I am a 42 year old Korean-American woman. I go by my given name, Shinyung Oh. A few days ago, I attempted to set up a profile on Google+, not because I necessarily need yet another social networking site. Linkedin and Facebook are more than enough to max out my limited capacity for online small talk and ogling. But I applied, mainly because I have my personal blog on blogger and wanted to add some tools offered by Google+ to expand my readership.
When I tried to set up the profile, Google refused to allow me to complete it. The following sentence appeared at the top of the profile I was not allowed to access: "Your profile has been suspended because it violates our name policy." When I clicked on the "name policy" to find out how I could have violated Google+'s policy, it stated:
Google+ makes connecting with people on the web more like connecting with people in the real world. It's recommended that you go by your first and last name because it will help you connect with people you know and help them find you.
This policy applies only to Google+ profiles. Google+ profiles are for individuals.
If you are Asian American, you probably have seen the following video, maybe even on this very site! But just in case you have been hiding under some rocks lately, here it is in all its glory:
The hilarious star of this video is Stella Choe: dancer, choreographer, and actress. As luck would have it, Stella and Kimchi Mama Julie have a mutual friend, and so we were able to ask her a few questions!
Kimchi Mamas: Please tell us about your acting/career background and current projects.
Stella Choe: I started dancing when I was 6 and knew by 10 that I wanted to be a dancer. I started doing dance jobs when I was 16, and then after high school, went on to a dance scholarship program at the EDGE Performing Arts Center which trains you for a dance career. I finished college and persued dancing, and have done some fun jobs.
I toured with Paul McCartney in 2002 to 2003, I have been in episodes for Scrubs, Two and a Half Men, I am one of the cheerleaders in the film "The Replacements" (funny side note: my credit was as the "Asian" cheerleader. HAHA!) I have been an assistant and associate choreographer for films that include "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "A Cinderella Story" and "Gangster Squad." Being a dancer in LA exposes you to the film and TV world and I started acting, but mainly for commercials.
KM: Wow, you danced for a Beatle and choreographed for Brad Pitt! Amazing! So how did you join this project? Were you familiar with Ken Tanaka and his work?
SC: I am friends with David Ury, the co-writer of the sketch. We were at a party together and the "What kind of Asian are you?" question came up in a conversation with some guy. It was pretty innocent, but anyway, David and I started talking about it and he came up with the idea of turning the tables. David and Ken then co-wrote the sketch. Oddly enough, just before that party David and I had talked about doing a video for my reel to help me get new theatrical representation for tv and film, so the timing was perfect.
I am also familiar with Ken and am a fan of his videos and his picture book Everybody Dies.
This was something new for him to put up on his channel. None of us thought the reaction would be what it has been!
KM: During your Britishisms part, how much was scripted and how much was ad-libbed? Either way, is there more footage out there? Can we see it? :)
SC: There was definitely a script we worked with, but as we shot I had some room to play. It was a collaborative effort, with the creative crew shouting out things at one point and me attempting to list as many british things I knew, and having fun with the physicality of it. There's an outtake reel that was published a few days ago, and you can get a sense of the silliness of it all!
The other actor, Scott Beehner, and I just shot a new video today with us reading some of the Youtube comments from the original video that are hysterical and ridiculous in and of themselves. It's a quick montage of "zingers" which should be posted soon.
KM: Can't wait for that! And it actually brings me to my last questions: were you raised by a Kimchi Mama? If so, how did she react to your interest in the arts? And has she seen the video?
SC: I was indeed raised by a Kimchi Mama!!!!! The best! My parents immigrated here in 1969 and my 2 other sisters and I were born and raised here in LA. My mom encouraged us to assimilate and be American. I think it was a tricky balance for her to try to keep Korean traditions alive in our upbringing while trying to raise us in Manhattan Beach (a very white beach community).
I have to say I was pretty lucky in the support department. I think my mom was worried about me pursuing a career she didn't really understand, but I did well in school and after college I was like, "I'm freeeee!!!" and I got a waitressing job. Even now, I don't think she gets how I support myself, but she's always excited to hear if I get a job and have food to eat. She saw the video and thinks I look crazy and am acting crazy. Ah, you gotta love a Kimchi Mama.
Thanks so much to Stella for taking the time to talk to us! Also, please check out Stella and David Ury in their interview with the Huffington Post, where they provide even more background as to the inspiration for the video:
Have you ever wondered which celebrity you resembled the most? Now you can with a free iPhone app called "Korean Celeb Face Match" (also available for Android here)! My mom actually introduced this app to me, can you believe it? How times have changed!
It's fun and simple: you can take a photo using the app itself, or upload an existing one from your photo stream, confirm where your face is, then they guess your age and give you your result.
