I just finished a huge birthday dinner, and yet, this site, Asian Aisle, is still making me hungry. Broken down by country, the site features photos and descriptions of yummy looking goodies to be found at your local Asian grocery store. It’s not about recipes, but more about experimentation and revealing the mystery of those ingredients you’ve wanted to know more about. Candies, Cookies, Fruits, Vegetables, Savories, and Spices–it’s all there.
Okay, I also love that she thinks this name is worthy of a laugh. Totally juvenile but I think it’s almost as funny as what became my son’s favorite drink in Korea–Pocari Sweat. Yum.
If you will be in the NYC area this weekend, be sure to check out the Korean Art Show, run in conjunction with Armory Arts Week in New York. A showcase for some of the terrific contemporary art being created in South Korea right now, I’m delighted to get another chance to see more of the inspiring work we saw in Seoul last year. Here’s the details:
On Tuesday, a freight truck pulled up outside the store and we accepted 75 boxes of new bento boxes and water bottles, straight from Japan. As soon as we finish unpacking, and have the chance to take some photos-they will be up at the site. Until then, see what’s already in stock at japanistic.
And we promise to keep unpacking, and unpacking, and unpacking….
I’m having fun exploring the outfits featured on japanesestreets. Not every look truly works, but I’ve got to give people credit for creativity and taking a risk.
With a Keynote Address by Eric Nakamura, Publisher and Editor of Giant Robot, the conference “explores the relationship between style and race through the lens of ‘Asian cuteness…Participants will discuss the recent explosive transformation of ‘Asian cuteness’ into what might be called the new wave of ‘Asian cool…”
And at 4:30, an Artist Presentation by one of my favorites - Yoshitomo Nara! I only wish I could drive South for the day. If you can, enjoy!
First, one of my pet peeves when I get take-away sushi for lunch is that there is never enough soy sauce. Problem solved with these adorable sauce bottles. A set of eight–and four of them are shaped like piggies!
Have the bottles, and plenty of sauce, but nothing to put it on? Get inspired with these Rice Molds in heart and star shapes. Finally, something new to get me excited about putting our son’s lunch together!
I’m sad I only found out about it from a post on Angry Asian Man, but still glad to be reminded of the many reasons we live in Western Massachusetts. (My head is in the Olympic clouds.)
Coming this weekend, the 5Pan 4th Annual Spring Issues and Leadership Conference. (Okay, I’m sure they aren’t just issues specific to Spring–could be winter or fall…) It’s coming this weekend-Saturday, February 27th, from 9:30 0n at UMASS Amherst.
Two workshops that look especially compelling to me:
Eric Hamako - Monsters, Messiahs, or Something Else?: Mixed-Race in Science Fiction Movies
Popular movies are telling stories about Mixed-Race but what are they saying? Will vigorous hybrid messiahs herald racial salvation? Will degenerate hybrid monsters cause a racial apocalypse? Are you prepared to talk about and talk back to the movies that students love? We’ll explore White Supremacist and Christian Supremacist ideas about Mixed-Race prevalent in current science fiction movies like Harry Potter, Blade, and Underworld and why people shouldn’t believe the hype… or the hate.
Panel: Richard Chu, Falguni Sheth, Larry Hunt - White Liberal Racism: An Oxymoron?
“White Liberal Racism: an Oxymoron?” The panel will discuss whether there is such a thing as “white liberal racism,” and if it does, what forms this takes, especially within the context of the Five Colleges and people’s experiences as Asian Americans. Larry Hunt, Human Resource Director of Smith College, will share his own insights to the issue as “progressive” institutions like Smith College face the challenge of expanding the proportion of minority hires, and how policies even from these so-called “liberal” and “progressive” institutions may inadvertently veil a form of racism that may go unchallenged or unquestioned. Richard Chu, Five College Assistant Professor of History at UMass Amherst, and Falguni Sheth, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Political Theory at Hampshire College, will describe their experiences teaching in liberal but predominantly white institutions, and dissect how administrative policies, the tenuring process, and the core curricula of their institutions may also reflect a form of racism.
I’m especially interested in the last one because as a member of this community, we deal with issues around white liberal racism all the time. And I think what happens in this largely academic environment translates to things that happen in the larger community, Full disclosure–my husband and I are both white, raising our son who is also a strong, opinionated, confident, happy Korean-American kid.
Sometimes, this area doesn’t know what to make of us as a family, even when certain people think that we’ll “get” them because we are in the special white liberal club. Just because I am part of a multi-racial family doesn’t mean that while I am grocery shopping, my son and I want to talk about your friend who adopted a child from Guatemala 20 years ago so you really know how it is. Nope. Sorry friend. And your friend, who has a daughter who was left at a train station in Kazakhstan? You know, I just need bagels and toilet paper. (and why do these encounters most often happen at Whole Foods?)
We get it from all sides, from white academics who want to school us, or connect with us in whatever arbitrary way they have chosen, but also from some in the Korean-American academic community who often want to present us with a very particular vision of what it is to be Korean-American and what our son “should” be.
We know it’s not unique to this area. No matter what, and no matter where we are, as a multi-cultural, adopted, Korean-American man, our son will be forging his own way through all of this and hopefully, owning whatever vision he choses of his identity. As his parents, our job is to talk with him, to process these events with him, to be there for him, and of course, to connect him with others who have made their way along it and to let him know that the choosing of his individual path is perfectly legitimate.
And oh yeah, hope you can make it to the conference!
I’m no amusement park fiend, but the Himiko Waterbus, courtesy of Superpunch, looks like an awesome ride. It’s actually a water taxi in Tokyo Bay but I think I’d like to pretend it was some otherworldly vehicle, taking me to some underwater wonderland.
We are heading off on holiday tomorrow–however will you live without my posts? To keep you from feeling too far from us, here are some terrific new things you can get at japanistic.
Whether you want to share these sweets with a Valentine, or just keep them all for yourself, they are tasty and adorable.
Want to spice up your special delivery, or at least keep it safe? Do it in style with these padded Air Cap Envelopes, available in Large or Small.
Maybe it’s time to organize, in anticipation of Spring. Use these Elph Magazine Holders from Artemis and have your desk looking spiffy in no time. (Or at least, looking very cute.)
If that’s not enough for you, you’ll have to visit Japanistic while I’m back. Until then, have a great week!
