#is the fact that the city i grew up in had a high korean-american japanese-american and korean and japanese immigrant population | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thepropertylovers · 4 years

Text

Feature Friday with Matthew Chaffee

Happy Friday, friends. Though the weeks are running together and what day it is means almost nothing anymore, we’re so happy it’s finally the weekend. The last few weeks have been some of the busiest for us (feeling grateful for that) and we’re looking forward to relaxing just a bit this weekend. Do you have any fun plans?

This week’s Feature Friday is Matthew, who shares what it was like growing up in a conservative environment, the response he got from his senior high school class when he came out in front of them by reading an essay (!), and his advice for those struggling to come out. We enjoyed getting to know Matthew and we think you will, too. See what we mean below…

What is your favorite place you’ve ever traveled to and why? Unfortunately, my answer to this question isn’t very exciting. Growing up, my family never had a lot of extra money to spend on traveling, so most of our vacations consisted of road trips around the Midwest. Don’t get me wrong, I got to see some fascinating places and make great memories with my family, but I haven’t been anywhere particularly exotic. I have been to New York City twice, both times for a music department tour in high school, and I’d have to say that it’s probably my favorite place I’ve traveled to. It was so much bigger and so much more cosmopolitan than anything I had ever seen or was used to, so it was quite overwhelming. The sheer vibrancy of it all – the lights, the smells, the languages – was intoxicating. Attending a performance of Phantom of the Opera on Broadway would probably have to go on my list of top ten life experiences thus far. It’s definitely not somewhere I could live for any length of time, but for somewhere to visit, it was phenomenal. 

Where did you grow up? What was your environment like? I’ve spent the entirety of my life living in West Michigan, which, as you may or may not know, is pretty traditional and conservative. More specifically, I’m from Grandville, which is a city of about 16,000 located in the Greater Grand Rapids area. Dutch heritage and Reformed (Protestant) Christian values play a big role in shaping the culture of the circles I grew up in. I attended a Christian Reformed Church, and I was educated in a private Christian school where my graduating class consisted of approximately seventy students. My family consists of myself, my mother, my father, and my brother, who is five years younger than me. I am very close with my parents, and I’d say my relationship with my brother is typical of siblings with our age gap. Family and faith have always been central parts of my life, and I don’t foresee that changing. 

How did your environment growing up shape who you are as a person? Growing up in a pretty conservative area definitely had an impact on my younger years. I remember in elementary school, like many children, I would parrot my parents’ political views when “discussing” politics with my peers. However, with the growing revelation about my sexuality that came with puberty, my views slowly began to change. Another catalyst for my shifting views occurred in middle school, when a good friend of mine was deported to Guatemala due to an error in her parents’ paperwork. The injustice of it all really impacted me and opened my eyes to a world that before had been largely hidden. High school gave me my first opportunity to connect with international students. As I have always been interested in learning about different cultures, I quickly befriended them and even helped start my high school’s International Club, which provided opportunities for American and international students to interact and attend various cultural events. Finally, my Aunt Dawn and Uncle Tim have played a major role in exposing me to issues concerning social justice. Although both of them grew up in West Michigan – just like my parents – their life circumstances have provided them with opportunities not experienced by most of my other family members. Because of this, they have always stood out to me as being somehow “different”, more engaged and more vibrant and passionate than most people I know. As I grew older and began paying more attention to the things my Aunt and Uncle would talk about, I began to realize the value behind the causes they were advocating. When taken together, my friends, my family, my sexuality, and my desire to continuously learn and expand my horizons have shaped me into who I am today. 

What’s one interesting fact about you? Besides English, I’m speak conversational Spanish and basic French and Korean. I also can play piano and trumpet, and I love to sing (though I don’t know if I’m any good or not, since I’m too shy to sing in front of anyone). 

What is one thing you love about yourself? Learning to love myself hasn’t been easy; it’s a process, and definitely something I’m still working on. But one thing I’ve always been proud of is my imagination. I’m a dreamer, and my mind is a wild place. I keep a running note on my phone of all the random, crazy things I think up so that maybe someday I can make them happen. 

