May 18, 2012

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Korean American Author: For Koreans, the Issue is Assimilation, Not Immigration (By: Tae Kim)

January 10, 2012 By

(By Tae Kim) Tae Kim is an American, through and through.

A successful executive and attorney with a good education, he lives the American Dream every day, but he also knows that there is another side to being Korean-American, in which it is very difficult to claim complete assimilation into American life.

“For Koreans in America, there is a strong sense of wanting to be Americans and make the most of the freedom and opportunity for success that America has to offer,” said Kim, author of War With Pigeons, a novel that chronicles how Korean families from different classes live together as Americans, as it peels back the veil of the hidden Korean society that exists outside the view of non-Koreans.

“But there is another side to being a Korean in America – an enduring adherence to the long-standing traditions of a Korean class system characterized by an aristocratic sector that rules over a working class population – and if you’re not Korean, you’d never know it’s there.” [Read more...]

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Why Learning Korean is a Pain in the Butt – This Video may Help! (By Teresa Armor)

December 24, 2011 By

(By Teresa Armor) For me, learning any new language is complex. Most of the time, there’s a new alphabet and unfamiliar symbols with which one must acquaint oneself. Often there are different ways the mouth, tongue, and face must move in order to properly vocalize the new sounds and words – all of which are uncomfortable for one raised in a culture that welcomes convenience over discomfort.

That being said, I actually thought (really, really thought) that my Korean genes would kick in the minute I began to navigate the Korean language, for a second time. Yes, at one time I actually spoken Korean fluently. Albeit I was two – but I had known it, understood it, and spoken it well enough. So excuse my  naivete in thinking that when I decided to learn it again, as an adult, that I felt certain that something from my early childhood would come back to me (some sort of brain/tongue/ear muscle memory that would ease the pain of twenty plus years of non-use. Additionally, I will say that I thought for some reason that learning Korean would somehow make me more Korean – as if there is such a thing). [Read more...]

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My Dream Man – He Isn’t Real – is He? (By Anonymous Woman)

December 4, 2011 By

(By Anonymous Woman) We dance, waltzing, in the moonlight, candles our only light, and become entranced in each other and the music styling of Frank Sinatra. He wears a suit everywhere. He opens the door for every lady he sees. He carries all heavy boxes. He gives up every seat for the elderly. He has reached great success. Is always five to ten minutes early. On weekends, he reads and spends time taking care of others. This is the dream that I have in my head. This is the man I dream of marrying someday.

I dream of a man who most likely does not exist. I dream more of a man who may have existed in the 1930s or 1940s. Although, logically, this type of man may also have insisted that I stay at home barefoot and pregnant. In my romantic head, the lack of logic is irrelevant. The dream persists. The ideal of who I want continues. And if I continue, I may never dance with the real possibilities.

I have been warned repeatedly in the past that if I continue my unrealistic and ridiculously picky ways, I may end up alone. I have dated men in the past who in some ways fit my criteria. But, there was always something. Something missing. Not enough commitment. Not enough respect for me. Not responsible enough. Something! After dating each one, my standards only increased. The only standard that I have loosened is physical – I can now accept someone shorter than 6 foot and who doesn’t have a completely developed six pack. Great progress, right? [Read more...]

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Try Sammy Chon’s Ktown BBQ Koagie – a Hoagie Worth Trying (By Moses Yoon)

December 4, 2011 By

(By Moses Yoon) If you are hungry, read on.

Close your eyes.

You are hungry…very hungry.

You are sitting at a table, ready to devour an American sandwich.

But you have a sudden urge for some Korean food as well. Something spicy. Something tangy.

You open your eyes. There in front of you is a one-of-a-kind seeded hoagie roll. You poke at the roll, and it’s warm. You take a quick sniff, and you smile.

Wake up, folks, because this isn’t a dream. It’s reality.

I’ve been meaning to write something about Sammy Chon’s Ktown BBQ new sandwich, the Koagie, for some time now. What is a Koagie? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features, Life

How Korean am I? (By Teresa Armor)

November 18, 2011 By

(By Teresa Armor) At the latest KAACP dinner, the notion of “How Korean Am I?” came up. For those of you unfamiliar with my recent article on KAACP, it’s the Korean Adult Adoptees of Central Pennsylvania. So the subject of “Korean-ism” might be foreign to those who grew up in traditionally Korean households, e.g. homes where parents, grandparents, and possibly aunts and uncles spoke, cooked, and lived Korean. Those of us adopted into culturally non-Korean homes cannot necessarily relate to how “All Koreans” are like this or that, or do this or that. My current joke, although it’s not really that funny, is that I’m not as Korean as I think I am. Physically, I can play the part, but what does it really mean to be Korean? How Korean am I really? Does it mean more than being born with these particular set of genes?

