Picture with Tamon, Helen, and Jerry at the San Jose Museum of Art
Day 1:
Today, we started out by volunteering at Lotus Preschool, something that both Alex and I have wanted to do since we first talked with Lynne during week 3. Because Tamon scheduled night meetings and a few day interviews, we were free to choose what to do with our time in the morning. We helped by watching the kids, cleaning after them, and playing with them outside.
In the afternoon, we visited City Hall to meet with Fret Buzo, the council assistant under Councilmember Sam Liccardo who represents San Jose Japantown. He explained how the Japantown community is effective because of its multiple community organizations, such as the Neighborhood Association and JBA, so more of the community is represented. He also explained how, in the past, it was important to have representatives in an ethnic group present in government positions, but because many communities are multicultural it is not as important to have a specific ethnic group in office, because they can be represented by others who care just as much of the community. His position on this was very interesting, and something I haven't heard from anyone else.
At night ,we sat in on the Asian Pacific Islander Justice Coalition meeting, a group created to advance social justice issues related to Asian Pacific Islanders. The coalition provides way to have a quick response from the API community, and acts as a way to keep up with issues regarding other ethnic backgrounds. Various topics were discussed during the meeting, including community service events and a transition of leadership within the coalition.
Day 2:
Today we worked again in the morning until night at Lotus Preschool. It was great that a lot of the kids remember who we were from yesterday! Aside from helping with the daily activities of the preschool, we also helped prepare for the 25th annual Lotus Preschool event this Saturday. It was nice that the other people who help out at the Preschool are our age, so it was much more enjoyable.
At night, we attended the JCCsj meeting at the IMB. This meeting was very interesting, especially since many of the topics dealt with were issues we learned about through the last weeks of our internship. These issues included dealing with the benches placed around Japantown, and working with the Mural Project of the corp yard. Alex and I were also able to talk about the NCI program, what parts were good and what parts could be improved. We brought up the website project as well, and the planning of the Thursday Intern Day in San Jose. Overall, this meeting was very interesting, and I realized not only how various community organizations work together for common events/projects, but also how so many people care about the NCI program and want to give us the pest experience possible.
Day 3:
Today, we met with Anne Im, the director of community programs at AACI. She explained how it is important to advocate that Asian Americans in our community are in need of services despite many stereotypes. AACI is centered in Santa Clara county, and it has grown over the years to have a federally qualified health care clinic. She explained how it is necessary to work with locally elected officials in the county government in order to get the organization's needs known. Also, she outlined the policy making process in our state through her involvement with APIJC. She explained that the coalition advocates through supporting or opposing bills, and acting as rapid response network and a faster means to get many Asian American organizations' support on a bill or issue.
We then drove to downtown San Jose and had lunch with Helen Hayashi at Cafe Too. Jerry Hiura and Tamon Norimoto joined us as well, and the conversation got started about the business and political side of Japantown. A redevelopment agency was issued by the state to improve the San Jose Japantown area by increasing property tax. Japantown chose the route to become a BID (Business improvement district), by taxing themselves more to increase improvement. Helen acts as the connection between Japantown and the city of San Jose. As previously one of the staff members of Norman Mineta and currently on staff at the Downtown Association, she provides information on how City Hall works, and is able to advocate for Japantown. Japantown has a very cooperative approach to advocacy, forming good bonds with politicians rather than protesting, which reflects a very Japanese approach to politics. Through this conversation, I realized how important it is for a community to understand policy and be able to work with political leaders.
We finished up the day by volunteering at Lotus Preschool, helping out with the name tags for the Saturday event.
Day 4:
Today, we got to have our weekly intern day in San Jose! We started out by visiting the NBC studios to see Mike Inouye, the morning traffic anchor. We got to see him reporting live in the studios, and the rest of the crew explained how the displaying and programming of the news works. Mike explained how his JA upbringing contradicted his personality, because he was taught to be polite and hold back, but to get where he is today he had to be assertive and be the one to create opportunities for himself. NBC is known for the diversity on staff, so we met many others Asian Americans, including Lance Lew and Rob Mayeda.
We then had lunch at the IMB with Roy, many others from San Jose Taiko, and their interns. We got to mix and get to meet many of the other people while sharing a lunch that Roy and PJ prepared.
We then walked over to Roy's Station and met with Tamiko Rast, the media designer of the Japantown banners and website. She feels that it is important to take pride in her community, especially since she grew up around Japantown, and she puts priority on projects of members of the Japantown Community.
After meeting with Tamiko, we took a short tour around Japantown. We walked over to Jerry Hiura's office, volunteered a little at Lotus Preschool, and got shaved ice at one of the local stores. We then walked back to the IMB and met with Margaret Abe Koga, the city council member of Mountain View and chair of VTA. She eplained how it was important being a woman and asian in politics in order to bring her perspective to the decisions that are made for the city, and also educate others of the needs of her community. She advised us to get involved in various commissions (such as the planning commission) of whatever city we end up living in so we can make a difference in our community.
We then attended the Bay Area Asian Pacific American Legislative Staffers Mixer in the backyard of the IMB, where we met many elected officials and nonprofit leaders, and many of their interns working in their offices.
Day 5:
Today we worked again at Lotus preschool. As today is the day before the 25th anniversary celebration, we did a lot of moving of supplies and working with the name tags of the attendants. Alex and I are both going to volunteer at the Lotus Preschool anniversary celebration tomorrow. At noon, we went over to Yu-Ai-Kai to work at the Meals-on_Wheels program. I drove in a van with Stanley, who had been working at Yu-Ai-Kai for 5 years now. We went all the way out to Berryessa delivering hot lunches and frozen meals to various senior's houses. It was a great experience getting to see how many of the seniors live, and how often times they have other people caring for them during the day. Once I got back, Alex and I finished up our day at Lotus Preschool.
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