|
7 . 3 0 . 0 1 Week 7, and its coming close to crunch time. I just turned in my term paper for Kendo, I actually enjoyed writing this one, lets just hope that the TA likes it enough to give me a decent grade as well. I wrote about Kurosawa's films, it seemed fit as to how much time Hanako and I spent watching them this past summer. the topic was Kendo: violence or non-violence? the answer I think was pretty obvious, but the approach was a little trickier. actually at this point I'm not too worried. I say its at least a B paper. We have combat and form tests later this week, which should be a challenge, physical contact and strength is not what I'm afraid of honestly, its more the form and technique where I think I need some improvement on. Kano the blue ox again. Wonder what Oney would say if he saw me in a bogu. Otherwise, its two folklore papers, my Psych 311 project (which I really should be finishing soon) and then the thesis. Almost pau. LASER presentations are this thursday, I guess I'm lucky since I get to go first and get it over with, although presentations are never really what I look forward to. Just bring a lot of charts I guess. maybe encourage audience participation. will see. I need to prepare an outline too I suppose. Spent the most of this weekend reading about Zen Buddhism, Japanese history, and martial arts. Have to say that it was all very interesting, regardless of my grade in this class. To add to my reading list, some more titles: Miyamoto Musashi, "Book of five rings". Got a boost in educational motivation that has been missing for a while. I'm hoping that it carries over a couple weeks at least. finish strong. I also found a book on Okinawan Religion at a used bookstore on state street. Copyright 1966, University of Hawaii Press. Home in about 14 days. 7 . 2 7 . 0 1 Hanako is leaving tomorrow for JET. I'm taking the Van Galder down in about 30 minutes to hang out and see her off. Funny, one of the things we're planning is to watch "Madadayo" - Kurosawa's last film. Then our summer project is complete. I'm pretty impressed how many movies we watched, true fanatics I guess. I'm just wondering if I should've gotten damage protection on this one I'm taking down. Might see Patty again too, she's off work at about 9:00. funny adventures at work. 3-hour bus ride one-way, I'm hoping to get some serious reading done. I have a 7-10 page paper due on Monday for Kendo, after which I should be pretty good in the class. I have to do well though. I'm thinking about incorporating Kurosawa's movies and the Kendo and Buddhist philosophies Kiyota has been talking about this Summer. Kurosawa's first film, "Sugata Sanshiro" was a really good example of the similarities. A certain level of humanity and compassion arises from both. Will see. The 692 paper is coming along, although I kind of feel a little stuck as far as progress. I honestly don't feel like I've put in nearly enough work as I should have. A little too busy and distracted with work and other things. but who knows, maybe this last week will be the push and inspiration I've been looking for. Will be meeting with Elder about 2-times a week from here on out hopefully. And so another chapter of my life closes, or more like shifts in time, place and of course perspective. with everyone leaving I'm actually starting to feel a little sad, this Mad City has so much good memories. And most of which are associated with people. 17 days to Hawaii Nei 7 . 2 4 . 0 1 Eventful weekend, went down to Chicago to visit some of the Veterans for Brunch. Stayed with the Hashimotos in Prospect Heights, a nice little home with a very friendly dog named Millie. Had an interesting dream there. Basically the event was for the veterans who couldn't make it to the May Ceremony in Madison because of health problems, or transportation. one of the guys there was an original 100th, spoke with him briefly, very neat hearing the old kine pidgen in Chicago, IL. We ended up watching the movie "Rabbit in the Moon", made by a Camp Survivor, kind of a numbing effect on the gathering, I noticed some of the veteran's wives crying. Hard to imagine the times and hardships that these folks went through. Have a lot of respect for their character and courage in such a tumultous time. Which brings me back to some insight about the event of history itself, and the disregard that some of the other APIs at Madison had towards the event - the "movement" that began for not only Asian Americans, but the Civil Rights movement itself had roots in the response of the Japanese community to the internment, much of which came from the deeds of the 100th/442nd, MIS. It seems all to often we neglect the past and history that has brought us where we are today. Paying tribute itself is learning about the past and using the lessons to move forward. I guess some people miss out yeah? Got into an interesting conversation with a MIS veteran, who was one of the first in the group that trained at Camp Savage, MN. His story was one similar to Toki-san's, basically