Robert well, today, Asian Pacific america focuses on ice skating, especially with the Golden Moments show coming to san jose next week. Joining us is the cohost, Kristi Yamaguchi. Thank you for joining us. Kristi yamaguchi thank you for having me. Robert give us an idea in terms of Golden Moment, what its gonna be about, whos gonna be in it. Kristi well, Golden Moment is a benefit for the always dream foundation and our literacy efforts. Its going to host a worldclass cast of skaters. So were really thrilled to have several actually olympic hopefuls that will be representing the United States at the 2018 games around the corner, as well as some local skaters and other familiar names that youll know. Brian boitano is my cohost. Well have olympic champion Ekaterina Gordeeva here, World Champion yuka sato, and jeremy abbott, ryan bradley, to name a few, and some of the olympic hopefuls, karen chen, who is our current United States ladies champion, polina edmunds, whos another local skater, and vincent zhao, who is an up and coming, probably will be at the Olympic Games as well, and is a local skater as well. So were thrilled to have this incredible cast of skaters. Maia and Alex Shibutani will also be part of the cast. They are the current us ice dance champions. Robert this is a whos who. Kristi pretty much a whos who in skating, competitive skating as well as professional skating. Robert and for you, we also mentioned earlier that its the anniversary of winning olympic gold. Kristi we wont say what anniversary. No, its been 25 years, so its a big year, and its hard to believe, but im getting back on the ice once again, skating with my daughter, emma. So its just, its nostalgic, i guess, to get out there now. Robert were there shows of this kind of scope, of this kind of size around the time that youre winning olympic gold . Did you realize that maybe there would be such a showcase for skaters, olympic skaters, even just professional skaters, that it would get to be this way . Kristi i guess there was always the hope. You know, i love skating, and after my olympic competition, i was looking forward to a professional career, and continue on, and growing as a performer as well as a skater. So, i was always hoping to have a long professional career. I didnt think it would last this long. But its amazing because skating, theres so many elements to it that are just pleasing for the audience and to really bring people together. Robert i was mentioning before that Brian Boitano went to the same high school as my sisters, susie and angie, and Ekaterina Gordeeva is, like, my wifes favorite skater, almost of all time, except for Kristi Yamaguchi. Kristi oh, gosh, shes one of mine too. Robert right, you know . And then it really dawned on me how much the public knows about all these individual skaters. So, it used to be sort of a headliner, maybe dorothy hamill, and, you know, and other skaters. And now, ice skaters and their personalities and their histories and everything, people know them so much more. Thats quite a change from 25 years ago, dont you think . Kristi a little bit, yeah. I think, you know, theres so many great names out there, so much talent, and, you know, i think social media has really given access to get to know these athletes a lot, you know, more in a deeper level, i guess, than back in the day when there wasnt social media. So, this, its interesting, but they are household names, and definitely, the skaters youll see at Golden Moment, youll be watching at the olympics. Robert i think too is that, having gone to some shows myself, there really is quite a connection between the skaters and the audience. People who come to Golden Moment and they wanna see some of their favorite skaters, they dont feel that distance. It almost feels like theres a connection going on between the performers and the audience, maybe more so than a lot of other sort of exhibitions or sporting kind of events, dont you think . Kristi maybe, i mean, theres so much emotion in skating anyway, and when you see your favorite skaters live, theres just a whole different energy. I mean, ive had friends come, and theyve seen me skate so many times maybe on television, but when they came live, they were like, wow, its just like theres a different dynamic. You see the speed. You see the breathing, and, you know, just the artistry, but then you also see the athleticism so much more when youre live. So its really interesting to see what kinda grabs people when they come to see a show. Robert and i remember Brian Boitano made this observation was, is that, for a lot of skaters too, without the pressure of the judging and some of the other things that come with competition, at a show like that, you really actually get to see sometimes more of the talent of the skaters because theyhe was mentioning a skating with more abandon. Kristi absolutely, when youre not restricted by the rules, you can be a little more creative artistically, you can show your personality a whole lot more, and thats where you make that connection with the audience. Robert yeah, now, its Asian Pacific america, so we wanna make sure we talk about some of the skaters who fall into that category. But karen