Back Alley History

       Finally we have made it to the end of this extensive yet rewarding process. Though it took a lot of dedication and focus, I thoroughly enjoyed the moments I got to spend learning and competing with students who are set apart in the level of determination they show and exhibit in their pursuance of this scholarship and academic excellence. The tour in San Francisco was long and tiring, but at the end of the day, I enjoyed and appreciated what I learned and who I walked with. I learned things about San Francisco and history itself you wouldn't in regular textbooks. I also am beginning to recognize what is and is not held as significant within our culture, as I observed how audited history can become when significant social and racial issues and events are left out; though they are often the reason for our present. (google images)
       San Francisco is the home to thee beginning of Chinese-American history; it holds a lot of historic significance for the city and California in general yet the area is not protected. There are laws built to prevent a total annihilation of the area by builders and development, yet because of the issues our country has with the treatment and preservation of other cultures, the area is poverty ridden and completely separate; hidden from the public eye. In the beginning, the district was riddled with Tongs, prostitution, drugs and crime. Many Chinese came for gold but were sucked into a life of turmoil with little acceptance by Americans or the Irish immigrants. The effects of this are lasting and very apparent, reflecting the issues many minorities face living in America. It's so baffling how significant a place can be for the growth of a city ye get zero recognition. You would never dream that some of these sad buildings hold the stories and history of generations of greatness. When we passed the former office of Sun Yat-Sen, the "father of modern china", I was baffled at the condition of the building itself. His office sat atop a closed off gambling room, with no indication that a great man had once thought and resided there. No plaques. Zero recognition. It broke my heart to see that there was no move to recognize a man who basically brought a now very powerful nation into the modern era. If this is of little significance just because he wasn't in the white house, our country has a lot of growing to do.
          


(google images)
       This tour was a testament to how American culture is built on the backs of those who come to add to its richness, yet the prejudice often found here leaves holes within our own history. I loved this way of learning where I was able to get a better. more full story instead of hollow facts found in my textbook. I was able to personally see and feel connected to a history I have nothing to do with yet also feel its effects. It was engaging and eye opening in ways I couldn't teach myself, and I appreciate experiences such as these greatly.
Simone Sheppard

Gold Mountain

Yesterday we kicked off the day bright and early and made a swift entrance into San Francisco also known as Gold Mountain. We met up with our tour guide Rick Evans who also was the same guide from our trip last year so I knew we were in good hands. We moved from different locations in San Francisco's little China town getting a real deep and in depth understanding of the history of its becomings. Little china started off as just 12 blocks they felt restricted and had no rights, there were a fair share of entrepreneurs but on the other hand there were the ones who wanted to make a quick buck and resulted in selling opium and making money off of prostitutes, and gambling. All the Chinese wanted to do was to come over In search for gold but there late arrival led them into a life of infamy. As we walked through little china the history grew more vivid with each step we took. We learned about a man named Sun Yat-Sen who was the first president of his people and spread a democracy he took over china but fail to beat his communist rival commander Mao. This let to a split in the two groups, china being let by Mao and the democratic group being moved to Taiwan. Our tour guide Mr. Evan made this story very interesting and easy to understand, he spoke with a certain tone of voice that made you eager to hear what he had to say and that was very exciting. We walked passed an alley where Sun Yat-Sen office resided In and another tour group walked right passed it without talking about him Mr. Evans as well as myself found that really funny. That just made me feel more confident in him and made It for sure that he knew what he was talking about.

(photo cred. Google img.)

Later on in the tour he told us how a huge earthquake led to an even more vigorous fire to break out and destroyed all of little china town except the st Mary's cathedral which was only destroyed from the inside. Most say the church didn't fall because of the Bostonian bricks and others say god held it up. After the fire little china town was rebuilt as a tourist attraction with little original authenticity. When we first walked into little china town Mr. Evans pointed out that the first few stores weren't even owned by Chinese descent. San Francisco's little china town has a very straight forward and discrete History and there modern day structure needs work, but I believe over time they will cease the problem at hand and fix it for the better of the historical landmark that it should be.

(photo cred. google img.)

