Where do I shop for my snacks in Africa?

Whenever we are in Africa, we visit our friends in Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi.  On our way to Brundi, we spotted this little shop on the road side.  It takes about 2 hours from Butare, Rwanda to Buzumbra, Burundi, and I look for something to munch on during the travel.  Here is my Safeway in Rwanda that I stop to buy my stash.  Peanuts are tasty, just as finger bananas.  And price is great.  A little bag of peanuts costs a nickle, a banana costs a penny, and a piece of bread costs 50 cents.  

I am thankful for writers who put their heart and soul in their works.

 I just completed an entry and sent it to the editor. One of my secret pleasure is reading books by ethnic authors, especially by Korean Americans.  I have almost every book that are written by Korean Americans, except by Younghill Kang and Richard Kim. Through this project, I learned about their books, I am on a mission to get these books. 

Korean American Literature

The first wave of Korean-American writers consisted of two intellectuals who were born in Korea; Younghill Kang and Richard Kim.  Younghill Kang was truly a pioneer Korean writer.  He wrote two biographical novels in the 1930’s.  His first novel, The Grass Roof (1931), took American readers into an unknown, exotic Korea.  His second novel, East Goes West (1937), shed light on the lives of Korean intellectuals who were then living in exile from Japanese-occupied Korea.  Three decades later, Richard Kim published his first novel The Martyred (1964)—about the Korean War experience. The Martyred was on the nation’s bestseller list for twenty consecutive weeks and was nominated for a Nobel Prize in Literature. 

The second wave of Korean-American writers were the children of immigrants who came to America earlier in the century. They were proud supporters of the Korean independence movement.  Mary Paik was born in Hawaii in 1905.  She was eyewitness to her parents’ harsh life as laborers in sugar cane fields.  She told her mother’s story in Quiet Odyssey: A Pioneer Korean Woman in America (1990).  Cathy Song in Picture Bride (1983) captured the disappointment, resilience, and strength of the first wave of Korean immigrant women who came to Hawaii as picture brides.  Ronyong Kim in her book Clay Wall (1987) depicted the Korean immigrant’s life in early 20^th century California.

After 1990 there was a third and explosive wave of Korean American literature. The children of Koreans who immigrated in the 1970’s grew to adulthood with English as their primary language.  They provided a unique voice of growing up in two cultures.  Unlike wave one and wave two writers, these younger writers delved into issues of racism, gender, and power. The quantity and quality of these younger writers makes the current landscape of Korean American literature rich and interesting. There are too many quality authors to mention in all, but here is a short list of authors who grace the current literary scene as Korean American authors; Chang Rae Lee --Native Speaker (1995), Susan Choi -- The Foreign Student (1998), Nora Okja Keller--Comfort Woman (1997), Leonard Chang --Fruit ‘n’ Food (1996), and Patti Kim -- A Cab Called Reliable (1997).  The premier source of information concerning Korean American Literature is Dr. Elain H. Kim who is professor of Asian American Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley.

Will there be a fourth wave of Korean-American writers?  Perhaps, but perhaps not.  After three generations on American soil, people with Korean surnames may be writing no differently than their fellow American authors.

Further Reading

Kim, Elaine H.  “Roots and Wings: An Overview of Korean American Literature 1934-2003”, in Korean American Literature, edited by Young-Key Kim-Renaud, Grinker, and Larsen, 2003

Fenkl, Heinz Insu. “The Future of Korean American Literature”, Korean American Literature, edited by Young-Key Kim-Renaud, Grinker, and Larsen, 2003

Kim, Ronyoung, Clay Walls, Sage Harbor, NY: Permanent Press, 1987

Song, Cathy, Picture Bride, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983

Lee, Mary Paik, Quiet Odyssey: A pioneer Korean Woman in America, Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1990

Visit to Taiwan

I was a guest speaker at National Chung Cheng University tonight -- via Ellumiate.  I was sitting in my office at 5 p.m, CA time, and they showed up 8 AM at their time.  As you see on the wall clock, I finished talking at 9:20 AM their time.  I talked about ways to use blogs, wikis, Youtube in the classroom.  We need to engage students with their own learning,  help them to use technology that they already use outside of the classroom.  They are constantly connected with others with their mobile phone, facebook, and other social medias.  My teaching has been changed because of my experience of learning with these tools.  One of the skills we need to teach our students is to help them to aware of their own learning processes, thereby they learn to learn.