Here are my results using the same picture, so that tells you something about the scientific precision of it all, but it's great fun nonetheless, even with non-Asian faces. (Note: the writing is in Korean because my mom had the Korean version installed, the one we are linking to is in English.)
Julie vs. Moon Hee Jun
Julie vs. Kim Hyun Ah
I'm a little mortified at the Moon Hee Jun comparison, because he was hands-down my little sister's favorite member of H.O.T., and I used to make fun of him and his eyebrows all the time (I mean come on, how could anyone look past Kang Ta? Amirite, ladies???). Now I look at him, and I think he looks like Jack White. Does that mean I look like Jack White???
And I have no idea who Kim Hyun Ah is, but I appreciate being compared to a 21-year-old female vs. a 35-year-old male the second time around!
Try this out and let me know what your results are! Have fun!
I have made various half-assed attempts to learn Korean in the past, but somehow my motivation always fizzled out. Then a few months ago, I realized my daughter was much more interested in learning Korean when I studied along with her. I haven't found a class nearby, although I hope to enroll in one when we move into L.A. this summer. In the meantime, I've learned hangeul, and I've been watching lots of Kdramas for listening comprehension practice.
There are so many free resources for learning Korean on the Internet right now. You can watch Kdramas with English subtitles at My Soju, Vikii and Drama Fever.(Alas, most Kdramas aren't really suitable for children, although I did teach my daughter the 3 Bears song from Full House.) There's an amazing collection of vocabulary slideshows on Youtube produced by Korean Class 101. Here's one that teaches the colors:
This video helped me learn Korean phonics and pronunciation.
We've also used this series with my daughter. I recommend it, with a couple of caveats. 1) It's all in Korean, even the menu, and 2) it's a teeny bit annoying after a while. But it's well-designed and engaging for very young kids.
If you know of any other materials or Internet resources, I'd love to hear about them.
If you can please direct your attention to the birdie on the right side of the page, we now have an online community where we can truly have two-way conversations!
I look forward to setting up meet-ups, securely sharing info on our Kimchi babies' development, and just talking and swapping tips with each other.
Just click on the birdie, set up an account with Savvy Source or use your Facebook login (that's what I did), and join Kimchi Mamas! See you there!
Extra bonus: Inspired by Mary's post last week, we will donate $1 for every person who signs up to a charity that helps North Korean families.
At the event at Stanford that I wrote about, Mr. Shin used Google Earth to show us where Camp No. 14 was... as well as another camp near the northern border where a friend of his was held. It was eye opening to say the least. Made his story so much more real.
In the slideshow in the article above, there is one aerial picture of mass graves... of the victims of the "Arduous March." That's how North Korea refers to the famine that reportedly killed between 1-3 million people.
People born in Hawaii, we've got a network thing going on, so when Hawaii's-own Guy Kawasaki dropped me a line to say that he had launched his new service, I hopped over to take a look, and I liked.
Last year, Kawasaki caused a buzz in the mom blog world (and the
tech world for reasons that will soon become clear) by publishing his ultimate list of mom blog must-reads on his personal blog. My blog CityMama and Kimchi Mamas were included in his original list
and we are in very good company. Since then, the mom blog list has
migrated over to his new service, Alltop.com (beta). And not only that, Alltop.com aggregates "all the top stories...all the time." (Want to know more? Click this highlighted text.)
If you are interested in celeb gossip or politics or gaming or
fashion or geeky stuff, the top posts in lots of different genres are
covered all in one place, without you having to load anything into a
feed reader. I bet your favorites are already there. It's like heaven
for media junkies like me. Check it out!
I will admit upfront that I am involved with Boston Progress Radio. But I still think it's a worthwhile endeavor. In my unbiased opinion.
The goal of Boston Progress Radio is to provide a space for community to develop around Asian American independent musicians. Ever feel like you're at a loss for finding Asian American artists? Too quiet at work and need something to pick you up? Looking for some music that speaks to your experience?
Boston Progress Radio is now both a blog and an online radio station. To tune in, please use the following link. You will need a player capable of playing MP3 streams (e.g., iTunes or Winamp).
There's not a ton of artists up there yet (I'm only starting to learn about the craziness of getting rights to music etc.) - but there's already some good stuff up there. Yes, there's definitely the politicized hip-hop that i enjoy blasting at work, but there're also some great singer-songwriters, and a little bit of everything in between.
Stop by, drop a comment, and let us know what you think.
We love comments, but we reserve the right to delete comments at our discretion. Any comments containing offensive language and/or racist or hurtful statements will be removed. Please keep your comments respectful and on-topic...or fear the wrath of the Korean mother-in-law.
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