Something we've always seen in each other, as Asian-Americans, that is now better understood after this crazy week of Jeremy Lin headlines.
From an article posted after tonight's win:
“We are not Jeremy Lin,” wrote Edmund Lee, an Asian-American, for Capital, a New York-based website. “Rather, the triumphal narrative here is that the rest of the world now has some small clue about our own miscellany, our own idiosyncrasies and beliefs. We are not all Tiger Mom cubs. We are not so uniform and so blind to feeling and emotion and that we can’t swagger and sway. We’re not merely silent strivers. Some of us can dunk and drive and smile like everyone else.”
Me: Have you heard about Jeremy Lin?!
Mom: Who?
Me: The Taiwanese American basketball player! Everyone's talking about him!
Mom: Oh yeah, I think the Taiwanese news mentioned him.
Me: He's a big deal, mom! All of New York is watching him. And the newspapers are calling him Taiwanese American. It's so exciting!
Mom: Really? (pause) What's his mom's name?
It's a valid question. We probably are two degrees away from knowing his family (my parents immigrated around the same time, though to the East Coast).
I'm a newly minted Knicks fan. I didn't watch much basketball growing up, but you can bet I'm watching now. I can't tell you how awesome it feels to see a second generation Asian-American player on the New York Knicks (Taiwanese-American too!) and lighting the court up. It's all Pete (who is a long time Knicks fan) and I and our friends are talking about. To think, my nieces and nephews could grow up seeing a legit, maybe elite, Asian-American player in the NBA.
From the NY Times:
To illustrate his point, Park posted a humorous “Timeline for what Asian-Americans get called in pickup basketball” on his Facebook page. In 1980, it was “Bruce” (as in Lee). In 1995, “Jackie Chan.” In 2000, “Yao,” for Yao Ming.
In 2012, “Jeremy.”It's all of the following: lincredible, linnin', linsanity, linsational.
On New Years Eve, Pete, Sei-Wook, and I drove up to Storm King State Park in the Hudson Valley. It was Pete's idea (this is why I married him) to do a hike on this abnormally warm last day of 2012. The trail started off with a one-mile very steep climb to the summit where we had gorgeous 360 degree views of the valley. The rest of the trail was moderate to easy, with even better views of Breakneck Ridge and Newburgh/Beacon. We passed several groups of hikers, also commemorating the end of 2011 (and one very energetic dog). I love this whole region (known as the Hudson Highlands; the hills are over 1 billion years old and formed by a glacier, which left giant boulders along the trail, the same that are found in Central Park). What a great way to end the year. This could turn into a resolution....
And keeping with our mustache spirit, Pete and I stayed in for the New Years Eve countdown. I bought crab and filet mignon for a special dinner (okay, not as mustache, but it's once a year) and cooked a three course meal. For appetizer, I made crab salad on toast, bacon wrapped gorgonzola stuffed dates, beet and orange bites. For entree, the filet mignon was accompanied by roasted garlic heads, creamed spinach, and potato gratin. And for dessert, I made buttermilk panna cotta, Riesling poached pears, and a blackberry syrup from the poaching liquid. Our New Year's Day brunch included a crab hash and a chocolate waffle with strawberry compote and leftover fresh-whipped cream. Feast your eyes! It was delicious (and this is why Pete married me).
Another Christmas Eve party (our annual extended family get-together) in the books--in a few more years, there might be more kids than adults! Gabriel's grown so much in just a couple of months. He's walking now (like a drunk little man, slow but not so steady) and looks just like my sister. All my nieces and nephews are adorable.
Christmas morning, the kids patiently waited for Uncle Peter and A-Gong to wake up (counting, recounting, sorting, piling everyone's gifts together, judging the biggest, smallest, skinniest, fattest present...). Then, we ate turkey congee, played lots of Spot It, and watched Kung Fu Panda 2 again. Good times!
All the cousins, smiling Gabriel, Hadynn photobombing my brother's family picture, and Christmas morning.This past Thursday, my sister-in-law brought Jordan and Devin into New York City for the day. I met them at Grand Central, and then we ate at Patsy's, stopped by Dylan's Candy Bar, window-shopped, and visited Rockefeller Center. The kids were a little overwhelmed by the crowds (I was too, actually), but we had a great time walking Fifth Avenue and touring the Lego store. Later that night, Devin called to say I love you and good night (he melts my heart).
Playing with their food at Patsy's.
Spot Darth Vader! Devin in front of the Millennium Falcon.
A too big Jordan in the stroller holding our hot chocolates.
It's winter. It's official, not because we're almost at Christmas, but because I've finally busted out my long puffy coat. It's been a strangely, alarmingly warm winter so far. Hopefully that makes this post less late than it really is? (Update on 12/22/11: it was 57 degrees today. What is happening!?)
Pete and I started this fall by taking a quick trip to Portland at the end of September to visit our college friends Annie and Vivek. Pete's been to Portland before, but this was my first trip to the Pacific Northwest. Brooklyn and Portland are frenemies. I feel like these cities are in constant competition with one another: who has the better localvore/slowfood restaurants, the hipper indie population, and the cooler small independent boutiques? Needless to say, I loved Portland.
On our first full day, Pete and I drove to Silver Falls, a state park known for having over ten waterfalls (one you can walk behind too, so cool). The second day I toured the Columbia Valley Gorge, driving along its historic highway and ending at the famed Multnomah Falls (Pete was visiting digital media companies). Just gorge-ous. Later, we rented bikes and rode along the Willamette River. And all three days, we ate ourselves silly: Rogue brewery, Tasty and Sons brunch, and food trucks. Burp.
Silver Falls, Multnomah, and view of the Columbia River Gorge.
Biking up and down the Willamette River.
Famous Powell's Books (where we breaked), eats and drink.
With Annie and Viv, and the best part of the trip: Meeting Rosie the most adorable dog!A few milestones happened this fall. My brother turned 40, and his son Devin turned 5. Both birthdays kind of kicked me in the head. Crazy how quickly time flies. 
Pete has been reading Mr. Money Mustache, a blog about saving money and early retirement. And so we haven't gone out to brunch in months, and we've been eating in much more. Honestly, I'm enjoying all the cooking. Pete's enjoying all the dishwashing (not really, but he's making a few dishes of his own like kimchi fried rice below).
And finally, you know it's fall when trees look like they're on fire and when daylight savings arrives (and I leave for work before sunrise). Good bye to my favorite season. Now for the holidays!
