August 5 - Reading Assignments - Discussion

KOREA
Last Names
Oh my goodness!!! How could the Japanese just take away a person’s heritage, what is the point in that? Was it in an effort to make the Koreans Japanese; to force them to assimilate? Even the boys teacher knew that this was not a good thing;”…unthinkable for one Asian people to another Asian people, especially we Asians who should have a greater respect for our ancestors… (397)” This story by Richard Kim was very heartbreaking. And the way the father made sure that his son would remember vividly the day their name was taken away by going to police office and going to visit the ancestors’ graves to say good bye all over again, to ask for forgiveness. It is almost as if they died along with the culture that was being taken wrested away from them. If someone came and told me to change my name I would tell them to go fly a kite. People from all walks of life in this story were forced to give up their name in exchange for a Japanese one. I am definitely going to have my students read this article. Names are important thing it is what ties you to the past; tells you where you are from, who you are. WOW, its crazy to me.
:@
(I know a similar thing was done with immigrants to Ellis Island but a lot of that had to do with hard pronunciation and other issues, but Korea was so systematic it’s almost ghastly)

On the Migrant Brides: It will be interesting to see in a few years how well these have worked out. One mother remarked that both Vietnam and Korea were Confucian societies so things would be fine. Will they? I don't think the young girls' dreams will fit their realities. Will the idea of filial duty prevail and they will stay with husbands as long as the husbands send money to the families. What happens to these women if they divorce? Must they go back to home countries or have they become citizens?

re.: "Multicultural Korea" - This article states that the government seems to address multiculturalism more through the migrant brides who are only 14% whereas the migrant workers were 56%. I thought it was interesting to note that Han, the author's opinion is that the government talks a good game, but it comes down to really doing nothing. "Multiculturalism" as stated by the govt. is just politically correct statements, but they don't address the realities that the workers face.

Another interesting note on this is that very quickly Korea went from a labor exporter to a labor importer.

The articles on the schools and the "wild geese" fit in with Kathy's experiences at her school. I feel sorry for the kids like the Minjok academy. When do they get to be kids? One student stated that they do have clubs, etc., but when? There doesn't seem time, and they are definitely suffering from sleep depravity. Will they ever learn to relax, or live their entire lives just working? Let's hope those out of work robots don't replace them.

When the Asian women recognize that they have a right to be as equal as their male counterparts, then they move ahead and want to more than becoming the traditional role played by generations before them. In other words, their mindset is totally different than that of their ancestors. Second, the rural life still maintains pretty much the same way: getting up earlier, work all day long until the sun goes down and repeat the same work chore until the day you pass on to next "able hands." It might not sound very attractive to many urban city girls in Asia nowadays.

As to the name change, it implies a lot of political connotations. If a person can not carry his ancestor's name, it simply brings shame to his ancestors. If a person can not bring "a glory of the outside world," it is simply a matter of ability issue. But at least a person should never embarrass his family name. Koreans had been mistreated by the colonized Japanese military men. And they knew about it. History comes a full circle. It is a time for Koreans to bring something positive to their countrymen. julie

While I found all the readings interesting the one I got the most out of was the NYT articles about the education system. I doubt that this will inspire my students to study harder, but I think it will impress upon them that global competition does not just exist in the corporate world.

One of my friends teaches at the international studies programs at CSULB. Foreign students take orientation and remedial English classes there while they are integrated into the main student population. I plan on inviting them to visit my High School and speak to my AVID and 11th Int'l Business students about the difference between the two education systems. Perhaps they can't read this and other articles before hand. Ultimately, I would like them to see the different types of citizens and employees each education system produces.

I think the other article that would be meaningful for many of my students is the discrimination and marriage articles would help students see parallels to the diversity issues we face. Hopefully burst the image that all Asian are alike and get a long.

for business class I think I would re-vamp the powerpoints she gave use with the top 10 things you need to know about Korea.

I will pass the short stories When My Name Was Keoko, A Single Shard, Kapitan Lee and Cranes on to the English and History teachers. [Edit by="lhuff on Aug 5, 12:33:37 PM"][/Edit]

I found the readings for today to be great, but the stories that most resonated with me were the articles about families moving to English speaking countries without the dads and the article about the elite students and their focus on eduction. It does seem to be true in our modern age that education is the best way to open doors for people. The extreme focus that the Korean families put on education is commendable, but also somewhat disturbing.

Stereotype alert: I notice within the cultures I have studied and/or visited, China, Korea, Japan and India that a great emphasis is put on children being well educated and getting into top schools. This then leads to jobs in sectors that are for the "elite". I only hear about well educated families from the main cities sending their children to these schools and adding cram schools to their studies. I rarely hear about poor and small villages having students move to New Zealand or America for schooling. Typically I hear about villagers keeping their children at home to work on the family farm or not allowing the girls to even attend school after a certain grade.

So I am thinking it is too easy to generalize that an entire country pushes their children to top SAT scores and Harvard University with Doctor degree. I feel like it is the most educated and most wealthy who are doing this and a stereotype of the entire country is taken from this small group. The Indians who are working at Microsoft are people who have left India and mostly become engineers who now are paid well to work at a Fortune 500 company in the United States. But for every Indian person who does this, there are maybe 5 who are living in small villages or big cities of India who are just trying to scrape by. Maybe their children are in school or they could be begging on the streets or working on the family farm.

Just a thought.

Top Ten Things to Know About Korea in the 21st Century

The text I use is World Culture in the chapter on Korea it refers to Korea as the Hermit Nation, I was happy to read why this is a misnomer…The Koreas are not Hermit Nations. There is a great description of many of the accomplishments of the Koreas. No way are they “Hermits”

Stripping the conquered of their names and identity is as old as history itself. There is a lot in one's name and ways of life. The reading "Sun-hee" speaks volumes about the emotional torture experienced whenever a new lifestyle is imposed--this is not the case with just foreighn invasions because there have been countless ones from within the culture. I remember when I was in India and the Sikh extremists, wanting to separate from India, raised the slogan of a new nation to be called Khalisthan. There was this cry for making people dress a certain way to show that one was with this newly imposed political philosophy. I slept sleepless nights fearing violence for when people become "masters of organization," they do carry plans out. There are cultures where kids have first hand hearing memories of two generations of human metamorphosis and yes "ears don't close the way eyes do."