Adventures in Multicultural Living: Citizenship questions on Mother's Day for President Obama, Wong Kim Ark, Superman and the 'birthers'

My oldest daughter was almost born in Thailand. I was living in Kathmandu, Nepal, at the time, and the closest western hospitals were a day’s flight away in Bangkok. I loved cruising Bangkok Chinatown, and I thought that would be a fun way to spend a month, hanging out, waiting for the blessed event.

My mother said absolutely not. I had to go home to deliver the baby so that the child would be a U.S. citizen.

I tried to explain to my mother that the child of two U.S. citizens is automatically a U.S. citizen, no matter where she is born. Even the child of one U.S. citizen is a citizen. I had already checked with the U.S. Embassy.

“What do they know?” was my mother’s response.

And the kicker, “What if your child wants to be president of the United States one day?”

I thought my mother was needlessly worried, but since it was the Christmas season, it was just as easy to go home to California and have the baby among family and friends (and presents). Of course my mother was right.

Now, after President Barack Obama has released his long-form birth certificate to prove yet again that he is a natural-born citizen — which is still not enough to assuage the "birthers" — I see, once again, that my mother is always right. (Happy Mother’s Day!)

click on link for more Citizenship questions on Mother's Day for President Obama, Wong Kim Ark, Superman and the 'birthers'

AML Mother’s Day in Mandarin at the Chinese Speech Tournament | InCultureParent

My daughter Hao Hao was once a timid child who cried at every little thing. She even got kicked out of sports camp because she dissolved into a flood of tears every time she got “out” in softball or tag. Once when she was at Leslie Science Center, she cried on a hike through the woods because she was afraid of the spider webs on the trail. Instead of giving in to her tears as the teachers and moms at Chinese School tended to do, the Leslie Science Center instructor simply handed her a butterfly net to empower her to wave away the spider webs as she marched down the trail, head and butterfly net held up high.

In that transformative moment, I realized that I had to figure out how to select the best from each of the many cultures we had before us, rather than all of one or the other, and that I had to prepare my children for their future lives as adults in America, sometimes even mainstream America.

click on link for more Mother’s Day in Mandarin at the Chinese Speech Tournament | InCultureParent

Speaking at the EPA today May 4

Speaking at the EPA today for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month on The Multiethnic Nature of Hawaii. Funny, when we picked the topic a few weeks ago, I was worried about being relevant. Today, I will start with the opening video from President Obama's speech at the White House Correspondent's Dinner. Talk about relevant! With some comments along the way about the Geronimo code name...

Can't find the embed codes, but here's the url to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9mzJhvC-8E

My article about the birth certificate "controversy?" coming this Sunday at annarbor.com.

Thanks to friends at the EPA!

AML The power of pancit: Try something new during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month - NAM EthnoBlog

My children recently had steamed broccoli for the first time. Confronted with an entire head of soft green mush, they did not really know what to do with it, so they smiled politely and pushed it around on their plates. One of my daughters confided in me later, “Now I know why other kids don’t like broccoli.”

click on link for more The power of pancit: Try something new during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month - NAM EthnoBlog

Adventures of Multicultural Living: The power of pancit: Try something new during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

My children recently had steamed broccoli for the first time.

Confronted with an entire head of soft green mush, they did not really know what to do with it, so they smiled politely and pushed it around on their plates.

One of my daughters confided in me later, “Now I know why other kids don’t like broccoli.”

As a child, I never understood why other kids did not like broccoli either. Or spinach. The first time I had spinach that had been cooked to death, I remember grieving, “What did that poor spinach ever do to anybody?”

I was embarrassed and felt like such an oddball for being the only kid in the world who wished her mother would make broccoli or spinach more often — crisp and bright, stir-fried quickly in just a shimmer of oil and a splash of salt.

Those other kids had no idea how lucky they were to have mere broccoli and spinach as their foes, when I knew the real dishes to face down were suen (bamboo shoots) and xue li hong (red in the snow preserved vegetable), which my mother once cooked every night for a month until I learned to love them (or at least swallow without grimacing).

click on link for more: The power of pancit: Try something new during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

AML Selections from the smorgasbord of spring celebrations, learning from Passover and Black Day - NAM EthnoBlog

In fifth grade, my class held a Passover dinner as part of our unit on Exodus. Exodus was a big deal then, with Charlton Heston starring in the “Ten Commandments” rerunning every year on television, so we knew the story well (that and “Gone with the Wind”).

click on link for more: Selections from the smorgasbord of spring celebrations, learning from Passover and Black Day - NAM EthnoBlog

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Selections from the smorgasbord of spring celebrations, learning from Passover and Black Day

In fifth grade, my class held a Passover dinner as part of our unit on Exodus. Exodus was a big deal then, with Charlton Heston starring in the “Ten Commandments” rerunning every year on television, so we knew the story well (that and “Gone with the Wind”).

