Tea and My Life

My family is not in to tea as much as Chinese people should be. I had been asked multiple times by friends if I drank tea all the time in China. I drink tea, sometimes, but not often, only on special occasion like having guests and formal dinner. However, we do own a very nice set of teapot and teacups, sitting on the top shelf where it will catch your eyeballs as soon as you walk into the living room. It is rarely used because when we did make some tea, we put the leaves directly in to a mug and pour in boiling water – much easier to clean and to carry around. We also have tea – different kinds of tea, lot of them, also stored on the top shelf, in beautiful and delicate containers. Paradoxically we hardly ever drink the tea. After a while when they go bad, we throw them away and bought new ones. Every family in China has tea, and it doesn’t matter the family drinks it or not.

I agree with Macfarlen's Chapters that tea often times serves as a symbol representing some kind of status. Whether consciously or unconsciously, owning china and tea shows off your class and taste. But I don't think that we have tea only because we are materialist and try to show it off to other people. It is the culture. Tea embodies the great Chinese culture that can be discuss over thousands years ago. We have tea because it is an important part of the culture and our lives that shouldn;t be forgotten.

Tea Party

I knew nothing about the Tea Party, or let's say, nothing about American politics. By reading some of the forums posted by my classmate, I got some gist about who they are and what they do. Friday in class, we spent a lot of time clarifying the definition of the term "dense fact", and how the dense facts presented in the posts convey the essential idea of the Tea Party Movement. Our group talked about a cartoon that Shelby found.
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/politicalcartoons/ig/Tea-Party-Cartoons/Republicans--Tea-Party-Problem.htm
Jake, Megan, Shelby and I talked about how the members of the Tea Party think that they are helping the Republicans and the country to stay on the right track but they are actually not doing any good. Surprisingly a lot of the forums about the Tea Party are negative aspects. Personally I don't think I have enough knowledge to judge or agree or disagree their principles. In Enich's blog, he said that "However, there's a trend in America right now claiming that all the tea partiers are crazies going around shooting guns calling everyone socialist Hitlers. Now, there are people that do that. And believing all of them are like that makes the tea party even easier to hate than it already is."Back to the point about them being hated, I do think that nowadays people don't have to the reason to dislike the party just because they feel like it or other people don't like it.

Ben Franklin Continue

Apparently Benjamin Franklin's autobiography wasn't very appreciated in class Monday. People were bothered by his arrogance and self-contradiction. My previous post about the first part of the autobiography was about what I think the wisdom was from his life, which is obviously a positive attitude towards him. However, I did just skim those chapters. As I keep reading the rest the book, I have a mix feeling right now. Franklin's scientific contribution and his idea of writing and reading are crucial are certainly to be praised. Also, his intention of showing humility and his ethical point of view of virtue and utilitarian are something that I can defend him with. Some paradox came to mind after reading the book. First of all, I got the feeling that he uses a extremely arrogance tone through out the book, contradicting himself by not being humble, yet being condescending all the time. He seems to only want to bring up himself: everything he has done and all the achievement he had had. There's one part where his son died, he just briefly wrote a couple sentences and went on his writing about his printer shop. For me this is considered to be something that really effects one's life and therefore should be recorded with more details and personal feelings. However, Benjamin Franklin does symbolize the American dream. From a middle class, or even lower class family, he worked his way up and became who he had become, which should be praised greatly. Related to Cullen's chapter on The American Dream: the Upward Mobility, he pointed out that everyone can become who he or she wants to become through hard work. This is the American dream: to be able to use hard work to change be successful.

Benjamin Franklin's Wisdom

I have always enjoyed reading autobiography. Just like in the second letter from Part II of his autobiography, Benjamin Vaughan encouraged Franklin to publish the book so that it could serve as a model for people who want a better life. I like autobiographies because reading other people's life stories and reflections of their life makes me think about my life. Even though I have still not experienced much, I like to reflect on what I have done and what I hope to do in the future. It is a pity that I did not start my Pocahontas paper early enough to have enough time to carefully read the first half of the book. However, just by skimming quickly over I have got the gist. Along with professor Rohn's questions about what Franklin has taught us his wisdom, I realized how powerful reading and writing are, and how knowledge helps a person become someone with morality, skepticism and a critical mind.

