Message from vgairola
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Anonymous(This is not exactly HS but I'm sharing this because of my experience teaching MS)
Almost all my MS students are Hispanics and I go through the same observation that they are not exposed to East Asian cultures. While teaching China and Japan, I ask them what they know about things Chinese and Japanese. The first responses are normally - food, Bruce Lee/karate, Shaolin temple, chop sticks, noodles, fortune cookies (?), etc.
I then explain that fortune cookies started in the US and not in East Asia; then I go on to explain the Chinese 'triads' and their link to the Shaolin temple just to heighten their curiosity. After teaching them feudal Japan, I'll mention that when we go out of class, they should be walking "quietly in the corridors like the shadow warriors - the ninjas". I've never heard any protest to this remark - all of a sudden they become reflective. They always enjoy sketching the Chinese and Japanese characters and I ask them to write 'Japan' in Kanji or write their Period number in Chinese during the Quiz.