2010, Tsukemono and Turning Japanese
Jan. 4th, 2010 01:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
furtechFirst post of the new year...four days late. I don't know if 2010 will be better than 2009, but it sure started off busy. I haven't even finished my year summary, photo collage-- let alone the decades summary.
Here, have my *fail* attempt at a "family" picture:
First thought of the year:
A good friend recently created *drahma* on one of her journals by trying to locate fellow Orientals in the fandom. Ignoring the self-outing of nitwits amongst followers of her blog, I can see what her original intent was in asking.
When one belongs to a race or type that is not the majority group, it can be comforting to hang out with like-individuals once in a while. This isn't saying (in this case), "I hate white people" or "Tall people suck," or anything like that at all. There are just certain culturally common experiences and memories that are nice to chat about with people who know what you are talking about. This is why so many of us found fandom, after all.
Take me, for instance: I grew up about as white as you can get. I'm what fellow Orientals refer to as a banana or a Twinkie. Still, there are many things in my upbringing that are very Japanese: knowing what picnic sushi is; the idea that teachers are to be treated with respect; the smell of the tsukimono jar being opened.
The latter is a good example of why it's nice to have commonalities. Tsukimono is one of the common Japanese pickled vegetables (napa-- Japanese cabbage). Now, when my mother used to open up the stone jar that it was made in, the smell was so strong that it would make your eyes water. Still, I miss it. To most people, it just stinks. When you're with other Japanese, there's no wonderment as to how that event could be so wonderful-- how you would miss it when you go away to college or when she passes away. I've been around kim-chee openings that curled my toes. Even so, I can understand-- without comment-- how someone could miss that moment.
Most people with old-world grandparents have similar feelings about foods or celebrations or customs specific to their culture. I can also understand why some don't care to share with outsiders: it is sometimes difficult for people who did not grow up in that sub-culture to empathize.
While I spend little of my time actually "being" Asian (there, I said it), it's still a comfort to hang out with relatives and "be" Japanese/Asian/Jovian for a bit.
Here, have my *fail* attempt at a "family" picture:
First thought of the year:
A good friend recently created *drahma* on one of her journals by trying to locate fellow Orientals in the fandom. Ignoring the self-outing of nitwits amongst followers of her blog, I can see what her original intent was in asking.
When one belongs to a race or type that is not the majority group, it can be comforting to hang out with like-individuals once in a while. This isn't saying (in this case), "I hate white people" or "Tall people suck," or anything like that at all. There are just certain culturally common experiences and memories that are nice to chat about with people who know what you are talking about. This is why so many of us found fandom, after all.
Take me, for instance: I grew up about as white as you can get. I'm what fellow Orientals refer to as a banana or a Twinkie. Still, there are many things in my upbringing that are very Japanese: knowing what picnic sushi is; the idea that teachers are to be treated with respect; the smell of the tsukimono jar being opened.
The latter is a good example of why it's nice to have commonalities. Tsukimono is one of the common Japanese pickled vegetables (napa-- Japanese cabbage). Now, when my mother used to open up the stone jar that it was made in, the smell was so strong that it would make your eyes water. Still, I miss it. To most people, it just stinks. When you're with other Japanese, there's no wonderment as to how that event could be so wonderful-- how you would miss it when you go away to college or when she passes away. I've been around kim-chee openings that curled my toes. Even so, I can understand-- without comment-- how someone could miss that moment.
Most people with old-world grandparents have similar feelings about foods or celebrations or customs specific to their culture. I can also understand why some don't care to share with outsiders: it is sometimes difficult for people who did not grow up in that sub-culture to empathize.
While I spend little of my time actually "being" Asian (there, I said it), it's still a comfort to hang out with relatives and "be" Japanese/Asian/Jovian for a bit.
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no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 10:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 10:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 10:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 10:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 10:35 pm (UTC)It's no coincidence that the Japanese words I know best are "abunai", "yakamashi", "Baka!", "Da-me" and "Urasai!"
no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 10:40 pm (UTC)True about "race" vs "culture": I had used culture just to be broader-- including things like science fiction
geekeryfandom or religious groups (or even the "Little People" groups, as another example). The shared ordeals and interests are so understood by those in the group that they rarely come up in conversation, which lends a feeling of ease to those gatherings.no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 10:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 11:06 pm (UTC)BTW, that is the perfect portrait of your family!
no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 11:19 pm (UTC)I think I know what you're saying in general, though. I obviously can't really sympathize from the Asian perspective, but I've got some childhood memories associated with my mother's Jewish upbringing (even though they were mostly disassociated from any real religious connection) that sometimes puzzle other people, especially as to why I'd consider them important...
And cute picture, by the way. ;)
no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 11:37 pm (UTC)Banana--yellow skin, white insides, same as for the twinkie :P
I'll have to side with the culture side of the discussion, being such an oddball from how/where I was raised. (haole as minority for starters)
You almost got the furkids to be still, impressive!
