Kimchi Mamas

Book Review - Escape from Camp 14

Disclosure: I got a free copy of this book to review.

Escape from Camp 14 written by Blaine Harden tells the true story of how Shin Dong Hyuk broke out of a brutal labor camp in North Korea, eventually making his way to the USA. Complete with maps and drawings, Blaine makes it easy for the reader to picture this harrowing story. I heard Shin Dong Hyuk speak at an event in Stanford before so his story was not new to me. However, reading about the details made it so much more real.

Born inside Camp No. 14 Shin Dong Hyuk was the product of a marriage that was itself a form of reward, a reward reserved for prisoners who modeled "good" behavior such as snitching on fellow prisoners. He survived by doing whatever he could to secure food. He grew up to be the model snitch, not even thinking twice to snitch on his own family.

This book provides an accurate and horrifying look into North Korea's infamous labor camps. A hopeless world where humans become driven by hunger and hunger alone. Where affection does not exist. Yet even in such a bleak place, compassion comes at unexpected times. 

Kim and the World Bank . . . What a "Thriller"!

Jim Yong Kim was named the new President of the World Bank today. . . and that is COOL!

But Kim will always have a place in my heart for THIS performance (around the 1:26 mark) while President of Dartmouth College.

Congratulations President Kim!!

I'm sure you've made your own Kimchi Mama proud!!

 

--Angie in Texas *hearts* MJ no matter what!

Mass shooting at a school in Oakland, CA

I was listening to NPR when I heard the sad news story of a shooting that happened in Oakland this morning. Apparently, a disgruntled student open fired in a class at his former school. The school is Kairos University that apparently caters to Koreans and Korean Americans. Many of the victims (seven fatalities) as well as the prime suspect are thought to be Korean.

The man suspected and arrrested for the crime is One L. Goh, 43, of Oakland. He drove to a Safeway in Alameda and confessed his crime to an employee.

- Mary

The Korean Man's Anger

By now you've probably heard or read about Pinkberry co-founder, Young Lee, attacking a homeless man with a tire iron. When I was reading some of the details of what happened, and also accounts of his previous shady behaviors (like making threats against someone's life), I was like... I can totally picture a lot of Korean men doing this.

I do think that Korean men, in general, are quite hot tempered.

Why is that? Is it the prevalent use of alcohol and alcoholism? Too much emphasis on honor and respect? Too much pressure? Male chauvinism? Superiority issues? Imaturity? 

I'm not sure. Probably a combination of all of these. Whatever the recipe for rage is, Korean culture sure seems to have all the right ingredients.

I'm not innocent either. I've been classified as a "fiesty" one. I do get angry... but I don't think I would ever chase anyone with a tire iron. I scream at my kids and snap at my husband... occassionally cuss at bad drivers.

What are your reactions to this story?

- Mary

Kim Jong Il is Dead

By now most of you probably heard that Kim Jong Il is dead at the age of 69. I saw some footages of North Koreans "mourning" via a Reuters video and to me, they just looked like people "faking" it. After reading this post on Ask A Korean, I can hardly "trust" North Korean journalism or even clips of videos that are released to the outside world.

Anyway, what does the passing of Kim Jong Il mean to me? Not much. I just hope that his son is not as corrupted by power to the degree that him and his father were. I was rather disgusted by his son's pudgy face in light of the fact that many in his country, at this very moment, are starving.

Who knows? Maybe reunification can really happen. Perhaps I may, one day, be able to travel to North Korea with my children.

What are your thoughts on Kim Jong Il's death?

- Mary

Romi Haan of Haan Corporation Speaks at APEC Women & The Economy Summit

Recently, I attended the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation's Women & the Economy Summit in San Francisco.  One of the most impressive stories I heard was that of Romi Haan, a South Korean business leader and entrepreneur. It was wonderful to see a Korean woman sharing the world stage with business leaders from around the world. This is an excerpt of what I learned at the conference. ~Glennia

Romi Haan was a housewife in South Korea with a problem: how to keep the floors clean without spending hours a day doing it.  Because of the ondol tradition of heating homes through the floor, Koreans spend a great deal of time at home in a central room, on the floor.  As Romi says, "Koreans live on the floor. We sleep on the floor. We eat on the floor. We sit on the floor. We play on the floor." 

Keeping the floor clean is serious business for Korean women, and means daily washings, down on their hands and knees.  Romi wanted to free herself of this daily chore, or make it a little easier for herself and her friends.  So, she imagined a steam cleaner to do just that: clean the floor with less effort and cut the time spent on washing the floor in half. It was a way to get women up off the floor and out into the world.

When Romi approached a bank about a government loan program to get her product made, the bank officer asked her, "What company did your husband bankrupt that makes you now have to work?  Are you doing this for him?"

