Pick a place to visit this summer, any place in the world, and then imagine making a friend in that city, instantly. Now go onto www.couchsurfing.org, and on the “surf/host” page, select a region in the world, a country, and a city. Finally, click on, “List surfers on next page” and you’ll get a catalog [...]
Did she say dog?!? We are leaving Vietnam tomorrow, and I’m already starting to feel a bit sad and homesick even though I‘ll be back in May to volunteer at the orphanages through the Global Volunteer Network (www.globalvolunteernetwork.org). I can’t believe it only took two weeks to feel like home. Vietnam is different this time [...]
I am a freak! Sitting on the balcony in my favorite café in Korea, sipping on my warm cup of lavender tea, I am people watching. I see tall, thin, gorgeous Korean women walking gracefully on cushioned sidewalks, so as they walk in high-heels their knees won’t get injured. Looking from the outside, I did [...]
When I hear the word “vacation” I experience excitement and breathe a sigh of relief. Automatically, I daydream of adventures exploring a new city and relaxing days at a beach or pool. Work has vanished from my thoughts and my hectic, day-to-day life is on hold. But what we can sometimes forget is that the [...]
Hanging on the corner of East Pike Street and 12th Avenue, the Chao Bistro logo resembles an abstract interpretation of a Chinese name stamp. However, despite the aesthetic similarities, Chao Bistro is anything but Chinese. Having been home to two defunct restaurants, most notably 1200 Bistro and the short-lived Pike’s Bar & Grill, Chao Bistro [...]
When Antonette Mantanona first heard that her daughter, Kinescia, suffered from Ebstyne’s anomaly, a congenital cardiovascular defect that affects the heart, the mother was both shocked and fearful. “When they told me that replacing her valves was no longer an option and she needed a heart transplant, I feared for her. I was in denial,” [...]
We’re quite the travelers. Modern history tells remarkable stories of Asian migration around the globe. But what led to these intercontinental travels? Numerous factors such as war, persecution, and economic turmoil contribute to the expulsion and motivation of Asians out of their home countries. Vietnamese in France. Hmong in Minnesota. Chinese in Peru. How did [...]
Atul Gawande’s list of accomplishments is stunning. He is an endocrine and general surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Associate Professsor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, a MacArthur Fellow, a contributor to The New Yorker and author of three best- selling books. His first book, “Complications”, was a [...]
Amy: Your new book of poems is The Ginkgo Light. Many of the poems in the book feel panoramic to me. Diverse speakers cast their eyes over various landscapes, in many different senses of the word. The poems contain geographical landscapes of natural scenery; domestic landscapes that illustrate dynamics between lovers or family members; internal [...]
Why am I interested in poetry? I sometimes get asked this very logical question, and I have no straightforward answer. The truth is long-winded. As a kid, I loved the musical language and witty rhymes of Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss. As a teenager, I read and wrote poems to feel connected to a bigger [...]
