Posted on

Persevereance

By now, you’ve probably heard her name or had a friend show you the video posted on social media of the amazing floor routine that scored a perfect 10… Katelyn Ohashi.

I don’t think anyone who watched the viral video of her floor routine https://youtu.be/4ic7RNS4Dfo could miss seeing the athleticism and enthusiasm she showcased throughout her performance. What didn’t you see? Her perseverance. At only 16, this elite athlete suffered not just a shoulder injury but a back injury that required surgery. Either one of these could have shut the door on gymnastics forever…but it didn’t.  

Perhaps athletes take these types of injuries and recoveries for granted but that’s not the average person at the grocery store or even at my fitness class. Like most, I have experienced peaks and valleys in life and have always found it inspirational to hear about others who have suffered through a low point in their life only to come back stronger and smarter from their experience. Hard times can be teaching moments that help us to grow mentally and emotionally but each person must dig down and find the strength to move on – even if it takes a little help from a pint of ice cream and a Netflix binge session.

So, thank you, Katatelyn Ohashi. Not only have you provided inspiration for your team and school but also for this time tested Korean American woman just when she needed it.

Posted on

Beauty Standards Are Not Standard

Growing up in America, I often viewed the female beauty standard to be tall, thin, and usually blonde with light colored eyes. Needless to say, like most of my Korean American sisters, I possess none of these attributes. So where did I get this idea? Everywhere – television, beauty magazines, film, social media (okay, that didn’t come along until later) and it’s what I heard every day. Although I’m happy to say that American beauty views are evolving and there are now more celebrities and resources catering to other races i.e. African American and Latinos, the question still remains – what about Asians? In the not so distant past, if you typed in “Asian Model” into your search engine, you would likely get a list of porn sites and we all know about guy who have “yellow fever” . Some still think of us in terms of Nancy Kwan selling her “Pearl Cream“.

After a big Hollywood splash in 2018 (Thank you “Crazy Rich Asians”), we’re in the spotlight and others are starting to take notice of the largest growing ethnic group in America. Finally, Asians are being seen not just as the ‘smart’ ones in the room but also the funny ones, the loud ones, and the beautiful ones. My hope for the coming year is that this momentum will continue to snowball until we can no longer be overlooked because we are quiet, compliant, and subservient but seen as the bold, vibrant and beautiful people we are.

Posted on

2018 – The Year Asians Came out… as Asians

I’ve never been one to look back unless I was learning from my mistakes but Asian Americans made big news in 2018. Here’s some of the major highlights.

Midterms – No, I’m not discussing politics so go vent somewhere else. I’m talking about Asian Americans getting some publicity and earning some political capital after the mid-term elections. My only comment about politics is – if you didn’t vote then do better this year! Here are the results: Andy Kim (NJ), John Liu (NY), Kevin Thomas (NY), Nima Kulkarni (KY), William Tong (CT), and Angie Chen Button (TX). Congratulations to you all and to the people who ran and represented Asian Americans on a local level.

Celebs – I don’t usually follow celebrity news but I am a sucker for watching the runway. What can I say? I love the dresses. In 2018 we saw Asian Americans represented on the big and small screen. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard of and/or seen Crazy Rich Asians and Killing Eve starring Sandra Oh (or as I like to think of her as “Sandra Ohhhhh Yeah”!). I’ve been a fan of Sandra Oh for years enjoying her in Under the Tuscan Sun and on Grey’s Anatomy. I have to confess that although I have not read Kevin Kwan’s novels (yet), I was fortunate enough to see him live for an interview. It was interesting to hear about his motivation for the writing books and their journey from a fun project to a culturally changing piece. So Kevin and Sandra, if you’re out there – let’s grab coffee!

Posted on

Happy New Year!

Perhaps Happy New Year is a bit premature for those following the Lunar calendar but I didn’t want to wait until February to create my first post.

So who am I?

To sum it up…I’m a smart-mouthed, Korean born, NY/NJ raised, living in Texas, adopted Korean woman.

What’s this about?

After researching, overthinking, talking to people…then researching more, and overthinking a lot more, I finally came up with a theme: Asian Americans in America. It’s really that simple.

I’ll be sharing my personal experiences along with my thoughts on how we are perceived publicly. That being said, I want to hear from my readers (all 1 or 2 of you). Email me topics and feel free to post relevant comments at info@asianamericanvoices.net. In some ways, this is your blog as much as it’s mine so jump aboard and enjoy the ride!