Safe Shelter

(May 2010 Newsletter)

The weather has been capricious lately. Yesterday, the afternoon sun warmed our condo up to 90 degrees, but this morning was chilly and damp. As I was settling into my armchair, enjoying my morning coffee with newspaper, I suddenly heard a noise from outside the window. I thought someone was scattering salt over our veranda. It was hail! But even before I stood to look, the hail turned into showers. This is a pretty rare happening in the Bay area.

Here in California, we are blessed with good year-round climate, but in many places, people live in the midst of harsh and unpredictable storms. Thunder, lightening, downpours, hail, and blizzards are commonplace. When I hear thunder and lightening, I know a storm is approaching. I quickly find the nearest shelter to weather the storm and stay dry. I know that if I ignore the signs, a storm might catch me and I might catch cold, or even suffer from pneumonia.

Just as we run into storms in nature, we run into storms in life. When you see a life storm approaching, what do you do? Do you run to a safe place? Or do you ignore the signs and suffer the damage it causes? As children of God, we are fortunate that we have a safe shelter – a hiding place – to run to in times of need.

Korean Poetry class

I think Korean language is a poetic language. In our last poetry class, we read poems written by Mr. Kim who taught the class. The title of poems are byul 별 하나, 별 둘, 별 셋.... the Korean word "byul (별)" is "star" in English. When we translate the byul into the English word star, the poem loses flavor. If the word is a person, the effect is almost like losing an arm or a leg. When I hear the word "byul", it brings up so much more than the word 'star". Same as the word hanul 하늘 and the word "sky" does. I can say so much more with few words in Korean. This is why I prefer to write poems in Korean, and prose in English. It has been fun to play with Koran words for a few months.

I miss my mother

I am planning to go to Korea in May. During this trip, I am going to visit my home town, a little village where I lived till I was 10 years old. My mother was a stranger to this little village. She was a refugee from North Korea during the 1950 Korean war, she fell in love with my father who was the first son of a rich land owner. His family rejected her with many different reasons; one of reasons was that she was a "modern woman" which means that she was exposed to the western thought. They called a woman a modern woman, if she was educated, wear a dress or skirts instead wearing a hanbok, wear a short-cut hair style, and she chose her own mate.

Mother has been gone for 5 years now, and I miss her more and more as the time goes by.

Modern Woman

You taught me how to walk

Like a lady

On our monthly outing to the village market

I would hop ahead of you

Hurrying to get to the bustling market place where

Vendors called my attention with their exotic wares

Pulling on your skirt

I was impatient with your measured walk

Instead, you stopped in the middle of the road

You told me to watch those scurrying people

Pointing how they walked

"Like a grasshopper, when a woman sways her hips and shoulder"

"Like a duck, when a women walks with her feet point outward"

Then you showed me the proper way to walk

"Step one foot over another as though you are walking on a rope in the air"

I watched you closely for the first time

On that dusty, gravel road

Lined with tall poplar trees

Wondering where the road leads

You were different even to my seven year-old eyes

You had schoolgirl hair-cut when others had rolled their hair up

You had a western dress when others had a hanbok

The villagers called you "modern woman"

With reverence and envy

Since that day, I have practiced walking straight

One foot over another like a tightrope walker

When I am afraid of falling

I think of that "modern woman" who showed me

A road out of that little village

A surprise visit

Peter, one of my former students, surprised me last week. As always, he finds a time to visit me whenever he is in SF. One of the best gifts for a teacher is to hear from graduates. Surprisingly, not many of them would contact their teachers after they graduate.

Peter took a class from me more than 10 years ago. While he was an undergrad student in the Broadcasting Department, he saw the future with digital media. His department at that time taught radio and TV programming, but his keen sense told him that he needs to go outside of his major to learn about new media. When he showed up in my multimedia course, my class was full. We usually can’t take undergraduate students in our department due to the limited number of computers in the lab.

When I told him that there is no room in the class, he looked so sad. I told him he should come back next week, and check if any student might drop the course. No one dropped. I told him that he has to work with his own computer and also I told him that he has to work hard to keep up with graduate students. He worked harder than anyone I knew in that course. I still remember, for his final project, he turned in a movie length multimedia project.

