Midterm Reflection

Initially, our groups attempt at recreating the strike didn't exactly work out. We hadn't prepared enough and did not forecast external factors that eventually detracted from our performance. We ended up being pretty disappointed in ourselves--almost as if we had failed the original participants of the SFSU strike. Immediately after, we went back to the drawing boards to see if we could develop a better plan of attack.

After much deliberation on how we could improve our skit, our commitment to honoring the original SFSU strikers had been renewed. I was much more confident this time around. However, as soon as I walked into class that day, I knew that whatever plan we originally had would be improved even further by the energy shared by the rest of the class; especially those who were not even from our group. The walk towards the quad caused my skin to tighten and a swirl of thought circulated through my head. I felt an overwhelming sense of purpose, one that I had not felt the first time we enacted our skit.

As soon as our march ended and we assembled at Cesar Chavez, a burst of energy circulated through all of us and the performance that resulted could not have been any more successful! It was especially rewarding to see one of the alumni who participated in the strike congratulate us on our efforts. After that, I no longer worried about what grade we had earned for the midterm. Her gratitude and pride said it all!

- Ernest

Midterm Reflection

Many thanks to everyone in our group for their awesome contributions and effort. Our first concept of what to do for our skit seemed like a breeze at first. We thought that it would a really cool idea to try to reenact the strike from back then. But, then we tweaked it a little bit more and decided to make it into a question and answer panel. However, once it came to trying to execute the plan that was the challenging part. The first attempt that our group tried to do our skit, we missed the passing period and not many people were watching us. We also had a few problems on our side as well. We had some what a hard time trying to look serious, we kept smiling and laughing. Since we were just asking questions out at random, the whole skit turned out not as smooth as it could have been. It probably could have turned out better had we run a few more practice runs before the real deal. For our second attempt, it was so much better than the first attempt. With the support of the whole class and having had decided to change our whole skit so it would have a much better impact, things turned out way better than I expected. We got a lot more people to watch us and got to let people know what our goal was. I hope we made some sort of foot print in people's mind about the 40th anniversary of the strike. Overall I felt like I really was a part of something big and had a blast doing it.

Midterm Review/Reflection

To start off I have to say thanks for everyone that participated on our Midterm skit. First off making a group and discussing what we were going to do was pretty simple and easy. It was doing what we planned out that was difficult, like our first attempts to do the skit. We all met early and some later, but not only that but we missed the passing period so not many people watched. Then their was our self control, which we completely failed at because everyone was smiling or laughing, and some of our group mates were spatting out random questions. I have to say that we were completely disorganized,and I believe that we didn't have enough people to make a great impact towards other people. On our second attempt, the whole class participated and I have to say that our group was more prepared, and we did a great job. In my perspective I saw that we made a lot of people watch what we were doing, and made them understand what the 40th anniversary was about. All in all it was a fun experience and we learned alot from accomplishing our duties or failing to do so.

2 Reviews!

I had the opportunity tonight to do 2 restaurant reviews.

One is Little Tokyo which is on Geary Blvd. and another is Top Cafe which is a Chinese-American cafe down in Cupertino.

Little Tokyo Review

Top Cafe Review

Third World

I have to say that that movie in class had so much meaning in it, most people would be speechless. I mean people in State just want a better teaching environment and the board denies this just because of their color? Man what the heck,I thought that we were over this bullshit about "different ethnicity" at that time, I guess I was wrong. So if they can't have a better environment to learn then it is time to strike my friend, we the people will stand strong to our beliefs that all people deserve and equal education. Again the board got in the way and used violence to solve the problem, but the people were only chanting, I mean we have a law stating everyone has a freedom of speech, so what does the board do, they go and call the police to beat the crap out of us and drag our leaders away. What's worst is after that whole thing they divided the school into two separate divisions, so they can "control" us easier, sounds like slavery to me but that's my opinion. Good thing the people had strong beliefs because another strike broke out, ya the people. Finally this time the school board gave in and gave the lower class people the same teaching environment as the higher class. But still the higher ups are still messing with the class funds, so they can earn more money for themselves, I really wish they would stop messing around in our school just for themselves.

Dim Sum of All Things - P 233

So far, the novel has kept me engaged and interested in the triumphs and shortcomings of Lindsey, the book's main character. The bulk of my reading has been completed over the past week and a half as I find it difficult to stop once I've started.

I just wanted to emphasize the importance of some of the themes my fellow group members have found in the book:

Stereotypes - Unlike my fellow group members, I hardly find the stereotypes used in this book offensive. I realize, however, that this is probably because I am not Chinese and do not understand the implications of these stereotypes.

Interestingly, I think Lindsey is the strongest supporter of such stereotypes even though she is Chinese. She seems almost ashamed of her own culture when she notices stereotypical behavior from family members or other Chinese. She frowns on such behavior even though these things may be essential aspects of her culture. I cannot tell if this is the author's intention.

She also seems to ignorantly categorize those who aren't Chinese throughout the book, especially males. Although I may be guilty of some the behavioral patterns Lindsey despises in men, it isn't fair to judge others before actually meeting them. This is probably why she hasn't had much success as far as romance is concerned.

Interracial dating - I never really understood what the fuss about interracial dating was all about. As a product of an interracial marriage, I have been around this all of my life. I think the more people speculate over interracial couples, the more difficult it becomes for couples to do what couples are supposed to do--love each other no matter what race the other person is. This book seems to put the spotlight on interracial couples when these things should be naturally accepted.

Overall, I do like the book. Regardless of the themes or messages, a lot can be learned about Chinese culture such as native foods and language. I find this beneficial because I haven't read much dealing with Chinese culture. I think that these pieces of knowledge will stick with me for the longer than anything else in this book.

- Ernest

Eat First Restaurant (Review)

I’ve never been a big fan of Chinese restaurants or Chinese food for that matter but this place is better than most. If there was such a term, I would call it a Chinese and Chinese American restaurant simply because the menu works like a double-edged sword. There is your usual menu where the selections are in both English and Chinese but there is this other menu where everything is in Chinese. Non-Chinese readers don’t worry; I personally think the items on that menu are a bit too “authentic” Chinese for me but that would certainly please the older folks. There is an all-English lunch menu that consists of 100% Americanized Chinese food. Although I’m trying to be as un-bias as possible, I love the selections on this lunch menu. All the items on that single laminated page are about five-dollars and the dish is fairly big. I usually order either the Mongolian Beef, Smooth Egg over rice with beef or the Spicy Tofu with Beef over rice. When I compare with most Chinese restaurants, particularly in the Sunset district, a bowl of rice is outrageously two-dollars but over here, it is no different than Chinatown offers, unlimited refills on your bowls.
It’s a modern style atmosphere. You won’t get any old Qing Dynasty music but instead, there’s a flat panel television with whatever show on TVB or a sporting event on ESPN. Although it looks like a fairly decent sized restaurant, there is actually a second level. The problem I have with seating is when they really have no tables for you or you and your friends and they make you sit in a big round table with other customers. The staff here is friendly but often times too busy to remember your orders. I can’t tell you how many times a waiter came to our table and gave us the other table’s order. I guess another flaw with the staff is their tendency to go outside when business is slow and have a smoke during their shifts. Unfortunately, they don’t bother washing their hands afterwards. Overall, its good food and mediocre service and although the staff aren’t the best of all time, they do the best they can to give you food that is fresh. There was a time when we ordered a dinner set and they couldn’t give us the soup because it was boiling at the moment. It may have been disappointing to start with but eventually it arrived and it was amazing. Some may not like it but I guess that would make me a pretty patient guy.

Click here for My Yelp Review