-Malik Lee

Temple? Chinatown is place to get exercise

At 7:15 a.m., we got in the cars and headed toward San Francisco. As we got half way to San Francisco, most of the people were sleep and creating questions so they can ask our tour guide, Rick Evans. Rick Evans was the best tourist guide that I have ever had. At 9:00 am, Rick started our tour by telling us why the Chinese came to America. The Chinese came to America because of gold rush in 1849. I think the reason why the Chinese came to America because wanted it to be more then whites and African Americans living America. First, Chinatown was originally 12 blocks long, but after the fire in April 18, 1907 at 5:17 a.m. The new (current) Chinatown was made in 1907, one year after the fire and earthquake that happened in San Francisco. There was only one temple that stayed up and still up after the fire and earthquake and that temple was built from Italy; The Saint Mary Church.

Chinatown made the type of crimes in California. The first crimes that the chineses had were drugs, prostitution and gambling. The person that was working on these crimes was people that was called tongs and was the first “Chinese Mafia.” The Chinese came into San Francisco by wearing all black. Today Chinatown is made as a theme park. Some people think that Chinatown is fake and that they took down the false materials that Chinese brought from China. I think that it weird that we went to a place that wasn’t a real place, but a theme park for tourist to come into and she how Americans made Chinatown the way it is today. The only Chinese culture in Chinatown was the dragon street lights that were built in 1916. The government can’t do anything about Chinatown so; Chinese have no new housing because there is a 24-inch height limit.    

 

The new information that learned about Chinatown was the Tin How Temple. It all started when we had walk up 3 flights of stairs at 11:30 a.m. When we got to the top of the temple we spent sometime to catch are breath and look around before Mr. Evans began to talk. The Tin How Temple is a temple that any religion can go into the temple and do traditional practices. The first step you have to do is to bring oranges/foods to the temple for the gods know that you are in the room. Next, you have to light incents to also tell the gods that you are in the room. When we first got into the temple you can smell that sense of incents. When I walked into the temple I smelled nothing but incent and thought that I have to learn more about this temple.

The next step is to make a paper looking hat, with three sheets of papers underneath it. After you make the hat and the papers you then have put the sheet of papers in the furnace, (that’s why they have the temple on the top floor). The topic of the temple that caught my eye the most was that the Mr. Evans said that you can buy paper materials for the person that died. For example, if your uncle died then you will so the practice and buy him some paper money, they got a stack of paper money for 50 cent in Chinatown. You will put the paper money into the furnace and your uncle can use that money to pay off the debt from the devil. You probably thinking that it is weird that you put some money in a furnace and your uncle give it to the devil, but the Chinese believed in the afterlife and making shore that the people that died have a great life into the afterlife. You can also buy a credit card, I-Pad, clothing, and a brand new car. This temple was the first temple that can be used for fortunes. You can get your fortune after you give respect to your dead relative. Warning, the fortunes are not like the fortunes that you get from a fortune cookie.

Chinatown was a great place to learn new things about a culture that I had never known that I can study about. Threes more important topic about Chinatown but I liked the temple the most. The temple was the most important topic to me was because if I want to understand more about a new culture, then I have to learn from there religion or most talked topic of Chinatown. Chinatown was an awesome place to visitor and I wished that we have never left Chinatown. Rick has given us a map with the entire topic that we learned about in Chinatown. I will be coming back to Chinatown with my family and friends. I like to thank Ms. Everett and all the people that helped Ms. Everett in the study of Rome and the Chinatown trip. The classes and the trip was the best time and the places that I got the most information about Rome and Chinatown. If I don't get picked this year, then I will do it again next year.

-Roynell Anderson    

                   

 

The Golden Mountain

Waking up at 5:30 in the morning I was ready to go to San Francisco I had such a fun experience last year with all of the fellow applicants. Well my car didn't think that I needed to go because it wouldn't start so I had to wait for my uncle to bring me his car. I was so scared that I was going to be late. By the time I got to Sac High I was so tired and hungry but so eager to get on the road. I’m not very much a morning person I have to give my body a little bit of time to wake up before I am social and Courtney, so before 7:30 I’m a little bit of a zombie. Aurea and Kiarra sure did wake me up. The car ride was fun I got to connect more with everybody in the car and all we talked about was superheros and music. It was a great start to the day. The car ride was nice too, no traffic, we got to San Francisco pretty quick we were in the car for maybe an hour and a half. As we drove into San Francisco and we were on the Bay Bridge looking at the city I was listening to my iPod and the song Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand came on and as soon as we just left the tunnel the song changed tempo and got me so excited and a little impatient to get out of the car.  

