Kimchi Mamas

Kimchi Mamas Honor Roll: Christy NaMee Eriksen

From yesterday's Angry Poetry Corner on Angry Asian Man, here is a snippet from a poem entitled "How to Tell if a Korean Woman Loves You" by Christy NaMee Eriksen, a Korean Adoptee based in Juneau.

If you walk out of a Korean woman’s kitchen
and there is rice on your sock
she loves you.

That speaks volumes, doesn't it?  Just letting you inside the kitchen is a big step.  

For channeling William Carlos Williams' knack for imagery and reminding me that I should read some more poetry, I hereby nominate Christy to the Kimchi Mamas Honor Roll.

Here is Christy reading "My Son Runs in Riots":

More of Christy's poetry can be found at her blog, Tsunamee.  Really, really good stuff there.

To Specialize or Not To Specialize. That is the Question.

(Please forgive the "first-world problems" feel of this post.)

As my children have gotten older (they are now almost 10 and just a touch over 12), I have noticed a disturbing pattern that I may have been unaware in the past: specialization.

My daughter's into soccer. She plays in a youth sports group and they practice for about 1 hour once a week, play once a week and the season is only about 2 1/2 months long at a time. She plays probably 2-3 "seasons" a year. Though she is 12, most of the girls on her team are 10 and 11. They "play up". Playing up is based on the theory that if you raise the level of competition they will play to meet that challenge (or something like that).

Many of the girls on her team will probably leave in the next season or two to move into "club" soccer. Club soccer here is more . . . specialized. This is when teams practice 3-4 times a week for an hour or an hour and a half each practice and will play 2-3 games a weekend. They will also travel to surrounding areas (and in Texas that could mean 3+ hours of driving) and play in tournaments that go on for entire weekends (Saturdays and Sundays).

My son was participating in Tae Kwon Do and in tennis.  A few months ago, he had to make a very difficult choice: he had to choose.  He is 10 years old and he was being forced into specializing. As a 10 year old he would do tennis 2 times a week and then TKD 2 times a week and depending on visitation weekends, TKD sparring on Fridaysa and TKD tournament team on Saturdays or a tennis tournament. Tennis was 2 private lessons a week plus 'clinic' for a total of about 7 hours of tennis a week. This wasn't enough . . . his new schedule is tennis 4 days a week (about 10-12 hours a week) and an average of 2 tournaments a month (tournaments begin on Fridays and end on Sundays if you're playing well).

I look around and I see it amongst many of our friends: a 12 year old who plays club volleyball - tournaments are all weekend long and consist of many games per day, a 14 year old who is now home schooled so she can pratice tennis 8+ hours a day, and a 17 year old who has been taking tennis lessons for 12 years.

And this is just the sports side. I know children who practice piano 15-20 hours a week, a neighbor's child plays drums for school, church and 2 bands (he's 16) and on and on and on...

In all of these cases (and from personal experience) I have been told that kids HAVE to specialize if they want to remain competitive. Competitive for school, college, scholarships, professionally.

As parents we want what's best for our children.

We want opportunities for them that we didn't have.

We give them the best so they can be their best. 

We want them to be competive and have an edge.

To have THE edge.

 

 

But what does that mean? And at what cost?

Dumbfounded

I am the LAST person on earth to be posting about a rapper but here I am. Dumbfounded, a Korean rapper, is rather good, I must say. Hubby agrees. What do you think?

 

- Mary

Kimchi Mama Honor Roll: Jennifer Yuh Nelson

This Memorial Day weekend, I, along with many other parents, took my kids to see "Kung Fu Panda 2."  It feels strange to say this, but I really enjoyed seeing what all the characters were up to, as if I were revisiting old friends.  The movie delved deeper into Po the panda's personal history, and although the expected visual and verbal gags kept the audience giggling, the film also touches on some real-life themes in surprisingly thoughtful ways: adoption, "man" vs. machine, reconciling the past with the present and future, and redemption.

As the movie ended, I was very curious to see who intertwined the childish comedy with the deeper, more sober issues with such a light, masterful touch.  And when the director's name appeared on the screen, my mouth dropped.  First of all, she was a woman.  Second of all, she could very well be Korean!

Both turned out to be true: Jennifer Yuh Nelson is the first woman to singlehandedly direct a big-budget major animated feature.  BOOYAH!!!

From this LA times article, I learned that Jennifer Yuh Nelson actually grew up in Lakewood, CA, minutes away from where I grew up, and not surprisingly, received encouragement and guidance from her own Kimchi Mama from a very young age:

As a young girl, she would sit at the kitchen table for hours and watch her mother draw, copying her every stroke. Nelson traces the lineage of her career to those formative family experiences.

I also really enjoyed reading how she learned to come into her own as a naturally soft-spoken person in a position that usually is defined by auteur angst:

"I'm a very soft-spoken person. I don't throw furniture. I don't throw tantrums," Nelson said. "As a director, your job is to protect this movie with your life. Protect it against anything that would take it off its course and turn it beige. You have to be very, very ferocious and that was the hardest part for me because I'm not used to yelling."

And perhaps the most glowing testimonial comes from the CEO of Dreamworks himself, Jeffrey Katzenberg:

"What I always find so amazing about Jennifer is that inside this beautiful, soulful, soft-spoken, elegant lady is this macho, kung fu-loving action dynamo," Katzenberg said. "It's the opposite of what we're all used to dealing with in the world, the macho exterior and marshmallow center. There is very much a cult following that she has among our artists. They all want to work with her."

Well, I'm not an artist, but definitely count me in as a cult member. I'm so inspired!  Ms. Yuh Nelson, you rock!!!

Poetry - A South Korean Film

 

There is a new Korean Film that's playing in the Bay Area. Here is synopsis.

 

Poetry

Mija (veteran actress Yun Jung-hee) is a beautiful woman in her sixties who moves gracefully through life, contemplating a trivial daily routine that is ill-suited to her refined persona. With warmth, elegance and a dash of eccentricity, Mija takes care of her ungrateful grandson Wook (Lee David) and makes a living by cleaning house for an elderly man who, though paralyzed by a stroke, still responds to her charm with bouts of drug-induced arousal. On a whim, Mija enrolls in a poetry class at the local cultural center and begins a personal quest to find the perfect words to describe her feelings. However, she’s plagued by the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, and struggles with new vocabulary and the challenges of the creative process. When her world is turned upside down by the discovery of a monstrous crime, it is Mija’s unique and touching poetry that allows her to continue to embrace life. A mysterious, redemptive, cathartic film. Written and directed by Lee Chang-dong (Secret Sunshine, Oasis). (Fully subtitled)

See other locations.

I think I might go see it in Berkeley. Anyone interested in joining?

- Mary

Sacred Paintings of Kim Ki-Chang (Woonbo)

I have a great book of postcards showing a "Collection of Sacred Paintings by Kim Ki-Chang", published by the Israel Cultural Center in Korea.  I bought it over 20 years ago while in Seoul, at the Kyobo Building basement bookstore most likely.

I apologize to non-Christian readers--this is not meant to be a post about religion, but just a sharing of art by a Korean artist.  A link to a brief biography of the artist is here.

These beautiful paintings depict the life of Christ from "The Annunciation" to "The Ascension."  Christ, and all other personages are painted as Koreans, in traditional garb from the Chosun era. 

The Birth of Jesus: