azn culture

[loserbutt]

so what is asian culture? most of the underground azn that I've seen is merely copycatting black hip hop culture, and others seem too hidebound or wrapped up in stereotypes (like the martial arts one). any ideas?

[SunWuKong]

there is no "asian culture". at least that's my opinion. there are certain similarities between some asian cultures. but i don't think there is an "asian culture". beyond vietnamese, korean, and japanese, i feel i have about as much cultural similarities with other asians as i have with europeans.

[loserbutt]

well thats just great. what would be some good foundations to build an azn american culture on?

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by loserbutt@Jan 12 2003, 10:58 PM
well thats just great. what would be some good foundations to build an azn american culture on?
rice?

[MellowDrama]

rice rocketing!

:o

[AliBabaIncorporated]

I'm with SWK on this one ... there's no such thing as Asian culture (no matter how much Lee Kuan Yew and Dr. M rant on about "Asian values"), either in Asia or in the US. And the alleged Asian-American common identity has nothing to do with any kind of shared culture besides mainstream American white culture, it's all based around having immigrant parents and cliquing together by race.

[YuheiCarreau]

OK, I can agree that there's no pan-Asian or pan-Asian American culture. But would you say there's such a thing as Chinese American or Korean American culture?

[MellowDrama]

Skratching. :lol:

Well Blacks created it, but Asian-Americans brought it into the 21st century.

[AliBabaIncorporated]

Originally posted by YuheiCarreau@Jan 13 2003, 12:43 AM
OK, I can agree that there's no pan-Asian or pan-Asian American culture. But would you say there's such a thing as Chinese American or Korean American culture?
eh, not really, since the differences between them and upper-class suburban white Americans are on average so slight as to make the two groups indistinguishable except on the basis of genes.

[AltimaGTR]

I really think asian-american culture is basically an acquisition of many other cultures that have already been here. Therefore, it has its own style, but borrows heavily from other cultures.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by AliBabaIncorporated@Jan 13 2003, 01:10 AM
eh, not really, since the differences between them and upper-class suburban white Americans are on average so slight as to make the two groups indistinguishable except on the basis of genes.
hmmm... i don't know enough to comment on korean american culture, but i would say that there is a bit of chinese american culture. the current generation of young ABCs sure as hell don't show it, but there's plenty of it in chinatown. i mean who else would build an apartment building and name it after confucius? :lol: (chinatown NY in case anybody didn't know)

[AliBabaIncorporated]

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jan 13 2003, 01:21 AM
hmmm... i don't know enough to comment on korean american culture, but i would say that there is a bit of chinese american culture. the current generation of young ABCs sure as hell don't show it, but there's plenty of it in chinatown. i mean who else would build an apartment building and name it after confucius? :lol: (chinatown NY in case anybody didn't know)
yeah, Chinatown's happening. But as for the overwhelming majority of the participants in that cultural sphere, like the architect who built that building, and the tenants who live and work around there, they'd probably call themselves as hua qiao or just hua ren. I highly doubt they'd consider themselves as "Chinese Americans" or "Asian Americans." That's a label the younger Americanized generation claims.

[blue hoodie]

There's a culture only if you believe in one.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by AliBabaIncorporated@Jan 13 2003, 01:34 AM
yeah, Chinatown's happening. But as for the overwhelming majority of the participants in that cultural sphere, like the architect who built that building, and the tenants who live and work around there, they'd probably call themselves as hua qiao or just hua ren. I highly doubt they'd consider themselves as "Chinese Americans" or "Asian Americans." That's a label the younger Americanized generation claims.
ah! i see what you're talking about. yeah that's very true. there's very very few mention of being mei ji hua ren (overseas chinese of american citizenship - chinese american). what happens in chinatown is more like a hua ren or hua qiao (overseas chinese) thing. very good point.

[ChairmanMah]

i still think eatign the food is important.

[Napoleon Chynamite]

Originally posted by ChairmanMah@Jan 13 2003, 07:08 AM
i still think eatign the food is important.
Yup, food has this tendency of keeping me alive. :blink:

[iris]

I feel as though there is at least a Chinese-American culture. I cannot speak for those of other Asian races, but it's one of the reasons why many AAs choose to date or form friendships with those of their ethnicities. When asked about their "cliqueness," the most common answer is, "I feel more comfortable with someone who understands my lifestyle." And what lifestyle is that?

It's putting foil around the stove so when you cook in a wok, you don't have to clean up the mess. It's shaking every container in the fridge because you never know if it's really butter in the margarine tin. It's getting your hands rapped with a ruler because it's midnight and you can no longer answer the multiplications questions your parents are firing at you. It's seeing spanking as a a normal way to raise your children. It's thinking a curfew at the age of 18 is normal and again when after college you've come back to live for a while. It's driving a reliable Honda because you know it has higher re-sell value. It's being conscientious with money. It's about the strength of family, about living not in a nuclear family, but an extended one. It's being known as the "smart kid" in school. The fobby way your parents dressed you when you were little. Taking piano and violin lessons. Going to summer school in the summer instead of camp (unless it was math or piano camp). It's playing tennis in high school. Knowing what "parachute kids" are.

It's about so many intangible things that create who you are as a person. Maybe a little more conservative, a little more aware, a little more practical, a little more of a realist, and a little more about familial relationships.

[Craig]

Originally posted by tazadar@Jan 13 2003, 02:04 AM
You know the most common parenting method in Chinese and probably in Korean is by telling your kids you are no good as a scare tactic to do well.
It's a wonder that more of those Chinese and Korean parents (who act like that) don't get murdered by their children in America, just to get them to STFU.

[contra_diction]

our culinary culture, definitely, well, divided into the different asian ethnicities, of course.
how 'bout import cars, or certain video game type stuff maybe, anime?
but i guess there's really no asian culture as a group, that's all divided by countries, huh. hmmmm....

[deez nuts]

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jan 13 2003, 01:21 AM
hmmm...  i don't know enough to comment on korean american culture, but i would say that there is a bit of chinese american culture.  the current generation of young ABCs sure as hell don't show it, but there's plenty of it in chinatown.  i mean who else would build an apartment building and name it after confucius?   :lol:   (chinatown NY in case anybody didn't know)
Confucius Plaza...that place is expensive!

A lot of Asians our generation live there now, especially those that work on Wall Street. Since you're in Chinatown, has shops at the ground level and close to Wall Street. Few of my friends live there.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by iris@Jan 13 2003, 02:48 AM
It's putting foil around the stove so when you cook in a wok, you don't have to clean up the mess. It's shaking every container in the fridge because you never know if it's really butter in the margarine tin. It's getting your hands rapped with a ruler because it's midnight and you can no longer answer the multiplications questions your parents are firing at you. It's seeing spanking as a a normal way to raise your children. It's thinking a curfew at the age of 18 is normal and again when after college you've come back to live for a while. It's driving a reliable Honda because you know it has higher re-sell value. It's being conscientious with money. It's about the strength of family, about living not in a nuclear family, but an extended one. It's being known as the "smart kid" in school. The fobby way your parents dressed you when you were little. Taking piano and violin lessons. Going to summer school in the summer instead of camp (unless it was math or piano camp). It's playing tennis in high school. Knowing what "parachute kids" are.
i don't know iris. seriously, neither my cousins nor i experienced much of that. maybe some of it, but not most of it. but things like being money-conscious or having a curfew at 18 is not really particularly chinese american attributes i think.

i got cousins who grew up in NYC. and they were always too poor or their parents didn't think it was useful to have piano lessons or violin lessons. they didn't play any sports. didn't drive anything because it's NYC.

my own teenage experience was pretty whitewashed. i mean i played football and track. i went to summer camp. and i always thought that i was known as a "smart kid" because... i was a smart kid in school. and my family was and still is very much the nuclear family.

and my cousins in toronto are pretty much no different from upper middle class white kids.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by Chasiubao_Boy@Jan 13 2003, 08:33 AM
Confucius Plaza...that place is expensive!

A lot of Asians our generation live there now, especially those that work on Wall Street. Since you're in Chinatown, has shops at the ground level and close to Wall Street. Few of my friends live there.
yeah what a funny name. to this day i still get a kick out of it. who would name an apartment building after confucius?!?

[deez nuts]

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jan 13 2003, 08:55 AM
Originally posted by Chasiubao_Boy@Jan 13 2003, 08:33 AM
Confucius Plaza...that place is expensive!

A lot of Asians our generation live there now, especially those that work on Wall Street.  Since you're in Chinatown, has shops at the ground level and close to Wall Street.  Few of my friends live there.
yeah what a funny name. to this day i still get a kick out of it. who would name an apartment building after confucius?!?
With the statue of Confucius in the front!

