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Perry-Castaneda Map Library
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/korea.html

South Korean Government Statistics Office
http://www.nso.go.kr/eng2006/emain/index.html

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Columbia University Asia For Educators
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/eacp/japanworks/japan/japanworkbook/geography/japgeo.html

Kids Web Japan -- geography
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/map/index.html

Perry-Castenada Map Collection
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/japan.html

Japanese Government Statistics
http://www.stat.go.jp/english/

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Hi Adele,

Thanks for your post. The LA-bound group had to fly anyway. We just did make it to the gate in time to board. After customs, we had to recheck our bags, pass through security, and hustle to a distant and upstairs gate. So -- any "so long" would have had to be hurried.

We look forward to each blog entry. I am hoping that these will start appearing soon and that each of you will also take a moment to comment on each others' posts. You'll remember different things about places and since you teach different subjects and populations, you'll likely come up with different teaching possibilities for each place. The blog entries are intended to launch discussions not to be the final word on any particular location or experience.

This is especially true for the afternoons/evenings on your own and for the Xi'an evening you spent in small groups. Please share those experiences as well.

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Hi Mia,
This is fantastic news. I'm delighted that your students are learning so much and that the JBA stepped in to help. I am sure the JBA loved that you were able to do so much with your students.

I'm sure that other teachers would appreciate the chance to apply for support. If possible, could you post contact information for the JBA?

Thanks, too, for mentioning the USC US-China Institute's teacher training program.

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Thanks for sharing -- perhaps you might say a little more about the silk road exhibit. What did it focus on? What were the items that were traded? How old were those Buddhist robes? Were they intended to represent something about the transmission of religion?

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Hi Folks,

We'll be visiting the Yungang caves. I showed you some pictures of them at the orientation. We'll not get quite as close as the visitors in the attached photo got early in the 20th century.

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Hi Danny,

You might check out: http://uschinaforum.usc.edu/showpost.aspx?PostID=2390&PageIndex=3 -- the Japan Society event we mentioned there has passed, but other materials are available. This info is in the "teaching about the recent past" thread.

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Hi Folks,

About 7-8 years ago, we offered an NCTA seminar in Hacienda-La Puente. The district has continued to seek ways to increase coverage of China in its offerings. Some of you may have seen the LA Times article about the debate over a Chinese government-funded "Confucius classroom" program there.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/04/click-here-to-find-out-more-quantcast-chinese-governments-funding-of-schools-language-program-fuels-.html

(One of the children seems to have already been converted to the Trojan cause.)

Finally, a television crew has blown the cover off this effort to corrupt the young.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-june-7-2010/socialism-studies

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Hi Jennifer,

Please upload your currency cheat sheet to the forum and let others download it and print if they chose. Others may find a small calculator handy. 6.83 in China, 32 in Taiwan, 7.8 in Hong Kong. Time to strengthen one's division skills.

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The King of Masks can be ordered from Netflix on dvd or streamed to your computer or internet-connected television. This is true of some other Chinese films as well.

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Hi Folks,

It's not just students in the US, Korea, and Australia who have undertaken the study of Chinese. Today's Los Angeles Times has a great article about efforts to teach Chinese in places such as Aguascalientes, Mexico. I'm impressed at how forward-thinking the people behind this initiative are.

Here's a link to the article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-china-20100607,0,7370017.story

Among other things this is a great response for those who think only families of Chinese heritage would be interested in having their kids study Chinese. We can all benefit from learning more about China, its remarkable past, and its dynamic present.

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Many teachers have read and some have even used with students a provocative book about the teaching of American history. James Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me has been an academic hit. He's a sociologist and recently wrote about his experience trying to write an acceptable preface for a new Chinese edition of the textbook.

He describes trying to meet the censor's concerns. Ultimately, though, the Chinese decided the preface was fundamentally too troublesome and published it without the new preface. You can read what was judged too dangerous in the attached document.

Please do share your comments.

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Many consider Yi Yi to be one of the great Chinese films of all time. It has a pace that's all its own. Edward Yang was a hugely influential director. The director of Cape No. 7 which we screened at the orientation worked for Yang and learned much from him.

Please do share your assessment of the film in the Film Festival section of the Asia in My Classroom forum:
http://uschinaforum.usc.edu/showpost.aspx?PostID=389

We get to see family life, often through the eyes of the young son.

Ebert and Roeper comment on the film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM7Ic2eSFls

Here's a different YouTube clip featuring a conversation between the Japanese and Chinese businessmen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2Y4DafezqM

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The violent suppression of the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989 left a deep impression on those involved and those who followed it in the news. Every year there are large demonstrations in Hong Kong to mark the event. Here are pictures from Flickr of this year's demonstrations:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21045856@N02/4671665616/in/photostream/

One of this year's surprises was the posting on June 2 in the Southern Metropolis Daily 南方都市报 website of the attached cartoon. The paper is published in Guangzhou. The cartoon features a schoolyard blackboard (blackboard newspapers remain common in China). Three tanks are lined up on the blackboard and a boy is busy drawing in a person in front of the tanks. This is clearly a reminder of the famous Tank Man image.

Here's an LA Times article about the 2010 cartoon:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/04/world/la-fg-china-tiananmen-20100604

The Guardian had the story earlier, focusing on the cartoon's removal (the page features a photo of the "Tank Man"):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/02/tiananmen-square-cartoon

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Many Americans know of the "rape of Nanjing" from the work of Iris Chang. She and other writers drew heavily on the diaries of foreign residents in Nanjing for their descriptions of the atrocities committed by invading Japanese soldiers.

John Rabe, host of the KPCC program "Off Ramp," delighted in speaking this week with Florian Gallenberger, the German filmmaker who has produced a new film, entitled "John Rabe," on this tragedy. That film is based on the journals and letters of Rabe. Rabe was a Siemens executive and a Nazi party member, who wound up doing much to save many Chinese lives in winter 1937.

We screened a wonderful documentary, Nanking, last January (click here for details). That film mixed dramatic readings from Rabe and others with film and interviews with survivors and - remarkably - some of the soldiers.

The new film features Ulrich Tukur as Rabe and Steve Buscemi as an American doctor. Rabe was a Siemens executive long resident in China.

The KPCC page has a playable/downloadable audio story and the film's trailer. Check it out at:
http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2010/06/05/john-rabe-on-john-rabe-with-florian-gallenberger/

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