Kimchi Mamas

Call for Blog Links!

Hey, all you KA bloggers. Yes, you. Want a little recognition? How about more traffic to your site? More readers who get you, who nod their heads as they read and say, damn right.

We're creating a roll of KA blogs. And we'll pick our favorites to include in our top 20 list. If you want yours to be considered, leave a comment with a link to your blog. We'll check it out. Make sure to leave your comment before May 31st because that's when time runs out!

And as always, "KA" includes all KAs. You can blog about something Korean or Korean American. You can be Korean-Armenian. You can be 10% Korean or a mother (or father) of someone (full or part) Korean. Maybe you just love kimchi or all things pickled. You get the drift. If we get you, we'll consider you. 

Or if you don't have a blog of your own, nominate your favorites. They may be ours too! 

-Kimchi Mamas 

I know you want to be the next K-pop star

Do you dream of being a K-pop star? If yes, and you can sing at least one song (any song!) in Korean, you are in luck. MBC Star Audition is holding their second season auditions in Los Angeles on July 16th, 2011. 

The audition will be held at the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown Hotel at 711 South Hope Street. First come, first served basis.

A lot of Korean Americans have become huge stars in Korea, including Yoo Seung Jun, Lena Park, and many others. (Sorry, I'm old and don't know any recent ones.)

You can get more information here.

 

- Mary

Hepatitis B, You, and Your Baby

Did you know that Hepatitis B is 100 times more prevalent in Asians and ten times more common than HIV? The virus is most commonly transmitted from mother to child during birth. If you are preggers, make sure you get tested to see if you are infected. The USPSTF recommends all pregnant women get screened for Hep B.  All children and adults under age 25 should get the Hep B Vaccine (3 shots).

The nonprofit (http://hepbmoms.org) educates mothers about this leading cause of liver cancer. During the month of May, they are encouraging moms to visit to their website and participate in a “Hep B Stops with Me” contest to win prizes from the Tea children’s clothing line. 

Many thanks to Chrissy Cheung for sending us this info!

- Mary

Thank you, Kimchi Mamas: Happy Parents Day

May 8th is Parents Day in Korea.

I had asked for Kimchi Parent Moment submissions and one reader had so much fun with it that she wrote about several Kimchi Parent moments... about her Korean mother-in-law.  OTRgirl, congratulations for winning the contest and, more importantly, winning your KMIL over.

Here's my favorite from her submissions:

When I did finally meet them, I practiced saying 'on-yang-ha-se-yo' under my breath over and over. When I got to the door of the hotel, I bowed and said the Korean hello while she reached up to hug me and say 'Hello' in English.

Contest: Kimchi Parent Moment

May 8th, Parents Day in Korea, is coming up. 

According to Wikipedia, "In the Republic of Korea, Parents' Day (어버이 날) is celebrated on May 8. Usually, one gives a carnation with presents to his/her parents and/or sings the Parents' Day song."

Yellow paper carnation.  I remember painstakingly perfecting two carnations in art class at school.  My clumsy fingers would be slathered with glue, catching delicately thin tissue paper on finger tips, bits tearing here and there...the end results were never good enough.  Each layer would be somewhat lopsided, the green wire stem dirtied from my glue-paper smeared fingers, my lower lip bitten from concentration, I was so desperate to present my parents with at least half decent paper carnations to make up for the lack of obviously prodigious talents.

My parents are not perfect parents.  Hell, last time I spoke with my dad was almost 20 years ago.

Yet, in my memory, I have an image of them both proudly clipping the dirty disproportionate yellow paper carnations to their equally disproportionately wide shirt collars (hey, it was the 70's). 

In honor of that memory, I would like to offer up a $50 CafePress gift certificate (to purchase wonderful Kimchi Mamas stuff) to one winner of Kimchi Parent Moment contest.  If there's a tie, I might split it into two $25 gift certificates.