[loserbutt]

hrmm, good points. guess its impossible to expect a universal asian culture, its like expecting a universal european culture

[iris]

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jan 13 2003, 09:49 PM
i don't know iris. seriously, neither my cousins nor i experienced much of that. maybe some of it, but not most of it. but things like being money-conscious or having a curfew at 18 is not really particularly chinese american attributes i think.

i got cousins who grew up in NYC. and they were always too poor or their parents didn't think it was useful to have piano lessons or violin lessons. they didn't play any sports. didn't drive anything because it's NYC.

my own teenage experience was pretty whitewashed. i mean i played football and track. i went to summer camp. and i always thought that i was known as a "smart kid" because... i was a smart kid in school. and my family was and still is very much the nuclear family.

and my cousins in toronto are pretty much no different from upper middle class white kids.
I think you should take it with a grain of salt. I doubt it's the norm for every ABC, just the ones I came in contact with. I remember playing the "You know you're Asian game," with my Asian posse at boarding school.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by iris@Jan 13 2003, 09:38 AM
Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jan 13 2003, 09:49 PM
i don't know iris.  seriously, neither my cousins nor i experienced much of that.  maybe some of it, but not most of it.  but things like being money-conscious or having a curfew at 18 is not really particularly chinese american attributes i think.

i got cousins who grew up in NYC.  and they were always too poor or their parents didn't think it was useful to have piano lessons or violin lessons.  they didn't play any sports.  didn't drive anything because it's NYC.

my own teenage experience was pretty whitewashed.  i mean i played football and track.  i went to summer camp.  and i always thought that i was known as a "smart kid" because...  i was a smart kid in school.  and my family was and still is very much the nuclear family.

and my cousins in toronto are pretty much no different from upper middle class white kids.
I think you should take it with a grain of salt. I doubt it's the norm for every ABC, just the ones I came in contact with. I remember playing the "You know you're Asian game," with my Asian posse at boarding school.
but that's just it. we come in all shapes and sizes just like white people, and the only commonality between us is our chinese roots, but many ABCs aren't really in touch with that anyway.

[wylin]

Originally posted by ChairmanMah@Jan 12 2003, 11:08 PM
i still think eatign the food is important.
like moose?

i believe that there is no unified chinese american culture because theres a distinict and seperate taiwanese and distinict mainland recent immigrant culture while over the years the cantonese culture has grown and evolved but these two new chinese ethnic groups will also grow and evolve...seperately.

[AliBabaIncorporated]

Originally posted by iris@Jan 13 2003, 09:38 AM
I remember playing the "You know you're Asian game," with my Asian posse at boarding school.
how funny, and at that same school I got to play the "Aren't you really a white guy?" game with the ABC posse instead ... seriously, yeah, like SWK said, most of what you mentioned is just quirks of life in the suburban middle class

[iris]

As I have already stated, nothing in this world is universal and it would be unreasonable and irrational to believe so. ABC culture for me is what I mentioned above. For you it might be different. The same goes for the so-called "white" culture. Socio-economic status determines what kind of lifestyle you lead as well as ethnic heritage. Like people in this world, no two are the same.

Too bad you didn't have an ideal time at PA, but it wasn't all shits and giggles for me either. This isn't a thread about tension within Asian races, but it happens in a good place like PA too. I think you'd recall that the KP never got along with any other Asian group.

Culture is determined by your environment, the people you choose to hang with, your parents and so many other things. It's called perspective and it's personal. While there may be connecting underlying themes for ABCs, generation gaps and different individual experiences color them and make them our own.

I, like many of my friends, am a second generation immigrant and that differentiates me from many ABCs. Because my parents still remember their homeland traditions and values, I got to experience many of them. But the further the generation moves from the original immigrants, the more "heritage" they lose along the way. They start to pick up attributes of their native land instead. Age and generation have to be taken into account when asking about AA culture and that is difficult. In affect, you get many sub-cultures.

[wylin]

Originally posted by iris@Jan 13 2003, 10:27 AM
As I have already stated, nothing in this world is universal and it would be unreasonable and irrational to believe so. ABC culture for me is what I mentioned above. For you it might be different. The same goes for the so-called "white" culture. Socio-economic status determines what kind of lifestyle you lead as well as ethnic heritage. Like people in this world, no two are the same.

Too bad you didn't have an ideal time at PA, but it wasn't all shits and giggles for me either. This isn't a thread about tension within Asian races, but it happens in a good place like PA too. I think you'd recall that the KP never got along with any other Asian group.

