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xkimsquaredx
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Name: Kimberly in Korea
Location: Michigan
Interests: Destiny, freedom, and energy. You can hate me now, but I won't stop now......and room to BREAAATTHE...
Ok, for real? Writing, drawing, art, music, dancing, urban styles, Asian American and Gyopo issues, the growth and development of communities...
Expertise: shooting the breeze
Occupation: Engrish Teaching
Industry: English Teaching in KOREA!
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
5/6/2002
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| Here I am, in the lovely San Francisco and I don't know what to make of it all. Hipsters with Manhattan Portage bags in tow, and homeless bums with the cups jiggling with coins in a row. It is all quite exuberant, and somewhat overwhelming as I pass people on the street with cars honking, and cyclists jetting by. I am frazzled and dazzled and I'm not sure what to say to my mother, who turns and asks me, "So how do you like it so far?"
My dear mother is with me, here, in San Francisco during my first week in this city. We arrived about 5 days ago, and have been searching, oh so madly, but not yet quite desperately, for a decent place to live. I think I've seen about half a dozen places in such areas as the Mission, Hayes Valley, Noe Valley and downtown near Van Ness. They are all relatively close to the school I will be attending, California College of the Arts, but they aren't close enough, much like the parking spots that we find, while driving a beat up rental car.
"Hello, how are you? My name is XXX XXX. And I find your place to be quite lovely," I say as I feign my fake grin, and nod in agreement when I see the cracks around the toilet, the rust stains on the bath tub, and the years of mildew on the shower walls. "This is great!" I say, but my smile soon fades and a serious line forms across both my forehead, and across my lips. The two lines on my face seem to trap my emotions as I suddenly become still and quiet, like a volcano ready to erupt.
"Thanks so much for the visit!" I exit, never to return again.
Oh, how fun this lovely housing dance seems to be.. | | |
| I'm in Memphis, TN which is a rather surprising and somewhat random location in all of my friends' minds. But, really, it's been an eye-opening experience, as well as heart warming, and most importantly, a healing experience for me for a number of reasons.
I don't have to prove myself in this xanga entry, nor do I have to make excuses as to why I left Michigan for the Tennessee, and why I decided to pick up everything and move out to a city I've never been to before for approximately 6 months. I could have stayed in Michigan, worked for my parents, lived under their care and guidance, as well as been somewhat of a the prodigal daughter and helped my father through a transition into retirement.
But there is the other side of the coin, too, the side that says, "Hey, don't you have a career? Don't you have an independent life - a life of your own?" Who wants to be the 28-year-old still living at home?...Living off of 60-year old parents, an age where they should be taking care of grandchildren and their teeth. Well, I'm not that kind of girl.
So I loaded up my car, and drove about a dozen hours down to the mid-south and found myself as a "transplant": quite transient, but hopeful.
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| My journey to Memphis has lasted for approximately five months, almost six, and it's been moving quickly, faster than I thought.
Time is of the essence, these days, especially since during these past few months here I have been working two jobs, meeting new people, and I also turned 28! I'm now 3 years passed the quarter century mark, and two years 'till the big 3-0. I had a wonderful 28th birthday with the boyfriend who treated me to a weekend of birthday fun! It included my first Redbirds game, a night listening to the Dueling Pianos and Silky O'Sullivans, a vegetarian gourmet invention at the highly renowned McEwen's downtown, meeting my boyfriend's rockstar friend (one cool guy that I hope to write a music feature about in the Flyer), and, finally, finishing with a homemade dinner by none other than yours truly. Ha! All my roommates thought it was rather funny, endearing, too, that I was the one cooking dinner on my own birthday! It was my pleasure, for sure, as we all ate plenty of dukboki and bulgogi to leave us satiated for weeks.
I'm not sure what it is, but I've been contemplating everything from my what to wear that day, to what my purpose in life is. I feel like I'm back in college with such a state of mind, running around trying everything and living life day-to-day. But I can't say that I'm living day-to-day like I did back then, but I'm definitely trying to do different things, live healthy, breathe easy, and work hard - play hard, too!
I've been exposed to an incredible night scene, and day scene(!) in Memphis! People down South know how to party and just kick it. Perhaps it's just having a cool beer, or even a glass of marmalade? I kid, I kid. But the Southern hospitality has come into play. Is that how they got the name Southern Comfort from? Or SoCo for short. Ah, it's just liquour, but it it says a lot about the life and living here.