Secret Asian man
Date: 2010-01-04 11:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-05 01:43 am (UTC)My raised culture? US west coast suburban TV.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-05 03:13 am (UTC)Loved your card by the way. Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2010-01-05 03:21 am (UTC)But yeah, some people would even cry prejudice when you are looking for ANY specific group of people to hang out with, if it excludes them, or even worse, if it INCLUDES them on the basic level but you don't "pick" them as a companion.
I love hanging out with other artists, but really mostly only those who get Things Done. Because I want to Get Things Done. Hanging out with people who like chatting and showing off Youtube videos and playing video games is ok, but not conducive for actually arting.
Plus there's a camaraderie with people who can talk about their favorite colors and materials and can share techniques.
Admittedly, this commonality may not be shared amongst those familiar with it on the visceral level of a tsukimono opening. ;)
no subject
Date: 2010-01-05 04:13 am (UTC)Tho being Asian, but not Japanese, my mom still has a big stone jar/pot that she uses to make rice wine, and god when that thing gets opened up when the time comes... it makes the house smell for hours. XD
Gotta love that.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-05 04:32 am (UTC)I can -almost- pass as several other ethnic groups-- Hispanis, Amerind, even East Indian if I'm in a group. Somehow, I radiate Yankee vibes or something, because I never fool anyone for long.
You guys need to do a family portrait, too! W/sheep!
no subject
Date: 2010-01-05 04:36 am (UTC)You and Mark have a far higher Asian perspective than most, being Nipponophiles of sorts. Mark speaks tons more Japanese than I, that's for certain. But yeah-- what you said about your background: sometimes obscure mannerisms and customs that you may not even know the origin of that you owe to your ethnicities.
Re: Secret Asian man
Date: 2010-01-05 04:42 am (UTC)Filipino is cool: aside from liking the food, there is also a neat boogieman that looks like a tall, stilt-legged horse.
Detroit is one of those places where diversity still isn't celebrated much, that's for sure. I was surprised to discover that area has one of the largest Iraqi populations outside of Iraq. Maybe it's starting to change...
no subject
Date: 2010-01-05 04:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-05 04:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-05 04:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-05 04:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-05 07:02 am (UTC)Re: Secret Asian man<<<<!
Date: 2010-01-05 07:04 am (UTC)Since you mentioned it...
Date: 2010-01-05 01:05 pm (UTC)Since you used both in your entry, I figured now was a good time to ask :}
Re: Secret Asian man
Date: 2010-01-05 03:33 pm (UTC)Oooooh that sounds neat, what sort of creature is this? What's it called so I can look it up? :D
Re: Since you mentioned it...
Date: 2010-01-05 03:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-05 07:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 12:57 am (UTC)One good memory I have it's when the whole family would gather at my Grandmas to pound Mochi in the end of the year.
Hmmm freshly done Mochi :9
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 02:49 am (UTC)I do agree, tho lately I'm not sure what's going through her head, but definitely I can say there are a lot of things that she doesn't do anymore compared to when I was younger.
And I would have to say yes, if it's not for making wine, then it's your pickles, pickles of any variety really, and if it's not that it's herbal, and mediciny XD
Re: Secret Asian man
Date: 2010-01-06 03:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 03:16 am (UTC)Re: Since you mentioned it...
Date: 2010-01-06 03:21 am (UTC)I use it to pique those up-tight-types.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 03:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 03:27 am (UTC)Oh, mochi! Yeah-- our church would make a huge batch of it for new years. We owned an usu (actual granite), so we'd always be the first they called. That is -definitely- a delicious memory: the smell of the sweet rice, steaming in the cold morning air-- wow.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 04:05 am (UTC)Tho I could also say it's quite true, well my mom used to always rub her sore joints with what I eventually found out to be brandy, and of course she has a bottle of it, and probably to this day still insists that brandy is I quote -NOT- drinkable.... XD Or brandy with some herbal leaves soaked in it or something.
Or the end all cure all of all bruises and sprains, which basically a medicinal concoction from a rice wine base. Has all sorts of things in it, which I'm quite dubious about. It does makes you smell like an asian apothecary XD glee!
Re: Since you mentioned it...
Date: 2010-01-06 08:21 am (UTC)hehehe... they neeeed pique-ing ;D
Date: 2010-01-06 08:26 am (UTC)Re: Secret Asian man
Date: 2010-01-06 05:46 pm (UTC)I dunno why people can't all work together to clean up the place instead of making things worse by pointing guns at each other. If only people cared more about each other and the place they live.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:00 pm (UTC)Still, I totally agree with you! I feel like something is missing from my life because I've never seen an italian family outside of my own. It'd be nice to relate to someone else and find out more about the culture that I may be lacking. It just feels like experiences were lost. It's great to know about ones heritage and have a that bond that ties you to where your ancestors came from. To be able to relate to someone in that way makes a tight bond between people too.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-09 03:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-09 02:19 pm (UTC)Re: Secret Asian man<<<<!
Date: 2010-01-23 06:12 pm (UTC)Re: Secret Asian man
Date: 2010-01-23 06:21 pm (UTC)And yeah, the Detroit area has a huge Arab population, was was the source of some of my problems; a lot of the time, I was assumed to be one of them, and a lot of people had issues towards them.
Re: Secret Asian man
Date: 2010-01-27 07:08 pm (UTC)