1/25/10 -Session 7 - Pitelka - Japan: Postwar Growth and Crisis

I enjoyed this article.. as a single woman myself, I can somewhat relate. to have kids, to work, how do both? without a family/kids means the freedom to travel and spend time with friends.. not much different here. "to live for myself and enjoy life"

An interesting quote from the men.. they want to die before their wives, and What's sad, was the married women in their 50's who were waiting for their husbands to die!! For women in the two demographics 20-30/50s, they say it's the best time of their lives.

interesting terms the single parsites/ wagamama...willful, selfish, self determining, yet spend crazy women... JUST A THOUGHT...maybe we should buy stock in Louis Vuitton overseas, since they are driving up its annual sales!!![Edit by="kramirez on Mar 11, 10:10:18 PM"][/Edit]

This post is to make up for a missed seminar night.

I attended a New Year event in Westminster on Valentine's Day. Many of the attendees were Americans of Vietnamese and Chinese ethnic backgrounds. I went with a friend who is ethnically Chinese but whose family fled to Vietnam during the fighting between Mao and Chiang Kaishek. They then fled Vietnam during the Vietnam War. We had a great time. I was so glad that I had her along as an interpreter. I know Vietnam wasn’t covered in out course, but there is a huge community of immigrants in Westminster who came to California to avoid the fighting in the 1960s. Within that population are a significant number, like my friend, who identify themselves as culturally Chinese. It creates an interesting mix in the culinary traditions and arts. Many of the musical performers we heard played music that was heavily influenced by Chinese and French musical traditions. There was a beauty pageant where the contestants all wore traditional garments. My friend pointed out that about a quarter were wearing Chinese garments instead of Vietnamese. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to celebrate an ethnic identity when you are genetically related to one nation, culturally similar to another, but live in a third.

If you choose to go next year, be ready for crowds and try the deep fried fish balls (balls of fish meat rolled in batter and fried).