Photo Credit : Courtney Bucknor 

We waited in front of a Starbucks for Mr. Evans, our tour guide.  While we waited we all just talked and got to know each other a little bit better. When Mr. Evans showed up I was in game time mode ready to learn. We stepped to the side of the street to get a good look at the gate that was at the entrance to Chinatown. Originally the “gate” was a symbol of China because in China there are gates that are in front of a town or village, but in San Francisco its not really respected in that way it’s just there to tell you that you're about to enter Chinatown. Chinatown is made up of a number of cultures not just Chinese, but the Chinese are the majority. The first 10 blocks into Chinatown are owned by Israelis. To show us how mixed Chinatown is Mr. Evans showed us a building that was right across the street on the corner when you enter into Chinatown. The building on the bottom was of Israeli brick , the middle was  French Baroque style, and the top was Chinese. If thats not diversity I don’t know what is! Before going inside to Chinatown Mr. Evans wanted to give us the history of how the Chinese came to San Francisco for the gold rush. Chinatown was more of a ghetto that the Chinese were trapped in.  Chinatown was a place where crime, drugs and prostitution took place; because of this not a lot of people wanted to go to Chinatown.

Photo Credit : Google Images 

The Chinese people faced discrimination due to the way they looked and how they spoke.   When the Chinese came to San Francisco they showed up in black attire and with long braids. They were put in Chinatown to be separated from the rest of the city. Chinatown was filled with prostitution, opium, and gambling.  Mr. Evans told us that the earthquake and fire of 1907 really wiped out the financial district and Chinatown. The only thing that survived was St. Mary’s Catholic Church.  As San Francisco started to rebuild that part of the city the Chinese asked the city to allow them to move back into that area with the promise of cleaning up the drugs and crimes that overran that part of the city. San Francisco allowed them to move back into that area and later would use it as a tourist attraction.  Looking around Chinatown there are hints of China’s culture but none of it is authentic - it’s all for show for the enjoyment of the tourists that come and visit. The buildings in Chinatown are interesting, they are Western style architecture with bright balconies and roof tops. I felt like these details tried to create the appearance and set the scene for the visitors to believe themselves in a foreign land and not in San Francisco. This almost made me feel sad because I know the richness of this culture is not represented as I’m sure they would like to see it.

St. Mary's Square
Video Credit : Courtney Bucknor 

Sun Yat Sen
Photo Credit : Courtney Bucknor 

As we continued on with our tour we went to St. Mary’s Square.  Here in this peaceful and quiet place you are greeted by a huge statue of China’s first official president named Sun Yat Sen.  In this setting Mr. Evans began his history lesson about China’s history - history that many other tour guides forget to include on their tours.  Did I tell you that I have some Chinese in me?  One of my great great grandmothers, I guess were Chinese.  Anyway back to the story about President Sun Yat Sen.  Apparently he lived in San Francisco and from this distant land he planned the Chinese revolutionary war thousands of miles away. It is believed that St. Mary’s Square is where he spent a lot of time planning the war. We saw his office in an alley that is now known for its underground gambling. It’s kept secret so that tourists won’t come and disturb the illegal gambling that is going on inside the apartments below. When you enter the alley there is a plaque explaining the alley’s significance, but it is painted to blend in with the brick so that tourists aren't drawn to go and explore the alley and disturb the local gambling.  Just so you know we were very safe and we also didn't disturb the gambling patrons.  As we were finishing up that part of our tour in that alley that shall remain a secret - another tour group walked into the alley and walked right past the plaque without a stop or explanation - if only they knew!  

