I usually call my mother on Sunday evening, but the Friday before Labor Day weekend and before her birthday, she called to say that her phone wasn’t charging, she couldn’t figure out why, and that it might die before she could get to the phone store. The store was far and it was a holiday … Continue reading IT support for grandma
Category: koreanness
experiences of growing up korean american
paris is a palimpsest
After we’d been dating for about a year, my boyfriend, a graduate student of comparative literature at a nearby university in southern California, got a fellowship to study in Paris for the year, and I received a dissertation fellowship from my English department, freeing me from teaching obligations. To save money, I returned home to … Continue reading paris is a palimpsest
mind and body
When my father fell ill, around 2002, I moved in temporarily with my parents on Long Island while my husband moved to Indiana for a visiting assistant professorship for the year. My father was in both physical and cognitive decline and I found his two doctors woefully inadequate. I had a long list of tasks … Continue reading mind and body
the making of a queens girl
When I tell people I’m from New York and they ask me whereabouts, I say, “Queens and Long Island.” I had spent six years in each locale before heading off to college out of state, so it somehow seemed important to acknowledge both places as where I’m from. But lately, I’ve come to embrace my … Continue reading the making of a queens girl
interracial
Recently, I was out to dinner at a local pan-Asian restaurant with my husband and kids when I observed the following: A young mixed race couple, a black woman and a white man, entered and were seated at a table for two. I would have guessed their age as mid-twenties. Just a few minutes later, … Continue reading interracial
rethinking tiger parenting
It’s easy to focus on play and creativity when your kids are young. I was sure I wasn’t going to be a stereotypical tiger parent, signing my kids up for every academic opportunity and expecting 110% effort at all times. But now that my older child is heading to middle school, the stakes feel a … Continue reading rethinking tiger parenting
speaking of things that are died
This is a piece I wrote almost 7 years ago. I sent it out to a couple of publications focused on motherhood, got a little interest from one, but I didn't persist when they passed on it. Father's Day 2019 seems an appropriate time to post here. My four-year-old son S was eating a peanut … Continue reading speaking of things that are died
Welcome to Contrary Frog
Image credit: “Another "Neighbor” by Usonian is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 There's a Korean folktale about a young frog who never listens to his mother, always doing the opposite of what he's told. Then his mother falls ill and before she dies, knowing her son, she asks him to bury her by the river … Continue reading Welcome to Contrary Frog
