At LACMA I really enjoyed the Korean exhibit. I was enamored by the panels and how beautifully decorated they were. I especially liked the one that was placed behind the emperor. That one panel had so much symbolism representing the beliefs and practices of the Chosun people.

While the docent was rushing through the explanation of the Japanese soldier statue, I was formulating an opening visual discovery activity in which I could place pictures of an upper class Heian-kyo man pre-12th century next to a picture of a samurai (or even of that particular soldier) and ask my students to compare them, then speculate about what historical developments might have led to the changing ideal of the Japanese man. Pursuant to Rich's point about the kimonos, I also appreciated the brief discussion of how kimonos changed in the 19th century to reflect the new need for female garments allowing for travel, work, and other modern activities. This could really beef up my discussion of how gender roles developed differently in Japan than in any other culture we'll cover during our study of medieval history, with a visual (or maybe even hands-on) component to appeal to a wider range of learning styles.

I really enjoyed the Japanese exhibit, even though we had to rush through it due to the time crunch. The kimonos were beautiful as many people have already stated. I was surprised to learn that the warloads would wear polka-dot kimonos as I don't find the idea of polka-dots very threatening. But it goes to show us how ideas of feminine versus masculine was very different in our past. Although I recall reading somewhere that pink used to be considered a very masculine color as it was thought of being strong and bright while blues were considered soft and gentle like women. But again our society believes pink is for girls (although it is making a comeback for boys), and blue is for men. I think this whole idea of masculine clothing versus feminine clothing would be fun with middle school.

The tour guide for the Korean exhibit was so sweet, and you could tell she really loves her job. I found looking into the rooms of the women and men in the Korean society to be interesting. Some people were commenting how they couldn't imagine living in such a small space, or having so few belongings. And as a teacher, a few of us noted how small the man's desk was and how we could never make that work! The paintings were also very amazing as they incorporated Buddhist concepts into their ideals. The idea of the god-like figures (I don't recall what she called them) that they would basically pray to in order to protect their ancestors from going to Hell instead of Heaven. That is a concept that I know many of our kids can relate to as there is a very wide knowledge (no matter what religion they practice) of the idea of Heaven and Hell. I'm curoius though whether or not it was acceptable to practice Buddhism still or if these paintings became "unpopular" or basically "illegal" at any time?

I just loved the japanese art and kimono exhibit! It was amazing the patterns of the different kimonos and how modern these patterns looked. They were all so beautiful! Took a great picutre of the samurai amour and the statue of the ferocious samurai! I got a great close up of the threatening look of his face. My students are going to love this! Great for the 7th grade curriculum. I was amazed by the prints of the japanese women by Watanabe that depicted these women in different seasons with the various kimonos they were wearing. Just stiking! WOW!

I don't know what caused Linda to mention it, but the film A Taxing Woman is outstanding. Imagine making a film with an IRS agent as a hero? The female lead is the wife of the director and a great comedic actress. The film has a jazzy soundtrack that I like, but students don't. It involves cracking down on a gangsters unreported income, but leads to an interesting friendship. Check it out.

Before I write about the museum, I want to mention the ride on the bus to the museum. One of the reasons I wanted to take the seminar was to gain some sort of insight as to the language problems with Chinese and Asian-American English learners. Oddly enough, a conversation that I had with Ana on the bus shed a key light on one of the major struggles-that being the conjugation of verbs and use of our verb tenses. Ana explained this huge difference in the way the Chinese indicate verb tenses and now I completely understand why this area is so confusing for English Learners. Understanding WHY can now help me better explain and facilitate my students. Thanks, Ana!

I particularly liked the Japanese exhibit with the kimonos. I had seen a pattern design in geometry that made it easy for certain textile producers to mass produce items in overlapping patterns. Very genius and with the advent of technology in design production it is even more efficient. The Korean exhibit was great to see and for me there was quite a bit of intrigue in the design of the screen covers. I just wonder how much each of those artifacts cost? This is good to give the students exposure to other viewpoints in life and to see how times were in the past.

One thing that stood out to me was the combination of artistic influences on Korea. Seeing the combination of Chinese influences like the use of dragons and Japanese art styles like the use laquered boxes by the Korean women.