Los Angeles Experience 2.0

I returned to Los Angeles, the City of Angels, for a week during winter break, and my final year of undergraduate. It felt like a homecoming because I went to L.A. for part of the winter break of my first year at OSU! It was with the same student organization. From that first trip, I took my first ever plane ride with MUNDO (Multicultural Understanding through Nontraditional Discovery Opportunities) and found my experience so memorable. This time around, I was ecstatic to coordinate this ten-day experience for 26 students and staff. Members of the action team met up weekly during autumn semester to plan the trip and associated MUNDO meetings. We had difficulty choosing participants because many applicants appealed to us; some had strong essays while others had a significant number of attendance points. We prioritized students who were on-campus (so they would primarily be first- and second-year students) and in certain organizations for minority students.

Our experience description was:

“MUNDO invites interested participants to go beyond their preconceptions of life in the land of Hollywood, to get a deeper understanding of the cultural diversity, history, and significance of this vibrant Southern California community. As part of this experience, MUNDO will explore the connections between reflection and learning, how identity and culture affect leadership styles, and the importance of creating inclusive environments to promote social change.”

Right after Thanksgiving break, we held our Pre-Travel Meeting to introduce participants to their trip and prepare them for flying across the country. We had a number of first-time flyers! Since I was on the trip in 2016, some parts were familiar to me, but I was attentive throughout everything because even though we visited some of the same sites as before, aspects were new. I gained new pieces of information along the way.

DAY ONE (Dec 14)
MUNDO ordered a charter bus to pick up students at three different Columbus campus locations early in the morning, before dawn. After two flights, we reached LAX and made our way to our hostel, which offers affordable stays! Guests also have free breakfast, WiFi, towels and fun events that build community and cross-cultural understanding.

Students had the afternoon free to explore the area and get accustomed to the warmer winter weather of 60-something degrees. People split off into smaller groups. Some meandered around the beach and pier and then browsed shops in the mall. My group went to eat lunch first and popped into a few stores to get a sense of the prices and products. This is the time to shop for gifts for loved ones. I made a mental note (and took photos) of items I would get later on in the week. Skincare is at the top of my list.

In the evening, half of the MUNDO group gathered to get groceries at the store Vons! I did not purchase produce because I was concerned about storage and stealing at the hostel communal kitchen. I purchased fresh and prepared foods outside instead of making my own and having to worry about storage. Also, fruits and vegetables were pricey. I bought myself drinks to quench my sweet tooth. Cravings compelled me to buy candy as well.

I ended the night by visiting Santa Monica Pier. It was just like how I remembered it from 2016. I tried a Mexican street snack called corn in a cup – fresh, warm corn with dollops of mayo, drizzled lemon juice, crumbled up cheese, and sprinkled chili powder. It was delicious!! I love supporting people of color, including those who own small food stands.

After many hours of traveling, I knew to get adequate sleep, which I had not achieved for most of the prior week.

DAY TWO
After sending out three breakfast reminders to the group, I ate cereal and milk before I boarded the bus with the group for our L.A. Insider Tour. Our tour guide showed us around the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is about five miles long, and the TCL Chinese Theatre, which opened in 1927! The theatre was designed by a European American man and had many Chinese-looking elements, but aspects of the design to me was insulting and caricature-like. There were dragons, jade green colors, and a font that would not be used in actual Chinese culture. The man who designed this theater and other theaters such as a Mayan-themed one wanted to be more worldly and diverse, but this was not truly representative or inclusive. This was something I had not thought about before, and how people can create a structure or piece to imitate a culture without consulting people from that culture. This is important to do because it conveys respect and appreciation for said culture.

I was content finding the stars for Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Keanu Reeves. Each year, there are about 300 nominations for a star on the Walk of Fame; 24 are actually produced because there are three requirements. The celebrity who gets a star must have been famous for at least five years, must schedule a ceremony, and must have $40,000 to pay for their star.

After looking at people’s stars and hand and foot prints, we drove up to Griffith Park and Observatory to see the Hollywood sign and the views of the Los Angeles Basin.

On the bus ride to Beverly Hills, we learned about facts related to buildings and celebrities, including comedians and actresses and actors. This community has extravagant homes. Sidewalks are clean. Potholes are nonexistent. Beverly Hills is an affluent neighborhood. The bus went past Sunset Sound and Hollywood High School. There is so much history and roots of people beginning their careers on Sunset Blvd. Meanwhile, we strolled along the neatly paved sidewalks of Rodeo Drive to gaze at the luxury clothing and bag brands in the storefronts and sportscars parked outside.