chen, you musti know that you have a connection with her anyway because youre sort of her hero, but whats your thoughts as you see her, and all of a sudden, the spotlight thats getting brighter and brighter on her . Kristi absolutely, shes just at such an exciting time in her career right now, being the current United States champion, going in to the olympic years. Theres so much potential there, and shes a hard worker. Shes very dedicated, and its just a thrill to see someone from fremont, california, which was my hometown as well, doing so well and making a name for herself in the skating world. Robert all right, and they can see her at Golden Moment. Tickets are still available, right . Kristi absolutely, at alwaysdream. Org or ticketmaster or the box office at sap center. Robert all right, and when we come back, i wanna talk to you a little bit more about maybe the personal pleasure you get out of ice skating, okay . Kristi sure. Moment figure skating show, featuring karen chen, polina edmunds, and many more. For more information, visit nbcbayarea. Com. Robert and welcome back to Asian Pacific america. Weve been talking about Golden Moment and the worldclass skaters that well be seeing at that show. But now we wanna talk to kristi about personal skating, skating for pleasure, as well as helping her daughter skate. So, tell me, do you still kind of like to go out . I was watching you earlier, and it looks like you just sort of enjoy being on the ice, not necessarily performing, but just skating. Do you still enjoy it that much . Kristi i mean, i love skating, yeah. Im a big fan of it. Now, i dont skate that often myself unless i am preparing for something, but, you know, its in my veins. Its part of me, and it does feel good once you get on the ice and start movin around, and the freedom and all of that kinda comes back. So it is fun. I do like it. Its the body maybe doesnt like it as much and hurts a little more, but its still fun. Robert how about when you see so many youngsters out skating, as well as your daughter . Are they, you know, getting as much out of it, like so many groups of them doing it, as opposed to you, when it was maybe a little bit more individual for you, wasnt it . Kristi a little bit. I mean, we alwayswere used to training together and with other skaters on the ice. So, its just, its kind of part of it. You know how to move around each other, and you learn each others patterns so you can get out of the way and not, you know, disrupt their programs or whatever. But its, you know, skating continues to grow in the country, and, you know, the United States continues to have a deep talent pool of skaters, so its fun to watch. I mean, theres some incredible skaters coming up here in the bay area, so this is exciting. Robert and we were talking a little bit earlier about these sort of strange conversations ive been having with people who were talking about them sort of perceiving ice skating as this community or a cultural kind of trend for Asian American and Pacific Islander youngsters and everything like that. Is that just something that maybe because of the diversity in the bay area that it might seem that way to people, or do you feel as though there is some sort of cultural connection to ice skating, maybe with you as a role model, that were seeing amongst youngsters here . Kristi perhaps, i mean, it is interesting because i have a feeling our olympic team coming up this coming year, i think over half of it will be Asian American, which is like, yeah. Thats great, its so exciting. And yeah, and particularly here in the bay area, you go to any number of rinks, and there are quite a few Asian American skaters, and its exciting. I think its, you know, one, i think Asian American physiques are, you know, geared towards skating, you know, being petite, and just athletic, and, you know, being an individual sport. You know, im small, im only 51 on a good day, and team sports, i was just, i was too small for them. And i think it was harder to find something that suited me, and for some reason, dance and skating were kind of the direction i chose, or that chose me, i guess. Robert did your daughter take to ice skating naturally, in terms of, like, her interest in it . Was it a personal interest for her . Kristi when my daughters were younger, both my husband and i obviously spent a lot of time on the ice, so we said, hey, you guys have to at least learn how to skate. So we put both of our daughters in group lessons. They went through a couple rounds, you know, a few month later, and we were like, okay, at least you know the basics. You know how to skate, and, you know, thats all we want, blah, blah, blah. And they stopped, and a couple months later, emma came to me and said, mommy, i wanna skate again, and it kinda surprised me, and i went, really . I mean, like, are you sure . Because if you skate, you need to get a coach, you need to do this properly. Its gonna be more than once a week. You know, skating, it takes a lot of time. And she said, im fine with that. And so shes been doing it for about 5 years now. Robert im gonna assume that a lot of people know the history of you and rudy and all that, but essentially, rudy galindo is