I was impressed with this young undergrad. To make a long story short, after Peter finished his BECA degree, he came to our department for his master’s degree in Instructional Technology. In 2002, he went on to get his from University of Idaho. While he was working on his doctorate degree, we stayed in contact for a while. I didn’t hear from him for a few years.

A few years ago, I got a phone call from him and said that he became a professor in Taiwan. He wanted to invite me to his university. That was in 2008. I visited Taiwan for the first time, I enjoyed the visit immensely. He arranged me to speak at several universities, and he made a plan for me to see the beautiful island, Taiwan. I enjoyed soaking in the famous hot spring, hiked on the most beautiful mountain that I ever saw, met so many wonderful students, and his colleagues who became my Facebook friends now.

Peter called me last Friday (April 2^, 2010), and told me he is in US for two days. I invited him to my home and we had a lunch together. Our conversation covered from work, research, family, electron gadgets, religions, travel, and food. What a blessing to have a friendship like this. We are planning to do a research project together, so I can visit Taiwan again. I hope that day will come soon. Mean while I need to pack my bag for a visit to Korea in May.

Nothing is forever

We had this orchid since January 1st. When I got it, there was one red flower on the skinny long stick like stem. The flower was red, so I thought it is red orchid. Then half red and half white bud popped a few weeks later, then several more half-breed, then finally white ones bloomed. Normally I don't care too much for engineered flowers, but this is an exception. This orchid graced our living room for the entire winter. I thought it is too beautiful to see it only by my husband and I, so we took it to our church a few weeks ago. Now everyone is enjoying it. One petal fell off from the stem last night, I am sure the rest will fall soon. Too bad that they are not going to last forever. Nothing does.

Living Life with an Eternal Perspective

I have been blessed by recent sermons about the resurrection of Jesus and about what will happen to Christians after death. Pastor Chris began the sermon last Sunday by showing photos of ten church members projected on the big screen. The congregation was asked to guess their identity. Some photos were taken 50 and 60 years ago.

It was an interesting exercise. People I only know as elderly were vibrant and beautiful in the photos. Some people were hard to guess due to the time gap between past and the present, but eventually we were able to recognize each one of them. The point of the sermon was that someday we will have a new resurrected body; a body that may look 30 years old and a body we will still recognize.

Lately, more than ever, I have been aware of my body changing. I can’t do what I used to do. No matter how hard I try, my physical body continues to get wrinkled and broken. I am glad to know that God will replace this broken mortal body with one that is new and immortal. This brings me to an important point. What I do in this life each moment affects my life to come. I learned from the sermon that I must live my life with an eternal perspective, knowing what is important.

EBBA Women's Retreat At Mt. Hermon - March 2010

Last year, I jokingly challenged Diane, if Diane do it, I will do it. I thought she wouldn't do it. But she was serious. When I got to the retreat at Mt. Hermon, she would not let me off. I try to give her all kinds of excuses including my recent foot surgery excuse. She would not back off. I arrived at the breakfast table on Saturday morning, hoping Diane would not be there, well, she found me. Before I even sit down, she hold my hand and led me to the registration table. I had to sign up. I am glad that I have a friend who challenges me and keeps me accountable. It was a great adventure. Check it out how much fun Diane, Latoya, Angie, Lisa, and I were having.

Stonewall Jackson at DC

My East coast tour is ending soon. I had great time in New York with my younger son last week, and this week I am visiting my older son in DC, my sister in Virginia, my cousin in Maryland, and also visited Stonewall Jackson memorial site. Tomorrow I will be leaving DC at 7 am. It is good to visit loved ones, and also it is good to go home and see loved ones there. I am so blessed to have time to travel this Spring.

Waiting at SFO

I am writing this blog at USO lounge at SFO. Chris retired from Army a few months ago, now we can use USO facilities at airports. The set up is quite good; internet is free, coffee and snacks are free too. I wanted to catch up with news but there are young men with uniform are watching TV, so I decide to seat at a computer station. I am glad to see that the US government is taking care of people who serve the country. My husband served this country for 20 years and one day. While he was in the army, our family also had to move around every 3 or 4 years. I was often left with my children months at a time while Chris was doing oversea assignments. I didn't enjoy the militery spouse life at the time, but now I am enjoying the benefits of being a millitery spouse. I can use internet for free at SFO.

