Free Essay

Journal Entry

In:

Submitted By kitterz49
Words 1283
Pages 6
Journal Entry
Jennifer Augustus
ETH/125
July 17, 2011
April Dreeke

Journal Entry
It's been three days of rain now, with no end in sight. Sometimes I wonder if this whole island might one day be underwater from all the rain. My friend Irini says that the ocean swallows the water, and the island could never be covered. I listen, but I'm not sure even she believes everything she says. My name is Suri Songhai, and I live in Hawaii, the year is 1922. I came to Hawaii because my family enlisted a nakodo’s (go-between) on my behalf in my homeland of Korea, to find me a husband to take care of me. Many Korean men have been leaving our poor area outside of Okinawa to find more lucrative work. There have been quite a few who leave with the intent of working in Hawaii and building a beautiful home and having a family. There were many stories at the time of how well Korean mother's sons were doing in Hawaii, many pictures of homes, properties, beautiful beaches, gardens and animals. Additionally, a monthly check is sent from the sons to support their families back home in Korea. Many hundreds of young men have left Korea to work in the sugar cane fields in Hawaii. Families never know of the hardship their son's suffer, as the son's would never say; it would do no good to have their families worried or afraid for them. So they put on a happy face for all of the pictures, and sent as much money as they can without starving. Mothers of daughters saw these things and wanted their daughters to marry these successful men and live the beautiful life they saw in pictures. So they hired nakodo's to find suitable partners for their daughters, and would send our pictures to Hawaii, and so we were called "picture brides". My nakodo's name was Daka, and he never, ever smiled, even when my baby brother giggled and fell, Daka didn't even look at him. I wondered how such a sour man could be in the business of love and marriage, but when I tried to ask my mama she only got angry and told me to be quiet. I think she is sad that I will be going so far away. I know I will miss her, my father and my baby brother, but i am also excited about going halfway around the world for a new life. Within two months Daka had found two men that wanted a bride and my parents went to meet with their parents, so they could make the final decision. I saw the pictures of the two men, one sitting on a mule, and the other standing in front of a house near a forest. I tried very hard to look at their faces, and see their eyes, but the pictures were very small and blurry. I think you can tell a lot by looking in someone’s eyes. It didn't matter, because within a few days the man in front of the house was decided on and a date for me to depart was set. I would travel many days by ship to reach Hawaii and once there, my husband would pick me up, and I would start a new life as the female head of my own home. The trip to the island was long and crowded, over 100 women left with me for their new homes and husbands, it seemed to take forever to arrive. However, once we reached the island we forget about the harrowing trip as we basked in the exquisite weather, and saw the beautiful landscape, birds, ocean, and beaches. Once we landed, we were driven for a very long time, away from the beautiful beaches and into a forest filled with strange sounds and many biting bugs that would drive me crazy swarming around my face. I waited with other brides at a designated location as one by one; their husbands would come to get them. One woman in particular objected to leaving with her husband because he looked over 20 years older than his picture, she cried and pushed him away, but he explained to her that if she did not return with him then when night came she would be sitting here alone in the forest, prey to people and wild animals, so she eventually left with him. There were only four of us left when my husband arrived. He did not look 20 years older than his picture, but he certainly did not look as young as he did in the picture. I was relieved to see that he had kind eyes, and when he shook my hand, I think I saw him blush. I heard later that one bride was never fetched and she sat there for three days before she was taken in by a local family.
My new home was small and looked nothing like the picture he sent, and when I mentioned it he said it was the house of the man he worked for. As I unpacked my kimonos and dresses in beautiful colors and fabrics, he told me to put them away, that he had purchased clothing for me when he knew that I would be coming. A long skirt that could be tied in the middle, made from rough cotton, a long sleeve cotton blouse, an old pair of leather shoes with no laces and a wide brimmed straw hat to protect my face from the sun. All of these items were foreign to me, they looked dirty and old, and I wondered what people would think of me going in the street dressed like this. Amazingly the next day as we walked to the sugar cane fields to work, I noticed everyone was dressed the very same way! Some people did not even have clothes as nice the ones I was wearing, or walked in the fields barefoot. The work was back-breaking hard, and there were times when I felt I could not go on one more day, but I did, because here in Hawaii, the women are expected to earn money just like the men. The hard thing to accept is that women make only a little over half of what the men make in a day.
I've been here now for over a year and although times are hard, we are making a living for ourselves and are able to send money to our families. We are expecting a child in a few months, and I have stopped working in the fields, and am now mending clothes for some of the single men on the island. Clothing is expensive so it is cheaper to fix what you already have than to buy new ones. My husband worked as a driver in Korea and is hoping to get a driving job here that will pay him more money. We have even talked about moving to California, as many of our relatives live there. For now, we are going to stay. There is talk of possible war, and it is uncertain how that would affect the lives of the Asians living in the mainland, so we will wait before deciding on a move. Once the baby is here, it will make our family complete. Yes, life is not easy at times, but I feel lucky that I am having a child, and that I met a man with kind eyes.

