Experience the Tacoma Moon Festival and Learn about the City’s Past History
Attending the Symposium on Empowering Asian Americans: Women in Leadership
For our quiz 5, you are assigned a different task. You can choose to learn:
1) about traditions and cultural practices for Chinese during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節 zhōngqiū jié), tour the Chinese Reconciliation Park in Tacoma that hosts an annual Tacoma Moon Festival, explore the City’s dark past history and its current reconciliation effort, and get to know how diverse Tacoma is by visiting various local cultural groups;
2) from our panelists by attending the symposium addressing leadership, workplace diversity, race & gender biases against Asian-American women, and other related issues, particularly in light of the recent surge in anti-AAPI violence and racism. Featured speakers include: Trustee Emerita Jill Nishi ’89, Washington Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu, and attorney and tech entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan ’07.
Albert Chang-Yoo – 張用旭
Sun Laoshi
Chinese 101
2 October 2021
Asian American Women Symposium in Leadership Reflection
Being Asian-American myself, there were certainly a lot of things that struck me on a personal level during the discussion. Ms. Nishi talked about having an asian “culture of modesty” that I feel is also very pervasive among my own experiences. I think I still downplay my own success. In addition, Justice Wu talked about the practice of “don’t be seen and you will succeed”, which I’ve heard in many variations from a lot of family members (study hard & don’t make trouble). On a personal level, I still have a hard time being visible, or more like being willing to be visible. And Ms. Shanahan talked about her need to still discover her own identity, something I resonate with very strongly. As someone who is 1 generation removed from Korea, I also feel like I don’t know my family’s whole story.
I thought that all three individuals had amazing stories. In a lot of ways, they reminded me of my mother, who is the daughter of immigrants and an Asian-American woman in leadership. My grandfather had three daughters, including my mom, in a generation which was still very ingrained in patriarchy. Over time, my grandpa grew very supportive of my aunts and my mom in their career endeavors, but I know there were still offhanded moments in which they felt pressure because they were women. Now, I think my mom best exemplifies, in Justice Yu’s words the courage to “create spaces for others to fill”, as a professor who took leadership over Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State & as a role model for myself. I’ve definitely been made aware that even amongst Asian-Americans, there still exists a great difference in struggles that we face according to gender.
Lastly, I would reflect on the speakers’ closing advice. Clearly, these are very accomplished women who have overcome their struggles to be in leadership positions. The collective advice they gave was to not be afraid of risk, be your authentic self, and to “take the space”. I don’t know what it means to truly be Asian-American, but it is a unique identity to oneself; one that inherently informs who you become. I know that I try my best be myself, and take the opportunities that I get. They gave very good advice and I think that it will stick with me for a while.
Quiz Five Reflective Assignment “Tacoma Moon Festival”
As for Week 五 of 中國 class quiz, I choose to watch the “Of Race and Reconciliation video on the effect of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 on Tacoma’s Chinese Residents. The knowledge I have received from that video is that at the time of 1882, Tacoma only had roughly 700 Chinese Residents. Notably, there are only roughly 700 Chinese Residents, as of the posting of the video. I just found that surprising, considering Tacoma as an influential international port city that resides on the West Coast of the United States; but I am not surprised considering that there is no China Town in Tacoma, at least not as of yet. As for the Chinese Traditions on the Chinese Reconciliation Park, I did not notice, that the actual structures of the park had a meaning and purpose behind them. For example, as soon as you enter the park, you immediately notice signs regarding the history of the park. You then move on and are supposed to reflect on what you have just learned at the spiral circle. The spiral circle represents the struggles and the early life of Chinese laborers that had to work within Tacoma. After that, you are then introduced to nine pillars that represent the nine councilmen of Tacoma at the time, approving the expulsion of the Chinese laborers. On the left side of the pillars, there are lighter and numerous figures that represent that Chinese laborers that were walking through the night to head towards the Rail Station to be shipped off back to 中國. Later the bridge represents the bright future for the evergrowing Tacoma diverse community for generations to come. Last but not least, you end with the Ting. Of which the Ting of the Chinese Reconciliation Park, was donated by Tacoma’s sister city of Fuzhou. The Ting has many representations ranging from the Lions guarding the Ting, the bats, and the fish, which I did not notice until I watched the video. In the end, the Chinese cultural influences, and history of Tacoma is ever soo complex than previously realized but have given a new sense of optimism of what Tacoma can be from someone that was not brought up in the Tacoma community.