When she told him that her husband was not the reason she wanted to go into business, he didn't believe her. Her application was denied. Romi didn't take no for an answer, and persisted with her dream. She mortgaged her home and quit her job to pursue her invention.  She was able to get her business up and running in three years, but faced other hurdles. 

When Romi tried to market and distribute her product, she was met with skepticism and disdain by male buyers for department stores. She would go in to talk to them, and they would ask her, "Why do you need a steam cleaner when you have a vacuum cleaner?"

She explained that a vacuum cleaner would sweep the floor, but her cleaner would mop it. After an hour-long discussion the buyer would ask again, "Why do you need a steam cleaner when you have a vacuum cleaner?"

Ten years later, Romi Haan is now the CEO of a multinational, multimillion dollar appliance and beauty products company, Haan Corporation. She is one of the few female CEOs in South Korea, and her business is thriving. She represents a new breed of Korean women executives and a model of successful entrepreneurship. Her story is not atypical of the challenges that women face in the global economy, but her success is unfortunately too rare.

The APEC Women & the Economy Summit brought together women leaders, government officials, diplomats, and corporate innovators to discuss actions to improve the lives of women in the Asia-Pacific region, and by doing so, the world's economy. Recognizing that women are a vast, largely untapped resource for change and growth, the group spent a week in San Francisco working on plans for change.  This was one of several meetings around the Pacific Rim leading up to the APEC Summit in Hawaii in November, which President Obama will attend.
 
I was not able to stay very long at the Summit, but I was able to attend the Plenary Session in which Romi Haan appeared on a panel moderated by Tina Brown of The Daily Beast and Newsweek.  Also on the panel were Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women; Susan Fleishman, Executive Vice President of Commincations for Warner Brothers Entertainment; Blanca Trevino, CEO of Softtek, a global Information Technololgy company based in Mexico; and Ilene Lang, President & CEO of Catalyst, a research and advisory firm that specializes in promoting women in business.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Please keep South Korea in your thoughts as residents face astonishing amounts of torrential downpour. The resulting floods and mudslides have already killed 38 people in Seoul and the central regions, and the death toll is climbing.  There seems to be a lot of infrastructure damage, so we will keep you posted with ways we can help once things settle down and the full amount of damage is assessed.

Kimchi Mama jooliyah, we hope you and your loved ones are staying dry and staying safe!  Please check in when you can.

Article from the Korea Herald, English edition

Blog post from Koream Magazine

Look Mom! We're Famous! - Featured in The Korea Times

Kimchi Mamas are featured in The Korea Times - a newspaper for Koreans living in America! The whole thing was printed in Korean so I translated it for you below. Two awesome Kimchi Mamas, Julie and Stefania are pictured and some others are mentioned. Yay! I'm not a professional translator or anything but I'm pretty sure it'll be better than Google Translate.

"Ajumma Power" Lets Korea Be Known

Online consortium of Korean Women, Kimchi Mamas Power Bloggers

Julie Kang's popularity soars, leading discussions on mainstream media and Korean articles.

Kimchi Mamas power blogger, highly popular Julie Kang.

 

Kimchi Mamas founding member, Stefania Pomponi Butler.

There is a power blog featuring Korean culture and food. An online consortium of Korean women bloggers who raise Korean American kids voice their opinions on Kimchi Mamas. The most active Kimchi Mama among them is Julie Kang of Geisha School Dropout.

American Revolutionary: Grace Lee Boggs Documentary

American Revolutionary - Indiegogo Pitch from American Revolutionary on Vimeo.

I was recently in the Jane Addams Hull House Museum in Chicago and saw a wonderful portrait of Grace Lee Boggs hanging on the wall. It is part of an exhibit called Americans Who Tell The Truth, containing 10 portraits from the inspiring series of the same name by Robert Shetterly. Some of you may have heard of Grace Lee Boggs through the documentary The Grace Lee Project, or you may have heard of her because she has been an activist and community organizer in Detroit for many decades. She has been an inspiration to me and one of the influences in my own personal journey of becoming politicized. At almost 96 years old, Grace Lee Boggs continues to dedicate herself to serving her beloved community, and her impact is felt not only in Detroit but throughout the world, via her writings and her mentoring of activists and justice lovers in so many places over many decades.

Because of the inspiration Grace Lee Boggs has been to many of us who contribute to Kimchi Mamas, we were excited to hear of a new documentary film project about her by the filmmaker of The Grace Lee Project, who is also named Grace Lee and is also a Kimchi Mama. The new film is titled American Revolutionary:The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs. Grace Lee wrote the following in an email a few weeks ago telling us about the new project:

"I actually started this project while I was staying home with my son who was born three years ago. I wanted  him to know about Grace Lee Boggs and her ideas of rethinking what it means to be an 'American revolutionary' -- someone who is dedicated to the ideas of social justice and the process of building community. Fellow moms I think would respond to her message as well."