References

Into The Marketplace, Picture Brides -http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/hwhp/hawork/itm.picturebride.html
Picture Brides/Film - http://www.picturebridefilm.com/woven.html
Korean Americans - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_American

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Diabetes Diet

...Journal Entries: Reflection and Reader Response • Journal Entry 1: “What does it mean to be a soldier?” (Reflection/RR) • Journal Entry 2: “Only the dead see the end of war…” (Reflection/RR) • Journal Entry #3: “How does being a solider change a man (or woman)? Are people changed for better or worse or both? What is the effect on the person, and what is the effect on the nation?” (Reflection/RR) • Journal Entry #4: “Reflect on the duality of words. How do words hold infinite power in their ability to simultaneously create and destroy? How do words affect conflict? How do they affect people?” (Reflection/RR) • Journal Entry #5: “Who or what determines our respective identities? Who or what makes you who you are? Why? How? Is it fair? Do we have control over who we are? Who we are perceived to be?” (Reflection/RR) • Journal Entry #6: “What does Oscar Schindler prove about people amid war and destruction? What characters have we encountered thus far in the semester who could also fit into this category? Why is it so important we remember them and tell their stories?” (Reflection/RR) • Journal Entry #7: “What does it mean to have courage? Is it truly more honorable to die than to live? Is this always the case? If not, reflect on the ambiguity of such a statement.” (Reflection/RR) • Journal Entry #8: “What tangibles and intangibles do you carry with you every day? Why are they important to you?” (Reflection/RR) • Journal Entry #9: “In your opinion, can there...

Words: 336 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Doctor

...Accounting is the most basic framework of business. People use accounting in their daily lives when they study financial statements to make investment decisions, assess interest rather to pay off their house mortgage and calculate rates for car payments. God himself recognize accounting, for he said in his Holy Bible that everyone would be accountable before him when this world comes to an end.(Matthew 12:36) The practice of accounting can be traced back to ancient times, with "accounting books" of various forms discovered as early as 3500 B. C. From the time of 3500 B. C., accounting has progressed slowly through the development of the modern double-entry system published by Luca Paciolo in the fifteenth century until the advent of the computer. In 1581 the first college of accountants was organized with power to regulate entry into the field. Along with the development of modern accounting, a stereotypical image of the accountant was developed, because of its task being routine and purity mathematical in function. The accountant is view as a dull person that is chain to his desk all day. A survey of college students proved that accounting is treated with mental formulaic concepts, thus it has a stereotype image. Accounting may be defined as an information system that provides reports to various individuals or groups about economic activities of an organization or other entity. Accounting is information sciences used to collect, classify, and manipulate financial data for...

Words: 477 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Journal Entries

...Tajae Gibbs Liane Tanguay English Composition 14 May 2015 Journal Entries Journal Entry #1: Should we rule society through strict displanarian order or let people organize themselves? I believe it should be through strict displanarian order. Why? Well in my opinion we need order. We need to be told what is supposed to be done and how. Another reason is because the society right now is not in order. If we was to let people organize themselves… well it would be a mess. People would be doing the complete opposite because they feel that they do not need the order. Without displanarian order this world would not be the same. I believe right now the rate for students going to college is high. If there was not displanarian order then probably a lot of kids would have dropped out of school or not even gone to school at all. I felt maybe this was my best work because I got to give my opinion on what I think about displanarian order. I got to talk about what could happen and what might not happen if displanarian order was not a choice. I had thought a lot about the question when it was given in class. Journal Entry #2: Write about the time when you felt uncomfortable Well I did not really know what to write but I did write my experience about when I went to Hawaii. I did not feel as comfortable when I was in Hawaii because all over I was seeing people who did not really speech English. I do not know what they were but I did not know that people who live in Hawaii talk different. I remember...