Culture in a New Place- Kobe Kwan (348 Words)
I went through the interactive map describing the expulsion of Chinese from Tacoma. This violent act, perpetrated in 1885, saw Chinese immigrants being forced by prominent white city leaders to leave their homes. These immigrants were integral to the building of Tacoma, as well as the construction of railroads throughout the country. The ringleaders of the race riots were incredibly public with their plans, and while legal action was taken against them, not a single man was convicted. They escaped punishment completely, likely thanks to their prominence in the city. Included in the mob were the sheriff, a judge, and the mayor himself.
I know of a very similar story that occurred around the same time in Denver, Colorado, my home city. There are many parallels between the two of them: the publicity, the violence, and the lack of consequences. The key difference with Tacoma is the current response I see. In Denver, I never heard about the race riots from official sources. It is covered up and not discussed. Reading about it now, through a school project shows me how different the culture here is. Tacoma is clearly making a major effort to address its past and celebrate its diversity. The entire Moon Festival is evidence of that fact. I am very excited to be in a more diverse and inclusive space, both here on campus and in Tacoma in general. Taking Chinese 101 is a major step for me in reconnecting with my heritage, and I am grateful for the opportunity to do so.
I also watched the video about how to make the snowy mooncakes. I love to cook Chinese food, but I have not tried many deserts. This one seems delicious and I want to try and make it. The video was indicative of the entire virtual experience: informative, but lacking some polish. The site was somewhat clunky to navigate, but it didn’t detract too much from the overall experience. I am looking forward to future years Moon Festivals and to learning even more about Chinese culture.
Tacoma Moon Festival Reflection (449 Words)
Ella Gravante
I feel like knowing the history of an area is tantamount to understanding it. Since I moved here, I’ve been hearing a lot about Chinese Reconciliation Park, but I didn’t know much about it beyond the name. I was absolutely shocked to hear about the destruction of Little Canton and the displacement of Asian Americans out of Tacoma. The fact that there was a sort of “secret society” run by those seven people that was orchestrating the displacement totally astounded me. It sounds almost fake because of how much hatred these people held in their hearts for others. I can’t believe I hadn’t heard about this before. I think it’s amazing that the park exists both as a memorial and as somewhere to celebrate the culture that people tried to exterminate.
The Virtual Tacoma Moon Festival had a plethora of examples of Chinese culture, I watched a video about making mooncakes from Yanjie Lu. I thought it was so interesting that this variety has only been around since the 1960’s. I’ve only ever seen the pastry-wrapped ones before, so it was super cool to see something new! I don’t know a lot about Hong Kong, so getting a little glimpse of food culture from there was awesome. There were a lot of cooking techniques I had never seen before, like steaming the dough to cook it before using it, and making the custard on a double boiler. I had no idea that the shape of the mooncakes and the design on top of was made with a press, I had always assumed they were baked in little tins and a stamp was used. This way makes more sense and seems really efficient. Overall, I just REALLY want to try one.
I have always known about the Moon Festival tangentially– my mom is from Hawaii, which has a large Asian-American population. Sometimes when we went there to visit family, the festival would be going on, which I always thought was so cool. I was especially fascinated by the traditional mooncakes, because they were so beautiful and delicate, and so delicious. This is definitely why I chose to talk about the video in which it’s shown how a certain type of them are made. It was totally amazing to get a look at the wider cultural significance of the festival. I was also delighted to see some elements of Hawaiian/Pacific Islander culture incorporated into the festival, with the Tahitian dance group and the Ukulele group. Overall, this experience was fun and educational, as well as enlightening me to the dark past of the area in which I live. I really hope I can attend the festival in person next year!
Newfound Appreciation (308 words) – Posy Proctor 彭青華
Looking through the website for the 9th Tacoma Moon Festival was eye-opening about some of the history of this area, and very greatly interesting in regards to the many different cultural traditions on display. Having not grown up in the Pacific Northwest I was largely unfamiliar with the Chinese expulsion of 1885, so learning about it through the various tours on the website was both fascinating and deeply saddening. I had previously heard about the Chinese Reconciliation Park, but had never visited, however, after learning about the symbolism present in the parts of the park I’m hoping to visit it myself during my time in Tacoma.
