20 minute read
Breaking the Code Amy Kittisoros
connections and relationships with people that don’t need to be held back by an imaginary construct like a border. Language is the way we talk to each other and it is a tool for communication. Whether or not we speak the same language, there are still many things we can learn from each other, especially culture. There does not need to be any spoken words exchanged, but at least some level of nonverbal communication needs to happen to fully grasp an idea trying to be conveyed.
Q: Over your lifetime, have you experienced a blending of languages from people of different cultures/backgrounds?
A: There have been many instances throughout my life that I have witnessed a blending of languages. They all tend to be some mixture of English with Spanish, Korean, Thai, Chinese, French, Dutch, British English, etc... There are many words in each language that there is no direct translation, so using a word in another language is one of the easiest ways to get the point across. This happens with a lot of different languages spoken around the world. I think that it shows that we’re all trying to communicate with one another, to the best of our ability. The way my mom speaks to me is a great example of a blend of languages. She speaks Thai-lish (also can be called Tinglish). The other day she called me while I was working on this interview and I noticed the use of both languages in our conversation. It’s something that seemed so mundane and ordinary to my life, but is definitely not normal to someone like my
brother or my husband. She called and started the phone call with “Look Mah ( ลูกหมา )”,
which is a nickname she came up with me when I was ten. The direct translation is child dog. It’s a weird nickname, but it stuck. She continues to ask me about my day in English, “What are you doing? Did you eat yet?” She goes on with her day and randomly says in Thai “Paw ja tum
meh bah ( พ่อแม่จะทำให้บ้า )” which translates to “your dad is driving me crazy.” The
conversation will continue, like this with sentences in English and sentences in Thai. Sometimes she will go on to say just words in Thai within an English sentence. That usually happens when there is no direct translation from Thai to English. Blending of languages is very common in today’s world. I have friends who speak two languages who have to blend them together when talking to family. It is a great thing to see a mix of languages being used because in the end we all know that we’re trying our best to talk to one another, even when we know that it can be hard or there might not be a great translation to something, we try. ●
LOL, JK, NBD | Participant/Author to Participant/Author
Pato Yippie, born and raised in Hong Kong, but has now lived in the United States for 6 years, currently residing in San Diego, CA. He is 23. The following conversation follows a previous conversation that Pato and I have had about borders and barriers in both the physical and social realms. We came to an understanding that everyone has a different idea of border and agree to disagree whether certain things can be barriers to society. I wanted to get a better understanding of why he thought the media and our perceptions through the media creates barriers for societies to overcome. This conversation took place in a meeting room at Woodbury University School of Architecture.
Amy Kittisoros: With different social media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, things like that, what kind of barriers are formed between them and do you think that 31 they form barriers between people? Pato Yippie: I believe that social media has changed the way that we talk to people. We used to have one to one conversations to maintain relationships between each other. But right now, social media is reconstructing the ways of having conversations. Instead of having one to one conversations, we are having one to all conversations. Conversations become less private and they become more about how you see yourself publicly and it’s more about how you want yourself to be seen. A: Continuing that idea, do you think that the language that people use on social media has an impact on people and how they communicate face to face? If I’m posting stuff online and talking about how great my life is, is that going to affect our face to face conversation later? P: Yes, I think that it will affect our daily life conversation… for sure! Especially for me… I don’t live in Hong Kong anymore and but all my friends [back in Hong Kong] are in different stages of life, and some people are a living fancy lifestyle, and there’s such a difference between them and me. I’m a student and I have no money. And they have all the things that they want, but I’m just stuck with McDonald’s. A: McDonald’s? [laughs] P: [chuckles] Yes, McDonald’s. It just creates a huge barrier between the two of us. There are just so many differences between our lifestyles and it’s hard to find common ground. A: Do you think that the way they post things, like their selective posting, that it tends to separate social media from reality? Does that make sense? ourselves from them because we see that there are so many differences between people. Going back old school, one on one, it will allow for people to be more intimate. A: Do you think that social media does not help to take down barriers? P: I would say yes, but still, we spend a lot on social media. There is a lot of stuff out there and you can see the internet or social media as a barrier, you can see it as entertainment, it can be a lot of things. And I just feel like we need to reconstruct the way of conversing. A: If you think social media doesn’t help to destroy barriers then what about the media? Do you think that they help to destroy barriers or do you think that they mainly create barriers? P: I think that the news is worse than social media, because