Culture is determined by your environment, the people you choose to hang with, your parents and so many other things. It's called perspective and it's personal. While there may be connecting underlying themes for ABCs, generation gaps and different individual experiences color them and make them our own.

I, like many of my friends, am a first generation immigrant and that differentiates me from many ABCs. Because my parents still remember their homeland traditions and values, I got to experience many of them. But the further the generation moves from the original immigrants, the more "heritage" they lose along the way. They start to pick up attributes of their native land instead. Age and generation have to be taken into account when asking about AA culture and that is difficult. In affect, you get many sub-cultures.
dont be hard on iris shez just saying that shez a fob and hence shez different from you.

[deez nuts]

**comforts Iris**

I personally can't wait to move up to an upper middle class burb like Glen Head, Glen Cove or Dix Hills in Long Island!

You guys played weird games...what happened to shooting dice, spin the bottle or truth or dare? Heh..nevermind boarding school, bleh.

There, there Iris..you Taiwanese enuff for me....let's go meet my mommy!

[iris]

Originally posted by Chasiubao_Boy@Jan 14 2003, 02:44 AM
**comforts Iris**

I personally can't wait to move up to an upper middle class burb like Glen Head, Glen Cove or Dix Hills in Long Island!

You guys played weird games...what happened to shooting dice, spin the bottle or truth or dare? Heh..nevermind boarding school, bleh.

There, there Iris..you Taiwanese enuff for me....let's go meet my mommy!
Can I be number one wife? Though I'm still not clear on this sharing thing.

<--- does not play well with others

[AliBabaIncorporated]

edit: on second thought, fuck it, I'm not gonna open up that can of worms.

Suffice it to say I had a great time at PA once I gave up on the idea of finding friends with whom I shared a cultural experience or life valuess. And that I never saw any evidence that Asian-American culture existed in a sufficiently strong form to provide for all the AA cliquishness at PA, which lashed out against both AAs who hung out with white people, and against FOBs who hung out with each other (e.g. the KP, with whom I, the HKers, and even the Indonesians Muslims who showed up for a PG year actually got along quite while). "AA culture" seems more like an ad hoc justification for AA racial cliquishness.

[lethal]

Originally posted by iris@Jan 13 2003, 02:48 AM
I feel as though there is at least a Chinese-American culture. I cannot speak for those of other Asian races, but it's one of the reasons why many AAs choose to date or form friendships with those of their ethnicities. When asked about their "cliqueness," the most common answer is, "I feel more comfortable with someone who understands my lifestyle." And what lifestyle is that?

It's putting foil around the stove so when you cook in a wok, you don't have to clean up the mess. It's shaking every container in the fridge because you never know if it's really butter in the margarine tin. It's getting your hands rapped with a ruler because it's midnight and you can no longer answer the multiplications questions your parents are firing at you. It's seeing spanking as a a normal way to raise your children. It's thinking a curfew at the age of 18 is normal and again when after college you've come back to live for a while. It's driving a reliable Honda because you know it has higher re-sell value. It's being conscientious with money. It's about the strength of family, about living not in a nuclear family, but an extended one. It's being known as the "smart kid" in school. The fobby way your parents dressed you when you were little. Taking piano and violin lessons. Going to summer school in the summer instead of camp (unless it was math or piano camp). It's playing tennis in high school. Knowing what "parachute kids" are.

It's about so many intangible things that create who you are as a person. Maybe a little more conservative, a little more aware, a little more practical, a little more of a realist, and a little more about familial relationships.
Iris, I'm not Chinese, but I grew up in similar circumstances. I've experienced almost each of those point you listed.

Maybe its not an ABC thing or an AA thing, but a middle class thing.

Originally posted by AliBabaIncorporated@Jan 13 2003, 08:51 PM
"AA culture" seems more like an ad hoc justification for AA racial cliquishness.
That's possibly true as well. I've considered that possibility many times.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by AliBabaIncorporated@Jan 13 2003, 08:51 PM
edit: on second thought, fuck it, I'm not gonna open up that can of worms.

Suffice it to say I had a great time at PA once I gave up on the idea of finding friends with whom I shared a cultural experience or life valuess. And that I never saw any evidence that Asian-American culture existed in a sufficiently strong form to provide for all the AA cliquishness at PA, which lashed out against both AAs who hung out with white people, and against FOBs who hung out with each other (e.g. the KP, with whom I, the HKers, and even the Indonesians Muslims who showed up for a PG year actually got along quite while). "AA culture" seems more like an ad hoc justification for AA racial cliquishness.
i think it's incredibly idiotic of asian american kids to look down on FOBs, especially the ones who only hang out with other asians.