Tien Hou Temple
Photo Credit : Courtney Bucknor 

Mr. Evans always finds a way to provide us with aerobic exercise.  He led us up three flights of stairs to the Tien Hou Temple. When you first look around there are over a hundred of lanterns hanging from the ceiling.  These lanterns represent people’s wishes for the goddess Tien Hou to grant. Mr. Evans told us that people come to this temple to say prayers and ask for guidance. In order to be able to pray to goddess Tien Hou your chi (ying and yang) must be balanced and you check it by dropping two wooden blocks on the floor.  You will know if your “chi” is balanced by the way they land on the floor.  Then you grab a cup that is full of sticks and you are supposed  to shake it until one stick falls out. On the stick is a number and that number is on a fortune card that gives you your answer. This isn’t just for those that are living.  People come here to give to those who have passed away.  A person buys something that represents things that the deceased person liked.  It can be clothing, money, even electronics and then they burn it in their loved ones memory.  But wait it’s not real it’s just paper! It’s just something that symbolizes their loved ones likes.  It’s really cool. I’m definitely going to bring my family its an amazing experience. One thing that I appreciated is that it’s open to everyone.  No one is restricted to enter based on their religion it’s an entirely spiritual experience.

The View From the Temple
Photo Credit : Courtney Bucknor 

Photo Credit : Courtney Bucknor

So out of the temple and into Portsmouth Square where men and women gamble out in the open while their children/grandchildren play on the jungle gym near by. Crazy! Mr. Evans explained that we were in the exact spot where the American flag was raised that started the Mexican- American War. I was trying to restrain myself from geeking out. Thanks to Mr. Evans I gained a whole new respect for where I live.  Throughout the whole entire tour we all were reminded of Sacramento multiple times. Living in Sacramento I really don’t think of how much of an impact we have had on United States history.

This San Francisco trip was bittersweet because I was able to bond with my fellow candidates and also this is the end of the competition. I’m so thankful to Context Travel , Sac High and St. Hope for making this opportunity available to me. This trip definitely inspired me to learn more about where I’m from, I never thought there could be so much history in Chinatown. All I've known about Chinatown is that it’s a tourist attraction and that it was a place where the Chinese resided when they immigrated here.

We ended our day walking back through Chinatown heading for a place to eat.  These chapters of history closed behind us as we walked through the Chinatown gate we entered.  As we walked back everything I saw around me now had meaning. Thank you Mr. Evans for being such an AMAZING docent! I came home with a rekindled respect for my city and the city of San Francisco where I know there are many more historical facts and secrets that have yet to be told.  Well I have a whole lot of information to tell my mom once again!

Context Travel Applicants of 2013
Photo Credit : Mrs. Everett 

- Courtney Bucknor

A Truly Fascinating Place

           The China Town walk was an amazing experience. I would like to thank Mrs. Everett, Ms. Mills, and Mr. Evans for the incredible opportunity to tour such a beautiful and fascinating place. Mr. Evans was a wonderful guide! He gave us in-depth information about the history, demography, and society of china town while we toured the neighborhood, sites, and historic monuments. Mr. Evans even took us to places in China Town that most tourists don’t go. Despite being long, the tour wasn’t at all boring. The passion Mr. Evans showed during the walk told me that he truly loved what he does and that made the experience all the more enjoyable.

The Main Gate To China Town (Photography By Myself)

            The thing that amazed me most about China Town was how everything changes after you enter the main gate. As you walk deeper into China Town, the beauty of your surroundings begins to evolve into something much more authentic. The deeper you go, the more you start to experience the true China Town. The highlight of the China Town walk for me was definitely the Tin How Temple. The Chinese don’t build temples on the ground floor of buildings; they build them on the top floor because they believe that the higher the temple, the closer you are to heaven so to get to the temple you must climb three flights of stairs but trust me, it’s worth it. Once you enter the temple you are immediately hit with the delicate fragrance of burning incenses and the mesmerizing beauty of the temple’s altars and colorful lanterns the cover the ceiling. Tin How is the goddess of Travelers and people can come to the temple to get a blessing from her altar. People also come to the temple to burn paper in order to provide aid to their dead loved ones in the afterlife. I was really disappointed that pictures weren’t allowed inside the temple because the temple was so beautiful and words simply don’t do it justice.

            Another great part of the China Town walk was the Fortune Cookie Factory. The smell of freshly made fortune cookies was so inviting. Mr. Evans provided us information about the factory, the history of the fortune cookie, and allowed us to try the “reject” fortune cookies. After the tour he allowed us time to buy our own bags of freshly made fortune cookies. I didn’t buy a bag myself but my generous peers allowed me to try some of theirs and they were delicious. Inside the factory the women who sell the cookies charge fifty cents a photograph but it was worth it. An interesting fact about the fortune cookie is that the fortune cookie was actually invented by the Japanese. I still regret not buying my own bag of fortune cookies.