I was also fascinated by both the making of snowy mooncakes by Yanjie Lu, and the information about tea presented by Yin Na. I’d previously known generally about mooncakes from various other media, but never before learned about snowy mooncakes. Now after seeing that video I definitely want to try a snowy mooncake in the future because they look very delicious. The videos by Yin Na were also very interesting and engaging. As someone who enjoys drinking tea regularly it was intriguing to learn more about Chinese tea traditions and get a new perspective and information on different types of teas and their ideal usage. For example, I was particularly surprised about the information she provided about green tea, and how it should be used quite soon after harvesting and how it should look when in water.
Overall I learned quite a lot from the website for the Tacoma Moon Festival about both things I had some prior knowledge about, and others which were completely new. It was truly a great experience to be able to learn more about the history of Tacoma and Chinese culture, and I hope to be able to experience more of it in the future.
Duncan Donovan- 杜丹圍
Against All Odds
The tour of the 1885 forced expulsion of Chinese from Tacoma was very eye opening and somewhat hard to read. Thinking about these hardworking Chinese families trying anything to keep themselves afloat just to be exiled by their neighbors is a harsh reality to face. What scared me the most was how coordinated these efforts were to rid Tacoma of Chinese people. The anti-Chinese group of fifteen was appointed to carry out ethnic cleansing. The fact that there was a group of people selected by the city of Tacoma shows that this was not just the anger of a few select members of society but a vast majority of Tacoma was in agreement to rid their city of Chinese people. On top of their peers, the Chinese population in Tacoma faced criticism from local newspapers and even faced opposition from their mayor. Jacob Weisbach was the mayor of Tacoma from 1884-1885 and he was openly anti-Chinese. He coordinated anti-Chinese events and oversaw their expulsion on November 3rd. This tour opened my eyes to how much opposition the Chinese people of Tacoma faced and how hard they worked just to get cast aside.
I watched the video on pork sinigang which got me very hungry. The preparation that goes into a dish like that is amazing as well as the patience that one must display. The pork is slow cooked for 2-3 hours, I don’t know if I would have the patience to make a dish like this! It looks very enticing with all the spices and vegetables added on, this is definitely a must try.
This festival around the world exists to celebrate the tradition and culture of the Chinese people. In Washington, Tacoma it means a little more, it is about perseverance and endurance. This culture faced many hardships in Tacoma but has managed to stick through it which is what makes this festival that much more meaningful.
何嵩名
The Tacoma Moon Festival: What I Learned
For my essay, I explored the Tacoma Moon Festival online and completed the two activities under “Education”; “Remembering Tacoma’s Nihonmachi” and “Of Race and Reconciliation”. In doing so, I learned a lot about Chinese and Japanese history in the West. The main two things that stood out to me were the Chinese Exclusion Act and about Tacoma’s late Japantown. I also learned a lot about the Chinese Tradition of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a federal law passed by Congress and signed by President Arthur in 1882 which banned immigration of Chinese laborers. This came after Chinese workers had been being brought over by labor contractors to settle the Western territories for decades. These Chinese workers had largely been working on laying railroads. This work was paid poorly and very physically demanding. This influx of Chinese laborers and the growing scarcity of gold led to animosity and, in some cases, violence against the Chinese immigrants. Following the expulsion of many Chinese laborers from mines and quarries, they settled in western cities like Seattle and San Francisco. Not long after this, the act was passed and many Chinese either returned to China or accepted even lower wages than before.
Tacoma’s Japantown (or Nihonmachi) was subject to many of the same racially restrictive legislation, but it’s people persevered. The end result was a rich cultural area of Tacoma in which Japanese Americans could share a space of their same culture. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan in 1941, President Franklin D Roosevelt approved the imprisonment of Japanese Americans. The Japanese residents of Tacoma’s Japantown were then rounded up and taken away. After the end of the war, only 20% of the residents of Japantown returned to Tacoma, signalling the end of Japantown in Tacoma.
The biggest tradition I learned about is the Mid-Autumn Festival and personally, it seems like a wonderful celebration. From what I found, the festival is very family focused and thus involves a lot of gatherings and feasts. It sounds similar to how we have Thanksgiving. We treat that as a time to get together with extended family and share food. Although, the Mid-Autumn Festival is longer.