The group took a break for lunch at Grand Central Market, which was crowded and lacking an enormous amount of seating, but had an abundance of cultural cuisines. Options included Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Chilean, ice cream, whiskey, breakfast foods, fried chicken, and more. Lines were hectic and people were hovering around us to snag the table we spent 10 minutes to find. I enjoyed exploring the holiday artisan pop-up shop in the basement of the market. Some of us decided to visit The Last Bookstore in our free time as well.

One reality that we were confronted with while traveling around Los Angeles and Santa Monica was the prevalent homelessness issue. Individuals were sleeping on bus stop benches, steps of buildings, and in tents set up around highways and alleys. These people struggling with finding a place to stay were also on the Metro. Some were singing or cursing out loud. It is troubling that larger societal issues such as housing unaffordability and our unjust criminal justice system can lead to people struggling to pay rent and sustain themselves. Society should instill more compassion and understanding for these individuals who have names and lives and stories of their own. I wonder about what they have gone through. Walking by homeless people, most of us do not want to glance at them. We do not want to spare some change, because a common thought is that they will use it to feed their substance disorders. However, I have come to believe that whatever they decide to do with their money is up to them, and that they will act in their best interests. Since I am in a more privileged position, I should be kind and freely give a little bit of what I have to others. Even if I cannot give any money or share some food with people, I can acknowledge their presence and tell them, “Have a nice day.” The problem of wealth persists in the United States, and we must address how there’s billionaires and millionaires hoarding wealth when simultaneously, many people are out on the streets or couch-surfing or crashing at friends’ places. A tourist booklet I found at the hostel instructed readers to not give homeless folks money but to donate to a foundation. However, organizations’ outreach may not catch every single individual, so I still feel morally obligated to give something to someone I see. It can make a difference in their day.

DAY THREE

In the morning, our group visited the Museum of Tolerance, a “multimedia museum” that “examines racism and prejudice around the world with a strong focus on the history of the Holocaust.” I have visited this museum in 2016, but this visit variated from last time. Before we were greeted by our first tour guide, the group had some time to roam around the lobby, which displayed a photo exhibit. There was a project that involved giving cameras to Palestinian and Israeli women to photograph one another and shed light on a community’s humanity and lived experiences. Some photos were headshots of individuals gazing into the camera’s eyes. One photo was of a child and a candle during a holiday celebration. I was very intrigued by this project and appreciated that these photos tell stories and help others see the lives of others who are different from them, but actually have some similarities.

Our tour guide was of Polish descent and led the group to a Point-of-View Diner. We watched a video of a news segment covering a car accident. Involved were a teen behind the wheel, his girlfriend as a passenger, and a 10-year-old girl and her father in the other car in the collision. The girl ended up dying from injuries sustained; the teenage boy driving in the other car died as well. We soon learned that the boy, Charlie, was drunk and had gotten alcohol using a fake ID that his girlfriend helped him get. The convenience store that sold him the liquor was known to let youth purchase alcohol despite being underage. Charlie’s mom was interviewed and she had no idea that her son was struggling with alcohol addiction and even arriving to school intoxicated. We all voted on the level of responsibility that each person had (Charlie, Charlie’s girlfriend, Charlie’s mother, and the liquor store owner).

The results showed that 36% of us voted Charlie as having the greatest responsibility for the accident that caused his own life as well as that of a young girl, and the injuries of others. On interactive devices in front of each of us, we then asked individuals questions about the accident to find out more information. Then we voted again, and to my surprise, the group voted less responsibility for Charlie and more towards his mother and the liquor store owner. This finding contrasts with my own perspective; even though a parent does have influence on their child’s life, they cannot know all about what’s impacting that child and that child’s decisions. A parent can provide support for them but the individual themselves should be responsible for their actions. It is sad that this case was a real story.

Speaking about the Holocaust now, I heard familiar facts, but I appreciated reinforcing the information in my head. I found it interesting that the six major camps were all located in Poland. I did not know that before. A knot forms in my throat every time I go through the events that lead up to the mass genocide of Jews, Roma (gypsies), mentally ill people, and physically disabled people. In recent years, anti-Semitism has been on the rise, in my opinion. There have been numerous incidences of anti-Semitism in America; I hear about this on the news. I am concerned that future generations will not learn about the Holocaust. Importance and relevance of this issue weighs on every individual. Teaching tolerance should be a priority for school curricula. I would like my own career to encompass education and other experiences that will help further acceptance of diversity, inclusion of various identities into spaces so that everyone can feel welcome, and equity.