her coach. In terms of picking a coach, how did you end up doing that . Kristi you know, at the time that emma had said, mom, i wanna skate, and i said, you need a coach, and i had, you know, rudy and i had kind of reconnected, and, you know, i asked him, im like, are you taking new students cause emma really wants to skate . And it would be, you know, great for her to work with you. And hes like, yeah, and like, lets start it. So, its been great because theyve really connected and bonded, and theres a lot ofits fun to watch them Work Together on the ice. Robert how about for you, watching your daughter skate . What goes through your mind . Most parents understand how it is, especially when they see their children doing something. How about for you, when you watch your daughter improving and her interest growing in it . Kristi its been a thrill. You know, she really does like it, and she doesnt mind putting a certain amount of work into it. I think its really hard, you know, to listen to mom because, you know, ultimately, im just her mom. And, you know, sometimes i have to take a step back and say, hey, okay, just do what rudy says, and, you know, just remember those instructions. Because, you know, i think it would be overwhelming if i say too much. But it is fun. When you have a passion for something and you see it kinda pass down to your child and you see them enjoying it, learning so much about life, about, you know, sport, yeah, its great. Robert all right, well, you let us know if we need to come back and do more on her. Kristi well see, all right, thank you. Robert all right, thanks. Robert and when Asian Pacific america returns, well talk with kristi about the always dream foundation. Moment figure skating show, featuring karen chen, polina edmunds, maia and Alex Shibutani, and many others. For more information, visit nbcbayarea. Com. Kristi this is what its all about, is learning to read. And were here in the reading room, and how lucky are you all to have this beautiful reading room and a place where you can come with your mom and dad and your brother and sister to come and read . That is so great. I love to see that. Robert and welcome back to Asian Pacific america. Were here at the oakland ice center. Were joining Kristi Yamaguchi to talk about literacy. So, how is that Program Going . We did a special on it before, and you were just starting to expand into different areas, including san jose. Hows the Program Going now . Kristi its going very well. So, my always dream foundation has the always Reading Program that goes in the kindergarten classrooms. And like you said, were all throughout the bay area with the different schools we support in kindergarten, as well as arizona and hawaii. So, were starting to branch out and reach more kids, and, you know, just trying to do what we can to really improve the literacy skills, especially at that Early Literacy age of kindergarten. Robert i know, its a huge situation, a huge problem. Give me an idea, though. As you stretch out, as you broaden your program, makes it more difficult, or are you able to get more resources to keep up with the demand . Kristi well, you know, we work really hard to bring in resources so that we can support our program and expand and support the schools that were currently working with. So, you know, were fairly small still, but thats why we do, you know, an annual gala. Were doing a Golden Moment, the skating show this year, all to help raise funds to support the program. So, in a way, you know, were refining our program. Were getting more efficient, and those are really important steps to make sure that, you know, were doing what were saying, and doing it effectively. Robert yeah, now, we wanna talk a little bit more about the program, but how about people who maybe arent going to the show but who would like to help . How can, like, maybe private citizens help out . Kristi well, the organizations alwaysdream. Org is our website, and its very easy to go on and see what we do, what were about, and how to be a part of it, how to donate or support what were doing. And yeah, i mean, were hoping to continue to get out there. And so, the more people who know what were doing, the better. Robert you and i talked about this before, but literacy, its kind of a different problem nowadays than it used to be because a lot of youngsters i know, they dont want to read, versus, you know, children who just didnt have the opportunity to read or have a library or Something Like that. Instead, a lot of youngsters are sort of losing interest in reading, and that seems to be a different form of literacy as a problem. How do you address that, or can you . Kristi well, its, you know, our focus are the underserved kids, and were in lowincome households, and we know that 60 of lowincome households do not have ageappropriate books in the house for their children, so thats what were trying to change, is get books into their hands, hardcover books as well as electronic books on the tablet. And this way, they can see the different platforms and get excited about reading, and be exposed to it. Because when a kid has a book in their hands, you know, their imagination lights up and so many doors of