One of Number Two Son’s favorite shows is Man vs Food.  In this show, host Adam Richman goes to various towns and cities and indulges in the local fare.  Toward the end of each show, he engages in a local food challenge where he needs to finish either some huge amount of food, something extremely spicy, or some combination of both in order to win a prize or recognition.  Richman is a fairly big guy, and while he says that he is not a competitive eater, more often than not he wins the challenge.  Despite his size, bulk is not necessary to win eating contests.  Take for instance, Juliet Lee. This 5 foot tall slightly over 100 pound mother and beauty salon owner is also ranked #11 in the world of competitive eating (believe it or not, there are rankings for competitive eaters).   She has eaten 34 hot dogs within minutes!

She is not the only Asian big eater with a small stature.  We have written about 128 pound Takeru Kobayashi, long time champion of the Nathan’s July 4th Hot Dog challenge (53 hot dogs in 12 minutes), and formerly #1 ranked eater.  He is not a huge guy.  Neither is 100 pound Sonya “Black Widow” Thomas, ranked #6 in the world and eater of 41 hot dogs within 10 minutes.  How can these small Asians eat so much?  According to the International Federation of Competitive Eating (yes, folks, there really is such an organization), smaller Asian “gurgitators” (their name for eating competitors) often do better than huge guys because they don’t have a belt of fat around their waists that restricts  stomach expansion.

I look at these Asian “gurgitators” with a mix of pride, disgust, and envy.   Pride, from the idea that these skinny Asians break stereotypes of big eaters.  Disgust, from just thinking about how much they eat.  Envy, from the fact that these three are still so skinny after eating so much food!  I can gain a pound by just looking at a cheesecake.

Eugene Amano

This is the comment that Number One Son’s flag football coach told me after a football game.  Number One Son had a good game at cornerback, shutting down the receivers on his side of the field.  Tackle football?  I can’t say that I am a fan of tackle football, given some recent history of deaths, concussions, and the general feeling that it doesn’t contribute toward lifelong fitness.  Besides, Number One Son, while quick, is a thin lean Filipino kid.  Filipino kids don’t go pro, do they?

Well, apparently, they do!  At least there is a small number who do.  While we have talked about Hines Ward and his work in South Korea, this article from the Asian Journal (reposted also here at New American Media)  talks about NFL players of Filipino descent, both past (like former Rams quarterback Roman Gabriel) and present.   Some, like running back Steve Slaton, are partly Filipino but acknowledge their ancestry (Slaton has a Filipino flag tattoo).   Manila born offensive lineman Eugene Amano is  not a typical Filipino at 6 foot 3 and 310 pounds.  He gives back to the community by hosting football clinics, and is working to raise awareness and funds for Filipino Typhoon victims.

Will I let Number One Son play tackle football?  I don’t know yet.  We’ll see if he puts on those extra inches.  While I am not very enthusiastic about tackle football, as I stated above, I’d like to see what he wants to do.  In any case, it’s good to know that some Filipino kids can go pro.

When I was coaching The Daughter’s volleyball team, that was one of my fellow coaches’ comments about our team of short Asian girls.  For those of you who don’t know volleyball, a libero is a defensive specialist who concentrates receiving on serves and “digging” out spikes that get past the blockers.  While there are tall professional volleyball players like Kevin Wong and tall Asians in general who can “roof” people, liberos (and many Asians) tend to be short.  Hence the comment.

Tamari Miyashiro is a 5 foot 7 Asian American libero who plays for the University of Washington.  This article explains that she was lightly recruited, and while  a walk-on (non recruited) red shirt (someone who doesn’t play in order to extend athletic elgibility), she practiced with the national championship team.  After helping that 1995 championship team off the court, she wants to win one on the court.  She is extremely good at her position, being volleyball magazine’s two time defensive player of the year and is the third all-time in digs in Pac-10 history.

One thing that puzzles me is how she was “lightly recruited” and had to walk-on.   I know that Asian-Americans in other sports like Jeremy Lin have had trouble being taken seriously, but I wouldn’t have expected it in volleyball.  Being from Hawaii could be a reason, although Kevin Wong was from Hawaii.  There is history of  excellent Asian-American players, such as legendary setter and Olympian Debbie Green and Olympic competitors Eric and Liane Sato.

Tamari Miyashiro is good example that you don’t have to be tall to make it in athletics and in volleyball.  As for the short Asian kids on The Daughter’s middle school team, we always did pretty well and often beat taller and whiter teams.  Two of the girls who continued to play volleyball in high school made all league honorable mention last year as sophomores, and I hear that one is being scouted by colleges as a setter.  As my bad passing often infuriates my teammates when I play volleyball, I have to say I envy Tamari Miyashiro’s libero skills and wish her the best of luck in her quest for a championship.

A mother called up the admissions officer of a local private high school.
“How can I best position my daughter to get into your high school?” she asked.
“What grade is she in?” replied the admissions officer.
“Fourth grade,” said the mother.
“Too late,” said the admissions officer.

That admissions officer recounting this story at a high school information night said with a grin that the mother went nuts.  We knew that he was joking, but in the same room were an Asian family who dragged along what looked to be a fourth grade girl and fifth grade boy. Why were the Wife and I were at the high school information night?  Number One Son will be applying to the local private high schools in about a year, and some of the best known private high schools in Silicon Valley were giving presentations and other information.