Time to go to the Delta terminal. We are going to see that cute grandson of ours soon. Our plane leaves at 10:30 PM and we will arrive at JFK at 6 AM. I can 't wait to squeeze Lorenzo.

Now I know why I am not a poet

I was blessed to attend two workshops on creative writing this week. One was the local Christian writers workshop last Saturday in Castro Valley http://www.christianwriter.org/ and another one was a workshop given by a Korean professor/poet who teaches creative writing courses in Korea. He is on his sabbatical.

Last Saturday, I came home after all day workshop, giddy, inspired, and alive. I loved every minute of the workshop experience;listening accomplished authors' writing experiences, publishing tips from fiction and non-fiction writers, and finding ideas from everyday life. Somewhere, a long time ago, I acquired that I must commit words on the paper perfect at the first try, otherwise you are not a good writer. If you are a talented writer, you spin the words effortlessly. No matter how much you love to write, if you are not talented, you can't be a writer. I knew I couldn't spin my words effortlessly, so I became a teacher. These authors at the workshop told us a good piece of writing comes after many versions of editing. Words don't come effortlessly to them either. I was inspired to hear their struggles, and also I could related to their joy of writing.

Last night, I went to another writing group meeting, this was for Korean writers. Sixteen of us met in a Korean restaurant. For 3 hours, we listen to the teacher talking about famous Korean poets, and why the poet wrote this word and that word, and jumping from one topic to another. The teacher talked, students listened (in my case I pretended to listen). My enthusiasm for writing was ebbing away by the minute. After the three-hour lecture, I walked out deflated, and I just wanted to go home and go to bed. I finally realized why I lost my dream of being a writer. My dream was killed by teachers who talked too much.

I thought about these two different workshop experiences, and I remind myself two things, so I don't kill my students' dream. Don't talk for 3 hours. Don't treat my student as though they don't have brain to think.

Take Your Pick

I love Sunday school. I am able to learn God’s word in an intimate setting. Last Sunday, my Sunday school teacher started the class by asking us, “What do you do when you have a difficult decision to make?” We suggested, “Pray?” Then the teacher said, “You pick” and he wrote on the board.

P-ray
I-dentify God’s will
C-ommit to do God’s will
K-eep the commitment to God’s will.

Each of us makes decisions everyday, some big, some small and every decision requires our PICK. God’s will for us is to know Him and to grow in faith. And we get to know Him by studying His word. Our church offers three different Sunday morning Bible classes, a Wednesday morning Bible study, and a Wednesday evening Bible study/prayer meeting. Take your PICK. Pray which class you want to join, then keep your commitment to attend and to grow.

Experience and Obedience

At six o’clock on a Saturday morning, Chris told me that three people were registered to attend a Celebrate Recovery workshop in San Jose even though the church paid for four people. I recognized the name of the program but knew little about it and how it worked. My friend who is attending a local Celebrate Recovery program told me that it is like a Christ-centered “Alcoholics Anonymous” meeting. As Chris was preparing to leave the house, he mentioned the fourth open seat. I don’t know what came over me. I thought about the wasted money and I was also curious about the program. A minute after Chris left, I got out of the bed and drove to the church parking lot where they met for a carpool. I turned out to be the fourth person.


The founder of Celebrate Recovery introduced himself by saying, “My name is John. I am a believer in recovery from alcoholism” and his wife said, “I am Cheryl. I am a believer who is in recovery from co-dependence”. The couple shared their powerful stories. When John had acknowledged his alcohol addictions and gave it to God, then his recovery began. After he recovered from his addiction, he started Celebrate Recovery program 19 years ago as a member of his church. There were two things that stood out from the couple’s testimonies: first their experience and second their obedience. Because they had firsthand experience with alcoholism and its destructive ways, they established a ministry for people suffering in similar situations. Because of their obedience, God was able to use their ministry to change lives.


As I listened to different recovery testimonies, it so obvious that God uses our experience to serve Him. We have seen a need for a recovery program for our church. I see the pain that family members have to go through. I feel a fish out of water. We as a church pray for them. But that is not enough. God must call the right person into service. He or she would require both the first-hand recovery experience and obedience to the call.

Life is a vapor

Indeed, life is a vapor. In the past few days, one friend died suddenly with heart failure, and another friend got a notice that she has a cancer and she may not live more than a month. They both are pretty young (in their 60’s) and they were planning to do many things after their retirement. What a good reminder for me to live my life TODAY with the purpose. Each day is a gift and I need to use it to be counted.