Words: 516 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Journal Entries

...Week 2 Individual Preparing Journal Entries and Trial Balances Assignment Guidelines: Exercise 2-4 Prepare general journal entries for the following transactions of a new business called Pose for Pics. August 1 Hashim Paris, the owner, invested $7,500 cash and $32,500 of photography equipment in the business. 1 Paid $3,000 cash for an insurance policy covering the next months. 5 Purchased office supplies for $1,400 cash. 20 Received $2,650 cash in photography fees earned. 31 Paid $875 cash for August utilities. Date | Account Titles and Explanation | Debit | Credit | 2012Aug. 1 | Cash | 7,500 | | | Photography equipment | 32,500 | | | Hashim Paris Capital | | 40,000 | | Investment by owner | | | | | | | Aug. 1 | Insurance Policy | 3,000 | | | Cash | | 3,000 | | Paid insurance policy with cash | | | | | | | Aug. 5 | Supplies | 1,400 | | | Cash | | 1,400 | | Purchased office supplies with cash | | | | | | | Aug. 20 | Cash | 2,650 | | | Photography Revenue | | 2,650 | | Photography fees earned | | | | | | | Aug. 30 | Utilities (August) | 875 | | | Cash | | 875 | | Paid utilities with cash | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Exercise 2-5 Use the information in Exercise 2-4 to prepare...

Words: 874 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Journal Entries

...A. Journal Entries When the first time I entered L’Cokelat Day Spa, the employees greeted me politely with a big smile. Even though the place is not so big, but I felt a good environment there. The place is simply decorated, but the simplicity makes me comfortable in there plus the hospitality of the employees which makes me happy coming to L’Cokelat Day Spa. It was 12.30 pm, so there was no other customer there associated with the lunch time and the weekdays. Besides, I smelled a good flavor of chocolate which makes my body and mind relaxed since I entered. No need to wait for a long time, the receptionist directly showed me the menu of the variety of services. But, I disappointed with the menu, because the menu did not look good and well designed, it was just a printed menu on a white paper covered with a thick cover. Fortunately, the receptionist was able to explain about the services. She offered me lot of varieties completely. They have local and imported products. Since it was my first time, I could not decide which service suited my needs well. Luckily, the receptionist asked my need and took initiative to ask me to try the sample of the product which enabled me to smell and try on the product on my skin. I felt so happy and satisfied with the sample, because directly after tested it, I could choose which the best product and service is for me. In that visit, I chose “Tropical Salt Mousse Papine” in order to satisfied my need to get the complete package of spa with the...

Words: 1352 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Journal Entry

...Journal Entry HIS/110 The Spanish migration to North America was an interesting topic in this week that piqued my interest. Learning more about this topic in the second chapter of US History through 1877 was a good starting point to keep my attention because it is something that I have been fascinated with beforehand. I used the artwork from this chapter because it is beautiful and seems to tell an excellent story of migration and the survival skills that were needed in this day in age. I researched more about the Spanish conquistador and was able to read on "Came Men on Horses: The Conquistador Expeditions of Francisco Vazquez de Coronado and Don Juan de Onate". This book speaks of any myths that may have been written or spoken of about the way the conquest of America. The Spanish was the first Europeans to enter the America Southwest. Stories about the city of Gold is what lured in a lot of people in hopes of riches. The conquistadors were fighting the decision to search for the city of gold or not. They did not want to have the burden on their shoulders of not attempting to search for it, and someone else find it if it deemed to be true. There were seven cities that were expected to contain gold for the conquistadors to search out. The conquistadors depended on navigation when it came to their needs of survival. This would be of great service to them when it comes to finding their way to their destination...

Words: 379 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

A Journal Entry

...A Journal Entry: Trail of Tears A Journal Entry: Trail of Tears Summer 1838 It has just been announced that to us that there are some among us that have signed a treaty selling away our lands from out from under us with President Jackson. I do not understand why our own people would do such a thing. We have been told that if we do not leave, General Scott will come and force us off our lands. (Schultz, 2012) My husband says that it is only because gold was discovered here that the white man is pushing us away. Though he does not wish, my husband says we must go before the general gets here. Fall 1838 We did not leave when my husband wanted us to go. My sister came to visit us and begged me to come back home and stay with her. She said that even my husband could come, but when we arrived at her large home, my father was there, and he told us that we could not enter and that he only had one daughter. I wanted to cry. My husband, bowed to my father slightly and we left, but before we got too far away, my sister called me back. She was crying as she gave me an old family heirloom that was supposed to have come to me on the day I turned 21. She begged me to leave my husband and those of the Cherokee people and come home to our family, but what she did not understand was that these people had become my people. I could never leave my husband as she wished of me. I loved him far too much. We stayed on in the home land of the Cherokee. But then the...