we don’t know what is happening in other countries or other states. What you know about other states is from the news and the news will not report the whole story or just the bad stories. There are people that you have never met and you learn something about their country and you just assume that they are like the people on the news too. The impact is worse. A: Why do you think people believe something that the media says even though they know that it could be false? They say it’s one thing and you know that it’s false but you kind of believe it anyways. Do we give them too much of our trust and why? P: I think that you don’t know that it’s not true until you experience it. Like people here in America read or hear about thing happening in Hong Kong or China and think they know the whole story. But in reality it’s not like that. People just trust what they read or hear from the
news because that’s the only way they can learn about it because they are not there. P: [hesitantly] Yes…. How people portray themselves on social media is different than in
reality. You won’t take a picture of McDonald’s everyday to post it onto Facebook and talk A: So are you saying that even though you could read articles and keep up with international about how you had McDonald’s today. You will want to take a picture of a fancy Japanese news, that you won’t really know unless you’ve been there and witness things yourself?
restaurant and you will not take a picture of your boring life. I believe if I found my friend, maybe his life looks way different on social media. You can’t assume anything. P: I believe so. Or unless you know someone who lives there. It’s totally different.
A: Do you think that there’s a way to lessen that barrier of social media versus reality?
P: One to one conversations!
A: So you want to go old school.
P: Yeah man! Old school is way better.
P: It is more original and there are no filters on the conversations. People used to just hang out and have private conversations. You didn’t have to worry about status. When you were a kid, you would have fun with your friends and you wouldn’t care about how much money their families have or how many toys that they have. And when we grow up, we just separate
A: How do you think the use of language in media plays a role in society? Do you think that certain trigger words can cause certain reactions within certain groups? Do you think that they use certain keywords to cause barriers and make people react?
P: Yeah. I think that you cannot avoid stereotyping on the news. It’s just unavoidable.
A: If media was to no longer exist, which barrier do you think would go away first and which barrier do you think would be strengthened, like what would become more intense? A: Well why? Why do you think it’s better?
P: If the media did not exist anymore, the barrier between people would mainly be based within a geographical context, because you would no longer be able to talk to people outside of your community or not from your neighborhood anymore. I think that geographic culture and barriers would be strengthened because people would be more intimate with people in their neighborhood and in their country. ●
Draw Your Thoughts
visit: www.collectivemagpie.org/book for another interview conducted by Amy Kittisoros and to download the full collection of 82 interviews
The wall has become an extremely politicized symbol of the region, of SD/TJ. Twenty minutes away from our home in San Diego 50,000 northbound vehicles and 25,000 northbound pedestrians cross the US/MX border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry daily. You can stand at the closest beach to that port at the International Friendship Park and be a part of the surreal i image of three different layers of border divisions. La Mojonera, or Western Land Boundary Monument No. 258 is a 9-foot high obelisk which sits completely out of place at the beach like a tomb marker from a historic cemetery. It marks the start of the 1,952 mile line separating Mexico and the United States. In 1851, representatives of the Boundary Commissions from each nation placed the marker together in a collaborative effort that seems difficult to imagine today. A foot away from the territory marker is a sight impossible to fully ii understand. There is a 10 foot steel fence that divides the concrete, then the sand along the beach and continues on into the ocean for several hundred feet as if to attempt to divide that as well. This is a security border wall to prevent the passing of people from Mexico into the United States as a result of the 1994 Operation Gatekeeper. The wall is made of steel military iii landing mat and has small gaps between slats. Separated families have used those spaces to see each other, talk and hold hands between the bars for years. The latest wall is a double v iv reinforcement, first built after 9/11 when more federal legislation allowed for increased security at the border. This secondary wall built in parallel, several feet away from the first, also vi put an end to the possibility of physical contact through the fence. It created a further strange division of a policed no entry zone between the two fences that is occasionally opened for cultural events and often increases the pain of this division. If you go there today, you will see the barren US beach of Border Feld State Park under watch of a border patrol officer. On the MX side, you can see the lively festivities of the Playas beach front, food vendors, live musicians, seafood restaurants and children playing. What we see here is a landscape that separates families, creates tension between nations and instills fear of each other. The wall is a constant reminder of war, failed humanity and the incessant power play for the 1%. President Trump’s scheduled 21 billion dollar border wall will only reinforce and reassure us of all of many years of tension.