[angel nympho]

You don't need to be a part of some predefined culture to be yourself. So I say who the fuck cares?

[Napoleon Chynamite]

Originally posted by iris@Jan 13 2003, 07:48 AM
I feel as though there is at least a Chinese-American culture. I cannot speak for those of other Asian races, but it's one of the reasons why many AAs choose to date or form friendships with those of their ethnicities. When asked about their "cliqueness," the most common answer is, "I feel more comfortable with someone who understands my lifestyle." And what lifestyle is that?

It's putting foil around the stove so when you cook in a wok, you don't have to clean up the mess. It's shaking every container in the fridge because you never know if it's really butter in the margarine tin. It's getting your hands rapped with a ruler because it's midnight and you can no longer answer the multiplications questions your parents are firing at you. It's seeing spanking as a a normal way to raise your children. It's thinking a curfew at the age of 18 is normal and again when after college you've come back to live for a while. It's driving a reliable Honda because you know it has higher re-sell value. It's being conscientious with money. It's about the strength of family, about living not in a nuclear family, but an extended one. It's being known as the "smart kid" in school. The fobby way your parents dressed you when you were little. Taking piano and violin lessons. Going to summer school in the summer instead of camp (unless it was math or piano camp). It's playing tennis in high school. Knowing what "parachute kids" are.

It's about so many intangible things that create who you are as a person. Maybe a little more conservative, a little more aware, a little more practical, a little more of a realist, and a little more about familial relationships.
Gotta love those piano and violin lessons (hated violin, loved piano)....

Dang you only got a spanking? Lucky....my parents used to make me kneel down and hold my ears as they lectured me, and then they brought out that feather-thingie but obviously they didn't use the soft end.... :frown: :cry: ;)

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by FrozenPizza@Jan 14 2003, 07:54 PM
then they brought out that feather-thingie but obviously they didn't use the soft end.... :frown: :cry: ;)
heheh it's a duster. but i've never seen chinese parents use them for dusting... :P

[AltimaGTR]

Werd. The leather belt was my parents' weapon of choice. :D

[iris]

Originally posted by FrozenPizza@Jan 15 2003, 08:54 AM
Dang you only got a spanking? Lucky....my parents used to make me kneel down and hold my ears as they lectured me, and then they brought out that feather-thingie but obviously they didn't use the soft end.... :frown: :cry: ;)
I had to do that once. My sibs and I knocked out a window and was crawling in and out of the house. My neighbors thought we were robbers and called the cops. Dood we were 8, 6, and 4. Pretty tiny thieves.

It's called guo dui or something in Chinese. You kneel on a hard wooden/tile/marble floor with your nose two inches from the wall for hours. The boys in the family always had to hold a chair over their heads.

[kayla]

I think "Asian culture" is too broad. There are many aspects to consider when labeling a certain culture culture. Food, music, dance, language etc., etc.

[BaiginLong]

Originally posted by iris@Jan 13 2003, 01:48 AM
I feel as though there is at least a Chinese-American culture. I cannot speak for those of other Asian races, but it's one of the reasons why many AAs choose to date or form friendships with those of their ethnicities. When asked about their "cliqueness," the most common answer is, "I feel more comfortable with someone who understands my lifestyle." And what lifestyle is that?

It's putting foil around the stove so when you cook in a wok, you don't have to clean up the mess. It's shaking every container in the fridge because you never know if it's really butter in the margarine tin. It's getting your hands rapped with a ruler because it's midnight and you can no longer answer the multiplications questions your parents are firing at you. It's seeing spanking as a a normal way to raise your children. It's thinking a curfew at the age of 18 is normal and again when after college you've come back to live for a while. It's driving a reliable Honda because you know it has higher re-sell value. It's being conscientious with money. It's about the strength of family, about living not in a nuclear family, but an extended one. It's being known as the "smart kid" in school. The fobby way your parents dressed you when you were little. Taking piano and violin lessons. Going to summer school in the summer instead of camp (unless it was math or piano camp). It's playing tennis in high school. Knowing what "parachute kids" are.

It's about so many intangible things that create who you are as a person. Maybe a little more conservative, a little more aware, a little more practical, a little more of a realist, and a little more about familial relationships.
I may not be FOB but dayam I know what she's talking about ohn so many levels with a few exceptions
maybe I'm FOB at heart :P