Words: 904 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Journal Entry

...Everyone in this world has their own densities and their own parents, which means that there is no children come to this world out of a stone. Parents always let children to do things better for their children and support them to do what they want to be in their future. On the other hand, some people think children should think by in their own way to lead their own lives. For this debate I get both agree and disagree. The reason why I agree with children should follow parents’ suggestion or rule is that parents always want their children to be better based on their sense of nature; also they have better experience than children. It stands of they have had outweigh experience. They know what their children should do or should not to do. Such as, there are three steps of children growth, childhood, youth and adult. During these steps, children (reason why children always children is parents always older than children, we cannot have same age with parents) from a baby to the adult this is a process thus no one can become a fat person at one time, during this process we can call the accumulation, but when children accumulate the experience, the parents might be a teacher, they told their children what them should to do, or if they did not do something they should be what a bad ending. Even sometime parents ask their children to do something even if their children do not want to do so. Maybe it is why children going to be young and would like to be rebel. However, the children...

Words: 430 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Journal Entry

...Where I live Hardee’s restaurant is the place to be if you are at least 65 or older. As I ordered my coffee and sausage biscuit, an elderly gentleman stepped in front of me to get a senior coffee to go and join his buddies. I was about to say excuse me I was here first, but I didn’t. I decided to use him as my “watch” subject. I watched him as he went and sat down with the “crowd”. All of them greeted him as if they did not just see him the day before. The group was a mixture of ages, seemly between 60 and 80 years old. As I watched them talk all at the same time, I heard my subject state that he would be turning 67 in a few days. I was surprised because he looked at least 80 to me. As I listened further, I learned that he was addicted to cocaine and drank heavily. He talked about how his addiction led to the loss of his job and family. He talked about how much he regretted what he had done and how lonely he was. All was quiet at the table with some of the gentleman nodding in agreement with him. Then it was right back to talking about the old days. As I watch these gentlemen talking about the ole days, I couldn't help but to feel sorry for them for the things and the people that they have lost in life. The older ones (the one that I thought were at least 80) seems to be the ones that I felt sorry for the most. They were the ones that have lost the most and the ones with most of the health problems. The 60+ year old were the ones that seem to were the loudest and talked the...

Words: 514 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Journal Entry

...Race and ethnicity is such a wide subject. Race to mean, means culture and ethnicity means to me being included. Looking at the much broader picture, race in the United States, makes me think about slavery and immigrants. With the history between whites and African American, when I think of race, it brings back what I learned in school and where we are now. Now, is a much small picture, it reminds me of just how much racism there is in small communities and that puts me to shame. Ethnicity or being affiliated with something/one, the big picture I think is less heard of. I don’t believe it is what you are affiliated when we talk about the United States. But as a member of a small community, if you aren’t affiliated with the right church, right organization or the right name; you will have problems being welcomed. I don’t know if this is because they don’t want any new comers or if it because you weren’t raised in the community. It was very hard to get to know anyone in the community I live in because I was not raised there. Now for my husband, he was, but I was still looked upon as an outsider. It is funny how we don’t really think about these things but, one looking in can sure see it. I feel these concepts are important in the United States because they have gotten us where we are today. I feel that race as well as ethnicity helps one with their identity and helps other identify their...

Words: 266 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Journal Entry

...At 8:30 a.m., all of the students begin filing into the classroom. They proceed to do their regularly scheduled activities of putting away their coats, backpacks, and then checking in. Unlike last week, all seems to go well in the morning. I notice that some of the students don’t check in right away and the attendance taker reminds them to check-in. When a few of the students still don’t check-in, the attendance taker consults with Mrs. Sinatro on what to do. Mrs. Sinatro informs the student that she should just mark the students absent. This decision left me feeling really uncomfortable. Whenever a student is marked absent, it is noted in their “permanent record.” I don’t think it is fair to penalize a student so much just for not following directions. There has to be a milder way to do it. You might think about how long students have had this policy in place and if they should be responsible for doing this on their own. I tend to think like you, but students do need to develop responsibility. I’m sure the teacher doesn’t want to have parents commenting on absences that were not absences. At 8.40 a.m., the students head to Success Makers in the library (see description above). During this time, Mrs. Sinatro and I take the time to correct homework from the previous night. I am happy to be included in doing this task, even if it is small, because I know that it is something that will have to be done when I am a certified teacher. At 9:00 a.m., the students return to the classroom...