The interviews transcribed in this publication share a Mexican-American border patrol officer reflecting on illegal immigrants, a criminal sketch artist profiling the accused inside the court, first hand observations of how the legend of Tijuana, the dangerous city, continues to haunt families over 3 generations, a self described racial identity fading away from racial tension, the resolution of an internal struggle caused by external violence, a pathway from religious crisis to the questioning of freedom and much more. These stories are tragically frustrating, violently unforgivable, some cringe worthy, or confusing at times, are all warmly exchanged, immensely complex and most surprisingly, they are strikingly honest and personal. They ignite the border from the inside rather than from the outside reminding us that the border does not start at the line between US and MX but it is here, embedded in our lives, in every one of us.
These are the stories that are here and remain here as a memory and history. These are the stories of the border residents. These are the stories of our border—the border that matters.
32 w i t h r e s i d e n t s o f T i j u a n a - S a n D i e g o Investigating How Media Affects the View of Border Border is created by difference of social structure. Patrick Yip, student of Woodbury School of Architecture, born in Hong Kong. He has been living in United State for six years. He was a political science student during his undergraduate education and has been actively involved in devising urban solution in various communities. This interview explores how media affect different people who is from different background. Patrick Yip b o r d e r t h r e e 3 6 c o n v e r s a t i o n s PREFACE & THANK YOU We are humbled and grateful to have had the honor and privilege to cross back and forth between San Diego and Tijuana, listening to the experiences of people living in these borderlands, over these last several years. Those who have shared their personal stories, for others to read, have inspired this rich publication. We thank you all for extending your sincerity, labor and trust in each other and to us—two complete strangers—during our Globos Workshops*. The generosity extended by each participant opened a space to consciously engage together, reflecting on the complex close(d) relationship of living within the region of the most frequently crossed border in the world—And all the mess, beauty and challenges that are a part of it. The resulting 82 conversations on the subject of border were produced via four seminars from an experimental Art & Ethnography course series: HOT AIR BALLOONS and INTERVIEWS from 2015-2017. The seminars were held in conjunction with the Culture, Art & Technology Program, University of California San Diego; the Transdisciplinary Program, Woodbury University at the School of Architecture; and the concluding seminar, Transnational Edition was held in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, in addition to multiple sites in both border cities. MCASD hosted the seminar extending access and content to the their permanent collection and enabling the seminar to exist between multiple colleges, allowing joint participants from Southwestern College, University of California San Diego and Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. This interview collection and artwork consists of a series of transcribed interviews conducted and edited by millennials working collaboratively with each other and with us. * Globos Workshops were developed to produce a fleet of 25ft unmanned hot air balloons to be launched over the US/MX border at Friendship Park, TJ/SD. Balloon construction workshops were held at both sides of the border within many different communities and cultural centers. READ ALL 82 CONVERSATIONS This publication is a four part series of conversations about the border. Preface & Introduction by Tae Hwang & MR Barnadas of Collective Magpie. Design by Adrian Orozco & Abigail Peña. Copyright. 2015-2018 All authors. . Printed at Diego & Sons, SD. Complete free download of 82 interviews can be accessed at www.collectivemagpie.org/book Who build the wall? | Self-Interview Patrick Yip, student of Woodbury University, born in Hong Kong. He has been lived in United State for six years. This interview explores how media affect different people who is from different
Q: What does border mean to you?