What brings you the most joy in life? Oh boy. There are so many things I could talk about here. I love being outdoors. In particular, I love to bike. Bike trails are plentiful where I live, and Grand Rapids has begun to install bike lanes, so getting around and finding new places to ride is a cinch. My favorite ride is from Grand Rapids out to Lake Michigan, which I do a few times every summer with my best friend. Other outdoor activities I enjoy are hiking and hammocking. I firmly believe that everyone should own a good hammock. In addition to outdoor activities, I love to cook and bake. My specialties are ice cream and gourmet mac & cheese. Someday I hope to write a mac & cheese cookbook and title it “MAC: The Complete Guy to Everyone’s Childhood Favorite” (M-A-C are my initials). I also make a mean hummus. I love to learn. I’ve spent countless hours on Wikipedia reading about the most arbitrary topics. Whether it’s German political parties or the Japanese folklore, I’ve probably read about it. Nothing is off limits. As a result, my mind is a veritable treasure trove of random and mostly useless facts. Finally, I find joy in spending quality time with friends and family. Whether it’s playing ultimate frisbee, exploring a new city, dumpster diving at Krispy Kreme (a tradition at my college), or having late-night campfire talks, I’m down for just about anything as long as I’m with the right people. 

How old were you when you came out? What was your experience like? My coming out experience was a rather long process. Pretty much as soon as I began to have romantic feelings toward people, I realized that I had them for both guys and girls. This was around fourth or fifth grade, and I told myself that it was normal, that I wasn’t actually attracted to guys, but that I just knew that some guys were really good-looking. Once I reached middle school, I started to come to terms with the fact that maybe I was attracted to guys. But I continued to tell myself that I was more attracted to girls. I did the whole “percentage” thing, where I was like, “okay, I’m eighty percent straight, twenty percent gay.” I first came out as bisexual to my friend Carly. Freshman year of high school I told a few more friends that I was bi, and it went over pretty well. Sophomore year I briefly dated a girl, then junior year I began dating another girl. That lasted for about a year until we broke up early spring of my senior year. The breakup gave me a lot to think about, but even while dating her I realized that something never really felt right; I could never really imagine myself with her – or with any girl for that matter – for the long term. After much soul searching, I finally accepted that I was gay. One of the last big projects senior year was the “Where I Stand” paper. This was an essay written by every senior for English class, and it was basically an opportunity to say whatever you wanted and to be really open and vulnerable and reflect on your life leading up to that point. I decided to incorporate my coming out into my paper. It wasn’t the central focus, rather more of a side note. Thankfully, my English teacher, Mrs. Hoeve (now Dr. Hoeve) was extremely supportive throughout the process. On the day when everyone shared their papers, I concluded mine to thunderous applause, which was especially remarkable considering the fact that most of my classmates came from the same conservative, Reformed Christian background as I did. On the whole, I couldn’t have asked for a better coming-out experience at school. 

How did your friends and family take it? Did you face any backlash? How did/do you deal with that? I waited to come out to my parents until after my graduation and open house in order to not burden them with the news. Finally, after the celebrations had ended, I let them read my paper. The fifteen minutes or so that I waited in my room while they read it downstairs were the most agonizing of my life, because I knew how earth-shattering the revelation would be to them. When they finally came up to my room, their expressions were pretty much what I’d expected – reassuring, yet somehow disheartening at the same time. They assured me that they still loved me, that they were proud of me, and that they were glad I had told them. Since that time, we have only discussed my sexuality on a few occasions. When I first told them that I was dating a guy, it was almost like coming out all over again; I think that revelation finally made my sexuality real to them. In the intervening time, I have seen my mom making definite strides in becoming more open-minded not just toward me but in general, which is great. My dad, though he accepts and loves me, is very set in his ways – though, to be fair, I have had fewer conversations with him regarding my sexuality. My dad’s parents disowned me when I came out to them, though that hasn’t had much of an impact on me due to the fact that I was never very close to them. My mom’s parents, on the other hand, have always been incredible grandparents to me, so coming out to them, especially knowing their stance on other issues, was pretty nerve- wracking. Incredibly, the news didn’t seem to affect them at all, and their treatment of me since that time hasn’t differed in the least; they are still the loving, generous grandparents I’ve always known, and for that I’m extremely thankful. My friends have all been very accepting as well, though this was to be expected considering I have always associated with my more relaxed, open-minded peers. 

What did you learn about yourself in the coming out process? One of the most meaningful lessons I’ve learned about myself in the coming-out process is truly understanding what I value and stand for. I was raised as a Christian, and my faith is still very important to me. If anything, it’s actually become stronger as I’ve navigated the ups and downs of my journey with my sexuality. I’ve talked with numerous gay men who, at one point or another, renounced religion for various reasons, but often those reasons involved the church’s negative treatment or exclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals. To me, this is heartbreaking. As someone who identifies both as gay and as a Christian, seeing the false dichotomy that has been constructed around these two identities is challenging and frustrating, because I personally don’t believe that such exclusivity has any place in either institution. At its core, Christianity is about love. Sure, there are endless theological arguments to be made, but I don’t believe that these are necessary in order for a Christian to be accepting of another’s sexuality. Indeed, many of my friends are Christians; these are the same friends who accept my sexuality and wholeheartedly support me. Furthermore, the professors at the private Christian university I attend vehemently assert that Christianity and social justice go hand- in-hand, and that this includes advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights. Seeing this kind of support coming from within circles that are often viewed as hostile toward the LGBTQ+ community has been so incredibly encouraging. Not only has this served to reinforce my identity as both a gay man and a Christian, but it has also provided me with confidence when speaking about these issues. 