opportunity open up for them. So thats really our main goal. Robert if only we could get youngsters to understand just how much they get out of reading, it would help so much. Does the multiple platforms, does that help, and does that make it easier to reach kids . Kristi i think so. You know, were in the digital age now. Like it or not, you know, a 2yearold can get on the tablet, and they just inherently know what to do with it. So, you know, to introduce our children, especially at that kindergarten level to technology, how to use it, how to be comfortable with it, i feel, you know, especially in this area, is really important. But hardcover books are always gonna be, you know, justtheres just something about sitting in mom or dads or grandmas lap with the hardcover book. So those will never go away for children, but i think both platforms are very important. Robert yeah, and the platforms, the multiple platforms are fairly accessible to a lot of people. Even underserved youngsters at least have some access to that one, right . Kristi fairly accessible, and, you know, were hoping to close that gap in those places that arent accessible, and to provide the tablets, provide the tablets with the content so children will have access to electronic books. Robert what are your plans for expansion, in terms of, like the areas youre looking at . Or how do you decide where you would like to bring your program . Kristi well, right now, were currently in pretty much every School District in the bay area, and weve expanded out to arizona and hawaii. So, we go into communities where maybe we have some connections or we know people that can help us. We create affiliates where they can help us on the ground, you know, talking to principals, to teachers, to make sure that when we bring the program in, it will be fully embraced and utilized in the way to make it the most effective. Robert it actually kind of gets connected with the curriculum, right . It becomes kind of part of what the schools are doing, as opposed to something separate that comes in, right . Kristi definitely, i mean, we definitely need the teachers involvement to, one, make sure the books are distributed, the kids are getting it. But we also want them to get the families at home engaged. Its really important that, you know, the families, the caregivers, whoevers at home with the child knows how important it is. Five minutes, ten, twenty minutes to sit down with your child at home and read to them, look at a book with them, is gonna make a world of difference. Robert and for people who need more information about the program, you mentioned the website before. Is that the best way to do it as well . Kristi yep, absolutely, alwaysdream. Org, and, you know, were out there, and hopefully you can learn more about it. Robert congratulations on the success of that program. Kristi all right, thanks, robert. Robert all right. Kristi whoo, wow, very nice. Oh, that was wonderful. And im an arborist with ipg e in the sierras. The drought in california has killed trees on a massive scale. Any of those trees that fail into power lines could cause a wildfire or a power outage. Public safety is the main goal of our program. Thats why were out removing these hundreds of thousands of hazard trees. Having tools and Technology Gives us a huge edge to identify hazard trees. My hope is that the work were performing allows that these forests can be sustained and enjoyed by the community in the future. Together, were building a better california. People love my and my french fries. Wait what if i put them together . a burrito stuffed with scrambled eggs, creamy guacamole, bacon and crispy french fries. Ill call it the california breakfast burrito boom. Someone got that, right . Scrambled eggs. Guacamole. Bacon. French fries. Youll call it the california breakfast burrito. Boom. Good work everyone. Another winner. Introducing my New California breakfast burrito. Only at jack in the box. Kristi its great to just call upon my friends and have them come in, and they lend their time to an important cause thats dear to my heart. And to have them, you know, lend their talents is just incredible. You know, hopefully this will bring people out and let them know the work were doing in Early Literacy and how thats affecting schools around the bay area, and how theyre helping by just coming to watch. Robert and thats it for this edition of Asian Pacific america, and our focus on Kristi Yamaguchis Golden Moment show coming up on september 3 at the sap center in san jose, a fundraiser for her always dream foundation. Please join us again next week and every week here on Asian Pacific america. Thanks for watching. Our troops will fight to win. It was amazing. Quite a view. Good morning and welcome to sunday today on this ficnal sunday of august. This morning an unfolding disaster in one of americas biggest cities. Houston is being pounded by close to 2 feet of rain in the aftermath of hurricane harvey. Our team of meteorologists say it has the potential to be one of the worst flooding disasters the country has ever seen. Its now a Tropical Storm and forced Emergency Personnel in
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