What this taught me was really that you can’t always trust what you learn in school. I had never heard about the Chinese Exclusion Act before, despite multiple US History classes. That’s surprising for something that is so blatantly wrong, because one would think that I would have been taught that. Aside from that, I think Tacoma has actually come a long way. That’s not to say that it is perfect now, but Tacoma has certainly done more to repair race relations than most big cities. As a city, we need to be able to foster and protect Asian American communities and maybe, one day, we can have a new Japantown.
References
Nimura, Tamiko. 2016. “Tacoma Neighborhoods: Japantown (Nihonmachi) – Thumbnail History.” History Link. https://historylink.org/File/20177.
Tan, Bonny. n.d. “Mid-autumn Festival.” Singapore Infopedia. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_804_2005-01-13.html.
Meaningful Festivals (462 words)
王强
The two festival’s that I really enjoyed were the Obon Festival at the Tacoma Japanese Buddhist Temple and the Vietnamese Vu Lan Festival. The Obon festival brought back some religious memories of past knowledge about the Buddhists religion. When I heard Buddhist teachings and references, it made me think back on how the Buddhists religion came about. As well as the life of the Buddha. It was awesome to hear how many years the Tacoma Japanese Buddhist Temple has been around which is over 100 years. Where the Temple is located is commonly known as “Japan Town.” Ironically, I was able to understand the story of how the Temple came about. It was ironic because members of the temple were thrown into the interment camps back then. These camps are based off a story called “Camp Harmony” where thousands of Japanese were taken away from their homes and thrown into camps. I read Camp Harmony before, so I knew exactly how badly immigrants were treated at that time.
The Temple wasn’t just an ordinary temple it was a safe zone for all Japanese immigrants experiencing racism. The whole festival is dedicated to ancestors, their spirits can find their way back home. The festival consists of a drive through drumline performance by Fuji Taiko. I really enjoyed the drumline performance because it was unified and kept in the culture from where it originated in. Despite covid restricting in-person activities, the temple didn’t let that stop them. In the loving kindness meditation center in Tacoma, regarding the Vu Lan Festival it consisted of a celebration of Mother’s Day for Vietnamese Buddhists. I liked this festival a lot because it’s like a huge reunion of everybody coming together acknowledging women’s role of being a mother whether your mom has passed on or not.
This is very important in Vietnamese Buddhists culture, because women play a huge role in birthing and taking care of the child. I liked the recitations of the chants of the monks it was very heartfelt. I have learned from these two festivals that ancestors play a huge role in how things operate now. Without them, then history wouldn’t have been passed on. Both festivals focused on making all people feel welcomed not just members of each temple. In the Buddhist culture it is really focused on living in peace with all people no matter who they are. In these two festivals, I felt as if I was there in person because I could connect with it. It’s about respecting others despite their differences because we all go through the hardships of life. I feel as if that’s what I got from these two festivals. Love is best medicine for the soul.
Title: Culture at the Tacoma Moon Festival
邵忠生 /Luca Sciarra
Word Count: 348
This was the first time I participated in the Tacoma Moon Festival and it was really a unique experience. This year the Chinese Reconciliation Park Foundation was unable to have an in-person moon festival celebration, and we had to instead opt for an online format. This allowed more people to find out and experience the park, so it isn’t all bad. I was able to watch the performance videos and learn about the park and its culture, something I knew nothing about before.
Learning about the Huong Viet Performing arts group was very cool, and I was able to experience a whole lot of Vietnamese music. The video showcases traditional Vietnamese music and song and the importance of carrying on its tradition in the city of Tacoma and the U.S. Founded in 2001, Dr. Hai Viet Hong has created a space for everyone to practice music alongside his personal practice. Some of the instruments they use are the dan tranh and traditional drums. The dan tranh is long with strings, and allows for beautiful music and sounds with an ensemble. The strings are made with metal and used to be made of silk. The drums help support this main instrument. Helps to focus the innermost feeling of the person. They recently got invited to perform at the White House, which helped to demonstrate the importance and origin of this music to important figures.
In conclusion, I hope I can experience this festival in person in the future, but in the meantime, being able to access it on the internet is a huge accomplishment for everyone, and it is great they are able to continue the tradition of the festival. It allows this beautiful culture to reach so many more people and allow everyone to experience it, even if they live across the ocean. I hope in the future they add an online version for those that can’t attend in person. I also think it’s important they were able to celebrate this year because it is important to showcase culture no matter what is happening in America at the time.
