If you are a baseball aficionado, you may agree that the throwing form – particularly the pitching wind-up – was near perfect. But what you will about to see may make you cringe or crack up. You decide. At least the world in general got a good laugh at it. These videos are always a good laugh. She was a good sport after all.

Jessica Jung is a Korean-American singer and dancer best known for her work in the nine-girl group, Girls’ Generation. Escorted to the mound by two mascots of the Seoul-based LG Twins, Jung prepares her pitch with a long wind-up before unleashing her best heat. Source: Huffington Post

Here’s an inside look into how the New York Knicks’ Jeremy Lin deals with temptation as a member of this team. As you can imagine, temptation lurks everywhere – for every man and woman. But think about what NBA players experience, playing at home and when traveling from city to city.

Jeremy Lin shares some insight into some of his deep rooted values and the things he witnesses during his traveling days. It’s also encouraging to read about the influence of his parents and his need for the Lord. 

Got game?!

Come test your skills and sign up to participate in Calvary Vision Church’s 3 vs 3 Mission Basketball Tournament benefiting the 2012 Honduras mission team on Saturday, June 9th, 2012. Start time will begin at 8:30AM and will end roughly around 5PM . Registration is $60 per team and open to all (4 players max). Sign-up takes place now till the day of the event. 

Marion Barry had won his primary race a few weeks back for the city council position. In his victory speech, he stated “There are too many dirty Asian stores” in the African American community. This remark certainly caused some controversy.

In my opinion, he didn’t have to say the word “dirty” regarding the Asian stores. C’mon, really? You’re a politician for goodness sakes!

He eventually did apologize for the insensitive remarks some time later.

My name is Yoon Jung Lee, and I’m a film director and visual artist. I’ve made various short films/media-performances/installations and exhibited them internationally, winning several awards.

I was born in Seoul, South Korea. I graduated from Sogang University in English Literature before completing MFA in Film & Video at California Institute of the Arts in 2005. As a visual artist, my experimental works have been introduced at galleries and museums. I also work as a visual director in various performances and as an editor for independent films as well as working in the directing team on feature movie projects. I was the script supervisor for the movies “THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD” (directed by Jee-woon Kim) and “MY SWEET, YET BRUTAL SWEETHEART” (directed by Jae-gon Son).

About the Project

Now I’m raising $30,000 via the Kickstarter platform for shooting and post production of my latest feature film project, “REMEMBER O GODDESS”, filming later this summer in Seoul, Korea. I have finished the first 25 minutes of the film and hope that I will be able to raise the funds for the rest of the film.

The short version has been shown in several film festivals in the US and Korea. Luckily I have received great feedback. Now it is available for viewing online, so please check out the short version on Vimeo.

The film is about a man who has lost his memory. He reports his disappearance to the police. He can only remember finding himself alone in an apartment. When he finally meets a girl who he thinks might know him, she disappears. Then his quest to find his memory-holding love becomes greater than his need for his own memories.

In this love story, I wanted to address that modern city living causes anonymity and places individuals in positions of seeking elusive connections with others. Especially in the last 2/3 of the film (to be created with fund-raised money), I want to make a statement that although we often feel absolutely disconnected, even when surrounded by a huge crowd in a large city, this reality never changes the fact that we are one way or another a friend, a son, or a daughter of somebody.

Through running the fundraising campaign only for 12 days, I feel so blessed due to connecting with amazing people from all over the world, such as from the UK, Italy, Peru, Japan, Canada, Australia, Austria and Sweden, who genuinely care about the future of our project. They support our film not only by donating to the film but also contributing to promote the campaign in various ways. I have one volunteer from the UK who runs the official English Twitter on behalf of the film; I have other volunteers who translate the campaign promotional materials in Spanish, Swedish, and Japanese; others who hold fundraisers locally in Philadelphia.

It’s amazing how a film project can excite people and connect all of them over the world beyond linguistic barriers. That’s exactly what I am trying to show in the film. Although modern living conditions sets everyone in their own island, once you step forward seeking a connection, you will most certainly find somebody.

Additional information about Yoon Jung Lee and her work:

Kickstarter campaign page

Film website for “Remember O Goddess”

Film Facebook page

Story to Success and fundraiser for Korean Filmmaker Yoon Jung Lee

(By Gemma Sohn) I am thrilled about the upcoming “Let’s Talk” conference in April. The event will be uniquely therapeutic, as both youth and their parents will be participating in interacting with each other in a meaningful way, through educational workshops and time of bonding.

