Kimchi Mamas

What if Metrodad were white?

It's no secret that we here at Kimchi Mamas love us some Metrodad. His posts are by turn insightful or touching, but mostly they make me snort my drink up my nose on a regular basis. If there are "characters" in blog-dom, MD, his lovely BossLady and their absolutely freaking adorable Peanut are some of the most colorful and endearing. Plus, Metrodad is just an all around cool guy.

So I have to say I'm thrilled - THRILLED - that he's getting some serious interest from major networks to turn Metrodad into a television sitcom. Plus a potential book deal! Wheee!

But then I'm very much not thrilled that pushing for an Asian American lead may mean that Metrodad may never hit the small screen at all.

So what do you all think? Should MD push for an Asian American lead in any would-be sitcom? Could we imagine Metrodad as a white guy? Can funny be funny whether the character is white, yellow or purple with pink polka dots? Or should we resign ourselves to the fact that a comedy about an Asian American dad raising his daughter in New York is just too much for "mainstream" America to swallow?

- Nina

Circumcision

A recent episode over at momversation got me thinking about this issue. 

It seems like circumcision is becoming less and less popular in the US and some are even calling it "mutilation" or "amputation." I had no idea that people were so passionate about this.

I know that in Korea, a lot of boys are circumcised when they are older... like in 5th, 6th grade or even when in high school. I remember watching a Korean movie about a gangster who returns to high school. He and a bunch of other teenage boys at his school get circumcised together. Boy, were they ever in pain. I don't know what the practice is now.

According to Wikipedia "Circumcision in South Korea is largely the result of American cultural and military influence following the Korean War. "

I feel like most Korean men are circumcised and that most Korean women prefer a circumcised penis.  Did I just make a huge huge generalization? (Please no lynching.) 

Hats

The other day I literally collapsed from exhaustion.  I was in bed asleep by 10 pm, I hadn't done many of the things on my to-do list and when I woke up the next morning, I was still feeling tired . . . Maybe it was because I was on my period?  Maybe it's because I usually don't see the bed before 12:30 am? Maybe it's because I see the early side of 6 am almost every morning?  Go to work not just full-time, but all the time?  Try to be mom when I'm home?  Cook?  Driver?  Maid? Try to be helpful daughter/translator/liaison? Try to be great girlfriend to HSBF when he's in town? Try to be sympathetic sister?  And BFF to my friends, for whom I have soooo little precious time?  These are only some of the hats I (and YOU) wear.

You are me and we are all together

(...although I am sure I am not the walrus.

Sorry about The Beatles reference - couldn't help myself.)

Despite all the country-hopping, losing whole sets of friends at a time, and relocating so many times that I don’t even know how many more hands I need to borrow to be able to count them all on fingers, I don’t fare well with changes.

I am a nostalgia-monger. I spend more time missing the old ways and trying to figure out how on earth I will get used to the new ways. I suppose it might be an immigrant syndrome as well; in order to miss the “old country” less, one sometimes has to hang on to the motherland’s traditions

However, our new look on Kimchi Mamas is fabulous.  We are indeed spicier.  We feel rejuvenated.  We didn't even outsource; we used our own.  We have been adding new voices.  And, yes, we will burn your tongues.

Ah...but, I am an old dog.  My ability to learn a new trick depends on whether there's a fresh strip of bacon dangling in front of me as a reward.

Oooh, pretty, pretty blog!

Notice something different? Is it the hair, you ask? Or is that a new dress? Or did you finally decide to spring for song-ah-puhl surgery?

Don't worry, we're the same fabulous and fiesty Kimchi Mamas, but we've been given a makeover by our very own Halfmama. We hope you like it because we're in love with our shiny new look. In addition to our new finger-wagging, hanbok-rocking mascot up there, you'll find a link to bios for all of our contributors on the left.

We'll also be working on sprucing up our linkage in the coming weeks, so if you've got a link that you think Kimchi Mamas would love, e-mail kimchimamas (at) gmail (dot) com. We also hope to roll out some exciting new Kimchi Mama bling for your blogs and websites.

Burn your tongue.

- The Kimchi Mamas

Nomadic Boat-Hopping Kimchi Mama

In the spirit of re-introducing myself and adding my two cents to Twizzle's recent post, I thought I would do a three-part quasi-intro post.  Hi, I am Mama Nabi and I guess I am the resident FOB Kimchi Mama.

PART 1.
I am lying when I say FOB.  There is neither Fresh nor Boat.

BIO FACTS:

• Born in 1970 in Jinhae, SOUTH Korea.
• Moved to Chittagong, Bangladesh, in 1979.
• Shipped off (again, I lie - there was NO SHIP) to an American International Christian Boarding School in the mountains of the Himalayas in India in 1982.
• Came to the States to attend college in 1989.  NO ONE had the decency to tell me that Minnesota is... well... fucking cold so here I am. 
• Got a job in the dry cleaning industry as a Korean writer/translator in 1994.  Discovered that many Korean immigrants elsewhere in the States were in the business.  I didn't know since all my drycleaners were white, mostly Scandinavian.
• Found out that the company was underpaying their foreign employee - instead of suing them for backpay of $50,000, I opted to go to graduate school in 1998.  NOTE:  Apparently I was too dense to take this opportunity to migrate to a warmer climate; I applied to a program in a local university.  Yes, even birds know better. 
• Graduated and found current job in 2002.
• Got married in 2003.
• Gave birth to Little Nabi in 2005.

And because you are patiently reading this long rambling post, I will give you FRESH.  I am freshly divorced, as of two days ago.  I think.