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December 17, 2000
2000: A YEAR TO BE THANKFUL FOR
What a whirlwind year 2000 has been. With the new year just ahead, I started thinking about this last year of the last millennium (officially, 2001 is the real start of the millennium), and I realized there is much to be grateful for.
| I'm very glad to see more Asians finding their way into mainstream entertainment, from TV shows to the big screen. |
I'm also thankful for Jared, for his insights on the world from a teenager's perspective. He's smart, funny, strong, challenging and keeps me up to date on what's hip in music these days.
I'm grateful for my family, and for the opportunity to be much closer to my brothers Glenn and Gary and their families than I have been in years. I had almost forgotten that I have wonderful nieces. My mother is a unique presence in my life, and I'm always learning more about myself by studying her. And, I'm grateful for Erin's family, and their openness and willingness to accept me as one of theirs.
I'm humbled by a long list of friends that I've made over the years. Although I may fall out of touch with some over the years, my heart is always indebted to them. And when our paths do cross, the time and distance always seem to melt away as if we just spent yesterday together. And I'm especially thankful for my guitar-playing partner, Leland.
I'm grateful for my "day job," which is with an Internet startup company called TamTam.com that's run in a much smarter way financially than many other over-hyped "dot-com" businesses. The company's founders are trying to create a new kind of company, one that truly values its people above profit (though profit's important too). And our focus on international business allows me to stay up-to-date on events around the world, not just here in the US.
I'm happy to be part of the Japanese community locally, including the many good folks at the Denver Buddhist Church and Simpson Methodist Church, and Sakura Square with its restaurants and Pacific Mercantile supermarket. I'm also very glad that Denver has some fine "Nihon-shoku" (Japanese cuisine) restaurants, at both ends of the price scale: Sushi Den, Samurai, Domo, Yoko's Express, Kiki's and Oshima Ramen and Gyoza.
Although my involvement with various local organizations lessened considerably this past year because my schedule became too demanding, I'm grateful for the work of such groups as the Mile Hi JACL (Japanese American Citizen League), the JASC (Japan America Society of Colorado), the Japanese Association and the Japanese Firms Association. I'm also grateful for the Japanese government's presence in Denver in the form of the Consul General's office, and the arrival of the very warm and charming Consul General Makoto Mizutani and his wife Junko.
I'm thankful for the Japanese community nationally, and the online friends I've made through the Ties-Talk e-mail discussion group, and the people I've met and respect and the stores and restaurants I've visited in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo and San Francisco's Japan Town. I'm happy to sport organizations such as the Japanese American Historical Society and the Japanese American National Museum.
Every morning I wake up amazed that thanks to Lasik surgery, I can see the alarm clock without first having to grope around for my glasses.
I'm glad there is now a Japanese American National Memorial in Washington DC, and I hope it brings together the generations of Japanese Americans to support each other. There was much internal controversy over who is represented by this memorial, and I think all the fighting was stupid. I for one hope to see the memorial in person someday, and know it will stir pride inside me when I do.
I'm very glad to see more Asians finding their way into mainstream entertainment, from TV shows to the big screen. Lucy Liu has become a great heroine of mine for her roles this year in the films "Shanghai Noon" and "Charlie's Angels."
I'm constantly amazed at how many Web sites about Japan, based both here and in Japan, have exploded onto the Internet. When I first began visiting Web sites about Japan in the mid 1990s, there were simply not that many out there. Now there are thousands upon thousands of informative, insightful and interesting Web sites to visit, bookmark and tell others about.
I'm thrilled that Kodo, the fabulous Japanese taiko drum group, is coming to perform for several nights in both Colorado Springs and in Denver's Buell Theater in February, 2001. We already have tickets, and we can hardly wait!
I think it's very cool that there are more Japanese anime programs other than just Pokemon, such as "Dragon Ball Z," catching on with American kids. I believe that any exposure to things Japanese, even through popular culture, will help bring down barriers and misunderstanding between Japan and the US.
The year hasn't been all good news, of course. There's still work to do.
The tensions bared during the investigation and trial of Dr. Wen Ho Lee for passing US nuclear secrets to China haven't all played themselves out. I fear there's a racial backlash still brewing which may affect all Asians.
Although I love National Public Radio's news broadcasts, it bugs me every time I hear one of their smart announcers sounding dumb by saying "Toe-kee-yo" instead of "Toh-kyo" during a report. I've sent them e-mails several times but it doesn't seem to help.
MSNBC last week quoted someone in a story about Internet security, calling a potential hacker attack "a digital Pearl Harbor." It makes me wince every time to think that Americans still consider Pearl Harbor synonymous with "sneak attack," and I fear that just beneath the surface of that comment lies a core of racial hatred that still smolders. I'm nervous over the upcoming big-budget film about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but hopeful that it won't just stir mere simpleminded patriotism.
Still, I'm looking forward to 2001, and hope I'll continue to grow and evolve. Onward to the new millennium. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all!