This is the first joint venture between Washington Christian Counseling Institute (WCCI) and Mustard Seed Generation (MSG). This joint effort is especially meaningful in that both organizations have sought to raise awareness regarding mental health needs in the Korean American community, each serving in a very unique way for different age group.

A key objective of MSG is to create a sustainable model of service delivery in which churches, counselors, and community organizations will be able to mobilize in order to continue and open dialogue around the mental health needs of the Korean-American community across the nation. Using the contacts and networks, MSG connects Korean American communities across the nation and share resources to benefit the Korean-American population.

MSG has served second generation Korean-American young adults and promoted mental health through holistic identity development of social, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual components. Culture-specific education has been provided by ethnically-matched educators and counselors. Thus, MSG has decreased the cultural stigma associated with seeking help and increased openness and confidence toward receiving services. The collaboration of WCCI and MSG to serve both the parent and youth of Korean American families through the upcoming April conference is to be celebrated.

About WCCI:

WCCI is under the umbrella of a non-profit organization called Faith Community Service Center (FCSC), which is comprised of medical ministry, mercy ministry and mental health ministry. FCSC has been in existence for the last 10 years and WCCI was launched 3 years ago as the mental health branch. WCCI also has three areas of service, which are community education, training local lay leaders/people helpers, as well as counseling individuals & families. WCCI has mainly served the first generation Korean Americans whose access to mental health services is significantly limited due to language.

About Gemma Sohn, MSW, LCSW-C

Gemma I. Sohn is a psychotherapist at Cedarbrook Clinic and is a founding member of FCSC and a cofounder of WCCI. She is a Maryland State registered and board approved clinical supervisor and is a Clinical Consultant at Center for Counseling & Family Studies at Liberty University. Along with her clinical work, she serves as a faculty at Washington Baptist University. Currently, she is pursuing a doctorate degree at Liberty University for Professional Counseling.

“Personally, I feel called to make a difference in the lives of Korean Americans using my knowledge and skills learned in the counseling education I have received. As an immigrant who came to this country at the age of 18, having struggled through the challenge of learning the language and culture, and finding my identity in this world, I am in a unique position to see the strengths and weaknesses of both first and second generation of Korean Americans. This vantage point propelled me to invest in bridging the gap between the two cultures and language existing within families.”

“Rooted in the strong belief that common ground of spirituality and Christ’s redeeming love can reconcile and restore brokenness in individuals and families of Korean American families, the mental health services I seek to provide is distinctively Christian in nature and integrated with a holistic perspective, that gives attention to one’s physiological, psychological, and spiritual aspects. It is my passion to build people up, especially the next generation of Korean Americans who will make history here and far and to push this world to be a better place for all.”

About Dr. Josephine Kim

Josephine Kim is Lecturer on Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the state of Massachusetts and a National Certified Counselor whose clinical skills and experiences span many contexts including residential facilities, and public and private schools. She has worked with multicultural populations through individual, group, and family counseling and has taught students of all ages in varied educational contexts, including private and public language schools and private and public colleges and universities. She has provided professional consultation and expertise on multicultural, mental health, career development, and educational issues to various media sources in Asia and in the U.S.

She is USA Today’s collegiate case study expert on school violence and has been featured in various media sources related to developmental and mental health issues of youths. She is the keynote speaker at 70-100 parent, teacher, administrator, counselor, and youth conferences yearly in Asia and in the U.S. She has been called upon during national crises, being deployed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the federal government to work with Katrina victims during the summer of 2006 and Virginia Tech in the spring of 2007, directly following the campus massacre.

She serves on the board of directors of several non-profit organizations and serves as an academic advisor to educational institutions both in Asia and in the U.S. She is also the founding executive director of a non-profit organization that aims to educate Asian Americans on issues of spirituality, cultural and racial identity, intergenerational conflicts, cross-cultural advocacy, mental health, and career development issues. She is the author of the book “The Secret of Children’s Self Esteem,” which has become a bestseller in Korea.

Who is The Supply?

Education for many of us is a given. We don’t even think twice about advancing from primary school to secondary school. Our eyes are set on college degrees, graduate degrees, and any other letters that we can place at the end of our name.

But there’s a world out there where secondary school is not even an option. We’re not even talking about opportunity costs or economic trade-offs, but in some areas of the world, secondary schools just don’t exist.

