ISA: The Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies Program would like to acknowledge that this podcast was recorded on the traditional, unceded, ancestral homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations. We hope that as we continue to facilitate these conversations about Asian diasporic communities, we also engage in critical dialogue about what it means to be uninvited guests and settlers on these lands.
Hi this is Isa, we’ve got a short mini episode for you this week. These are the voicemails on Asian Canadian Joy that were left in my inbox from some of our ACAM community members after our callout this month. I will admit that some of these voicemails were left before Christmas, hence the references to the holidays, and I only just got around to putting things together. But I hope that we can still find meaning in each other’s joy and carry that with us as we move forward. So let’s take a listen.
[Phone call sound]
[Voicemail Beep]
JENNY: Come to think of it, there are a lot of little things in my daily life that bring me joy, so long as I stop and notice them; such as cooking a warm, nourishing meal when it’s cold outside, or just sitting and enjoying the twinkle lights up. When it’s dark outside, I really enjoy this time of year. But also Celine Dion’s “These Are the Special Times” Christmas album. I like to play it every year around this time because it was one of the first CDs that my mom got me when I was in grade one. So I’ve had it for many years, over 20 years. And I like to put it on when I’m baking around this time or just cleaning, doing chores around the house. It’s very comforting and it gets me in the holiday spirit.
[Voicemail Beep]
JOANNA: Hi ACAM dialogues, this is Joanna. What is bringing me joy this month is witnessing my three year old make connections with her chosen uncles and aunties, my best friends, and seeing them develop beautiful games, inside jokes, and other things that she refuses to let me in on because they are special for her and her relationships with her chosen aunties and uncles. I appreciate that because it’s something that I yearned for growing up and seeing it exist for my daughter is something that brings me so much joy this holiday season. It makes me think about the concept of care and how my friendships will extend beyond this generation and into the next. And I feel joy knowing that my friends will care for her as aunties and uncles and maybe she will be sharing things with them, that she doesn’t feel comfortable sharing with me and that’s okay. And it makes life so much more colorful and joyous and safe. And generally, it’s just so cute seeing a three year old prance around the house with one of my besties and have an inside joke that they won’t let me in on.
[Voicemail Beep]
JANE: Hey, I’m sorry, it took me so long to record this voice message for the ACAM podcast. But I am doing it now and I’m starting it here. So this has been a really devastating and challenging fall, watching the genocide in Palestine. And so it’s a little hard to think about things that bring me joy, but something that certainly inspiring me, which might be a form of joy is watching Asian Canadian and Asian American political organizations make explicit connections between our experiences of imperialism and immigration and racism and exclusion, explicitly linking those with what’s happening today in Palestine, and so I’m thinking here of organizations like Japanese Canadians for Social Justice, Nikkei Resistors in the Bay Area, and others that are out there on the frontlines protesting and making those kinds of connections between our various different experiences. So yeah, I’m excited to see more of that work in the new year.
[Voicemail Beep]
VANESSA: Hi Isa, it’s Vanessa here and there are so many things bringing me joy this month. For one, my sister is here and she’s visiting from New Zealand. And this is the sister that I’ve grown up with, obviously my entire life, but I shared a room with her for 17 years of my life and we’ve been living in different countries for the past three years. So I’m very excited that she is here. Exams are over, that is so exciting Christmas movies, so exciting. All the movies coming out extremely exciting, Kung Fu Panda 4 trailer dropped. Extremely exciting, although I do have to ask, where is the Furious Five? You know, that is a very important question. So many exciting things are happening. There’s so many pretty lights. Watching the Grinch is a must during Christmas, and just like cookies and gingerbread houses and being able to sleep in and not set an alarm. It’s just gonna be so wonderful. Not having to read academic essays. I’m so excited. And I don’t know I’m just … December was like a crazy month I think so much happens leading up to it. And it’s actually, it can be really really stressful and I know that Christmas and whatever holiday that you celebrate be a New Year’s or Hanukkah or different holidays, it can actually be quite stressful, but I don’t know there’s also something so magical that happens around this time of year. Yeah, like the end of this year or the start of New Year. Really cheesy but just really exciting. I don’t know … going out to eat good food. It’s pretty incredible. Lying in bed. I don’t know, so many exciting things. Anyways, these are the things that bring me joy this month and I can’t wait to hear yours. Bye.
[Voicemail Beep]
LAURA: Hi ACAM podcast listeners. It’s Laura Ishiguro here. So what’s bringing me joy at this time of year? Well, my cliched but very earnest answer is that for the past few weeks, the joy I felt with the biggest glow was my opportunities to see celebrate and laugh for the good people who I feel so lucky to have in my world over coffee and walks, phone calls and zoom calls, birthday celebrations, finished projects and Szu Shen’s Dean of Arts Award for staff excellence. But this call has me attending to where else my quiet joy rests. Joy does sound so large, sometimes entire times and dark times. So what about that quotidian joy? The kind of fits in the small spaces of our days and feels expansive there, that kind of nourishes without denying the rest. For me that joy sits here too. In the early morning dark rainfall and fogged forest. The perfect tangerine a bit too firm and a bit too sharp. The perfect penguin GIF, a bit of mischief, a blanket that’s way cozier than it has any business being, a good run. Gomae so much Gomae. Anticipating a trip across the Salish Sea to given family, and in the meantime, the abundant possibility of today. These are some of my joys right now. Thanks so much for being part of the ACAM community this year. I hope your day abounds with possibility too. And I can’t wait to hear what’s bringing you joy
[Voicemail Beep]
ISA: Hi, this is Isa again. You just heard messages from Jenny Lu, Joanna Yang, Jane Komori, Vanessa Lee, and Laura Ishiguro. Thank you all for a year of listening and learning with me and the rest of the ACAM team, and I’m looking forward to seeing you all on the other side.
If you’d like to leave a voice message to be featured on a future episode of the podcast, or if you have an idea for an episode of the ACAM podcast, email us at acam.program@ubc.ca. To be notified when the next podcast episode is released and to stay up to date on all things ACAM, please follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @UBCACAM and like us on Facebook at Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies UBC.