Memphis is considered mid-South, and I'm not quite sure what all the different regions are in the South, but it's a learning experience... | | |
| Hello hello! I am back and ready to blog! It feels like ages since I last wrote in this space. So here goes nada, er everything.
I am now living in city of Memphis, TN where I find myself being lulled by the sweet soft southern accent of Memphians and the smell of BBQ. Ha! If only I ate meat... Well, ok, so what's actually happening is I'm slowly and somehow quickly finding my way around this town. Not without the help of my lovely and sweet boyfriend, of course. For instance, during my first couple of weeks in town, we ran around the city looking for viable living solutions for moi since we somehow stumbled onto the idea that once I moved to Memphis, I would find my own place versus us living together. It made sense at the time. But after three weeks of living together (the time I've been taking to search for my own pad), we've been joined at the hip! And, now, thinking about my imminent move to my own place, luckily with roommates, it saddens me that we will no longer spend every waking minute with one another, well, aside from the time when we are at work. But it brings a tear to my eye. Sigh. Who will be there as I'm peeling the carrots? Who will wash down dinner with an Asahi with me? Who will be there... on the other side of the warm and cozy bed...as I reach and hug him before falling asleep... Though I will only be in the next adjacent neighborhood, a place called "Midtown" in Memphis, it seems so very far away. OH how a fifteen minute drive can suddenly seem like an eternity!
As for the job? I am in charge of the live music calendar for an alternative newsweekly in Memphis that is on par with the Voice, I think. It's hip, it's edgy and it's just, well, cool. Me likes it. I'm also on the "Fly-By" staff and I will also be working with another editor on other features that are related to music events and food. Yahoo! My dream job! Too bad it doesn't pay. What? Yes, I am only a intern. But! Heck, it's a great gig, nonetheless. However, I must look for a paying job as well.
Though, I think I am going through some adjustment woes, but life with the boyfriend has been amazing.... I'll have to go into that some more... | | |
| My first Unity was everything that I had hoped for and more! It was an incredible experience, but also incredibly exhausting, too! haha I think with all of the workshops, speakers, critiques, the career expo, recruiters, and night events there was something to be had by any attendee from any part of the US of A.
It all started with the AAJA Unity listserve, funny enough. With the listserve, I was able to contact potential roommates who could share my hotel room with me. Thank goodness! With making reservations a month ahead of time, my only option for defraying the costs was scrambling for roommates on the FB board, or replying to emails on the listserve. Luckily, I not only met a great first roommate, but I also met some WONDERFUL people while at Unity who were relieved to find a nice room to crash at in contrast to sleeping on the floor of a dusty Chi-town pad. Therefore, I had the good fortune of not only meeting and making some great friends, but spending some quality girl time with them, too, in the hotel room just shooting the breeze and catching up on some down time together in between Unity events and mischief.
So! My first roommate, Ki Min, was a 30-something Korean American freelancer who writes for LA Magazine and edits/edited broadcasts for NPR. She was an interesting gal who had great story ideas and a fabulously laid-back and chill demeanor. I first met her on the streets of Michigan Avenue as we caught up with one another in front of Neiman Marcus as our meeting point. Both of us fresh of the plane where ready for something new and exciting, yet safe and cozy. So from there, we went out to dinner at Su Casa, a quaint Mexican restaurant on Ontario, a side street off of Michigan Avenue.
At the restaurant, Ki Min and I got comfortable over margaritas and we ordered salads together. I got a cactus salad that was strangely delicious! It was a great first introduction to CACTUS as a FOOD! It tasted like a cross between cucumber and green pepper: a bit watery, and juicy, with a light spice to it! Yum yum yum. Later that night, we got the chance to meet up with SAFETY! I was SO happy to see him! And I was even happier to see him not only surviving but thriving in the Windy City. Later, we all had drinks at the BIG BAR, the bar of my hotel, and had BIG DRINKS.
The next morning was the start of UNITY, and BOY was it a CONVENTION that was replete with journalists of color! There were scenes of black, white, brown, orange, and yellow! Go YELLOW! I registered and got my program - the Unity Bible of events that had descriptions of all the workshops and their room numbers. I made my way over to my first workshop, which was about how to be a better investigative reporter. It was interesting, informative, and well-organized. I felt like a few of the topics were over my head, being that it catered towards reporting on the regional and national level, and here I am, a lowly reporting intern for a local newspaper.