he was in the service already when the war broke out, and he was segregated from his unit and transfered from base to base. The Army didn't know what to do with all these guys of Japanese ancestry. He fought in the first battles of the Pacific in the Aluetian islands, had some insights on the lack of spotlight the MIS guys received, not as much glory, but definitely just as much guts. Jin came down for the trip, good seeing him again, went to the Union on Friday and got pretty happy with all those 44 oz cups of Wisconsin Beer, ran into Pascal too, and ended up at BW3s. Pascal made friends with one of the workers there and we ended up getting some free food and beer. Hanako is driving to LA right about now, chances are that she might see Jin in LAX. kind of interesting, and spontaneous. 7 . 1 8 . 0 1 Really muggy weather now in Madison, have to say that its a little yucky, a little too warm for my comfort. About as hot as home, but without the tradewinds and the beach. Might go swimming in the lake if this weather keeps up much longer. Kendo today was interesting. We did some combat drilling at the end of class that put 2 on 1, initially it was myself and another student against another student, but after a short round Sensei put me in the middle. Have to say that it is a pretty scary thing, seeing two guys charging at you. Afterward Sensei made a mention of the 100th/442nd, and their motto. I'm taking a Folklore class, 530 for 3 credits, need to maximize my credit load this Summer to finish strong, hopefully offset some of my mishaps in my 4 years. Need to brush up my GPA for grad school, and anyway the topic of the class is "Ethnic Folklore of Wisconsin", something that I'm interested in anyway. And have been meaning to get into sometime these past 4 years. Very impressed with the course so far, the professor is pretty funny too, yesterday he talked about folklore as being in between traditions and individuality, also touched on assimilation patterns. Wisconsin's ethnic past is one that is very diverse - something that a lot of people now don't realize. Heading down to Chicago this weekend to spend time with the vets, one week until Hanako leaves for JET. Jin is coming in tomorrow too. 7 . 1 5 . 0 1 Just got back from Ann Arbor, the conference was pretty impressive. Both on the informational level, and as far as the personal experience. Got to get to know some of the people in my SROP program, interesting conversations are what the college experience is all about really. Refreshing, even if with a little cynicism. The conference, and the program produced some insights on the issues of race, ethnicity and higher education, especially in the area of Asian American issues. My roundtable discussion on Criminal Justice research noticed by 8/9 research projects dealing with race and the system, a visible and undeniable reality, which put me aback in some ways - Asians dont' fit the stereotype as members of this country's incarcerated population. Couldn't help but feel a little out of place as that I was the one project that didn't directly address the race problem (Athough I had to briefly explain the dynamics of race relations in Hawaii's correctional system.), sometimes I question if my ability to try and detach for the purposes of analytical assessment of the situation is a strength or a weakness in better understanding of the social factors that come into play. As a whole in participants of the CIC/SROP, namely I couldn't help but notice the flip from a total-haole academic environment to a totally Black and Latino one, void of very many Asian faces. Not like any of this really matters in the long run, but I can't deny the slight feeling of alienation - there is some truth in the statement of Asians as being the forgotten minority. Finished reading Kiyota Sensei's book, have to say that it's having a lasting impact on me, haven't read a book like such in a long long time. Not quite sure what to say about it. One thing for certain is the urging blood tie that seems to bond in his story, issues of Japanese culture mixed with American citizenship, the personal struggle for identity and integrity, self-worth and inner peace. The way of the sword, Kendo, Kiyota represents a peaceful warrior in many ways, I feel that I have much to learn from him. One of his insights stood out, on the area of assimilation as not being "selling out", or becoming "white" by the typically American standards that are so demonized by ethnic minorities and liberal haoles, but rather that assimilation is something along the lines of seeking inward, learning about the self, identity and culture, blood tie, whatever. And then sharing that culture with others who make up the mosaic of immigrant culture that we call America. Hanako commented that every student who is taking Kendo in the past 30 years at Madison have walked away with a little bit of Japanese culture. Assimilation through human interaction - an ideal that Kiyota has made a reality through his classes. Christine left for Korea last week abruptly, she received word that she was accepted into USC's film graduate school about 5 days before her education visa expired. Luckily I ran into on University the day she was flying out, hopefully our paths will cross again sometime in the future. 