It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Ah, Christmas.  It’s one of my absolute favorite times of the year, but oddly enough my family is not too big on the holiday cheer.  We don’t put up a tree.  We don’t exchange gifts or visit relatives.  We don’t even go to church.  In fact, last Christmas we were quite Jewish.  We watched a movie (James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’) and had dinner at a Chinese food restaurant.  Maybe if I make these adorable gingerbread houses and brew up some spectacular coffee, they’ll start to feel more of the holiday spirit?

The Fun Theory

Can making something fun influence consumer behavior?  That’s what Volkswagen set to find out with its Fun Theory campaign, which involved transforming a staircase in a Swedish subway into a giant, working piano keyboard. 

Not only did this campaign encourage consumer participation, which in turn garnered media coverage and independent posts (like this one!), but it delivered the message that Volkswagen had wanted to send home all along: that their cars make driving fun.  Nice campaign, VW.

Check out the other elements of Volkswagen’s Fun Theory campaign, here.

Currently Reading…

Dear Ms. Gilbert,

I want your life.

Sincerely,
Minhee Cho

The Other White (non-kosher) Meat

‘Thou shall not kill.  Thou shall not commit adultery.  Don’t eat pork.’ 

‘I’m sorry, what was that last one?’ 

‘Don’t eat pork.  God has spoken.’ 

Is that the word of God or is that pigs trying to outsmart everybody?

                                 - Jon Stewart

The New Frontier

I love my archaic flip phone — it’s sturdy, reliable and gets the job done – but that doesn’t mean I don’t have bouts of tech envy when I long for a smart phone to call my own. 

Usually, this happens when I’m lost in NYC and cursing my terrible sense of direction or when I’m bored on my commute; however, lately I’ve been wanting a smart phone so I can participate in social media platforms, especially Foursquare.

For those who’ve never heard of Foursquare, it’s basically an online application where users can “check in” and announce their location at any moment – allowing them to connect with friends nearby, receive great deals from participating companies and get a whole slew of suggestions of new places to see based on where they’ve checked in previously.

Foursquare seems to be the next big thing in the world of social media, and I hate that only people with smart phones can fully access and use it.  I’ve been telling myself that this trend will pass, that it’s totally for status hungry college students who just want to show off where they’ve been, but I guess I was wrong because someone respectable just checked into Foursquare from, wait for it, OUTER SPACE!

If a NASA-trained astronaut finds it important to check into Foursquare during a mission to the edge of the galaxy, I guess it’s time for me to invest the $30 a month for a data plan.

Korea’s Kimchi Crisis

Ah, kimchi.  Just saying it can make my mouth go into drool mode.  It might not seem so delicious to those who’ve never tried it, especially when you read the English translation on most menus as “spicy fermented cabbage,” but this simple dish is a staple in Korean cuisine.  My mom ALWAYS includes kimchi with every meal whether we’re eating actual Korean food or going American and enjoying a nice pizza or plate of spaghetti.  She even brings out the kimchi at Thanksgiving.  It’s that crucial.

So imagine the utter panic that would ensue should there be a kimchi shortage?  Koreans dared not think of such a cruel world, but alas, it has happened in the motherland.  Torrential rain ruined this year’s Napa cabbage crop and essentially shot the price of kimchi’s core ingredient from $4 a head to $14 a head — a 350 percent increase, according to Time magazine.

Kimchi, which some are now calling keum-chi (the first syllable meaning “gold” in Korean), has become so expensive that the government has begun to ration it and has frozen tariffs on Chinese cabbage in order to help the price stabilize.

I knew Koreans loved food, but I had no idea that missing one side dish could lead to disaster.  Good thing our greatest enemy, Kim Jong Il, is also Korean, so he can’t use this kimchi-krptonite of sorts against us.

Who Says You Can’t Go Back?

Oranges might not make the most menacing opponents on the field (better than the Cornhuskers), but you have to admit that little Otto here is absolutely adorable!  And even though it’s only been about five months since I last saw him and my beautiful alma mater, Syracuse University, I can’t wait to visit as an official alumna in less than two weeks.

My grand return is a bit sooner than I had planned for sure, but I couldn’t resist when some of my successors at KASA (Korean American Student Association) and ASIA (Asian Students in America) arranged for my travel expenses as part of a networking event during Homecoming.  Thanks for thinking of me, guys!

Admittedly, however, I’m somewhat nervous about how this whole networking event will go.  It’s not that I don’t have my own share of life lessons and tips when it comes to finding a job — these past few months have definitely taught me more than I’d ever expected — but will students care about what I have to say when I’m still just an intern myself?  And only a few months older than some of them at that?  I guess we’ll soon find out.

The Social Network

I can’t wait to see this movie!  I don’t know if that means I have questionable taste (apparently, the fact that I like the CW’s new fall show, “Hellcats,” means I do), but I don’t care.  I haven’t been excited about a movie like this in quite some time and am determined to see this in theatres!

The topic is definitely interesting (I never knew there was so much drama behind making Facebook) and how catchy is that music on the trailer?  But what ultimately caught my eye is the cast.  Justin Timberlake AND Brenda Song?  The casting director definitely doesn’t mind taking risks.  Sorry, Disney alumni, but let’s be real.  One of you got hired because you’re an internationally recognized pop star and the other because you’re Asian and that girl from “Real World San Diego” is starting to get too old to play a college student.  Nowhere did I mention your acting prowess.

If anything, the entire hope of this movie making the grade seems to rest on the scrawny shoulders of Jessie Eisenberg of “Zombieland” fame.  Of course, he will be playing none other than Mark Zuckerberg himself, and he seems as lovable as ever.  But I might be biased.  I nearly had a heart attack when I saw a glimpse of a Jew fro on the trailer and the inevitable coinciding thought, ANOTHER Michael Cera movie?  My resulting adoration is therefore equal parts obsession and relief.

Conan Countdown!

Just 59 days until Conan O’Brien returns to late night television where he belongs.  Can’t wait to see the first episode!  If I promised to dye my Asian tresses orange in honor of our favorite redhead, do you think Conan would give me tickets to his show…and maybe throw in some airfare??  Come on, Team Coco.  Make it happen!

Currently Reading…

The everyday person has probably never heard of Henrietta Lacks.  I know I sure haven’t.  But she has effectively changed the face of science.  And she didn’t even know it. 

Henrietta Lacks was a black woman in the 1950s who had cervical cancer.  Doctors took a sample of her tumor without telling her and these “HeLa” cells ended up becoming the first immortal human cells grown in culture.  Researchers have used HeLa cells to develop the polio vaccine, study the atom bomb’s effects and work towards advances like cloning.  In fact, even though Henrietta passed away decades ago, her HeLa cells are still being cultured, packaged and sold across the globe as part of a multi-billion dollar industry.  Yet her family hasn’t made a dime and can’t even afford basic health insurance.  

Now I’m not much of a science person, but this story is so intriguing.  Author Rebecca Skloot not only provides Henrietta’s back story, but also touches upon the effects of racism which were still prevalent in Henrietta’s time and brings to light questions of medical ethics, often drawing comparisons to the Tuskegee syphilis experiment.

Consider This: “If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons — as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings.”