Just too much seafood

I’ve been a pesco-vegetarian (eat fish/seafood, but no red meat or poultry) for about 8 or 9 years now, but I decided to go completely vegetarian for at least 2 weeks since I got back from Japan. For largely environmental reasons, I’ve been trying to be more of a conscious seafood eater, and I feel like I’ve done my share of raping the oceans in my mere 8 days in Japan.

Just a sampling of the crazy fancy food I was eating —

Before:

After:

15th trip to Japan

…and my first as a real American, standing in the non-Japanese nationals line at Narita Airport and all.

I’m running out of excuses to not post on here, seeing as I’m back with a lot to write about, but I do need to be getting to bed at the moment so I’ll just leave you with a little preview:

As seen from the shinkansen…

Film: On Paper Wings

Director: Ilana Sol
Runtime: 67 min.

I saw this film last night as part of the Northwest Film Center’s 35th Northwest Film & Video Festival

It’s a documentary about the only World War II casualties to occur on the continental U.S.: in 1945, a Japanese balloon bomb killed five children and their pregnant Sunday school teacher outside of the small town of Bly, Oregon.

It’s something I’d heard about but had filed away in my mind under “World War II trivia,” a mere footnote in a large-scale, global war.

On Paper Wings packs a lot in its relatively short running time, bringing a real, human story into this “minor” incident. It includes extensive interviews: with the women that made these balloon bombs as schoolgirls who at the time did not even think to question their patriotic duty, with the siblings and neighbors of the six people killed by one of their creations, and with the Japanese-American man — interned in Tule Lake during the war — who in 1996 brought them together.

At one point in the film, one of the Japanese women says that because she always thought of the Japanese as victims, she did not feel anything for those six Americans that died in Oregon — until her Japanese-American friend, now a professor in Michigan, wrote her the names and ages of the people that were killed.

I believe this film has that purpose, of telling us why we should care, and illustrating through a story of two small towns the broader implications of war…and peace.

This film is by a local filmmaker and is not in wide release, but go to her website for more information and screening dates.

San Francisco Trip, Part I – Elections Madness

I just got back from a 4-day trip visiting a friend in San Francisco. Lots happened in those 4 days, but as it’s Election Day as I’m writing this, I’ll start with an Elections-theme.

Prop 8 is huge in California. I’m somewhat ashamed to admit I’d somehow completely missed it living up in Oregon, but apparently it’s been in the national spotlight. In case you’ve been living in the same cave I’ve been in, Prop 8 seeks to change the California Constitution to ban gay marriage.

As you might imagine, being in San Francisco days before the Elections was…interesting. There were anti-Prop 8 people on every corner holding signs and giving out stickers and buttons — even in driving rain.

And as it happened, I was in The Castro on Halloween night. Unfortunately, most of my pictures didn’t come out well because the flash on my camera doesn’t work, but this one came out decently due to the good lighting:

The friend I was visiting? Walking around sporting an Obama button and a “No on Prop 8″ button:

What the hell happened to this guy who voted for Bush in 2004 and used to casually drop homophobic comments?

It’s never too late to turn to the light side!

(…and I mean that all as a compliment, John. Thanks for letting me stay at your place!)

The ESL Controversy

I know, two politics-related posts in a row.  But this is important and something I can speak to from personal experience. I’m also a bit excited I get to vote for the first time since I became a U.S. citizen just a few months ago.

There’s an initiative on the Oregon ballot this year (Measure 58 ) that would limit English as a Second Language to 1 to 2 years per student (depending on grade level).

First of all, there seems to be some misconception that ESL/Bilingual education means that students don’t speak or learn English. They do. In fact, I’d argue that that’s generally the point.

Now, at the risk of sounding self-important: I’m pretty smart. I speak and write in English better than a lot of people who only speak English do. I ended up going to a prestigious university and graduating with honors and a double major. In addition, I came to the U.S. at a very young age, and I grew up with stable parents, maybe not affluent but definitely not poor. And in my early elementary school years, my mom walked me to school while drilling me on spelling and sometimes even stayed to volunteer in my classroom.

