to top

World Cup Bento Boxes [Seoul Eats]

I may not be a big soccer fan, but my native country of South Korea is definitely excited about the World Cup. Not only are celebrities are posing for photo sessions rooting for the beloved Red Devils, the hottest musical artists (including Olympic gold medalist Yuna Kim who has surprised the public with her beautiful singing voice) have been collaborating for World Cup-themed songs and music videos that play around the clock on all media outlets. Now, you can add World Cup Bento Boxes to the mix. The Park Hyatt Seoul has decided to offer these meals during the World Cup to its guests. Included with the boxes are two bottles of Heineken and balloon sticks (those annoying inflatable toys that make noise...

Continue reading

Happy Children’s Day!

Ask any child in Korea what the date June 25 signifies and they may give you a blank stare. But any mention of May 5 will be met with smiles and excitement. Why? Because May 5 is Children's Day, a national holiday reserved for the celebration of children and the youth and innocence they embody. The Korean Children's Day was created by the children's writer and storyteller Bang Jung Hwan in 1923 as a way to instill a sense of independence and national pride in children. Bang had noticed the low status that the Korean culture — based on Confucian ideals of placing value on age and maturity — placed on children and so wrote an "An Open Letter to Adults," which stated: Children...

Continue reading

Aiming for Pentalingual

I read a fascinating article titled Science Question from a Toddler: Life Before Birth last week. I highly recommend the full article for any new/expectant mothers; heck, it's a good read in general even if you're not into this stuff! The reason I bring up this article is due to a particular passage: Newborns prefer their mother's voice over anyone else's (even dad's). They prefer hearing phrases from books they were read while in the womb, compared to new stories. They're even already favoring one language over another. "Babies prefer the sound of their mother's native language to others," Moon said. "Interestingly, they can distinguish between languages in the same rhythmic class, like Spanish versus English. But they can't tell the difference between...

Continue reading

The Curse of the Model Minority

Last month, I came across an article titled "Do colleges redline Asian-Americans?" and I still haven't been able to get it out of my mind. Do colleges really set a higher standard for Asian Americans? If this is true, as the article implies, the same must hold true for places of employment, no? When I applied for colleges, or whenever I applied for jobs, I always happily volunteered my ethnicity on application forms. After all, my last name is nothing but Asian. But at the same time, I knew that being Asian gave me a slight disadvantage. (Going slightly off tangent, I have always envied my Filipino-American friends for their Hispanic-sounding surnames. You can't deny that they are more likely to be offered...

Continue reading