I remember baking the unleavened bread and marveling at how flat it was. I had only ever had Wonder Bread at that point and was unfamiliar with the concepts of crust and crumb. I remember mixing the bitter herbs in a bowl, the pungent smell of them, and serving a small spoonful to each student and parent at our long table. We each held a small piece of paper with our lines, our prayers, our questions.

Since I attended a Catholic school, I am sure we held our Passover dinner on Holy Thursday to tie it into the Last Supper, and I am sure this unit segued right into Easter. I do not remember being taught that Passover was a living tradition, that there were still Jewish people and that Jewish people still celebrated Passover.

In my child’s mind, Passover was something the Israelites did right after they escaped from Egypt with Charlton Heston. My image of it stayed in ancient times.

click on link for more Selections from the smorgasbord of spring celebrations, learning from Passover and Black Day

Fire Performance by Zero Kazama at Aeon Blaze | 8Asians Events

My friend Zero Kazama just invited me to a rave?!!! I feel so cool. He is organizing this electronic music event as a benefit for kidspeace.org, and will be performing...with fire. He is so cool. If you're in the LA area, check it out.

From 8Asians: Fire Performance by Zero Kazama at Aeon Blaze | 8Asians Events:

Zero Kazama is a Japanese-American actor best known for hosting the MTV game show Silent Library. He has also been on many other prominent television programs such as Lost, Chuck and Deadliest Warrior.

Zero is trained in Kung fu, Tae Kwon Do, Karate, fight choreography, and firedancing. Check out a rare firedancing performance by Zero at Aeon Blaze, an Electronic Dance Music Event to benefit a great charity for kids, found at www.kidspeace.org and Dance For a Cause!

Dawen sings "Take off your shoes"

This is too good. Must be shared all around. The ultra talented and super nice R&B singer-songwriter Dawen's new song, "Take off your shoes." Thanks to taiwaneseamerican.org for posting! For more information re Dawen, go to dawen.us.

AML Lessons from Taiwan Bangzi Company's Chinese Opera adaptation of Merchant of Venice, "Bond" - NAM EthnoBlog

The Taiwan Bangzi Company was in town this past week with their Henan Chinese opera adaptation of “The Merchant of Venice” called “Bond.”

click on link for more: Lessons from Taiwan Bangzi Company's Chinese Opera adaptation of Merchant of Venice, "Bond" - NAM EthnoBlog

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Lessons from Taiwan Bangzi Company's Chinese Opera adaptation of Merchant of Venice, "Bond" - AnnArbor.com

The Taiwan Bangzi Company was in town this past week with their Henan Chinese opera adaptation of “The Merchant of Venice” called “Bond.”

I always love Chinese opera once I am there, but I have to drag myself in there because in my mind Chinese opera is categorized as “good for me.” Chinese opera is beautiful, stylized, and rich with meaning; but it is also layered with interpretation and code. My children wriggle their fingers at each other in the kitchen to show how Chinese opera singers represent anger.

But for “Merchant of Venice.”

I also love Shakespeare, but, again, resist it somewhat because it also falls into the “good for me” category. The language is beautiful, the meaning is not easy or obvious. My sixth-grade daughter Niu Niu recites, then laughs, “No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir.”

So the children and I leave the beautiful spring sunshine and rush into the cool darkness of Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre just before curtain where we meet under new names Bassanio, Antonio, Portia, Gratiano, Nerissa of medieval Cathay; and the (presumably pre-Islam) Saracen Shylock from distant deserts. I whisper a steady stream of plot and dialogue into seven-year-old Little Brother’s ear because he cannot yet read the supertitles.

click on link for more Lessons from Taiwan Bangzi Company's Chinese Opera adaptation of Merchant of Venice, "Bond" - AnnArbor.com

AML Seeking the wisdom of our elders, including legendary civil rights activist Grace Lee Boggs - Voices of Adoption RainbowKids.com

I was amused when Asian American filmmaker and keynote speaker Koji Sakai introduced himself to the Asian/Pacific Islander American High School Conference at the University of Michigan as an "old person," from the time of the dinosaurs (complete with dinosaur graphic).

He was born in 1977.

click on link for more Adventures in Multicultural Living Seeking the wisdom of our elders, including legendary civil rights activist and author Grace Lee Boggs

Bringing BANANA 2 to You!: A diaCRITIC’s Report from the Second Annual Asian-American Bloggers Conference | diaCRITICS

just found this.