After the heavy topics of the morning, MUNDO had lunch in the Warner Brothers Studios café. Our time touring Warner Bros Studios was fun for everyone. The group was split in half and transported around via golf carts. We visited stages and sets of shows such as All American and Lucifer. We saw a building solely dedicated to props for TV shows and films; one giant globe was used for Doctor Strange. My favorite part was the DC building, where I saw costumes from Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Crazy Rich Asians, A Star is Born (2018), and the Harry Potter series! The experience allowed us to see behind-the-scenes of Hollywood.

On the bus ride back to Santa Monica from Burbank, we posed these reflection questions:
1) Can you recall a time when you experienced or witnessed discriminatory behavior?
2) What are some actionable steps that you can take against hate?

DAY FOUR

Homeboy Industries was our first stop of the day. When MUNDO arrived in the morning, Father Greg Boyle had a microphone in hand and was addressing the whole room: people waiting in chairs in the lobby, people gathered around in the hallways, and people looking down from the staircase leading upstairs. The facility was full and silent as Father Greg remarked on the holiday season and celebrating another year of Homeboy Industries and the growth of individuals in the program.

This man started this organization in 1988 as a way for formerly incarcerated individuals who have histories of gang activity to better themselves and live out their goals of having healthy families and achieving an education. Homeboy Industries offers classes, tattoo removal, employment, case management, and support for legal, social, and mental health matters. Other people took the mic and said other parts of the announcement. One young woman shared how being part of the program changed her life and gave her healthy outlets to release negative feelings and improve herself. The sense of community and support in the room was so palpable.

A woman explained more about Homeboy Industries to our group. She was nearing the end of the 18-month re-entry program and disclosed to us that she had stood outside the doors and hesitated to walk in on multiple occasions. She did not feel ready. But she is glad that she had taken the leap. When she walked in, she was greeted with warm welcomes and “How are you?,” all of which surprised her because she had not been treated that way before. That was the start of a journey for her. We are grateful that she shared her story as a trainee with us.

There is nothing quite like Homeboy Industries. Several students took informative brochures and reports to learn more about the program and its outcomes. I observed that different aspects of our group tour and visit appealed to the participants; one art major was drawn to trainees’ personal artworks.

https://homeboyindustries.org/

Chinese American Museum

Even though I have visited this museum once before, I eagerly soaked in the information along the gallery walls. I read almost everything in sight. This is a small building and sadly, one entire section was closed. Being able to view the art exhibit that I remembered from last time would have enhanced our experience and given students a broader understanding of art and culture. This museum is certainly worth stopping in because it paints a story of Chinese immigration, struggle and strength in the 1800s all the way to the 2000s. One wall is consumed by a life-size timeline. Several students took the time to read this thoroughly. The museum displayed artifacts such as a restaurant apron, Chinese herbs in a model herbalist/pharmacist shop, and then upstairs, Chinese-American political campaign posters and toys and firecrackers commonly played with during the Chinese New Year. Museums such as CAMLA are pivotal for cultural awareness, humility, and sensitivity and for our understanding of U.S. history, because history shapes the contemporary. My hope is that people appreciate the efforts of educating and celebrating Chinese heritage and the roles people of Chinese ancestry have taken in making the U.S. what it is today.

http://camla.org/

After the group gathered together, we walked over for free time and exploration in Chinatown. As we made our way to the Central Plaza, a magnificent dragon gate stood out to mark the hub of activity in this ethnic enclave. People split up into smaller groups to browse the gift shops and try foods. We were responsible to take public transit back to the hostel. Chinatown sprawls across numerous city blocks and a person can spend at least a full day there. Chinatown offers restaurants, including the staple of dim sum (brunch composed of small dishes) and a new burger shop that attracts crowds, pharmacy stores, and shops selling trinkets or clothing. Along the sidewalks, vendors sell produce, freshly pressed sugarcane juice, and more. I found it fun to share some knowledge with my friend group on dim sum, sugarcane juice, and the tropical fruit rambutan, which we sampled from a friendly vendor. This past semester, social media pages I have been following have brought to my attention that L.A.’s Chinatown has faced increased gentrification and poverty among the aging population. This is troubling in terms of the longevity of this resilient community that has established roots around the time Los Angeles was founded.

http://chinatownla.com/wp1/

Reflection questions related to this day involved participants considering their preconceptions of people involved in gang life as well as what they learned about Chinese Americans, Chinatown, and Chinese culture. Additionally, we encouraged people to compare and contrast the diversity in L.A. versus the diversity in Columbus. I can say that Columbus does not appear to have Asian ethnic enclaves, but I have heard from friends that some affluent Asian American groups are in certain suburbs whereas working class Asian Americans are in other suburbs or are closer to the inner-city.