7 . 1 2 . 0 1 Off to Michigan tomorrow morning, 6 hour ride on a chartered van galder bus. I'll be bringing along some of my research stuff to read, laud knows I need to catch up. Life is a little too busy it seems. The Extension job is pretty intense, the amount of sites that are organized under their domains, I'm supposed to be addressing the accesibility issues of as many of the sites I can get a hold of. Finally figured out a way to make the software work for me a bit, saved me at least a week's work. Still a lot more to do though. Hanako has a Website. most interesting is her tribute to our Summer film festival I think we have about 4-7 left that are still at four star video, (No, its not a porn store, although they do have a nice selection of some kinky titles). I'm actually pretty impressed with the selection, especially in the foreign film department. Seems that they have a bunch of Kurosawa films that we didn't have on our list. I have to say I have a preference for the Samurai films. Speaking of which, Kiyota Sensei gave me a good whack today in Kendo on the arm. We had some kind of combat drilling today, but it wasn't clear how intense it was going to be. the guy in front of me get beat up pretty bad, most of the time when he had his back turned to Sensei after missing a hit - I suppose he had better form, but he got a lot of shots to the head. so by the time I came up I wasn't about to go charging in, which I think wasn't what constitutes good form at all. Still that wrestler mentality, try and make the other guy make the first move. Arms a little welted. Fun though, I'm thinking about asking him if he knows any Kendo instructors in Hawaii. 7 . 1 0 . 0 1 Last week of the DDD session, and I'm about 1 day from a Psych Major. Still need to do the take home assignment, more of a matter of getting focused as opposed to being distracted. Work at the Extension actually has been the biggest distraction thus far, it seems like everyday I step in the office the task is getting bigger and more weighted. It appears that my findings will eventually be used directly in policy as soon as they are ready. only question is when. Off to Ann Arbor, MI this weekend again to the University of Michigan, this time for a real time conference, none of that other stuff. This one is sponsored by the CIC, Committee for Institutional Cooperation, a conference for undergraduates in research. Its a 6 hour bus ride apparently, at least I'm not driving. Saw Tsubaki Sanjuro, a sequel to Yojimbo, Mifune back to his old character, the rough and rude ronin. Have to say that I liked this one a lot, we got about 7 more to go on the list. I think these films kind of fit into the larger scope of this summer's experience, taking Kendo with Kiyota Sensei brings another level of meaning to these Samurai films. Yesterday in the lecture Kiyota gave a commentary about Japanese history that I have never heard from a professor before, mainly to the explanation of Japan's rise to facism as a part response to western domination of Asia. Refreshing perspective, knowing that there are professors out there who are willing to state such a stance even though it goes against the norm. Then again, he isn't your typical UW-Madison professor by life experience. Then again of course, what is a "typical UW-Madison professor" anyway? Which reminds me I need to study for the first exam. 7 . 7 . 0 1 Crisis averted, at least for the moment, I'm still waiting for confirmation before I vent about it. More about that later though. Busy week, kind of hectic actually, needed to deal with some things in the beginning of the week, threw me out of it for a while. Rented six Kurosawa Films this past week, spent more of the 4th watching them, Kagemusha, Red Beard, Dersu Uzala, and Stray Dog. I think I liked Stray Dog the best, especially since there was a scene from it that was stolen for Along Came a Spider. Kurosawa is a bad ass. At the moment I'm trying to find a flight home. Kind of a hassle, especially since its a one-way flight. I'm noticing that round trips are cheaper, I might just have to get one and try get a refund for the return flight. or maybe try sell em. Still plugging at it. Its a fun game actually, plugging in dates and searching the flights, vast inputs in impersonal cyberspace, all having some relevance to the home-bound island boy after 4 years of higher education thousands of miles from home. Found anothger site for flights so far this seems like the best bet. 7 . 2 . 0 1 In bit of a crisis here, might not be making any entries for a while. Hoping things'll work out, but being the questioning type, and educated, I know that the world is not fair, and justice does not always prevail. Need to sort some things out. Shit ain't over till its over. |