Grace Lee is currently raising funds to be able to complete this project, and we at Kimchi Mamas are only too happy to help get the word out for this worthy cause. She has 12 days left to reach a goal of $12,500 to be able to receive an anonymous matching donation of another $4,500, bringing the total to $17,000. She is soooo close to that goal now at just shy of $11,000. We encourage all our fellow Kimchi Mamas and Kimchi Papas and allies to donate if they are able. No amount is too small, and I am certain that the resulting film will be a treasure and inspiration to so many, including ourselves and our children. Please go to Grace's Indigogo site to contribute.

To learn more about the work of filmmaker Grace Lee, please visit her website at gracelee.net. To learn more about the life and work of Grace Lee Boggs, please visit The Bogg Center.

~Sarah-Ji

Some Reactions to "Paper Tigers"

Wesley Yang's recent essay, "Paper Tigers," was published as the cover story of New York Magazine yesterday.  Have you read it yet?  I just did, and my head is reeling.  Much like Manny Pacquiao delivering blow after blow in the ring, Wesley Yang overloads the senses with vivid imagery, damning statistics, compelling interviews and profiles, and the occasional "fuck you" thrown in for good measure.  It is a long article, and I write short blog posts, so I'm only going to talk about a couple points here, but please bring up other points of discussion in the comments if you wish.

Okay, first assertion by the author I wish to talk about: Asian Americans, although we have fantastic college acceptance and graduation rates, meet a "Bamboo Ceiling" in the corporate world, evidenced by some anecdotes and the fact that only 1.8% of Fortune 500 companies have Asian CEOs.  Therefore, all the math drills and cram schools we force our kids to attend do not guarantee success in life after school.

First off, I agree that this Bamboo Ceiling phenomenon exists; I just don't think the statistics he has chosen to use even begin to prove his point.  If we go by the Fortune 500 measure, everyone in America besides these 500 CEOs hasn't succeeded, and I'm sure many of them beg to differ.  And I'm not talking from the "money doesn't guarantee happiness" point of view either...fine, you want to judge success by Benjamins, I can talk Benjamins.  

How about the thousands of Asian Americans who can say: "I may not have made $37 million dollars last year as CEO of PepsiCo (ironically CEOed by a woman of South Asian descent), but as a boring-ass middle-tier lawyer I did make $300,000."  I dunno about you, but that still seems like success to me.  And don't forget all the Asian Americans who knowingly opt out of the rat race either by becoming public servants, activists, artists and designers, church leaders (I wonder what the combined net worth of all the Korean churches in America is...I bet it's not too shabby), and self-employed.

It's tough to become a Fortune 500 CEO, or any kind of CEO that necessitates moving up the corporate ladder.  The reason why so many of them are tall white men is because their predecessors were tall white men.  The Old Boy Network has been around for what, 12 generations now, and that club is hard to get into, and it usually involves multiple generations of inherited money, power, and connections to people like governors and board members, so they're not bound to look kindly on some fresh-faced 2nd generation ethnic-American whose family's net worth cannot buy a congressional district.  I think it's amazing that even 9 Asian Americans managed to pierce through that veil.  Go them!

Which brings me to my second point: you think Asian Americans have it bad?  Talk to a Latino or African American.  Their "success" numbers drop off in high school, let alone college.  Or how about women of all races?  Injustice comes in many flavors.

My second cause of dismay was the uncomfortably long portion dedicated to learning pick up artist tricks in order to bone white girls.  After all this compelling talk about real Asian American issues, with no segue at all, suddenly I'm thrust into a world I don't think I'm meant to witness with a motley crew of alpha-males-in-training.  Their mission statement: "What is good in life?"  “To crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and to hear the lamentation of their women—in my bed!”

Work and life success equated with contrived sexual conquests?  Really?  Who invited me to the sausage fest?

However, this bombastic tone screeches to a halt near the end when he starts talking about Amy Chua's Tiger Mom book.  In fact, his review is the most nuanced and intriguing I've read on the topic, and it actually made me want to finally read the book.  Which brings me to my final reaction: despite the gut-wrenching, angry ways he describes his own and the world's shortcomings, Wesley Yang strikes me a pinnacle of his definition of success.  He has a semi-naked picture of himself published in his barely-edited cover story for New York Magazine, for goodness' sake!  And dare I say, despite his first few paragraphs, he accomplished this as an Asian American.

PS: While I was writing this, Ask a Korean's response came into my feed reader.  It's some good shit.

--Julie