The Fortune Cookie Factory (Photography By Myself)

            After the walk I was exhausted and tired but filled with a burning desire to one day return to China Town and experience everything it has to offer. I loved being able to come home and share my incredible experience with my family who now shares that same desire. I really wanted to have authentic Chinese food in China Town for lunch so that was my only disappointment. I didn’t just go home with some cool souvenirs; I went home with better knowledge of the history of Chinese immigrants in San Francisco and a passion to return to China Town in the future. 

-DeRael Edwards

The Tin How Temple

                     The Chinatown walk in San Francisco was absolutely amazing. Our tour guide, Rick Evans, knew so much about the history of Chinatown and was able to teach us Sac High students. On this trip I learned why the Chinese moved to San Francisco, who the mafia of China was, and much more. The tour of Chinatown was an experience that I will never forget.

            Even though we visited many places in Chinatown, one place really stood out the most to me. When visiting the Tin How Temple the colors, the aroma, and the decorations really caught my eye. The room was mostly the colors gold and red. All the gold and red made the room pop. Not only did the room pop, it also smelled really good. This is because when you go to the temple you are supposed to grab a handful of incense, burn them using the fire from one of the altars, and place three in front of each altar. Placing incense in front of the altars shows your presence. When I first walked into the temple the smell reminded me of my grandmother’s house. My grandmother always burns incense and her house always smells great. The decorations of the temple also stood out to me. Many lanterns hung from the ceiling, oranges were placed around the altars, and there were pieces of paper and crowns. Everything just came together so well and I loved it.

Photo Credit: Google Images

            I found the different activities that take place in the temple to be very interesting. People burn paper, pay for a chance to make one of their wishes come true, use sticks to determine their fate, and much more. These activities sounded strange to me at first but once I learned what they were for I understood. For example burning paper sounds like a strange thing to do but it is very interesting. This activity is for giving gifts to those who passed away. Many stores sell objects such as clothes, watches, and more that are made for this while the temple gives out fortune paper and a crown. The fortune paper and crown is to give good luck to the person who passed away. Stores also sell paper objects such as money. The money is burned to give to the devil to stay away from the person who has passed. Learning that stores even sell credit cards made out of paper was funny to me. Other than the money there are more things that can be given to the person who passed. These things included clothes, technology, and more. I found this to be a great idea. Even though someone is in their after life they may still want to look nice and have the latest technology. This gives them the opportunity. I thought this was very interesting and unique.

            I learned so much from the tour of Chinatown. This was an amazing experience that I will carry with me. I would like to thank Mr. Evans, Mrs. Everett, and Ms. Mills for this trip. I am definitely going to go back when I get the chance.

-Haven

The Fault In Our Chinatown.

My home is a place where many think of  it as a tourist destination but no one knows the things that happen deep in San Francisco’s Chinatown. People that visit only stay on the main street in Chinatown, they come to buy “Chinese Trinkets” and mini Buddha’s or to get Chinese food. They don’t see the things that happened or still happen today. So it is my job to inform you the secrets of Chinatown.

It all started when Chinese immigrated from China hearing about gold rush. My people were told that you could find gold on the streets but this information came too late. The Chinese didn’t arrive till five years after the Gold Rush. Only men came over with the hopes of finding gold and bringing it back to their families in China, but many didn’t return. Many Chinese men went up towards northern California with the idea from a man saying there was gold up there. This man owned a gold tool mining company where most of the Chinese spent what little money they had for tools to goldmine. This man became so rich selling to these men with the ideas in their head that they would find gold.  So the men looking of ways to make money started doing laundry, opening up restaurants. But most men became Tongs (The Chinese Mafia).  

The Tongs were gamblers, drug dealers of opium, and prostitution. The Tongs kidnapped girls from China and sold them the idea of the “American Dream” and put them into the prostitution ring. The Chinese were forced to live in a few blocks of San Francisco and not allowed to leave. They were like the Jewish Ghettos in Germany. But then the Great Earthquake of 1906 began. Chinatown would have been fine but a fire started spreading throughout San Francisco killing many in its path. After the earthquake and fire, San Francisco(SF) wanted to move Chinatown but the Chinese and SF city came to an agreement to make Chinatown like a theme park for tourist and the city to build up revenue. So, on all the western buildings they plopped down “Chinese” pieces like awnings and Chinese style lamps and colors; to lure in people from all over the world to come and see San Francisco and its “Chinatown.”

