[clay dube]

Hi Karen,

Not to worry -- this is exactly what this forum is for, getting feedback from our colleagues! How about it? What do you folks think?

[clay dube]

Hi Alex,

Thanks for bringing up Spirited Away. It's a useful resource. Let's move the film discussion to the "film festival" thread in the Asia in My Classroom forum.

[clay dube]

The History Channel series History's Mysteries recently broadcast a program on "Japan's Mysterious Pyramids." The remarkable stone structures referred to are near Yonaguni in Okinawa. Wonder Okinawa offers a site with quite a few images and details about these structures.

http://www.wonder-okinawa.jp/024/english/

The structure was discovered by a diver in 1985. It is about 100 m long, 30 m wide, and at its highest point is about 23 m tall. Some argue that the structure was erected during the last ice age, or perhaps 12,000 years ago.

Not everyone, however, is convinced that the structure is man-made, despite the many square edges that are evident. In 1998, Boston University geologist Robert Schoch told the Australian paper the Sunday Mail "I think the evidence is tantalising but not conclusive or definitive."

[clay dube]

Hi Folks,

I love the meal gathering idea, but have to confess that I'm not the guy to guide anyone around any kitchen. We do have a couple of folks who have more experience than I and I would be happy to help bao the jiaozi.

smiling,
clay

[clay dube]

The China Institute has created a series of lessons exploring the history and peoples of the Silk Road. The massive guide includes images, background readings, and lessons looking at cultural exchange, environmental issues, and government policies towards ethnic minorities. The entire guide can be downloaded at:

http://www.chinainstitute.org/educators/silkguide.html

[clay dube]

Hi Folks,

To download the .pdf version of Morgan Pitelka's presentation on women in East Asian history, please click here.click here

[clay dube]

Hi Reza,

You can attach pictures (alas, only one at a time) by clicking on the "browse" button that appears at the bottom of the message area when you are typing a message. Clicking "browse" opens your file manager and you then navigate to the picture (or other file) that you wish to attach.

I'll attach a photo to this message. To open the photo, click on the file icon.

[clay dube]

Hi Folks,

I am delighted that Ed is applying and I hope others are as well. Good luck everyone!
smiling,
clay

[clay dube]

The Liza Darby works mentioned by Cathy are described and in some cases enhanced by her websites:

Tale of Murasaki -- Heian Aristocratic Society

About Dalby

Amazon listing for Dalby's Geisha

[clay dube]

Hi All,

To avoid having too many threads going (which, in part because of the shortcomings of the forum software, makes it hard for easy scanning), please put website recommendations in the Web Resources thread. It's a good idea to put the name of the site or its topic in the subject line, so that readers can quickly scan for those that interest them.

Thanks!

[clay dube]

Hi Everyone,

Let's try to put our discussions of films in the film festival section of the Asia in My Classroom forum.

smiling,
clay

[clay dube]

Malynn brought up the film Hero (not directed by Tarantino, though, but by Zhang Yimou) and I thought you might enjoy reading reviews of the film:

http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=14271

A Chinese review in English translation: http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=14740

http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=14301

University of Redlands prof. Robert Eng's analysis of the politics of the film:
Is Hero a Paen to Authoritarianism?

[clay dube]

It won't come as a surprise to educators to learn that Americans don't have enough knowledge of foreign lands and languages. For example, our intelligence services intercepted two messages on 9/10/01 that included references to the big event tomorrow. These were only translated on 9/12 and had it not been for the 9/11 attack they would not have been translated for more than a month.

One of the nation's biggest successes in increasing the number of specialists working on foreign countries, the Dept. of Education's Title VI foreign and international studies program, had its origins long before there was a US Dept. of Education (established during the Jimmy Carter administration, 1977-81). It was born in the Dept. of Defense during the Cold War. The program that Louis and others are referring to was a new DoD initiative to develop innovative and intensive Chinese language instructional programs. UCLA has such a program in Korean and, together with PVPUSD and CSU Long Beach, we sought support for such a program in Chinese. Unfortunately, we did not receive the grant. It went to a Portland-based effort. PVPUSD and Hacienda-La Puente USD, however, have Foreign Language Assistance Program grants which have helped spur the creation of the Chinese language program here.

Some FLAP info is available at:http://www.languagepolicy.org/flap04.html#CA

Interest in Chinese instruction is high -- at UCLA we have more students taking first year Chinese this fall than we have students taking first year Spanish.

[clay dube]

Hi Becky,

Thanks for posting your evaluation. I'm not sure that the disclaimer is necessary. Please post it in the film festival thread of the Asia in My Classroom forum (please don't create a new thread, just go to the film festival thread and click on the post reply button). Put "Review: Memoir of a Geisha" in the subject line and please copy the text into the message area. I'm sure that many teachers will be interested in your comments. You'll see that many teachers have been talking about the book and film in that forum.

[clay dube]

Yes, the Chinese are hitting the road. I was amazed in 1999 to have a couple Shanghai friends tell me they'd been to Thailand and South Korea. And in 2002 I encountered a group of female factory workers at the Fijian airport. They'd spent a week there. It's a far cry from the early 1980s when it was difficult for Chinese tourists (who were privileged enough to have passports, not a simple thing at that time) to get visas for short term visits to Thailand.

The Yahoo News version of the article Dan refers to above can be found at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20051228/ts_csm/ochinatours_1

The Christian Science Monitor version is at:
http://search.csmonitor.com/search_content/1228/p01s02-woap.html

One of the challenges we face with these tours is getting the tour companies to minimize the shopping stops. Most such stops offer little that is especially good or a good value. The guides hate it, but I tell our travelers to give most such stops a miss. Hurry back and get on the bus so that we can get to someplace worth lingering at.

[Edit by="Clay Dube on Jan 4, 11:11:34 AM"][/Edit]

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