Calling all bloggers, twitter and fb users, all internet savvy folk! diaCRITIC Jade Hidle gives us the insider’s scoop and an in-depth view of the BANANA 2 Conference.

click on link for more Bringing BANANA 2 to You!: A diaCRITIC’s Report from the Second Annual Asian-American Bloggers Conference | diaCRITICS

Weak in the Knees: Revisiting the “Nice Chinese Boy”_Orgasmic_百度空间

Today is Black Day. Found my old "Weak in the Knees" article reprinted on two sites called hi.baidu.com/orgasmic/blog and yellowvirile.com. I'm not sure I know how I feel about that. Yellowvirile.com seems to be a dead blog, but it is full of Asian stud cheesecake pictures well worth a gander.

Weak in the Knees: Revisiting the “Nice Chinese Boy”_Orgasmic_百度空间

Yellow Virile » Taking an appreciative second look at Beautiful Asian Men

AML: BBC show looking for Tiger Mother would have been disappointed in our chai-museum-library routine - NAM EthnoBlog

I got a call from the BBC last month looking for an Asian American family to take in two troubled and unruly British teens for a week of “good old-fashioned values, discipline and boundaries” for a reality TV show called, "World's Strictest Parents."

click on link for more BBC show looking for Tiger Mother would have been disappointed in our chai-museum-library routine - NAM EthnoBlog

Adventures in Multicultural Living: BBC show looking for Tiger Mother would have been disappointed in our chai-museum-library routine - AnnArbor.com

I got a call from the BBC last month looking for an Asian American family to take in two troubled and unruly British teens for a week of “good old-fashioned values, discipline and boundaries” for a reality TV show called, "World's Strictest Parents."

Trying to capitalize on the current hype over Tiger Mothers, the producer had found me through my articles facing off with the dreaded Amy Chua Tiger Mother — never mind that all my articles reveal that I am pretty much the opposite of Amy Chua Tiger Mother.

I told them to call Amy Chua Tiger Mother directly, but they thought I was joking.

click on link for more BBC show looking for Tiger Mother would have been disappointed in our chai-museum-library routine - AnnArbor.com

AML: Seeking the wisdom of our elders, including legendary civil rights activist and author Grace Lee Boggs - NAM EthnoBlog

I was amused when Asian American filmmaker and keynote speaker Koji Sakai introduced himself to the Asian/Pacific Islander American High School Conference at the University of Michigan as an "old person," from the time of the dinosaurs (complete with dinosaur graphic).

He was born in 1977.

click on link for more Seeking the wisdom of our elders, including legendary civil rights activist and author Grace Lee Boggs - NAM EthnoBlog

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Seeking the wisdom of our elders, including legendary civil rights activist author Grace Lee Boggs - AnnArbor.com

I was amused when Asian American filmmaker and keynote speaker Koji Sakai introduced himself to the Asian/Pacific Islander American High School Conference at the University of Michigan as an "old person," from the time of the dinosaurs (complete with dinosaur graphic).

He was born in 1977.

“For those not good at math,” he joked, “That makes me 34 years old today.”

He talked to students about how Asian American media is so much better now than in ancient times (the 1990s), and even better still than when a really old person he knows was growing up in the 1950s, when it was nonexistent.

All my life, I have been drawn to the wisdom of those older than myself, especially women of color. As a child, while my younger cousins played in the basement, I would sit in the kitchen with my mother and six aunties, or my maternal grandmother and eight great aunties, or all my parents’ friends, as they bickered and laughed, scolded and shared.

click on link for more Seeking the wisdom of our elders, including legendary civil rights activist and author Grace Lee Boggs - AnnArbor.com

APIA High School Conference April 2

University of Michigan APIA High School Conference April 2, 2011. Angell Hall, 8-6.

AML: Sorting through the varied hues of Easter – cultural or religious holiday? | InCultureParent

My father and I always sang in the church and school choirs, so every year we celebrated Easter by putting on our choir robes, singing joyously at Easter sunrise mass, and then going out for a Grand Slam Breakfast at Denny’s. After weeks of preparation, we were happy and stuffed and done with Easter by 9 a.m.

Because I went to Catholic Schools, I always had Good Friday and the week after Easter off of school, while the public schools in California had a different week off, so I thought Easter was a straight-forward religious holiday.

I had no idea that there was more to Easter than Easter Mass.

click on link for more Sorting through the varied hues of Easter – cultural or religious holiday? | InCultureParent