival. I think everything can be related to the idea of yin and yang including survival. This philosophy is the same throughout the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The family will say and do anything to stay together and stay alive.

Prompt 13

The reason Nobody can be no body and no thing at the same time might be contirbuted to a state of life. Someone who is dead will not have a body, and will be no thing, just a figment long past. The term could mean that the writer is dead and no longer exists, or that he is just a wanderer, a man of no name and no home. The double meaning of the boys hand turning white and the falling snow is death. Cold means death while warmth means life. The skin pales and loses pigmentation in death, just as the snow and cold kill nature. These Haiku represent the core values of Japanese Aesthetics by showing naturalness in the words, opening to take one moment of time and describing it in very few words. It shows Perishability because they know the seasons and how they end and give life, and finally the haiku show sensitivity with the compassion they show to the value of life.

Prompt 12

Japanese aesthetics are inseparable from religious views because of the way they view nature. Their art shows the love of nature and in religion with the respect of nature. The art of Japanese aesthetics is seen in not only their gardens but in their heikus, ikebana, tea and calligraphy. While we were at the Buddhist Temple and the Shinto Temple, I noticed that the structures were not put together with nails or glue. They are molded together by the cut of the wood as if they were meant to be together. The respect paid to the wood by the craftsmen is seen as a sign of reverence not only to the gifts of nature but settled there in the heart of nature. The rock garden was kept clean and unobstructed by anything. The things I saw at these religious places had many sites to support the fact that Japanese aesthetics and religion are inseparable. In Christianity, people view their ancestors as gone and in Heaven, unable to take care of them. In Shinto, the Japanese believe that their ancestors can help them at anytime. In American religions and day to day life, ancestors are not given a special place unless it means going to place flowers on a marker. Japanese persons keep things in their homes to remind them of their ancestors even going so far as to set a plate of food for them at the dinner table and leave a chair open for them.