Martin Had a Dream

Today in class we went over Martin Luther King's famous speech "I Have a Dream" as well as ethos, logos, and pathos. While reading, I thought about how life would be if Martin Luther King didn't exist or what would happen if racial segregation still existed. Would I even be alive? The world would be so different of course and I would think that most of the technology we have in this world wouldn't exist. Though racism still exists, there are many positive groups of people that try to end this crude nonsense. In regards to dating and having relationships with people in your own race, I think that is ridiculous. I don't find myself attracted to Asian women unless they can wow me. Well to be honest, that's any girl. But I really think my parents want me to date an Asian girl, only because they haven't really don't know how much our world is changing (keep in mind my parents are the typical Asian parents that only pay attention to things that affect them). It's kind of ironic how I labeled my parents as "typical Asian parents", but I mean it in a positive way. Many of my peers would date outside of their race because we can't restrict goal of finding our dream girl or dream boy to be in someone in our race/color.

Ivan the Terrible - Foolish peasant! You shall not be "dreaming" at all for you are living in a nightmare that is my reality. I dare you to dream again, for your head shall stuck on a stick that I will carry with me to bring fear to those who dare "dream". What nonsense!

MLK I Have a Dream Speech
A Old Video of Dating Outside Your Race

"Carlton" as we all know him as, with his wife

Stereotypes

In high school, I think it's very common that people categorize each other in order to know who is who (looking at Rick's sport's bag, football jersey, and posture, I assume he is a jock. Or, judging by Jennifer's poor posture, weird-looking glasses, and un-straightend hair she is a awkward nerd). I don't believe in stereotypes and I don't think other people should believe in stereotypes too. Personally, as an Asian-American student in a school that has a majority of Latinos, I was often bashed on because of my race. Walking through the halls, I would hear different types of stereotypes like go back to the sweat shop factory, where are my nike shoes/dog, please do not eat my dog. I usually laughed at their comments, as it was pretty entertaining. The most ridiculous stereotype to me was learn how to drive because I didn't even know how to drive/didn't even own a car. And so I took my frustrations out during my swim practice, stroking through the water. I will admit, these ignorant people did frustrate me but because I didn't let their words phase me, I was able to do things a "smart" Asian kid from the ghetto wouldn't be able to do in sports. I played football, basketball, swimming, and cross-country for my school. Because I stood out from the norms of my Asian peers, everyone in my high school knew me as the smart Asian kid that played sports. I wasn't really smart, nor would I hate to consider myself one because I'm not. I just knew how to get around things and do what was needed in regards to school and sports. Even though I was recognized for my efforts through sports, to this day, I am still stereotyped as the Asian kid that eats a bowl of rice with every meal. 

Gender Stereotypes in Media Video

The Movies

So this Saturday, my English 1 Honors class will be going to the movies. I see this as a great opportunity for me to bond with my class before, during, and after the movies. I really really really hope that we do NOT sit in front. I'd probably hate being at the movies and want to leave to be quite honest. I get the biggest headaches ever sitting in front of a large movie screen. Since I'm a quiet person, I'll have to settle down and get use to the loud sounds the movie theater will present to us. To talk about things I like about a movie theater would be the general experience and bonding time you get with your family or friends. I don't often go to the movie theaters because of the overpriced food (popcorn, soda, candy, etc). It is ridiculously overpriced and I hate buying things from there because I know I can go to Costco and buy 24 water bottles for $5, when at the movies you would spend $5 for a medium sized drink. But overall, I am very excited to go to this bonding event. 

Ivan the Terrible - Quit your complaining about overpriced food. You're just another peasant that is probably going to be tortured in a few days. So shut up!

Doing a Sport?

I never took the thought of doing a sport (more specifically swimming) here at De Anza seriously. I intentions were to focus on school and maybe work for a few places here and there. But I have so much spare time after class/doing homework/helping my dad at our home business that I end up just laying in my bed or playing with my dogs. So I contacted the head swim coach at De Anza in order to try out for the team. I got an email a week later saying she would love to have me on the team. As excited as I am, I don't know if it's possible for me to attend practices at the specific times due to my registration date (December 2nd). I don't really understand how some people have earlier registration dates than others. My friend. who is a freshman at De Anza, has is registration date tomorrow, (November 22nd). I'm kind of stressed out because I'm not saying I deserve to have a earlier registration date than others, but because of the fact that I have a later registration dates compared to my peers who aren't participating in sports. I know that I just contacted the coach and I'm pretty much demanding an earlier registration date, but the concept in general of having a peer have a earlier registration date compared to mines is just ridiculous. But besides that, I'm pretty excited/hyped to start my conditioning (which I am REALLY late on) this December. I plan to leave my mark here at De Anza in any way I can. In high school, having the opportunity to swim with Division 1 swimmers was amazing. And so, I'm inspired to work hard to be where they are at, (or at least transfer there if I don't get to swim for a D-1 school).