The First question Professor Rohn asked was that if I perceive myself helping to write the equivalent of the world's next Declaration of Independence or lead the world's next social and political revolution. I have to say that I would love to write a political concern or lead a revolution, but I do think that I would be a good writer or leader, especially right now. To be honest, I know nothing about politics, American politics to be exact, and my writing skills have not reached the level. I am not being humble or modest like Franklin states in his autobiography that people started to complain his arrogance, so he began to really think about how to be a humble yet aggressive person/leader in a way that his ideas and success are still being recognized. However, according to Franklin, he said that everyone should be able to do this. He argues that based on his experiences of first a deliver boy and then a printer, had his own printer house, own newspaper, a library and finally achieved what he had had, everyone should be able to do these things with he knowledge of supreme writing skill, wisdom from vast number of books, and development of his or her own thought on concerns and issues rather than relying on others. I agree as well. I do hope that one day in the future I could somehow make a different in this world.

Things?

For some reason I am still a little puzzled about why we are learning about materials and things. In class Wednesday we went back and talked about the relations of the things we have learned (Puritans, Landscapes, and Pocahontas)and four freedoms. After reading Butler's chapter on Things Material and Cullen's American Dream: Dream of the Good Life: Upward Mobility. I Still couldn't see how materials are related to freedom, especially the freedom from want, as we discussed in class.

Butler talked about how different groups, the Europeans, the African Americans, and the Native Americans ate, wore, and live differently. One of the example that was brought up in the chapter was that how the clothes that was made locally are very expensive even though it was badly made and had bad quality. Owning clothes locally gives you a better status. Now go back to Cullen's point that one of the essential part of American dream is how we can work hard to achieve a goal. The things we own shows the quality of life, which indirectly shows the achievement. A connection is somewhere made here, I guess?? There are definitely more to expand, and hopefully I will have something more tomorrow after class.

Room Inventory

Two beds bunked together
Two dressers
Two closets
Two desks with bookshelves on top
Window seat
Refrigerator
Bed table
TV Cart
Printer
Standing lamp
Two desk lamps
Fan
Flowers
Wall Decorations (Pictures, Wall Décor stickers, Frames)
Telephone
Baskets/boxes for storage
Lot of pillows
Blankets
Bags
Lots of food
Printer
Computers
Carpet
Guitar
Cleaning supplies
Toiletries
Towels
Clothes
Shoes
Two laundry baskets

Pocahontas In Poetry

I was meant to write this post after the wonderful discussion we had on Friday about what we talked in class and how Pocahontas was depicted in the form of poetry. Fall break was way too exciting so this post waited until today to be published. However, when I went back and read the poems again today, new thoughts and feelings in addition to those I had in class on Friday came to mind. I have shared my blog with my host mom and dad Alan and Dorene Wernke over the weekend and I received some very useful and great comments about it. Right now writing posts on this blog has changed from an obligation for doing well in class to a platform that I can freely express my thoughts towards the reading assignments or anythings that is somehow related to class, which I begin to enjoy.

In the poem Pocahontas to her English husband, John Rolfe, by Paula Gunn Allen, the author uses first person narrative and expresses through the mouth of Pocahontas herself. Below the title, there is a short paragraph by Charles Larson. Larson said that "In a way then, Pocahontas was a kind of traitor to her people" because "once she was free to do what she wanted, she avoided her own people like the plague".  I don't agree with him completely, but it brings another point of view towards Pocahontas, who usually was praised among people. In this poem Pocahontas seems to be somewhat arrogant and controllable.
            
"Had I not cradle you in my arms/oh beloved perfidious one/ you would have died...Had I not set you tasks/ your masters far across the sea/would have abandoned you..And indeed I rescue you..I spoke little, you said/And you listen less..."     

Larson also said that" Pocahontas was a white dream -- a dream of cultural superiority."
   
This brings back to one of the comments/ questions Alan said to me: What about exploring the racial boundary’s, and love. Is it true that " True love sees no color”?

Clearly from this poem there is no affection between Pocahontas and John Rolfe. And no evidence from historical record saying that she had once loved John Rolfe. According to Larson, she married him in order to seek "superiority", and clearly she succeeded. Whether she married Rolfe with affection or not, she gained her status by entering the English royal family. I still believe that she did it partially because that wanted to establish a peaceful relationship between her culture and the western English culture. Of course there is so much more to elaborate and explore. I will come back to his later when I have more time. 