One of the coolest things about my home no one knows about. If you take a tour with a tour company they won’t even take you by this place. It’s a park where a Chinese doctor changed China forever. This man called Sun Yat-sen, was studying medicine in Hawaii and received news of how the old emperor “The Dragon Lady” was dying and wanted her successor to be a 5 year old boy used as a pawn.  So Sun Yat-sen while in Chinatown went to this park everyday and plotted his takeover of China. He stayed in San Francisco to raise money for the democratic takeover. He went back to China and won the civil war and told his men they no longer had to wear all black and keep their long braids something they were teased for and criticized about. China was democratic for some years and even after Sun Yat-sen died. His best friend Chiang Kai-shek took over but then the Mao Communist party and took over and sent Kai-shek to Taiwan and told him he could make that his democratic China. This animosity between the countries still last and even exists in Chinatown. Up and down the streets you will see both flags hanging and my people cannot unify. There is even a building called the Reunification of China building which can’t bring my people together. They are trying to attempt to do the same thing the Pope succeeded in reunifying Italy.

Maybe there is hope for my home and its residents. If Sun Yat-sen can make a difference why can’t I? My people are stuck in a small place they call home with as many as four families to one room. There’s an alley of gambling halls where even the police walk by and say nothing! My people put up cloth over the screen doors to keep prying eyes out. The gamblers paint over a plaque so no one will realize that the plaque shows that’s where Sun Yat-sen’s office was. They paint over so it won’t stop their gambling.  They even gamble at a park next to children playing. The women play for pennies but mainly to gossip and the men play for serious money. My home is struck with poverty, which the city can do nothing about because Chinatown isn’t an historical landmark. You can’t change something unless it wants to be changed. My people don’t want change. We are stuck in poverty and it probably will never change.

But I want change, I want to fix my home and help my people. But this task is hard to do, I can’t be like the Christian leader Moses and free them from rule but maybe I can free them of themselves.

Signed, An Optimistic Chinatown Resident

Reflection: I honestly loved the San Francisco (Chinatown) walk. The things I learned have changed my mindset and gave me insight on what a walking tour would be like in Rome. I came away from this tour with my legs tired but my mind still spinning from all the information I learned. I could listen to Mr. Evans (our amazing tour guide) talk forever. I love history and learning about all the places that tour guides skip over. The stories of how the Chinese people struggled in America and resulted to a harsher way to live, struck a chord with me. It made me look at how this stills goes on today in many neighborhoods for example Oak Park where much of the drugs and crime still goes on. But with the help of Sac High much of it has reduced maybe the same thing can happen for Chinatown. You can only hope and try to make a change but only change something or someone who wants change, it can never be forced or else it won’t stick. Thank you Context, Mrs. Everett, my context competitors and Ms. Mills for an amazing trip. This trip is one I will never forget.  

P.S. I have been telling everyone I come in contact with about my trip and even they are shocked on the hidden Chinatown. My family and I are planning to take a trip so I can show them all the cool places I saw.

                                    Signed Myriah Catalano

Learning vs. Experiencing

I have never been to Chinatown before, so for me, this walk was like experiencing a whole other country. (I caught myself almost asking if I can pay in American money!) The things I saw on this walk opened my eyes to a whole different world and culture.

Statue of Sun Yat-sen (Taken by Myself)

I feel so honored to have seen and learned about the statue and office of Sun Yat-sen. He came to San Francisco (Chinatown) to create an army and plot to fight against the political corruption within the Qing Dynasty. He played the leading role in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and became the new leader of China. However, he did not become an emperor, but instead he became a president. He ended dynasties and was much like the “George Washington of China”. The amazing thing is that he was not always a political figure, but he actually started a career as a doctor. Many people don’t know this, but his office, where he planned the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, is right there in Chinatown. Residents don’t want it to become a tourist attraction because if that happens, their gambling halls would be shut down and disappear. Gambling is their part of their culture and their everyday life, so to protect that, people paint over the plaque that states where the office of Sun Yat-sen is. That just sums up how exclusive and honored I feel that I even know about this office of his.