When we say some areas, we’re talking about a place that holds 2 billion people worldwide. Slums are growing exponentially as 250,000 new children are born into slums each day. That’s 250,000 more human beings subjected to the sub-human living conditions. Children in slums often play in gutters of human feces and their homes are built upon mounds of trash.

However, the supply of education does not meet their demand. But we can change this. We firmly believe that all of us who have had the fortunes of receiving an education are held accountable to be a part of the solution to one of the world’s most complex problems. This starts with our staff, our organization, but stretches to all of you. If we can bring our financial, human, and social capital together, we can start seeing changes in these slums.

But it’s not even just about what we can potentially do. We have asked slum children why they desperately want a secondary school education. They could have said, “I want to be rich” or “I want to live the good life.” But they may have a better understanding of the purpose of education than we do: “I want to use my education to transform my community.”

We want to make this dream a reality by equipping them with the tools necessary to satisfy their demand, fully knowing that they will use their education to become the supply to their communities. They are The Supply. You are The Supply.

We are all The Supply.

——————————–

Info on our Charity Gala in New York City on Saturday May 19, 2012 from 7:30 to 10:00pm EST:

You don’t want to miss out on this event! Tickets are limited! We are celebrating the completion of Jumba Lenana Academy and looking to raise $50,000 that night to build a secondary school in Korogocho slums of Kenya.

$50 of the ticket is fully tax-deductible!

There will be fantastic live music, special guest KevJumba, as well as an open bar for you to enjoy! Black tie optional. Source: The Supply

More information about The Supply.

Source: Jeremy Lin Facebook fan page

Wow.

No more Jeremy Lin. No more watching of New York Knick games. I suddenly feel like I have so much time on my hands. If you haven’t heard, Jeremy the Great is injured and most likely out for more than 6 or so weeks. There is some sense that he may or may not make the beginning of the NBA playoffs – if the Knicks can hold on to the final spots of the Eastern Conference.

He recently had surgery to repair his knee, yet reached out to his fans to do a Q and A. Take a look at some of the questions below and see how Jeremy Lin responds. Another reason to follow this Asian American basketball player.

Jeremy Lin’s Answers!! (compiled by Monica Huang and Margaret Huang<–my sister) ENJOY!!!

Angela Kim: When I heard you would be out for 6 weeks I just started crying to be honest. I already miss you so much being on the court! Anyway, my question is what’s your biggest pet peeve? (:

Jeremy Lin: ‎@angela kim my biggest pet peeve is ordering fast food and not being able to eat it until i get home lol. esp when it smells so good and is just sitting there in the passenger seat

Luis Alvarado: what are you gonna play!

Jeremy Lin:@luis alvarado im gonna play dota2 with my bros. just got it installed the other day!

‎Kar Tse: you gonna be back for the playoffs ?

Jeremy Lin: @kar tse i hope ill be back for the playoffs! its killin me to watch the team without being able to play but i need to make sure my knee is 100% before i get back on the court so we will wait and see. (Source: Masqueradia)

More Q and A from Jeremy Lin here.

Manchul Kim for the Guardian

Imagine living in a North Korean prison camp, day after day, year after year. There have been numerous articles I’ve read in the past about North Korean prison camps, and this one is definitely up there as one of the top ones. Please read. He actually escaped and lives to tell about it.

Support LiNK – the North Korea Crisis.

What was your inspiration for B Spa Bar?
I always wanted to create a unique spa environment where people can escape, relax, have fun, find beauty secrets and learn about skincare. I wanted to be different by customizing my facials according to your skin type and conditions. So, a bar concept was formed where I wanted to concoct a mask with over 75 different natural ingredients that I have.

Tell us why your clients die over the Yoga Facial?
Yoga Facials are amazing because I specialize on the acupressure points of the face and work on relaxing the tensions that we have in those areas. How often do we work on our facial muscles?!

Have you developed any custom products?
I’m currently working on my own line using special ingredients from all over the world, such as the Greek Islands, Morocco, South Africa, Korea, Malaysia and France. I want to emphasize that women and men need balance first, then everything will fall into place. Striving for balance & beauty – Nourish the mind and body, while preserving the skin!

What is your vision for the future?
To open up a flagship store, where it will be a one stop shop for a complete anti-aging makeover from head to toe.

