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Blog #13 P.O.P

The final Blog

This blog is super important to me so sorry if it's too much!

Our final project this semester was P.O.P. basically we were allowed to present whatever we wanted that we learned but in a creative innovative way. So my group decided to do music! We picked live music at first but due to me having to perform in a concert the day of P.O.P we made a video last minute which turned out great! 

This music represented me coming out to my traditional family and them not accepting me for who I am, which happened the week before. This was a super rough time for me and did not know what to do. Doing this music video with Wilson, Christine, and Uyen helped me so much... I don't think they realize. Thank you guys for being there during such a rough time for me. 

The video has the music by Danny chan singing about immigration and how people will never accept him for who he really was. With people throwing racial slurs and phrases that hurt him. This song really spoke to me and my group. we decided to record it with my girlfriend's dad, Tim Hall who sang and played the guitar with us. Big thanks to him!

The video shows how a girl comes out to her traditional Chinese family just to be shunned and shamed. She finds her way by moving from Hong Kong to San Francisco to pursue her passion for music and to find her new love. She ends up meeting her love overlooking the golden gate (my actual girlfriend). 

My group and I had such a great time filming and recording music we got really close and bonded into what I would say to be great friends :) 

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Blog#12 Aspire

During this semester we had the opportunity to go to many aspire events. The aspire event I chose was a talk on how to be better with public presentations. 

When I first walked in I was a little nervous because I didn't know what to expect. I sat down and got a little more comfortable. It was like a being study circle! With friendly faces :) The started the presentation by asking what were some good and bad presentations we saw. 

here is the list

This then went off with us discussing and the room got a little less tense and more talkative. I engaged with telling them that I have actually seen a person cry and run off stage before!

The speaker presented and gave us some pointers about what we could do to have a great presentation. Little did we know that in the end, we would be doing presentations ourselves. She gave us 15 minutes to make a speech about anything! so naturally I wanted to talk about my favorite Disney movie! 

Ratatouille!

I made up a presentation and went first! 

I talked very smoothly and calm but yet exciting about how much the movie means to me! At the end of my presentation, they gave me feedback on what I could do better next time and what I did really well. They said that my energy was amazing it really caught their attention, they said I needed to plan my word placement better. This really helped me because I have always struggled with word placement. They gave me pointers and showed me what to do. I now feel more confident to present!

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Blog# 11 Asian Musicians

I'm a music major who plays the cello. In the music department, I've noticed an odd dichotomy within the Asian musicians in the department. I've talked to a lot of them since the department is not very big, and the Asian females that were sent here as foreign exchange students are strongly driven to practice a lot in order to make their families proud and not waste their money. They are really well off, and don't have to worry about the expense of being abroad. They are completely supported but their families. Surprisingly, other Asian American students who are in the department are actually not supported by their families. In fact, a lot of them struggle with self-confidence in the path that they chose. 

Their families disapprove and want them to do something else that will help them make a good living. They don't believe that they can be successful in the path they've chosen. Music is already hard enough as it is, you're constantly being critiqued and if you don't adapt well and have thick skin, you won't make it. I find it interesting that you can have such a different mindset even though you have the same ethnic background. What I find ironically funny is that Asian parents tell their kids they need to learn how to play an instrument because it's a good skill to have, but as soon as they take it more seriously and say they want to do that as their career, they're suddenly less supported. I guess that the families who are able to afford to send their kids so far to study aren't worried about their kids making a living because their families already have a lot of financial security.

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Blog #10

In my time in San Francisco, I've realized that there's a huge difference in Asian people from SoCal and Asian people from NorCal.

 There's a lot of NorCal Asians, and I feel like, in SoCal, they're not as present. Aside from that, NorCal Asians are very rooted in tradition. They're old fashioned in the way they think and their mannerisms are very different. Back home, Asians are very Americanized and laid back. I feel like around here, Asian people are very unapproachable and afraid of me. I remember asking someone for help one time, and you would've thought that I was going to attack the Asian woman I talked to. Asians in NorCal seem to be more conservative than any other ethnicity I have had close proximity to. I kind of wish that they were more open to having a conversation. I'm a friendly person, but I feel like I can't always talk as openly as I would to someone in SoCal.

However, In southern California, there are people that you cannot approach. and you rarely see people from Asian communities out in about. So when I got to San Francisco I was shocked! The Asian community is thriving here and its awesome! I am learning so much about the culture of all different backgrounds. That is one of the main reasons I took this class to learn more about my environment. I am excited to learn more :) 

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Blog# 9 “Cease the moment and don't squander it."

Careers put in perspective.

What do I truly want to do with the rest of my life?

FUCK... I have no idea anymore.

I know that I wanted to go into music.. something in music...

But you know what I realized?

My main objective all along is to help people, to get my word out too them, to help them in whatever they need Everyone has their own story... whether it's a happy or a sad one. In my life, I have many events that have made me the person I am today. My dad says I should become a politician because I am very headstrong, stubborn and confident. A Politician???? .... hmmmm I would really have to think about that. 