The gambling doesn’t just happen in the gambling halls and alleys, but it happens almost anywhere, even in the park! It was very odd for me to see kids playing on the playground and then see their grandparents right there sitting on the bench gambling. I had to keep telling myself that this is their everyday life. Seeing this brought up a constant question in my mind: If this is how surprising and different culture is just about 100 miles away from me, then how surprising and different will things be 6,000 miles away from me? All I can say is that just hearing and learning about a different city or country, is a lot different from experiencing it for yourself.  

This Chinatown walk was truly amazing for me. I just can’t wait to go back and continue to explore it for myself. This walk also heightened my desire to visit Rome for myself. Even if I am not fortunate enough to receive this scholarship to visit Rome (which I really hope I am!), I am now positive that I would like to study abroad, or even just visit another country. I would much rather experience other cultures and daily lives of people completely different from me, than just learn about it in a classroom.

~Aurea Colston

A Change

As a group, we took a tour to Chinatown in San Francisico and it was quite informing. As a student who applied to this competiton last year, I found this tour a little more interesting than architecture. Rick Evans, our tour guide, blew my mind away with the facts of the history. If I had a chance to take another tour, I would grasp it. Chinatown itself can be so small, but after such a great tour, I realized it is bigger than I imagined. The aspect of just knowing how long it has existed and how much the town itself went through, my mind has expanded on another level. What interested me the most was the statue of Sun Yat Sen. The statue was created in honor of such great dignity of his time being a commander over China. There was supposed to be a new emperor, but he was the age of five years old. Sun Yat Sen was such a leader he stood up for the rights of his people to correcting such abomination. After abandoning his future of wanting to be a doctor, time past and he soon became the commander, leading his country into good grace. The people of chinese decent who moved to San Francisco for gold would where black and had long braided ponytails because of the law. Sun Yat Sen demolished the law of clothing in all black and braided ponytails to live in freedom. Which such leadership, he was inspiring and was commited to such determination to spread the freedom until he met commander Mao. Commander Mao ended up fighting against Sun Yat Sen in a civil war and prevailed. With those actions partakened, China was forever seperate and the question remains: "Which is the real China?" That however never really set into my mind. My question for the rich history was, "Would it have been different if commander Sun Yat Sen would have won the civil war?" China could have been a whole country, united as one in harmony. There could have been a magnificent change in history, but either way it would have went Sun Yat Sen would still be looked at as a great man and there is not a change about that.

(Photo creds google img. 1886-1925)

 -Meryssa Mayshack

'Fortuneless' Cookies?

On our tour around China Town in San Francisco we viewed and were able to enter a fortune cookie shop. Automatically we were given samples of pancake shaped fortune cookies called ‘fortuneless cookies’. They were nothing like I expected. The dry, thin fortune cookies from restaurants and fast food joints are sad compared to the fresh baked cookies in the shop. The cookies were thin but thick when bitten into. They were sweet and yummy! I could not help myself from not buying a huge bag. Nothing can quiet beat the taste of fresh,food!

The cookie company is located between Jackson and Washington Streets in Ross Alley in San Fransico. It was opened in 1962 and owned by Franklin Lee. The workers made traditional fortune cookies, as well as chocolate flavored fortune cookies, almond cookies, and other sweets. The bags of cookies were fresh since they were made all in the same day or they would have become stale. Tourists can buy cookies for around for $3 a bag. You can also take pictures but they charge for photographs of the workers (50 cents).

Within a few paces of the entrance you can see fortune cookies being made right in front of you. First, the batters for the cookies are poured into a hot press. Then, a fortune is placed on one side of the hot, flat dough. Next, each soft, hot cookie is shaped over a steel rod into the shape of a fortune cookie. This process must be done very quickly; otherwise the cookie will harden before it has the right fortune cookie shape. The hardened cookies are thrown away. The process goes by so quickly that a huge batch of cookies was seemed to be made in couple of minutes.

The fortune cookie factory was fascinating as it showed how fortune cookies that we eat are not typically plain and hard. The cookies are actually made with technique and taste. It was exciting to try something new that I was not used to. The tour allowed me to have a better understanding of the Chinese from the Gold Rush. The tour was an event that I will never forget and remember. I hope I will learn of more cultures in the near future.