The Centrality of Diversity (306 words)
黃愛玲
Nicole Shanahan made an important note about the narrative of Asian American: She started her story with her family’s narrative of the past. About the struggles, discrimination, and innequity her family faced in relation to broader historical ties. However, she also remarked on the current need to to share the modern narrative of Asian Americans. While the past is a salient reminder that must be kept alive, culture is not stagnant. Diversity within the Asian American community is growing and these narratives need to be shared as well.
Previous talks I’ve been too have often been from the perspective of first or second generation Asian Americans who come from a singular cultural background. The socioeconomic, ethnicity, age, orientation, and career diversity within these panelists was essential to this symposium. Especially in the past couple of years, rhetoric of hearing the voices of the disadvantaged seems to be gaining traction. While the pandemic brought to light significant amounts of discrimintation for Asian communities, it seems that Asian voices were heard more than previously. This symposium was emblematic of that and further showed that the past and evermore so modern narrative of Asian Americans are not homogeneous by any means. Everyone has a different story, and it is important that they are all heard.
Whilst there was so many valuable take-aways from the speakers, I think one that I will value most is concerning the way phrasing can influence inspiration. One speaker referenced an inspiring mentor who would ask questions such as, “Have you ever thought what it would be like…?” This is such a powerful beginning. Its a starting place of inspiration. To ask this question, you don’t need to be a mentor or someone in a position of power. For anyone, but especially for minorities and disadvantaged populations, imagination is one of the most powerful tools.
Kirby Wong | 黃 燁 愛
Title: “Be Visible”
Words: 300-500 words
At the Empowering Asian American Women in Leadership Panel, Mary Yu, Nicole Shanahan, and Jill Nishi stunned me, I was at the edge of my seat the whole time. I was honored that I got to be in the room during this event, being in person is a small but big detail that I think I have missed since covid hit. Getting to feel the energy in the room was powerful, seeing the panelists, the audience, my professors, my parents, and friends all in the room was powerful. It energized me in a way I haven’t felt in a long time. I think also getting to see how the panelists interacted with one another, fed off of each other, how their experiences were different and how they were similar and the different struggles and celebrations they shared. It reminded me both of the solidarity that is uplifted within the Asian American community while also reminding me that Asian Americans are not a monolith and there is diversity and uniqueness in the community. It’s a concept I am learning to reject and unlearn. But this event was amazing and empowering for me as an Asian American woman.
There were many instances throughout the panel that I felt I could resonate with and learn more about Chinese culture and tradition. One of them being the experience of growing in a collectivist culture. That idea contrasted to individualistic culture was mentioned a lot and I think that it reminded me how much of that was a part of my life. I think as I struggle to work well at this school, with it being a predominantly White institution, I observe the dichotomous ways that I either have to reject the collectivist culture in order to do well in classes and balance social and extracurricular and work but I also found ways that my collectivist culture has served me well in having rich relationships integrated into everything that I am involved in. It was powerful getting to see how all these women who came from humble and painful beginnings, completely flourish as wonderful women and talk about the ways they are leaving their footprints and not being ashamed of them!
In addition, I think that within the past two years there has been a strong draw to learning about my ancestral history and rejecting the shame I have felt for my heritage and Chinese culture and that’s something I have struggled with and struggle with everyday, yet this panel showed me otherwise. That I needed to be visible, I needed to be proud of who I am and why it is important to uplift my Chinese identity.
By: 包雨嵐 Kendall (Word Count : 347)
Family Through Fine Art – a Reflection on the Tacoma Moon Festival
I thoroughly enjoyed the individuals who spoke and performed in the video A Visit with Cambodian Classical and Folk Dance of the Northwest. The dance group who performed had been around since the early 1980s and many of the members were second or third generation dancers with the group. The respect this group has for both preforming these sacred dances and bringing this beautiful culture to Tacoma is inspiring. The instructor emphasized it was originally a tool to keep kids who were immigrants off the streets. It has now become an integral part of each member’s identity, as many of them mentioned feeling closer to their heritage and their parents by performing. I loved seeing the colorful beauty of the performance and learning about the symbolism hidden within the subtle movements of the dance.
As a performer myself, I resonate with much of what the dancers say. There is a unifying quality to dance and performing that creates an almost familial bond with your peers. I also have the connection that both of my parents are performers as well, and performing music, shows, or even locations that they have causes me to feel much closer to them. Before this video, that idea had not been fully realized, however the love the girls put into the performance and their words regarding it caused me to reflect on my own experience. I also watched the video called Snowy Mooncake with Yanjie Lu, in which the baker describes how to make a mooncake.