DAY FIVE
MUNDO scheduled our first free day for the halfway point of the experience. Six of us went to Disneyland! Visiting this amusement park fulfilled one of my childhood dreams! The group went to both of the parks over in Ahaheim, California: California Adventure Park and Disneyland Park.

Some tips for Disneyland visitors: Bring water, sunscreen, and portable chargers! Wear comfortable shoes. Go to the back of the park to be most time-efficient. You will likely wait a while in some lines but some attractions are Single Rider, so you get through these lines quicker. An important tool to employ is the Disneyland app, which lets you view wait times, locations for bathrooms, dining and more, and see event times. The app also includes a handy map feature with a compass as well.

DAY SIX
The MUNDO group took public transportation to Olvera Street, the oldest area of Los Angeles. In this historic district, with museums, a gazebo, and colorful marketplace stalls, we learned about Mexican culture. We gave students about an hour or so to look around the Avila Adobe to gain a sense of what life was like in the 1800s. People enjoyed food here (I had two tacos, rice, and beans) before we met up to explore Latinx-American identity and more specifically, Chicano identity and activism.

https://www.olvera-street.com/copy-of-siqueiros-mural

Touring La Plaza de Cultura y Artes was a new experience for me. I took photos of the exhibit descriptions so I could remember all of the information presented in front of me. I learned more about areas I was previously foggy or unfamiliar with: Mexico’s independence in 1821 from Spain after 40 years, the californio laborers of mixed-race descent, and the mission system as part of Spain’s colonization. Another important theme I came across was the Chicano movement, and how people formed coalitions to fight for labor laws and rights, for equitable education, and more.

I was fascinated with artist Linda Vallejo’s collection, Brown Belongings. This art collection shows visual depictions of scholarly data on Latinx people in the U.S. in the form of dots and geometric shapes on graph paper. I have not seen anything like this before. These pieces allowed me to learn statistics about Latinx population, families, political alignments, representation, and more.

Statistics that stood out to me from The Brown Dot Project were:
– 30% of the U.S. population will be Latino in 2050 (2017 data)
– 35% of Los Angeles homeless population is Latino (2019 data)
– 63% of U.S. labor trafficking is Latino (2017 data)

Another exhibit, Make ‘Em All Mexican, was creative and fresh to me. Vallejo explains that many “…depictions of childhood, religion, education, and marriage rarely reflect the realities of Latinx experiences. Instead, they portray whiteness as the norm.” She took figurines and photos and made the characters brown all over, in different shades. Some, like Mickey Mouse or Big Boy, now had chocolate brown skin. George and Martha Washington had deep, rich skin tones. Disney princesses were also painted over with brown color. Mona Lisa and even a portrait of Jennifer Lawrence from the Oscars were included in this overhaul. It really hits home that representation in media can be lacking for people of color (Latinx, Black, Asian, Arab). This dearth poses significant risk especially for youth who grow up with not many positive images of people who look like them and little possibilities for their futures. White-washing occurs a lot in Hollywood and beyond; moving forward, we all should advocate for more people of color to be in roles that they are meant to be in, and not have a white actor play them in a movie or show. Moreover, more space, resources, and opportunities should be allocated for people of color so that their stories can come to fruition. As a feminist scholar, I am very passionate about this subject. Representation is a term I will hammer into conversation over and over again because of how it truly does matter, no matter the discipline or field in life. What made this experience better was that the artist herself was at the museum walking visitors through her thought process as she created these pieces. A few students had the chance to talk with her.

http://www.lapca.org/

After an enlightening museum experience, MUNDO took a short walk to the Japanese American National Museum, the first of its kind that I have been to. The exhibition, “Common Ground: The Heart of Community,” captures 130 years of Japanese American history with a focus on the Issei (first-generation) and their families becoming incarcerated and interned by the U.S. government. This part of history is grazed, if even covered at all, in history textbooks. If only more people were aware that underlying the whole internment was a misconstrued report. What is upsetting and infuriating is that fueled mostly by racism and xenophobia, Japanese Americans were all labeled as enemies of the state after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

The next exhibit was “Under a Mushroom Cloud: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Atomic Bomb.” This reflected a lot of what I saw at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum back in Japan. Often times, people hear that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed during WWII but we do not see photos of what the impacts are of the radiation blasts at the scenes of the explosions. In high school, I had only learned about the bombing but did not know how many people had died immediately, how many had suffered in the short term, or even how many people were indirectly influenced. People lost many family members and it was difficult to identify victims. I will not go into details about the suffering, but I hope that the exhibit helps people see that weapons of mass destruction are not the answer for peace.

http://www.janm.org/

After taking my time to explore the museum, with my group of friends, we browsed the shops of Little Tokyo, got ice cream, and took public transit back to Santa Monica. The travel time took an hour, I would say. The reflection questions related to this day regarded how to appreciate a culture without appropriating or commercializing it.