Nathan Adrian at UC Berkeley conditioning for the season

Ivan the Terrible - I will murder those who have put an incorrect registration date on students MyPortal account at De Anza!

Me - Relax... you don't need to kill anyone. I'm pretty sure everyone is going to get some classes that they need, just not the one they wanted. 

Ivan the Terrible - Then I shall kill you!

Me - ... Please don't kill me.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is coming up in a week or so, and I'm very excited. Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays where my family comes and sit together at the dinner table to eat. I always thought I wasn't normal because my family never ate together. I guess you can say I am relating this to societies view on normality, more specifically, family sitcoms/television shows that always had episodes where family members would eat together at a table, laughing and telling each other how their days went. Because of this, I was ashamed of myself and asked myself why isn't my family like this? But over the years of my childhood, I learned that life isn't all roses and dandelions. Often times, parents have to work overtime/come home late to provide food on the table. Learning how life really was made me grateful for what I had. I am fortunate to have a table when there are people in this world who eat on the ground everyday with no complaints. In conclusion, I appreciate the fact that I still have family members that are able to make it to our family dinner during Thanksgiving. I suppose I am more frustrated at society and its rules of a "normal" childhood or family.

1950's Family Dinner

David Henry Hwang - M. Butterfly

M. Butterfly is one of my favorite plays out of the many plays David Hwang has written, even though it may be considered one of his most famous plays to some people. I was exited to blog about this play because there are many themes present that we can all relate to. Also, in my opinion, David Hwang is showing us how a person can go through many phases throughout his/her life (viewing life with a positive perspective to not knowing what the purpose of life is). In this play, the theme of deception, confusion, love, fear, and depression are all present. The theme of deception is shown when Rene Galliamard falls in love with the beautiful Chinese diva (who is actually a man), Song Liling. Their affair continues for 20 years until the truth is revealed. This scenario reminds me of the Maury and Jerry Springer show. People are confessing things to each other and are trying to find the truth. The theme of confusion exists when Gallimard cannot accept the fact that his "ideal woman" or "dream girl" is actually a man. He then "retreats deep inside himself and his memories. Gallimard shows how he is recollecting his thoughts" (Wikipedia Contributors), still in disbelief of what actually happened to him. In the third act, Gallimard commits seppuku, a Japanese suicide ritual. I view this as Gallimard unable to grasp control of everything that is going on in his life (betraying his country, disbelief that the love of his life is actually a man). It is interesting to see how a person can feel as if they are on top of the world; living life with the love of their life to committing suicide because life isn't exactly the way you thought it was. Relating this to my life, I see many of my own peers in Gallimard's position, particularly in high school. Guys who have their first girlfriend become so attached to them, loving them and doing anything they desire to satisfy them. But when the girlfriend breaks up with the guy, he goes into depression and often times turns to drugs to bring himself up. Even though in general, break ups can lead to depression, the main point that I would be extracting from this scenario would be how a guy's first girlfriend can be his worst relationship he has been in or his own "Disney" dream (they live happily ever after).

How David Hwang thought of M.Butterfly

Ivan the Terrible - HA! What a fool he is. I would had killed the man (diva) and let the dogs eat him. This generation is getting softer and softer. Poor peasants...

Thoughts on Class Plays

The class plays were very interesting. I liked how everyone was enthusiastic and really tried to "fit" into their roles. With a limited amount of tools we could use around the class, we still managed to create some of our own props (drawing on the board, using a cardboard box as an oven, etc). It just shows the amount of creativity/imagination our class has and it is great. In my opinion, I was able to get a better understanding of the plays when the environment is exciting, rather than just read a play off the script. Although working on a blog might not had been exciting as performing a play, I was still able to learn more about my subject/topic I am blogging about (in this case David Hwang and his play "Butterfly"). I don't really want to say I wish I had done a class play because it brings back memories of my high school drama class. It was an exciting class where students would create their own plays and act in front of the class and teacher for a grade. Good times.
Picture of my drama class (I was taking the picture)