Jillian TS #13

Date/Time: June 5, 2017; 9:00 A.M.-10:00 A.M.
Location: Home via Skype (Jacksonville/Seoul)
Topic: Valentine's Day and Asian Stereotypes/Speaking and listening
Feedback: Article usage and forgetting some words. We had to clear up the difference between "royal person" and "a royal person." She also said "were impeached" instead of "was impeached." While grammatically correct, it did not fit in the context of the sentence.

So we started on a topic I was curious about. In South Korea--and many other Asian countries--there is a traditional Valentine's Day. A month later, however, couples celebrate White Day. On Valentine's Day in Korea, the girlfriend will give the boyfriend something. Which is reversed here in America. Generally, the guy gives the girl a gift or it is a mutual trade. White Day a month later is when the boyfriend will give a gift to the girlfriend. At least...that is how I understood the conversation. Soyoung told me it really is all just a marketing scheme. The concept of White Day started in Japan and slowly made its why over to other Asian countries. Koreans have been celebrating the holiday as long as she can remember, and she imagines it will stay for much longer.

Soyoung did want to talk about Asian stereotypes in America. She asked if Americans thought all Asians are good at math. I told her that once upon a time, yes. Nowadays, however, with everything as global as it is, I think we have come to the conclusion that people have strengths and weaknesses. I did mention that I think the stereotype stemmed from how hardworking Asian people are generally. I knew a Chinese family in high school that said their parents made sure they all became doctors. Soyoung agreed that is probably where it originated. She told me that there used to be a testing system for people to become politicians. It existed for 1,000 years, and she thinks that is most likely what created the stereotype. People were expected to work hard in order to do well.