how to help (Re: reply to what to say, and Asian vs African Americans)

[[STL]Ben Reaves]

(This is in response to a posting by Curtis Hubbard in
soc.culture.asian.american, message ID 1481...@hpspdra.spd.HP.COM)

Curt-

Sounds like your interests are similar to mine. I also was always
seeking out Asian friends when I was in college (I am white). Just
after graduation, I lived in a primarily Asian suburb of Los Angeles
and got to know several Chinese-American families through a large
church, with far less than 1% non-Asian membership.

In general, if the relationship between the Overseas-born parents and
American-born children is healthy, the kids do not reject the old
culture. But if it's a constant fight, then naturally the kids will
reject the parents' culture. In some cases, the parents want to reject
their own culture, and then you can't expect the kids (I'm talking about
Jr. High through College age "kids" here) to embrace it.

By the way, if you really are interested in the situation of
Asian-Americans living in the U.S., and you have a little time - maybe
during Summer if Spring is too busy - you should know that there is a
great need for English Teachers in some of these communities, for
recent immigrants from Asia. The only contact I know (from 1985) is
the Monterey Park Public Library (area code 818) to get information
about the LAMP (Learning At Monterey Park) program, or the CALL
(Community Action Library Line). A public library is more likely to
have this information than is a University's International Student's
Office.

If you want to stay within the University Community, many visiting
researchers (at least those from Japan, I know) would love to invite an
American student to dinner for informal English conversation. They
don't know where to "advertise" for this, of course, so you might check
out the appropriate school office (at UCSB it's the Office for
International Students and Scholars), or someone in a department that
has many of these visiting researchers.

Another way is a kind of pen-pal. For example, the "Nihongo Journal"
magazine has listings of people searching for pen-pals - I've seen
requests from Jr. High students, Office Workers in their mid-20s,
housewives in their 30s, etc.

I'm listing the things I'd do if I had the time - if I could live the
student life again (lots of time, no money). The church was
interesting but really not my style, and really eats the time.
In Santa Barbara, I did language exchange with 3 families; just had a
barbecue in Nara last weekend with one of them. The LAMP and the
pen-pal thing I had no time for. Working and having a family is great,
too, but until then, if you've got time and interests, PURSUE!

==== Ben Reaves ============================= b...@it3.crl.mei.co.jp ====
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