Words: 1027 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Journal Entry

...Christopher L In literature, the concepts of showing and telling are fairly straightforward, given a reader has some background knowledge. They are what one might think. When an author utilizes "showing", they are, in effect, showing the reader the character. The reader can infer as to the type of character that is in a story that is shown to us in their actions, the words they say, as well as their movements within a story. "Showing" a reader the type of character brings a direct likeness to an individual in a story, and we as the reader, can form our own conclusions as to the character. An author that utilizes the "telling" concept, says not of what the character is like, but allows us to form our own conclusions as to the character type in literature. The author using the "telling" characteristic is most often indifferent towards the characters in a literary work, thus allowing the reader to form our own conclusions as to a characters likeness. The concepts of "showing" and "telling" are both used in the Herman Melville story "Bartleby the Scrivener". The first example of "showing" the Melville utilizes, can be found in the first three sentences, while the lawyer is describing himself. The line "I am an elderly man." is a prime example of "showing" due to the fact that it leave the reader without cause for guessing his age. Melville also utilizes both showing and telling while describing those characters prior to Bartleby. The line describing Turkey, "Turkey was a short...

Words: 444 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Journal Entry

...A Little Kindness Goes A Long Way Have you ever thought about what happens when people are kind, or how it feels to be filled with benevolence to other human beings? Recently I have found myself being very kind to other people and having concern for their feelings. Time flies by too fast to be hateful or rude to other people. We as humans often underestimate the power of kindness and caring, and don’t take into consideration of other peoples feelings. A simple smile or an honest compliment can change somebody's life. One example of showing kindness or curiosity for somebody elses feelings happened to me at the Country Market, the store i work at. It was about 8:00 p.m. on a tuesday night when I had just finished for the day and was coming home from school and the gym. I stopped at Country Market, and I went inside to get a drink and pay for my gas. The lines for the cash registers were filled on both sides with about 10 customers waiting at each. I was third in line, behind a middle aged man in his 40’s, and finally an elderly man in front of the line was checking out. The elderly man was in his upper 70’s, and he had a handful of groceries. The cashier asked the man if he needed help out, he replied “No thank you I can take this out myself”. The old man was struggling to get his groceries, and I noticed the middle aged man was hesitating to help him, so I set my drinks down and went up to the counter and grabbed his groceries and took them out. Little did I know when I was...

Words: 317 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Journal Entry

...Today was a monumental day in history. For some time now there were rumors about an African American man trying to enroll in school. For the University of Mississippi he would be the first African American to do so. The amazing thing is that it happened. There were protests, court dates and proceeding, and finally the man did it! James Meredith was the first African American to enroll here at the University of Mississippi. Why this is so important and great is because this school is, well was segregated! I didn't find out he had actually enrolled until noon today. It was strange actually. I heard students buzzing about it. I did not believe it was true. My inner thoughts were just saying, “no way” until I saw him for myself. James Meredith was studying in the east wing of the library! Everyone was staring at him. I was too. It was just amazing. My friend Lily actually worked up enough courage to speak to him. She said he is really nice and very funny. She also said that he is majoring in Political Science just like she is. Eventually they will have some classes together. She is thrilled at the idea. At times I wonder how some people can make wrongs out of everything that happens to be right. I believe every person has the right to education! Listening to some of my friend’s negative thoughts and opinions of James enrolling in our school deeply saddens me; at times it even disgusted me. Why won’t every one believe in equality? All through the halls were ever James was, there...

Words: 368 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Journal Entry

...My Angel, June, 13th, 1990 Hello my precious daughter, I have been carrying you for 8 months now and it has been the happiest time of my life. You have brought so much light to my dark, cold, and gloomy life already and we have not even met yet. Unfortunately, this may never happen so I cherish every moment I have with you until god calls me home. I am very sick my darling and the doctors fear that I will not make it through the rest of the pregnancy. You however, will be just fine and your aunt will raise you in my place. On June 18th, 1990 I plan to give birth to a beautiful, healthy, African American baby girl. The world you are coming in to has improved a lot over the years but still has some parts where racism is still at large. This life is not going to be easy my sweet child so I want to prepare you for the fight. Your ancestors fought for our rights in the world and I do not want you to ever be afraid of standing up for these rights. Ok, I think I am getting ahead of myself, let me rewind and start from the beginning so you understand more clearly. You see baby, Life as an African Americans did not start here in the United States, but on the continent of Africa. We got over to the United States as a result of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Through a combination of imported slaves and births, our family and many other African American families became a large minority...

Words: 1047 - Pages: 5