Sing Hallelujah!

My son Simon visited us over Thanksgiving along with my daughter-in-law Dilia and my 9-month-old grandson Lorenzo. Each morning, Dilia would bring Lorenzo to our bedroom and put him between my husband and me. I would hold him for a while then Chris would take charge. Every time it was my turn to hold Lorenzo, I would make a sound like "Aah~~", then Lorenzo would open his mouth wide forming a perfect "O" shape. Then he would sing in a chanting monotone. When that was accomplished, Lorenzo would clear his throat and smile proudly. I think Lorenzo is going to be a singer when he grows up.


When I study Lorenzo, I see my son, my husband, my mother, and host of other family members. It is not just his physical appearance; also I see his father and his mother in his temperament. I've heard it said that no parent can gaze into the face of their new-born child and not believe in miracles.


When I see Lorenzo, I see his family resemblance. Then I think about a child who was born 2000 years ago in Bethlehem. There was a family resemblance with him too. God revealed Himself to us through His Emmanuel - "God with us". As I study Jesus, I learn about His Heavenly Father. I learn that the baby born in a manger was to become the Savior of the world; and like the heavenly host I sing "Hallelujah, Glory to God in the highest".

A Lady, not a Woman

We lost a dear church family member unexpectedly. Lillian Marsh went to sleep on the evening of November eleven right next to Al, her husband of 69 years. But on the next morning she woke up in heaven.

I saw her on the previous Sunday morning just before Sunday School. As usual she walked into the social hall with a gentle and warm smile with twinkles in her eyes. She was impeccably dressed as always. Lillian gave me a hug, and then walked over to her usual seat.

Exactly seven days later at the same spot where I greeted Lillian for so many times, Mable Miller said, “I can’t believe Lillian is not going to be here today. I couldn’t go to sleep last night, just thinking about her. She was a lady, not a woman. In heaven, I wonder if there are different seats for ladies. She was a really lady.” At her funeral, people were celebrating her life. Again, people said of Lillian “she was a real lady” and “she was a grand lady”. That label seems to be the best descriptor of her person. I was curious what would be the dictionary definition for the word "lady", so I looked it up and found:

1. a woman who is refined, polite, and well-spoken
2. a woman of high social position or economic class:
3. any woman; female (sometimes used in combination):

When Mabel used the word “lady” to describe Lillian, I’m sure she meant meaning number one. I’d like to add to the list of lady-like qualities. Beyond “refined, polite and well-spoken”, Lillian demonstrated: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” According to the Apostle Paul, these are the fruit of the Spirit [Galatians 5:22-23]. Lillian was a lady for sure, but surely she was a godly lady.

Learning is a party

I gave an assignment in my class: students create a podcast(or a vodcast) to illustrate the concept connected learning. I learned that when I step aside, then my students become more creative, and they learn much more than I could teach them with direct instruction.

Enjoy vodcasts:
The Knights of Connectivism
Learning is a party http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Pull and push

I stacked up books and binders in my arms to move them from my old office to my new one. I managed to stack them up as high as my head, and then I pushed the door with my body and walked to the new office. I tried to push the door with my body, but I realized that the door needed to be pulled open. I was struggling to hold on to the books with my chin and try to reach the doorknob with my hand. I thought I was going to drop everything. At that moment a passerby who saw me pulled the door for me; a small but kind act made a difference for me.

If we open our eyes and look around, we can see people in our church family who are carrying armfuls of heavy burdens. They are struggling. Their hands are tied. They need someone to pull that door for them to walk into a new room. Some have lost homes, some have lost jobs, and some have lost health. Just like the stranger who pulled that door open for me, I can be that someone who pulls the door open for others. A small, kind act can make a big difference in a person’s life.

This year, our church will be making Thanksgiving baskets to share with our church family who need our pull. You can bring food (see the list on the bulletin board) or contribute money to fill the baskets. Let us remember last week’s sermon on the parable of Rich man and Lazarus. The rich man saw the poor man’s needs, but he was deliberately indifferent. He committed the sin of doing NOTHING. Let us do something! Let’s share the burden of hurting members in our church family during this Thanksgiving season. Let’s give them some reason to be thankful.