DAY SEVEN
MUNDO volunteered at the LA Regional Food Bank for a few hours and we finished earlier than expected! Our group was at the service site with another group and other random individuals to put food items into boxes; specifically, we made senior food kits that would be delivered to elderly folks at their homes. My group was responsible for putting juice gallons into the box. The process was intense but fun. With my group, I established a system for being the most efficient. One person would rip open boxes of juices to lay the containers out for the other two people to grab and place into the kits that would come down the line. Together, we prepared 1,512 senior kits!

The MUNDO group then had free time until dinner. Instead of an alumni dinner, (because we had difficulty recruiting alumni since it was so close to the holidays), we held a reflection pizza party. In the beginning, there was a woman who the program coordinator met in the hostel who stopped in to share her experiences and advice. She was a college counselor and also worked with youth experiencing homelessness.

Then a staff mentor for MUNDO asked questions that were to be discussed in smaller groups and answered out loud to the larger group. We discussed what we learned, what social issues resonated with us the most, what we observed, and what individuals can do to avoid “voluntourism” (defined along the lines of volunteering outside of your local area, as a tourist, in a way that is exploitative).

DAY EIGHT
Our second scheduled free day allowed people to further explore the Los Angeles basin. I went with a good friend back to Little Tokyo. We spent the whole day there, walking around the many blocks and stopping into a dollar store. At a street stand, I bought the red-bean-filled pastry taiyaki to try. I appreciated getting to spend hours in that community and see what was offered there. There were plenty of restaurants, gift shops, clothing stores, home good stores, and bookstores. Little Tokyo has attractions for locals and tourists, with authenticity and novelty. We rounded out the excursion by eating ramen. Mine was a black oil ramen, which looks different but tastes rich and garlicy.

DAY NINE
The group left the hostel for Columbus. We all brought down our sheets, pillow cases, and blankets to the front desk. I told people in the group to head downstairs at 10:45 AM and check out by 11 AM. We then stayed in the lobby/lounge room until 11:45 AM, when our bus picked us up. We got to our airport gate a few hours early but that worked out well for us since we were able to secure seats while waiting; people who arrived later had to sit on the floor. The group took two flights to make it back to Columbus, Ohio for some real winter weather, back near freezing temperatures.

DAY TEN
After an overnight flight, the group members dispersed. I waited until every participant retrieved their luggage and coordinated a ride back to campus (or home). I was thankful that I myself was able to hop into a car to get a ride to my apartment. It saved me from paying around $30 for a ride-share service.

I now tie this experience to the G.O.A.L.S. (found at https://honors-scholars.osu.edu/documents/goals.pdf)
(Once in Honors & Scholars, always in Honors & Scholars!)

Global Awareness – I gained greater global awareness about Chinese American history and Japanese American history. Additionally, my knowledge expanded greatly regarding Latinx American history, especially Mexican American, as they shaped the landscape of the L.A. area.

Original Inquiry – Along with the planning team, I developed questions to engage participants and get them to think with open-minded perspectives. Throughout the trip, I initiated conversations with different peers.

Academic Enrichment – I found that this experience supported what I was learning about in my Asian American Studies courses and even online in different Asian American-related groups and pages. There are so many individuals and stories that go unrecognized in the mainstream media and in the educational curricula, so I hope to change this and bring this information into people’s academics. I mentioned my AAS minor to the group and encouraged people to enroll in the minor at the very least, take a course.

Leadership Development – Planning this experience requires meeting up weekly with my committee and then doing work outside of that hour or two hours. I sent emails and text messages, added to our PowerPoint, and facilitated some general body meetings. I am so happy and proud of our work.

Service Engagement – We made a dent in the hunger and food insecurity issue in the L.A. basin. Thousands of older adults will receive food from the food bank. Service can always be fit into a trip. Food banks are MUNDO’s usual go-to for service.

This will likely not be my last winter break experience with MUNDO; for Winter Break 2020, we are going to Miami and I am interested in leading it!