I noticed during the first few moments of the video a younger child is seen eating one of the moon cakes, which caused me to reminisce on the family recipes I’ve enjoyed with my mom. Before watching the video I had always assumed there was a specially shaped pan that gave the moon cake it’s decorative top, but I was surprised to learn it was actually a stamp tool. This virtual experience has given me hope to attend any in person events this group may organize, to immerse me into a culture I have limited experience with.
柯方文/ Finn Camblin
Sun Laoshi
Chinese 101
19 October 2021
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Word Count: 383
For my experience of the Tacoma Moon Festival I took the virtual tour “The 1885 Forced Expulsion of Chinese from Tacoma”, and watched “Of Race & Reconciliation”/“The 2021 Obon Festival at the Tacoma Japanese Buddhist Temple”, in exploring this mix I dealt with many things I already understood and have studied, the treatment of early Chinese communities, the Japanese internments camps, the modern attempts to recognize the pasts, etc. In addition though I also found myself learning a great deal on a unfamiliarly subject, something I knew almost nothing about, how modern Asian-American communities throw intense effort into dealing with that historical legacy in the modern day and how they strove and continue to strive to maintain their unique cultural legacy too.
The Virtual Tacoma Moon Festival has proven to be a treasure trove of personal accounts, quality mini-docs, and visual examples of the desperate fight of Asian-American communities to teach their children and other Americans the living history of these places. But in addition through the construction of beautiful Buddhist temples from practices originating in many countries, the celebration of traditional mouthwatering foods, beautiful dances, and powerful music. These community activities show off a raw effort put in by individuals to preserve the flavor of these distinct, yet allied, communities that can be physically felt, even through a computer screen.
Personally I quite enjoyed the experience both during those days when you first introduced the Tacoma Moon Festival and even during this more academic revisit, I feel what I learned will not perhaps stick with me for the rest of my life but has done something better, motivated me to go out and seek experiences that will. Back in my home town of Eugene every year we had a few Asian festivals/celebrations, the most prominent of which was the Obon and Taiko Festival and none of which I regularly attended, that most certainly will not be the case whenever I go back to visit and here in Tacoma I will be taking the same action. You will most definitely be seeing me at the next in person Moon Festival, various other Asian celebrations, and perhaps if the world is small enough and I can find the time to get away from campus, run into me at the Tacoma Chinese Reconciliation Park.
柯方文/ Finn Camblin
Sun Laoshi
Chinese 101
19 October 2021
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Word Count: 383
For my experience of the Tacoma Moon Festival I took the virtual tour “The 1885 Forced Expulsion of Chinese from Tacoma”, and watched “Of Race & Reconciliation”/“The 2021 Obon Festival at the Tacoma Japanese Buddhist Temple”, in exploring this mix I dealt with many things I already understood and have studied, the treatment of early Chinese communities, the Japanese internments camps, the modern attempts to recognize the pasts, etc. In addition though I also found myself learning a great deal on a unfamiliarly subject, something I knew almost nothing about, how modern Asian-American communities throw intense effort into dealing with that historical legacy in the modern day and how they strove and continue to strive to maintain their unique cultural legacy too.
The Virtual Tacoma Moon Festival has proven to be a treasure trove of personal accounts, quality mini-docs, and visual examples of the desperate fight of Asian-American communities to teach their children and other Americans the living history of these places. But in addition through the construction of beautiful Buddhist temples from practices originating in many countries, the celebration of traditional mouthwatering foods, beautiful dances, and powerful music. These community activities show off a raw effort put in by individuals to preserve the flavor of these distinct, yet allied, communities that can be physically felt, even through a computer screen.
Personally I quite enjoyed the experience both during those days when you first introduced the Tacoma Moon Festival and even during this more academic revisit, I feel what I learned will not perhaps stick with me for the rest of my life but has done something better, motivated me to go out and seek experiences that will. Back in my home town of Eugene every year we had a few Asian festivals/celebrations, the most prominent of which was the Obon and Taiko Festival and none of which I regularly attended, that most certainly will not be the case whenever I go back to visit and here in Tacoma I will be taking the same action. You will most definitely be seeing me at the next in person Moon Festival, various other Asian celebrations, and perhaps if the world is small enough and I can find the time to get away from campus, run into me at the Tacoma Chinese Reconciliation Park.