Colors of the Wind

Today in class we discussed some artworks that were created to revive Pocahontas. There are definitely a lot of differences between each painting or statue; however, like we have talked in class, there are two categories: 1. Pocahontas dressed as English loyalty ( In class we also brought up the point that was she actually transforming to an English or she was just pretending it). 2. Pocahontas as the "savage", wild, native princess. The differences are obvious. I was impressed at how many different perspectives we have brought up about the painting and how the small but specific details convey something deeper -- another reason I enjoy having 40 great minds together. In this case, Iconclude that the difference was the of liveliness that were depicted through the arts.

Back to the point in parenthesis. that we are curious about her real thought. But there are no evidence of whether she was completely and truthfully converted into Christianity or not. When I was thinking about this question after class I wished that there were some historical records about it and that she really did not enjoyed her life living in England. I would thought so much high about her this way. However, I then gradually realized that it really did not matter. It was possible that she was faking in believing in God just so she could live her loyal life comfortably, instead her heart still belonged to the nature land where there was no doctrine restriction. Or let's assume that Pocahontas was a sincere Christian. She had the freedom to do so, and especially in England, the Christian society, made the conformation so much easier. Her ideal of being free was tied with her faith, and was expressed spiritually. She was still considered the peace maker between two cultures, and we can't judge which culture is the "right" culture and the superior one.

"He juxtaposes English and Indian figures to suggest the bringing together of cultures that was Pocahontas's accomplishment."
                          William Rasmussen
                         Pocahontas: Her Life and Legend
I agree that integrating the two cultures together was her biggest accomplishment she achieved, God did not involve in it.

I have to say the Disney version looks better.

Lovely Disney Princess

"the Pocahontas perplex emerged as a controlling metaphor in the American experience"
"Both her nobility as a princes and her savagery as a Squaw are defined in terms of her relationship with male figures."
Rayna Green: The Pocahontas Perplex

Green opens her essay by telling an interesting, yet evidently true and representative story of the romance between an Indian princess and a white man. The Europeans viewed the native people unjustly, and falsely categorized into unrealistic stereotypes. The Native American women, as Green states in her essay, has been unfairly classified and stereotyped. They are either being portrayed as a loving, pure, and romantic princess, or as an evil, filthy, and lustful squaw.

The Europeans described the Natives as barbarous and uncivilized, somewhat relates to "squaw". Until Miss Liberty rose above the misconceptualised ideas, "Indian woman began her symbolic, many-faceted life as a Mother figure-exotic, powerful, dangerous, and beautiful- and as a representative of American liberty and European classical virtue translated into New World terms" (Green pp 19).This is when Pocahontas and princess figure starts to appear. The Indians are no longer just savages(even though they were still considered to be barbarous in some ways by the Europeans). A slightly positive female appearance came into site.

The princess, who saves the young handsome white man against her tribe's will and tradition, is depicted often by literature and music as the innocent virgins who sacrifice themselves for their lovers, who, unsurprisingly, is usually a White Christan man. However, the seemingly noble recognition is not actually a positive transformation. As I quoted above in the first paragraph, the female identity does not independently exist without a somewhat attractive, yet heroic man figure. "But acting as a real female, she must be a partner and lover of Indian men, a mother to Indian children, and an object of lust for white men" (Green pp19). It is demeaning to think that it is because of the sexual desire that men have towards them give them a better reputation.

Playing Indians? Playing Whites?

"An unparalleled national identity crisis swirled around two related dilemmas: First, Americans had an awkward tendency to define themselves by what they were not.. Second, Americans (and he did not hesitate to generalize) had been continually haunted by the fatal dilemma of “ wanting to have their cake and eat it too,” of wanting to savor both civilized order and savage freedom at the same time."
Philip J. Deloria Introduction Playing Indian (pp5)

Deloria explores the Indian identity by examining the "white American's" desire his book "Playing Indian." The quote above is D.H.Lawrence's definition and criticism of the American identity.I found it interesting because the way Deloria describe how we play the Indians using their lifestyles, clothing and customs has changed the original images of the Native Americans and thus redefines the national identity. I wrote a blog at the beginning of the semester saying that I think the American identity is that we don't have an identity. I still agree with my preview thought but now after my reading I realized how hard is it to find an identity for a country, a group of people. Imagining Indians has helped us define and evade paradox raising from "playing Indians". And in Deloria's book, he made a point that the Native Americans believed that the English were the colonist, and for the Europeans, the Indians are the Americans.I think this it summarizes the idea that not only the Europeans had a mistaken concepts on the Indians. Maybe they are "playing Whites" too.