A wise and wonderful lady (that I’ve recently had the opportunity to get to know through the above mentioned dinners) had the following thoughts which I felt expressed the concept succinctly, yet eloquently. It is stated as follows:

My biological mother was Korean, and after a stay in an orphanage for the first ten months of my life (in 1950 due to her inability to properly care for me), I was adopted by a wonderful family in the U.S. When I look in the mirror, a Korean woman with short black hair, turquoise framed glasses, and a few wrinkles that expresses “I’ve experienced life,” reflects back at me. [Read more...]

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Are Koreans Accepting of Homosexuals? (By David Kim)

November 17, 2011 By

(By David Kim) Being a gay or a lesbian in Korea is still something that is not widely accepted in the country. For the most part it is still taboo and something that many Koreans, especially the older generation look down upon. However, through Hollywood and various media outlets the perspective of being a homosexual in Korea is slowly taking on a new level. It may still take a while before the concept of being a homosexual in Korea will be freely accepted – but for now it is a constant battle for those who are. Many fear that expressing their homosexuality will result in exclusion and also loss of respect from friends and families. They are afraid that it will also be a disadvantage when it comes to getting jobs as well. They are afraid that they will be shunned as outcasts.

Here are a couple of the main reasons why Koreans are against the concept of homosexuality: [Read more...]

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I Need to get Married Now: My Hunt for a Wife (By Anonymous Man)

November 14, 2011 By

(An anonymous Korean male asked if he could submit an article based upon an article he read on Konnect Magazine about a woman’s attempt to hunt for a husband. Konnect Magazine has agreed to this request.)

(By Anonymous Man) I am a second generation Korean-American man in his 40s and single.  All of my peers are married with multiple children, one even with a 19 year old son!  I feel old.  I feel like a freak.  I feel distraught and hopeless at times, thinking that it is game over for me.  It’s even harder when you’re Korean.  Eastern culture has no category for “single and in your 40s”.  In fact, there is a proverb that says, “The hell of your husband is better than the paradise of your father”, meaning that it is better to be married to an abusive man than not to be married at all.  At least you can say that you’re married!

The truth is that marriage is always a possibility. There is no statute of limitations on when one can get married.  I recently went to a wedding where the bride was 69 and the groom was 93. The groom was so frail that the couple had to sit down before the minister as he officiated!  The problem, however, is not getting married but not being able to have children since most likely I would marry someone my age.  Even if I do marry someone younger, I would end up being one of those old fathers, someone in his 50s with a child in elementary school.  I met one of these men recently.  As he was clumsily holding his new baby like a watermelon, he acknowledged with a smile that having a new baby is not something age-appropriate for him.  He dearly loves his new son of course but remarked that it would have been better if he were raising children in his younger years. [Read more...]

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I Need to get Married Now: My Hunt for a Husband (By Anonymous Woman)

November 8, 2011 By

(By Anonymous Woman) I’m at the age where finding a husband has become a focus, sometimes, an obsession. I have created a timeline in my head of when I need to be married, and I’m getting closer to the deadline every day. I have coined a term “bride prime” to explain this to other people.  I believe that the time that a woman is in her prime to get married is between 25 and 29. I’m currently in the earlier part of “bride prime.” When I am with my friends, I often project the following: “If I date my husband for a year, and have an engagement of six months, the earliest I can get married is when I’m 28, and that’s if I meet him tomorrow.” Well, I haven’t met him on any of these tomorrows; and the “wedding date” of my non-existent wedding (or even prospective husband) are moving farther and farther away.

As a result of my fear of getting married out of my “bride prime,” I have begun doing something else that I coined a term for: “husband hunting.” As a woman ages, particularly a professional woman, most of us begin to think of finding a husband as a very strategic hunt. We wear specific clothes, but instead of camouflage, we wear a dress and heels. We create a call to attract men, but instead of blowing on a duck whistle, we say cute and flirtatious things. We go where we know the best hunting grounds are, but instead of a forest, we go to a bar, a church, or an online dating site. Either way, it’s a hunt, literally. When you’re young, it’s about finding someone cute and fun. When you’re older, it’s about finding a man who is financially stable and who will remember to pick up the kids from school. [Read more...]

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