Careers possibilities:

Politician.Teacher. Professor. Medical. FieldSpeaker (Inspirational/ Motivational) Business "Wo"man  Police Officer, Fireman, Paramedic Military, Navy, Marines Athletic TrainerCoachTherapistCouncilor-------------------------------------

I just want to help people, I do not care how... 

So how about music! Music is a universal language and is super powerful! I learned a lot in this class that music can come from anyone and anywhere!

If I do something in Music, the language of music is very powerful, I can help people through that. I really want to travel the world and help people that are sick, help people that are starving, in poverty, create laughs and smiles from those individuals. 

I want to be the person that they can rely on to be there if they need a shoulder to cry on. To be a compassionate mother to those who have never had one, to be the strong father figure that's dependable. 

If I could go around the world to see all the different forms of music developed, how this one individual language is so universal. If I could be paid to do so. By bringing this one thing to light that has brought even the darkest of times out of its shell.

Musical Missionary?? That's the wrong way to phrase it.

No, I wouldn't be doing this because of my love for god. I would be doing this so people would realize that we are the same... that we are all connected in some shape or form. That we derived from the same place, we all have the basic needs. I want to show the world that through even one person's touch, the world can be a better place.  But this doesn't only have to be through music... it could be by medical attention. Just helping a person by listening to that individual. I know what I want to do. All I need now is support. Support from not only my family and friends but the world... I know there are people out there that know that the world is bigger than just a cup of coffee and a daily routine. There are people that need my help, need a person there for them. I am here to whoever comes across this blog, I am here to help and motivate through words, through listening, through music, through any means that the person might need at that moment. I don't want to be defined by how I look or what I sound like define me through music!

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Blog#8 HUNTING

So yes, yet again my girlfriend showed me an anime that she really loved called HunterxHunter.

 I was pretty apprehensive about anime because she showed me Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood, and I didn't really like that one much. I don't know what it is with anime but I never really got interested in it. I know to call me weird... sorry not sorry. 

Anyways... I tried to watch it because it was another favorite of hers, but I couldn't get into it. But this time was different, I walked in and she was watching Hunter one day, and I sat and watched it, finding myself really drawn to it. I asked her what it was, and she got really excited when I said that I liked it. I've been watching it with her every night during dinner now. I never really got into anime. The only types of anime I watched growing up was Card Captor, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Sailor Moon. It's been nice having something to bond over from her culture. 

HunterxHunter is about a group of people training to become well.. HUNTERS!

Like really well-trained bounty hunters but more intense. They use a special aura called nen which helps them connect to themselves on a spiritual level. It has a really intense correlation to the family which I love. My personal favorite character is Killua. He is a trained assassin and such a badass!

Watching this some opened up the possibilities of trying new and other anime which really makes me excited! How do you feel about anime and what is your favorite?!

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Blog #7 BoBa!!!!!!

Before I met my girlfriend, I wasn't really into boba. I grew up in Ventura, where there was only one boba place, this boba place had nothing at all. However, at the time, I thought it was soooooo amazing. (Later I found out it was horrible with squishy boba :( ) I liked it once and a while, but I didn't crave it or actively go looking for it. I'd much rather get a plain old diet coke. 

My girlfriend is super into boba, so of course naturally i “had” to be into boba haha and since I've moved to San Francisco, I've come to realize that boba is EVERYWHERE. 

She loves going to get it randomly and when she has a craving, we go out of our way to get it. When we have a little spat with one another we get it to make up to one another. She's showed me so many places, and they're somehow all her Favorites. Like Tpumps, My Cup of tea, Boba guys, Happy Lemon, the list goes on and on!  In the beginning, I thought that all boba was the same. Now I can actually tell when I have good boba or bad boba. I never really understood it before, but now I like to get boba from specific places depending on what I want. I have a favorite drink from each different boba place. I have to admit, I'm hooked. So when you come to sf don't be lame and go to Boudin sourdough go get you some BOBA!!!!!

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Blog#6    The 5k run!

The Community event!

This semester we were required to go to one community event so I picked to go to the 5k run! 

Going into this event I didn't really know what to expect. I have volunteered for runs when I was in high school. In my hometown, we would call it the fun run! Where we would run around with your friends and family until we would get tired.

This run was a little different :) 

It was huge! We all had an assigned group to go with. I was in a group with my girlfriend and one of my classmates Eric. We are assigned at different points on the trail that the runners would go by and wave a flag, give them bracelets and cheer them on! I had a lot of fun dancing and cheering and staying warm in the rain with friends!

The people that we were cheering on were from a community center called Nihonmachi Little Friends. This is a non-profit childcare center, their mission that they told us it to provide Japanese/English bilingual education childcare in a multicultural context. I think that this is absolutely wonderful that there are still communities out there like this. I think there is a need to have more communities out there to promote bilingual teaching. I feel like the public school systems are so systematic when it comes to only teaching in English, they should give others that are bilingual more of a chance to speak in their native tongue in schools. 

I heard Irene talking about this event and I was so glad that I asked if I could go. It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend to do it next year.