Though I get to see the process of putting together a newspaper at all the levels, it's still only local news for a small town. We aren't covering Obama his campaign for change here. Though we are covering our township's primaries and getting a lot of heated "Letters to the Editor" and charged phone calls from local candidates who want their political ads in such a way!
Well, Wednesday was also the day that I met Josie, a 30-something Taiwanese American healthcare beat reporter from Maine. We instantly hit it off and that's when I KNEW that I made the right decision of choosing to go to Unity as my summer vacation. I knew that there would be a lot of "networking," which is good since I need to look for a job after this internship is over, but it can also get somewhat exhausting to try and just sell yourself. I knew I found someone I could be friends with. She had fast questions, and a fast mind! I was immediately charmed by her soft demeanor, yet sharp intellect. She quickly updated me about how the economic downturn was hitting the journalism industry HARD and how many journalists, like herself, were taking buyouts! Including the infamous Joe Grimm! The hero of the convention, and a mentor to many young journalists at the Detroit News and Free Press.
Thursday was another full day of workshops, and I got a chance to visit Ellen, a high school buddy who is a student at the School of Art Institute of Chicago! But Thursday was also an fun night of partying. Hooray! I hadn't gone to a good party in such a long time. At night, I got the chance to meet the Michigan chapter of AAJA, and more interestingly, the president of the chapter, Erin! Many of the Michigan members were from the Detroit News and Free Press and so they might as well have represented a Detroit chapter of AAJA. They were a funny and friendly bunch, and we all got to know one another a bit better at dinner, which was at Pan Asia Republic, a Japanese fusion restaurant. As we ordered different maki sushi rolls, I felt like they were all getting to know ME better since I was one of two new people to join the merry crowd. Though it's difficult to meet people who are apart of an in-crowd, I think I did my best! Then again, I hung out with a really nice Chinese American guy, Chris, who had a lot of interesting things to say about Asian Americans our age - those in their mid twenties - he filled my awkward silence to say the least.
Later that night we all went to the NABJ event at CROBAR. They say that the National Association of Black Journalists throw the best parties, and they weren't kidding! We, our group from dinner plus Flora, Erin's roommate from the New York Times, had a BLAST dancing to R&B beats of the evening. SO FUN. NABJ SO KNOWS HOW TO GET DOWN!
Friday morning was when the genius Catherine C. flew into the mix, and crashed with me and Amanda for Friday and Saturday. I so wished Josie could stay, too, but she already told a close friend that she would stay with her.. boo! Well, Friday and Saturday were more workshops, and I attended one for column writing, and breaking into magazines. Saturday there was an AAJA meeting, and a workshop for how to maximize your internship, who donned none other than Joe Grimm as one of their panelists! I was SO excited to meet him and I did! I got a chance to say "hi" and give him a well-deserved hug. Rumors were circulating that he took a buy-out, and it was true! There was even a good bye reception for him that was thrown by the Detroit News and Free Press. He even tagged me and stuck a "Hire me" ribbon on my name tag. ahah! He seems like the great guy that everyone says he is. I hope I get to talk to him in the future and just shoot the breeze and talk about life with him.
The workshops were SO very very helpful, especially for someone like me who is entering the journalism field a bit late, as I am 27 and at my first internship. I learned so very much from everyone at the convention, and truly appreciated the advice from the more experienced. I took a lot of notes down in my notebook, and I will cherish some of the talks that were given, especially the one given by the columnists! The editor from the Navajo Times was especially inspiring!
At night, we got to explore the city and Chris took us to places like the bar where all the Trib reporters hang out at! I think it was a GREAT experience for the younger girls in our group as they were wide-eyed and eager about the entire convention and with talking to seasoned journalists. I was just feeling somewhat old by that time. Perhaps it was my 27 years catching up to me, but I just clung on to Josie, and called it an evening somewhat early. I think I was just happy to be around good people and to see the Billy Goat - the Trib hangout! Woohoo!
Sunday was the MAIN EVENT: Obama as the convention's closing speaker. What an experience it was to see OBAMA LIVE. Enough said. | | |
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