It may seem both extreme and crazy, but that Asian family might have the right idea.  According to this US News and World Report article, Princeton sociologist Thomas Espenshade calculated that for students with similar grades, test scores, athletic ability, and family background, whites were three times as likely as Asian students to get in an elite college.  When I first read that, I got pretty angry.  Do I have to push my kids three times harder than white kids just to keep up?  I calmed down when I realized that there are a number of caveats to this study.  The study did not factor in extracurricular activities other than athletics.  Mitchell Chang, a professor of higher education at UCLA, says in the article that Asian students might be less likely to participate in certain kinds of extracurricular activities and that Asian parents push their children to apply to big name schools.  Also, Espenshade’s data from the 80’s and 90’s deals with elite colleges – what about the next tier of schools?  I wish there was data about those.

Still, I have to admit that I am a bit spooked by all of this.  I don’t think that those mitigating factors I mentioned explain away all of that three to one advantage.  The Daughter will be applying to colleges next year, and I feel pangs of guilt that I let her drop out of Kumon a couple of years ago and didn’t make her to do club sports back when she was younger.  Remembering her experience applying to the local private high schools (there are entrance exams and of course, test prep courses for that exam), it’s going to be a stressful time next year for Number One Son.  On top of that, The Daughter will be going to waiting for college acceptance letters at the same time.  Spring of 2011 will not be a happy time.  Before then, I’ll probably end up reading Espenade’s forthcoming book Not Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal, that has more details from his study.
(Hat tip to John)

Manny Pacquiao isn’t the only Filipino boxing champion.  On September 12, Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton won the IBA Super Bantamweight championship (122 lbs) by defeating Kelsey “the Road Warrior” Jeffries.   We have written before about female Asian boxers defying stereotypes, but “The Hurricane” not only defies stereotypes but proves that she can be the best at what is typically thought of as a male sport. Her match at the HP Arena in San Jose is said to be the first time a female bout was featured as an IBA main event.

Julaton lives in the Filipino American enclave of Daly City, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. In this article, she cites the influence of Bruce Lee as an inspiration:

“I wasn’t sure where I fit in; I didn’t know who I was.  I found some kind of purpose I guess, in seeing a successful Chinese American like Bruce Lee.”

His influence lead her not only to learn Taekwondo and become a boxer, but also to embrace her own Filipino-American heritage.

Another thing she has in common with Manny Pacquiao is the hall of fame trainer Freddie Roach.  With excellent people like Roach behind her, Ana “the Hurricane” Julaton will be making an impact for some time to come.

(Flickr photo credit: FrankZoe)

Kawasaki disease is an inflammation of the middle size arteries that occurs in children.  This inflammation can affect many areas, but the most serious and lasting problems happen in the heart’s arteries, where aneurysms can lead to heart attacks, even in young children.  Common symptoms are a prolonged fever with pink eyes or pink lips, such as shown by this baby.  It most commonly occurs in children of Japanese descent.  Most children completely recover from the disease, which is treated with aspirin and Gamma Globulin.  Long lasting complications, when they occur, are typically heart problems caused by damage to coronary arteries.

Oddly enough, while Kawasaki disease happens more often to those of Asian ancestry, Americans of all ethnic groups are getting it.  It tends to happen more in groups with higher socio-economic status.   John Travolta’s son Jett, who died earlier this year, had the disease when he was 15 months old.  There is some speculation that environment factors, such as carpet cleaners, are responsible for this increase, and there is also some theories that an infectious agent is responsible, as the disease often occurs in outbreaks and tends to be seasonal during late winter and early spring.

Hat tip to Tim

“There is an oft-repeated joke among Filipinos here that if you meet a Filipino man at the grocery store with kids in tow, especially in the middle of a working day, and you ask him what does he for a living, the common reply will be, ‘My wife is a nurse,’” said Narna Macasaet, a Filipina immigrant.”

Some of the husbands in the article felt degraded by the change in roles, which in some cases has led to domestic violence.  Did this role reversal bother me?  Not really.  I figure it was only fair after my wife was a stay at home Mom for five years after our youngest was born.  Plus, after working full time, it was in many ways a welcome relief.  What did bother me was how time consuming it was.  I wanted to work out a lot, play pickup volleyball games, take a few classes, do some house renovations, and write a bunch for 8 Asians and other forums and publications.  I thought I would have lots of time.  It didn’t work out that way.    I have new admiration for stay at home parents.  I also found that I was gaining weight at home, too!

After the summer, I had to go back to work.  I was lucky that I was not working because I was taking a sabbatical, not because of unemployment or because or other financial considerations.  Being a permanent stay at home dad is not an option, given how expensive Silicon Valley can be and the fact the my stock options, which once enabled my wife to be a stay at home mom, are all underwater.  Despite my change, I know families who have been in the same situation as described in the article, and I expect that I’ll know more.

Giju John, who has previously fused Indian music and Salsa dancing, was watching my salsa class just the other day. He was my salsa teacher’s teacher, and I hope my dancing didn’t embarrass them both. After the class, my teacher forwarded me a note saying that Giju has released some more videos to go with his music. An interesting one is the one I have included below. In this video, he fuses Indian music with Latin cha-cha-cha.

Various cultures collide here in Silicon Valley, and Giju, who is also a Silicon Valley engineer,  melds elements of different cultures in a fascinating, unique way.  I am also amazed at how the dancing in this video is just head and shoulders above the simple cha-cha that I learned in my youth along with the other Filipino-Americans of my generation (anyone else remember that cha-cha?).  As an added bonus, the video has the Asian guy getting the white girl by winning her away from a white guy.  Don’t see that very often either!

From the article describing this sad story:

Historian Nancy Cott, who wrote a book called “Public Vows: A History of Marriage and the Nation,” said proxy marriages have been commonly used by Japanese and Korean immigrants to America. But Cott said U.S immigration authorities have never liked this type of marriage “because it is inconsistent with Western Christian ideas of how marriage takes place.”

Efforts are underway to get a private bill passed in Congress to allow Hotaru Ferschke and her son to say, but it is unknown if it can be passed before they are required to leave in January 2010.