…And I spent over three years in ESL. In those late ’80s – early ’90s at my California elementary school, they held me back in the program until I finally passed the proficiency test in third grade. I’d failed it in first and second grade.

Under Measure 58, I would have been kicked out of ESL after Kindergarten.

It takes a long time to learn a language. Moreover, it’s stressful to be in a new country, and ESL provides a safety net. Even younger kids, who learn relatively fast, benefit from spending time with other immigrant kids that they can learn English with. For older kids, high schoolers — I find it hard to even imagine how difficult it must be to adjust. And say you come to this country as a freshman in high school, and you spend your 2 years in ESL. Then under Measure 58, you’d get thrown into, what, physics and English lit with everyone else? Does that make sense to anyone?

And while I grew up in fortunate circumstances, many immigrant students didn’t. In the school systems, there are Southeast Asian refugees and illegal Mexicans, for instance. Students who are disadvantage socioeconomically tend to not perform well in schools. Add language and cultural barriers and it makes things even worse. Of course they’re not doomed and they can succeed…but a supportive environment that is attentive to their specific needs can go a long way.

No on Measure 58! (or any other similar law your state might put on the ballot!)

The Asian-American vote

It’s elections season!  This is going to be the rare post about politics, since I don’t want this to be that kind of blog.

Good ol’ Slate recently had an article about why we never hear about the Asian-American vote. Nothing I haven’t already considered before, but it does bring up some interesting points.

Aside from the obvious (few in total numbers, and even fewer eligible to vote), there’s the issue of heterogeneity. Unlike Latinos, we don’t even have a unified language, and Asians here tend to not go far back enough living in this country to have developed any party loyalties.

But…personally, I don’t see why this is all such a bad thing. I don’t feel the need for Asian-Americans to be “recognized” by the pollsters and campaigners and fellow citizens when it comes to elections. I do believe that the concept of “Asian-American” can be useful (that’s a whole future post, I think), but I don’t need to be lumped together into a bloc of voters.

I registered to vote as an Independent because I think the whole idea of a party system is destructive. It undermines individual thought (ironic in the USA, isn’t it?) by putting people in categories, so all people in said category can vote in the same predictable way.

So similarly, I don’t think there needs to be an “Asian-American vote.” Of course I think every Asian-American U.S. citizen should vote, but they can make their own decisions on how. I find this whole 80-20 Initiative — trying to get 80% of Asians to vote for one side or another — is bordering on offensive. If 80% of Asians really do feel one way or the other, fine, we should all vote that way. But artificially constructing a voting bloc just for the sake of creating a voting bloc? That’s completely ridiculous.

More Asian-Americans in politics would be nice, but I want that to be because they’re qualified people that their constituents voted for, not because a bunch of Asian-Americans wanted an Asian-American politician in office. (Sort of like the whole Hilary Clinton and feminists thing…) I’d like to point out that here in whitey-white Portland, Oregon, we have David Wu, the first Chinese-American member of the U.S. House of Representatives, now seeking his sixth term.

When I vote in November, it’ll be as my own, intelligent, whole self — which obviously includes being Asian-American but it’s far from the whole story.

Racism (or not?) in The Manchurian Candidate

I recently re-visited the 1962 version of the film The Manchurian Candidate, which I hadn’t seen in a while.

Just to be clear, it’s a great film — eerie and suspenseful, well-written, and has some wonderful performances. The disturbing “dream” sequence described nicely here (scroll down a bit) is quite possibly the greatest example of inspired film editing ever.

That said, AsianWeek agreed with me in that the film’s big flaw is the use of “yellow face” in Chunjin, a Korean character played by an actor who doesn’t even look remotely Asian. I was actually confused when he first appeared on the screen, as it took me a moment to realize that he’s supposed to be Korean. And…he does martial arts! Of course!