A: To me, border means difference; it can be either a qualitative or quantitative difference. When there is a difference between people, a border is established. While borders can maintain difference, it can also promote difference. Borders can make people feel not comfortable when they cross it and make you feel like you went to the wrong party. I think psychological borders are more difficult borders to overcome than a physical border. In daily life, there is a lot of people you want to talk to and interact with, and those feeling create a border between me and them.
Q: As a HongKongese living in San Diego, what is your personal experience with borders here?
A: As a person who is from Hong Kong and has to cross the border between Hong Kong and the United States every year, I personally do not have a strong feeling toward a physical border; I just have to show my document and move through. When I spoke before of a psychological border, I mentioned there is a lot of people I will not interact with, however, I have never felt unwelcome here in the United States, even though I am an Asian and don’t speak English well. I used to hang out with other American outside of the school. There are a lot of differences between me and most of the American college students I interact with daily. However, especially in college, I believe racial differences are not the main border between people. We have different cultures, but we may share the same subculture. I also believe subculture is more important to college students when they make friends. If you play soccer, will you care if your soccer-mate is white, black or Hispanic? Not really. It is not hard to find people who share the same interests as you in college, and if you have the same interests, all the other differences would not matter that much. This is just my observation. We all have differences, but it seems like I have overcome the border between subcultures and have made lots of good friends here.
Q: Why do you think that subculture is important in a student environment? Is it just as important in the professional world?
A: I believe college is more about providing a sociable environment than in the professional world. During college, we were developing our own interests, making friends, and networking. Students express their interests through establishing or joining interests club, and this is where subculture plays a role in college. Students face a phase when they need to choose who they want to be friends with, and the border between people plays a role when the students go through this phase. On the other hand, in the professional world, socializing does not hold as much importance. Of course we can make friends in the workplace, but your sociability becomes less important compared to a student environment.
Q: What is the tool nowadays that acknowledge difference culture?
A: Nowadays, if I said I am a Chinese man who live by the ocean, you can not really assume anything about me. People nowadays associated with lots of different cultures, and they usually acknowledge that in different kind of media. Everyday on the news, you see people who live and act different than you around the world. And on social media, you meet people who has similar interest with you. Social Media and Media is a really powerful tool, it is also a double–edged sword, it can either bring people together or promote the difference, and I personally think that the latter is a better description for the media nowadays. background.
Q: Do you believe that social media and the media are under the same construct umbrella?
A: To me, I believe the main difference is social media is constructed between people and people and media is constructed between a higher institution and people. Social media is more about people connecting with people like Facebook, Twitter and the media is about informing other people about the outside world like newspaper and news channel.
Q: How does power of the media to construct borders on a personal level?
A: In my opinion, nowadays, people depend on social media, such as Facebook and Instagram, to connect to other people. Those social media platforms may seem like it makes it easier to connect people. However, in my opinion, it is promoting differences between people and establishing borders. Before Facebook happened, people relied on one-to-one conversation to connect to other people, either through a phone call or an email. However, Facebook changed the way of people communicate; instead of a one-to-one conversation, it turns into one-to-ten or even hundreds of people conversing. On Facebook, a “conversation”, a status or a picture, becomes more about your public internet image than a personal conversation. The destruction of a personal conversation within social media is separating people. Most of my friends on Facebook, I met during high school. While I have been studying in the United States for six years, most of the friends that I used to hang out with already finished their degrees and have started new pages at their work. Besides the few of them I still talk to personally, I can feel that a border has already been established between us. We have different friends now and are at a different stage of life. Some of them have gotten good jobs and are living the good life. Since I am still a student, some of my friend always post their fancy dinner on Facebook but I am just eating McDonald and doing homework. Without a personal conversation, social media highlights huge differences between us, and it establishes a border that I would not be comfortable enough to break, at least for now.
Q: How does power of the media to construct borders in international level?
