That really made me wonder if there really is this subliminal message that Asian American = activist; if that is being conveyed through the publication, do certain individuals feel marginalized that they don’t fit into that equation. And so having thought about it, I realized that there is just a phenomenological sense of being Asian American. The fact that individuals who encompass this broad group cannot define the term themselves suggests that identity is ineffable. Shakespeare had put it most eloquently in Romeo and Juliet–”a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. You are who you are. The label itself shouldn’t matter so much in that our inherent qualities encompass our being. So if you read hardboiled and feel empowered, great! If you feel left out, don’t! hardboiled is only a medium for expression of issues that certain individuals subjectively feel are important. The purpose of the newsmagazine is not supposed to characterize the issues that Asian American’s should be concerned about. If you don’t care about it–it’s ok. At least you know yourself well enough to see what you aren’t.

1. A slew of, get this, dancing rice bowls (Sponsored by a Lucky’s near you!)
2. A white woman in pseudo-Chinese attire and a Confucius mustache
3. Reallyyy cute little babies dressed as oxen
4. 123812930 Southwest Airlines floats/banners/cars… (we get it, you paid for the whole thing!)
5. DRAGONSSS :)
6. Dragons hitting people the face as they went by
7. Irish marching band??

However, I do have to give props to the “Get a Life” marching band (really, that’s what they’re called). They were pretty kickass… any tambourine openings, guys?

Did you know that 1 in 4  people in the world celebrates the Lunar New Year? It was only recently did I learned that the so-called “Chinese” New Year is not just celebrated by the Chinese. Apparently, it is also celebrated in Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and other countries in Southeast Asia. In my family, we celebrate the Chinese New Year primarily by feasting. Because I had to get back to school by sunday night, my family decided to celebrate/feast on saturday. We had some delicious homemade hot pot for the main course and tangyuan for dessert. As for the custom of receiving red envelopes, I can’t remember the last time I got one of those.

2009 is the Year of the Ox. Speaking of which, did you know that President Obama was born in the Year of the Ox? (1961) According to the Chinese zodiac, people who are born under the sign of the Ox are said to be hardworking, tolerant, persistent, and possess an innate ability to achieve great things. They are also truthful, sincere and rarely driven by financial gain.  So let’s all hope that President Obama really embodies these traits and make some positive changes to America.

Lastly, I just want to briefly mention that the stamp that the U.S. Postal Service has recently released in celebration of the Year of the Ox is designed by the Asian American stamp artist Kam Mak.  Mak was born in Hong Kong, and in 1971, his family moved to New York City’s Chinatown, where he grew up. He has been chosen to design the series of Chinese New Year stamps starting from 2008.

Next year is the Year of the Tiger, and New Year’s Day will fall on February 14, 2010. (on Valentine’s Day!)

Some upcoming events in San Francisco…

January 31
Miss Chinatown U.S.A. Pageant

7:30 p.m., Palace of Fine Arts Theatre
3301 Lyon St. at Bay St.

February 7
Chinese New Year Parade

5:15 pm – 8 pm
Market and Second Sts. to Kearny and Jackson
Highlights include elaborate decorated floats, costumed elementary school groups, stilt walkers and the 201-foot-long Golden Dragon “Gum Lung.”

(Source: sfgate.com)

While at a breakfast buffet during a recent family vacation in Cancun, my mom warily poked her fork at an odd-looking item on her plate and asked,

Mom: What is this?

Me: Oh, that’s a tamale.

Mom: Ta-Maui?

Me: Tamale.

Mom: Tamaui?

Me: No no no. It’s Ta. Mah. Li.

Mom: Ohh… tamale.

Dad: [looking up] Somali?

While the mispronunciation of words is nothing foreign to anybody who has attempted to learn a second language, my parents have certainly opened my ears to the wonders of pronunciation (or rather, mispronunciation). Most of the time, their slip-ups are mere phonetic intricacies, such as when they ask me how to set up a webcam with “Skypee” or mention that “cola bears” live in Australia—in these cases, I can easily recognize what they are saying and correct them promptly. But in the not-so-fortunate scenario, complete letters or syllables are dropped, and the resulting audible becomes a test in Scrabble. While we were in Cancun, my parents kept talking about an “o-bee-dian” souvenir that they wanted—it took me a long time before I finally figured out they wanted an obsidian statue. When my dad asked for a “car-uh-sun”, how could I know he wanted a Caprisun drink?

What intrigues me is that my parents’ mispronunciations don’t seem to be accent-related; my dad speaks seemingly perfect English, while my mom has a slight accent but is fluent in the language. But since they do speak solely Mandarin at home, my guess is that their reduced exposure to speaking English partly affects their ability to recognize the correct pronunciations of new words. I’m just glad my parents rarely encounter French words, with their silent ninja letters and all. They would certainly commit a verbal faux pas while trying to pronounce “faux pas”.