Tell us about one day in the life of Diana Seo.
My typical day consists of waking up doing 15 min of stretching, washing up and making myself a smoothie with fresh fruit. Then, I go to see few of my clients, check on all my emails and return many messages. Usually, I’m on the phone for a few hours before rushing off to a few meetings. My meetings consist of either meeting with an investor and/or interviewing candidates for partnership whom are in the health industries. After my extended meetings, (if I can) I try to check in on one of my other locations. I try to go for a yoga session with one of my favorite instructors in the Flatiron district. Then, I attend an event or meeting with friends for a quick dinner. When I finally get to my apartment, I take a bath with epsom salts to relax and unwind. Otherwise, I shower/cleanse and am off to bed.

Any quick advice for our readers?
Hydrate for the cold months coming ahead.  Here’s a great treatment:

• 1/2 cup of fresh pumpkin (3-4 slices)
• 2 tbsp of organic honey (local or wild)
• 1 tbsp of fresh aloe or aloe gel
• 1/8 cup of cup of coconut or almond milk
• 4 oz. Steeped white, green or Rooibos tea.

Now, here’s the explanation of their handshake explained to all of us by Jeremy Lin and Laundry Fields themselves! Pretty neat to see them explaining this pre-game ritual.

Now that March Madness is nearing its end, it’s time to start thinking about a tournament y’all can actually participate in!  On May 5th, New Mercy Community Church (Hackensack, NJ) is hosting its annual Missions Madness basketball tournament to raise funds to support its missionaries.

Missions Madness is one of the largest basketball tournaments in the tri-state area.  Held at the famous George and Phyllis Rothman Center (a massive complex featuring four full-sized courts), the tournament is a top-level experience.  Each year, the stadium is packed with hundreds of participants and spectators, so the atmosphere is highly-charged and exciting.  Round this off with two hired professional referees per court, and you have a tournament where everyone can have a great time. (Check out photos from past Missions Madness tournaments by visiting the photo gallery).

Registration Deadline: First Come, First Serve (Total of 32 spots. A few spots remain.)

Event Date: May 5th from 8am to 6pm

Location: The Rothman Center (Fairleigh Dickinson University) – 3 University Plaza Drive, Hackensak, NJ.

Cost: $300 per team

Registration & Payment: Online Registration/Payment Webpage

Date/Year founded:
2011 – officially I began working on it in 2009

Location:
Michigan

You might think that Morning Crane Tea was founded to make a lot of money to support Morning Earth Korea.  But that is NOT the case.  Korean tea is sold at higher prices than teas from other countries so there are few volume sales and little chance to make enough to support our other work.  If I can pay the bills it is enough. Why do it?  Both Korean teas and Korean teaware are little known in the West.  It is a good way to both promote Korean tea and Korean ceramic artists.  I am a retired university professor and department head now I am a ceramic artist and entrepreneur to promote Korea.

What are your goals and dreams that you are attempting to achieve?
For Morning Crane Tea, I would like it to develop into a thriving company and become the “go to” company when people want to buy Korean tea and Korean teaware in the West – i.e. North America, Europe, South America etc. I want this because in the process the Korean ceramic artists and Korean tea artisans will become known and profit by it.  You might wonder how that will help my grandchildren gain pride in their Korean ancestors.  When they drink a cup of tea from a Korean cup, they will have a sense of pride.  When they hear someone say something nice about Korea, they will have pride.  I try to set that example.

What were some challenges you faced when starting your business and how did you grow from this experience?
I’m still facing the challenges.  We are not yet a profitable company but the company is growing slowly.  I have yet to reach the Korean American market.  My close Korean friends have all moved to other states and my inability to speak Korean makes it difficult to make new Korean friends.  In my work I reach a younger crowd.  Koreans in the USA my age are mostly first generation.  That’s not all bad, I am beginning to realize that for me to succeed I have to become more involved with the Korean community.  That will happen this year and that is a good thing.  It is not that I haven’t been involved with Koreans.  In 1999 I received an award from the Korean American Community of this area for more than 30 years of service promoting Korean Art and Culture and I haven’t stopped.  So now it is more than 40 years and still going.

Describe your typical customer.
There are two types currently.  One is a young or middle aged “tea person” retail customer who wants to try Korean tea or buy Korean teaware.  They have discovered one or more of my blogs.  The other wholesale customer is a new, developing or recently established teashop who want these Korean teas and teaware to add to their inventory both quality and uniqueness.  If one of my teashops has what the retail tea person is looking for, I usually send them to that retail dealer.  If not, I will sell them what they want from what I have in stock. I don’t store much stock in either tea or teaware.  Nearly all of my teaware is sent to the customer from Korea. Nearly all of the wholesale sales of both tea and teaware are sent to the Teashop from Korea.