I don’t find much to object to in the politics of the film, however. I could see what people are getting at — the title of the film admittedly has “Yellow Peril” written on it — but I see the film as an accurate representation of the fear and paranoia surrounding the Cold War. There’s an interesting discussion in a college course message board regarding the film and (presumably) the book What Have They Built You to Do?: The Manchurian Candidate and Cold War America. I haven’t read the book (I’m not sure about a 288 page analysis on one movie), but if anything, I think The Manchurian Candidate is even a bit subversive how it turns out that the real sneaky villain that’s infiltrated American politics is a white woman, in a “you-didn’t-see-that-coming-didja?” plot twist. (Hopefully nobody’s mad at me for spoilers on a popular 40+ year old movie.)

So I cringe through the scenes with Chunjin and enjoy the film.

Film: 人間の條件 (The Human Condition), Part 1

Director: Masaki Kobayashi
First Released: 1959
Runtime: 208 min.

I went to see this film at the Northwest Film Center on Friday night.

Set during World War II, Tatsuya Nakadai plays Kaji, a “bleeding heart” who, ironically, accepts a job as the supervisor for a large group of Chinese prisoners forced into hard labor at a Manchurian mine. As he works to better the conditions of the laborers and actually treats them as human beings, he faces both distrust from the very Chinese people he’s trying to help (“Japanese devil!” they shout), and harsh repercussions from his superiors at the mining company and from the ever-menacing kempeitai (the military police at the time).

Audiences who may not be accustomed to “foreign” films need not worry much. Despite the heavy themes and historical/geographical context, the film is quite accessible and will seem familiar to anyone that watches old Hollywood films (the sweeping, dramatic music particularly reminded me of classic Hollywood epics). I was watching the movie thinking the main character could be Jimmy Stewart, and the New York Times did me one better by comparing him to Gregory Peck.

Either way, Kaji is a somewhat unwitting yet tireless hero, fighting from within the system against a war-driven, ethnocentric Japan. The things he fights for feel timelessly relevant: that the ends do not necessarily justify the means, that we should not dehumanize even our war enemies, and thus we must not lose our humanity.

Kaji is most flawed when it comes to his relationship with his wife, Michiko (Michiyo Aratama). Believing that she would not understand and wanting to shield her from the horrors of his work, Kaji through most of the film stays stubbornly distant. They reconcile their differences at the end of the film, but now Kaji is to be drafted into war (under suspicious circumstances).

Part 2 screens at the Northwest Film Center on September 27th and 28th, and Part 3 screens on the 27th and 29th.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it to Part 2 (1959, 181 min.) and probably won’t make it to Part 3 (1961, 190 min.) (depending on whether I decide I can sacrifice sleep on a Monday night).

Go to the Janus Films website to check for screenings in other parts of the country.

Random video this time

Apologies about my increasingly sparse posts, but I’m still figuring out how to get back on a full-time work schedule.

In the meantime, here’s what’s been going on right across the street from me:

No, I haven’t wandered into a Hitchcock movie. It’s the swift migration that happens this time of year at Chapman Elementary School here in Portland, OR.

I love sushi, but not the condiments

Contrary to popular opinion, Japanese food is about more than sushi.

That said, I love sushi.

But I’ve always been a picky eater, and two things I can’t stand go with sushi: ginger and wasabi.

I like ginger when it’s in the form of, say, ginger snap cookies. I generally don’t like strong ginger in cooking, and those piles of pink pickled ginger is just gross.

I like spicy food, as in chili-spicy. But to me, wasabi doesn’t taste spicy. In fact, it doesn’t really taste like much of anything while a stinging sensation goes up my nose and I feel like my whole face hurts. It’s unpleasant, and I just don’t get it.

Consequently, one thing I really appreciate about most American sushi places is that the nigiri doesn’t just automatically come with wasabi between the fish and the rice. I can eat sushi feeling safe and all carefree-like.

Not so when I eat sushi in Japan, where I have to ask for no wasabi. My family then makes fun of me, as kids are the ones that don’t like wasabi. Sometimes I forget to specify, and I end up spending half my meal time painstakingly trying to get the wasabi out of my sushi (which as you can imagine, is difficult since it’s a pasty substance). Worst of all, I might just forget completely, stick a nigiri in my mouth, and my eyes water as I go running to drown myself with water.