A Love of Chopsticks

It all started with the love of Chopsticks. This fascination of Asian cultures and traditions did not start with my namesake, but started with going to the local Chinese restaurant with my mom on Saturday afternoons after dance class. I had no idea how an encounter with Chopsticks would lead me to continue to be amazed at nearly every facet of any Asian culture.

My next obsession came from watching Bollywood movies on the local community channels, where I fell in love with their dancing, singing and clothing styles. For a while there I was everything India (and would sometimes obnoxiously brag about how cool my namesake was). It was also around the time that I developed an interest in  international events. My life suddenly became the United Nations of information. This new view of the world led me to explore not only the cuisine, fashion and film scene of India,  but it helped me discover a new love of music and fandom.

My following obsession centered on the world of K-Pop (abbreviation for Korean Pop Music). In Recent years I have fallen in love with this music genre. All in all, its Western stylized music that makes it easy to transition from music heard in America to music spoken in another language but with the same base root or storyline: Love & Heartbreak.

Artist 2ne1"Can't Nobody"

Throughout all of this, it is safe to say I have a major crush on Asia, in particular Japan. Although I have had interests in other countries such as Korea and India, none of them have ever promted me to learn their language. Based on this alone the language and culture of Japan is sure to keep me occupied for years to come.

 As I close, I encouge all of you to go out there and explore the different possibilities another culture may hold for you!