Name of business/organization/project:  
AB Corporations

Your name: 
Arnold Byun

Date/Year founded: 
July 2011

Location:
Seoul, South Korea 

Your role for your business: 
Founder & President

What inspired you to start your business? 
To put it plain and simple, I hated being an average high school student. I hated the daily routine of going to school, coming back and doing homework, studying for a test, and waking back up to go to school. I truly desired to make my own money and most importantly, I wanted to be the change that I wanted to see. I wanted to have a difference. Surely, web designing will not enable me to save the world, but it acts as a critical stepping-stone to my future career and aspirations.

What are your goals and dreams that you are attempting to achieve? 
Most people would assume my dream to be graduating a top-notch design university and continuing my web design venture. This is completely false. My dream is to graduate college with a degree in Hospitality and Management—idealistically, I aspire to operate profitable and socially responsible restaurants. I aim to reinvent the Korean cuisine scene abroad in the United States, and eventually on a global level. As a side project, I currently operate an English food blog for foreigners here in South Korea. The reason why I have ventured into web design is because there are various dimensions to running a restaurant and I intend to master all dimensions—starting with design.

What were some challenges you faced when starting your business and  how did you grow from this experience? 
Some challenges that I faced include my age and my Korean-American race factor. Residing in South Korea as a 16-year old entrepreneur is unheard of. In an uptight, Confucius-influenced society like South Korea, no one expects and believes in teenage-entrepreneurs. As opposed to the United States where young entrepreneurship is to a point lauded upon, in South Korea, it is laughed upon. Convincing clients to cooperate with me, a 16 year old, in fragmented and flawed Korean never went smoothly. Nevertheless, I kept at it—I improved my Korean pronunciations and grammar and I even improved my web designing skills. I’ve been able to overcome these barriers by defying society’s common mis-perception of an unable teenager.

Every time I received an opportunity, I made sure to crush it. I made sure that I produced the best result possible and I made sure that the client realized that I am no ordinary, mindless 16-year old. The client would then recommend my services to his fellow peers and coworkers and so on. The word soon caught on about a 16-year old entrepreneur in town offering web design services for a low price. That’s when I realized that being young is actually advantageous in some ways. People expect less from you and when you’re able to deliver above average results, they are astounded and at a loss for words.

What aspect about the business motivates you to wake up every morning? 
The fact that it has been my brainchild from Day 1 motivates me to wake up every morning. And more than anything, I love working with people on all ends of the age spectrum and waking up to the email notices on my iPhone. Most teenagers would perceive my excitement with email notices with contempt; nevertheless, I know I’m different and I’m proud of it. I know where I’m headed and I know just how to get there.

Describe your typical day, including some of your key responsibilities.  
My typical weekday is rather dull. I focus on my studies and reserve an hour or two to work on various projects or to self-teach tutorials. On weekends is where the real magic happens. Weekends are when I put myself to work: grinding out tens of websites in a matter of days, meeting clients, recording my own tutorials, brainstorming new possible services, and catching up on pushed emails from the weekday.

What do you dislike about your business? 
I dislike the current limitations it possesses. Honestly speaking, web designing can be quite tedious, tiresome, and repealing. As such, I am in the works of developing other services such as iOS app development, domain management, e-commerce management, and social media marketing services.

Describe your typical customer.  
My typical customer would be a small business owner, specifically a restaurant owner in his/her thirties. I offer restaurants package deals—I design logos, websites, clothes, menus, business cards, etc. at an affordable price exclusively for restaurant owners.

What recommendations could you share for aspiring entrepreneurs? 
I would recommend for aspiring entrepreneurs to begin as early as they can. As soon as you have an idea or a service you could provide, it is never too early or too late to execute your aspirations. The more you ponder about execution and putting your plan into action, the longer it will take for you to reach your goal. Eventually, time will fly by and you will have missed your chance to make a dent in the universe. Most importantly, believe in yourself and not in what others believe about you. Success begins with you, not them.

What would you be doing if you were not running this business? 
Being a high school student, I would be just another average student worrying about my extracurricular activities, my grades, my standardized testing scores, and my GPA. Not that I don’t care about the things aforementioned, I just do not believe that grades can fully define a person’s capabilities and possibilities in life.

How can people find you?
AB Corporation website, personal website, and Twitter.