Every culture is as unique as the person who lives to revel in it, explain it, and pass down it. A wise Southern Asian man, Mahatma Gandhi, stated that a “nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people,” which is especially true in Asian cultures, who cling proudly to their culture. However, Asian culture differs greatly amongst the country it originates from. It is imperative for people to recognize the significant amount of differences there are in daily rituals and lifestyle between the Chinese and Japanese, even those that immigrated to America or were descents of immigrants. Chinese-Americans and Japanese-Americans have long been bundled together, when in reality there is a great amount of variation between them.
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She remembers the sparse positive moments, such as when her brothers and her were allowed to exit from the back entrance to explore. She knows, especially from the stories and the rough childhood she had to endure after the camp, that this small memory is not a good representation of her years in the camp. In Fifth Chinese Daughter, when Jade Snow’s mother birthed Forgiveness from Heaven and “everyone in the family made much over” the new baby. These family moments that should be marked with jubilation were not for Katie’s family. Katie’s parents were Isei, or originally from Japan, and immigrated together, without any assistance or company of other family members, to America (California specifically). Together, they had six children, which they supported by farming. Family was able to visit them if desired when new children were born, but Katie was not greeted by family when born like Forgiveness or Jade Snow were. This is because they (Katie’s nuclear family) were given a week-notice that they must move into the Internment camp, before Katie was born and before their lives were altered forever. Like George Takei, a Japanese man who also was forced into the internment camp, pronounces: “We had nothing to do with the war. We simply happened to look like the people that bombed Pearl Harbor.” Katie’s family had much resentment at …show more content…
“Language conveys the beliefs and values of a culture,” which is why both Katie and Jade Snow’s fathers put great emphasis on mastery of the language (Brym). Katie’s father was “adamant about all his children being fluent speaking, reading, and writing in Japanese,” as he believed it paramount that his children be able to speak the mother language to family members. Katie’s father enrolled the children in Japanese school, which is where they spent their Saturdays. It was very popular for Nisei to attend these schools, “as the Japanese Association explained, the purpose of Japanese schools was to strengthened Nisei connections to the homeland and supplement U.S. education without impeding the goal of preparing the second generation to be permanent residents of the United States” (Lee 178). Though her father never intended or desired for her to eventually reside in Japan, he actually looked down upon those who returned to the motherland, she still needed to learn the culture so she could perpetuate the traditions one day. The Wong children had similar experiences, as they learned the Chinese language both at a specialized school and at home. Their intransigent father also advanced their proficiency in the language as he would wake the children up early in order to give them “half an hour of Chinese instruction every morning before you (they) go to the American public classes” (Wong 14). This demonstrates the
She remembers the sparse positive moments, such as when her brothers and her were allowed to exit from the back entrance to explore. She knows, especially from the stories and the rough childhood she had to endure after the camp, that this small memory is not a good representation of her years in the camp. In Fifth Chinese Daughter, when Jade Snow’s mother birthed Forgiveness from Heaven and “everyone in the family made much over” the new baby. These family moments that should be marked with jubilation were not for Katie’s family. Katie’s parents were Isei, or originally from Japan, and immigrated together, without any assistance or company of other family members, to America (California specifically). Together, they had six children, which they supported by farming. Family was able to visit them if desired when new children were born, but Katie was not greeted by family when born like Forgiveness or Jade Snow were. This is because they (Katie’s nuclear family) were given a week-notice that they must move into the Internment camp, before Katie was born and before their lives were altered forever. Like George Takei, a Japanese man who also was forced into the internment camp, pronounces: “We had nothing to do with the war. We simply happened to look like the people that bombed Pearl Harbor.” Katie’s family had much resentment at …show more content…
“Language conveys the beliefs and values of a culture,” which is why both Katie and Jade Snow’s fathers put great emphasis on mastery of the language (Brym). Katie’s father was “adamant about all his children being fluent speaking, reading, and writing in Japanese,” as he believed it paramount that his children be able to speak the mother language to family members. Katie’s father enrolled the children in Japanese school, which is where they spent their Saturdays. It was very popular for Nisei to attend these schools, “as the Japanese Association explained, the purpose of Japanese schools was to strengthened Nisei connections to the homeland and supplement U.S. education without impeding the goal of preparing the second generation to be permanent residents of the United States” (Lee 178). Though her father never intended or desired for her to eventually reside in Japan, he actually looked down upon those who returned to the motherland, she still needed to learn the culture so she could perpetuate the traditions one day. The Wong children had similar experiences, as they learned the Chinese language both at a specialized school and at home. Their intransigent father also advanced their proficiency in the language as he would wake the children up early in order to give them “half an hour of Chinese instruction every morning before you (they) go to the American public classes” (Wong 14). This demonstrates the