Kiarra Sims-Jean
Pictures from Google Images

What Makes the Sculpture So Special?

             Roman Art is used for all things that were scientific, mathematics, architectural, design, religion, and communication in Rome. The first kind of art that the Romans had was from the Etruscans. There art was during the 6^th century. The Etruscans built there first temple for the Greek God, Jupiter. The temple that they made for Jupiter has influenced the City Hall that we have today. With the Etruscans art they was good with trade and made there city greater by the art because they was organized and was able to do everything great in there city. This is a good topic because I think with out the Etruscans we will not have the art topics that we have today. The Etruscans was the best culture that I have ever seen because the way they was able to keep there cities organized and was able to make materials with bronze and it was able to stay up together. 

            All of the topics that we learned about in Saturday’s seminar were great but the one that caught my eyes the most was the sculpture. The Romans were particularity interested in portraiture (making of people). The Romans was most interested in reality when they was making there sculptures. The Romans was great at getting all the marks and important of that person onto the sculptures. Some of the authors of the sculptures made there sculptures to record the military history in the life of the Romans Emperors. The sculptures were 700 feet of spiral relief depicts Trojans campaigns.
                                                http://www.flickr.com/photos/vincega/7386341864/

           The author of the sculptures was an Italian author named Barberini. Barberini was brought into Rome as a child and he remained there almost all of his life and made a lot of sculpture for Rome that still stand now. He made the Saint Teresa of Ecstasy and wrote books of the visions that he had with the spirit of love and angles. Barberini was an important person in Rome because he was able to make sculpture of people and made sure that he got every single detail; this is great because this mean that he really loved the city of Rome because he had every detail on the sculpture and they still stand up today, so this means that the Romans loved Barberini to keep his sculpture up in Rome.     
          Romans were having had a lot of great people that can make art. I think that Rome is the capital of Art because they had a lot of people that took there art to the max and made everything on there art great. Rome is a great person to look at art and if I get a chance to go to Rome I hope that I can see the art of the most important person that made a lot of Rome’s sculptures. Then though I don’t like art, I will like to hear and learn more about the art that made Rome the most important city that is still standing today. Rome is a very important place to study art and I will love to learn more about the sculptures. So, I hope I get that change to explore the sculptures in Rome.
-Roynell Anderson
                                                             

The Olympus on Earth

                The Roman Pantheon is the most preserved and influential building of ancient Rome. The Roman Pantheon is a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods of pagan Rome. It was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus as a temple to all the gods of ancient Rome, and rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian about 126 AD. The Pantheon has been used as a Roman Catholic Church dedicated to "St. Mary and the Martyrs" but informally known as "Santa Maria Rotonda. The Pantheon is the greatest building in western architecture. It is remarkable for both its engineering and for its manipulation of interior space.

                One of the most fascinating features of the Pantheon is the architecture. The structure of the Pantheon is comprised of a series of intersecting arches that detail mosaics and sculptures. The mosaics are darkly painting with hints of bright pallets. Romans had perfected the

use of arches which helped sustain the weight of their magnanimous buildings. The arches are sometimes built onto columns to help support the weight of the ceiling. The detail in the high ceilings and floors allow the interior to seem bigger than it is already.

                There are not any windows inside the building. The only source of light is an opening at top of the dome called an oculus. The whole is 27 feet in diameter and opens to the sky. Skylight shines down into the building like a ray of sunshine.  Throughout the day, the light from the opening moves around this space in a sort of reverse sundial motion. The interior of the dome of symbolized the heavens.The interior is filled with intricate squares and circles that detail the interior. The checkerboard floor pattern (of circles) contrasts with the squares in the dome. The squares on the dome seem to make the illusion that the dome looks taller than it actually is. The oculus also serves as a cooling and ventilation method. During storms, a drainage system below the floor handles the rain that falls through the whole.

                The Pantheon is a magnificent building that inspires me to become more interested into Roman architecture. The scientific and mathematical advanced techniques are interesting, making me ponder, “How did Romans even come up with this idea”.  The innovating detail put into the monument, helped show me how advanced and creative Romans were and motivates me to stay that creative and think ‘out of the box’.

Picture source from Google Images(The Pantheon)

-Kiarra Sims-Jean