What would you tell today’s LGBTQ youth who are struggling to come out in fear they won’t be accepted by family, friends, society? You just might be surprised. People you’d never expect to support you will rally around you and love you. It’s also possible that people who truly care about you, but who may not be supportive right now, will have a change of heart when they find out. Sometimes it takes time. Case in point: my own parents, who are still processing and learning about what it means to have a gay son. Know, too, that family can mean more than one thing. Friends are the family you choose, so seek out and surround yourself with people who will love and accept you for who you are, especially if your actual family doesn’t. As cliché as it sounds, it does get better. Sometimes you just have to put in the effort to make it better for yourself and accept the challenges along the way. 

What is a difficult or challenging obstacle you have overcame in your life, or hope to overcome? By far the most difficult obstacle I’ve had to overcome in my life has been my struggle with mental illness, namely anxiety and depression. I was extremely anxious as a young child, to the point where I would induce vomiting before any sort of performance or sporting event so that it wouldn’t happen while on stage or on the field. Looking back, I think my anxiety was to blame for a lot of missed opportunities. For example, I don’t view myself as a particularly athletic person. But is this actually true? Or did I just never really try for fear of failure? Anxiety also manifests itself in my relationships. Elementary school friendships were rocky at best, and college presented its own challenges with meeting people and putting myself out there. More recently, depression has been a major struggle in my life. As I mentioned, I struggled initially to make friends at college (though this has since changed), and as I result, I became very depressed. I saw all the people around me getting settled into their friend groups while I felt alone. There was a point where my loneliness led me to seriously contemplate suicide, and I believe that perhaps the only thing that stopped me was when a friend checked in on me and gave me a hug. Since that time, I’ve been working on slowly but surely moving my center of identity to within myself, rather than placing it in other people and their judgements of me. I am focusing on pursuing my hobbies and interests, taking time to care for myself, and accepting my emotions as valid while simultaneously analyzing them through an objective lens. By doing this, I have become less worried about maintaining relationships and instead have been able to be present and actually enjoy them while also feeling more comfortable in the times when I’m alone. 

Who is your biggest inspiration and why? My biggest inspiration is my mom’s sister Dawn. She is one of the wisest, most thoughtful, and most gracious people I know. I actually came out to her before I told my parents; due to her close relationship with my mom, I knew she would have some good suggestions for how to break the news to them, and that she would be able to help my mom process the news after the fact. To give an idea of the type of person Dawn is, here’s a little anecdote: When I worked as a Resident Assistant in college, I had a resident come out to me. I was thrilled and honored to have him entrust me with such a significant part of his identity, and I really valued the opportunity to walk alongside him in his journey. I mentioned to him the role Dawn had played in my own coming-out process, and he asked if she might be willing to offer some advice to his mom. I reached out to Dawn, and she willingly agreed. I came to find out later from this resident that his mother and my aunt had talked for over an hour on the phone. I don’t know very many people who would go so far out of their way to help and support a complete stranger. 

Where do you see yourself in five years? Oh boy. Honestly, I try not to plan too far ahead, because that can be dangerous for an overthinking dreamer like me. But if I had to say, five years from now I actually hope to be doing exactly what you guys (PJ & Thomas) are doing. I joke that my dream is to have my own HGTV show, and while the odds of that happening are slim to none, I’d be happy to flip houses and develop property even without a TV show. I also hope to meet the man of my dreams, get married, and start a family, though this might take a little longer than five years down the road to happen. My greatest fear is actually never finding love. I know it seems a little ridiculous for a twenty-one-year-old to be worrying about that sort of thing, but it’s hard when you have friends who have been in serious relationships for years or who are getting engaged. I have to keep reminding myself that people find love at different times and in different places, and that I shouldn’t compare my own journey with others’.

Any last words you want to leave people with? Feel free to share! Feel free to message me! I always love getting to meet new people and hear their stories.

Thank you so much, Matthew! You can follow him on Instagram here. Hope you have a great weekend, friends!! xx

P&T

4 notes · View notes

ruoxin · 5 years

Text

Hello everyone!!

I noticed that I gained a lot of new followers recently, and I realized I haven’t really made a post introducing myself like ever lol so I brain dumped 50 random facts about me and hopefully you guys know me better! ^-^

My name is Angela, but I also go by Ang/Angie/Leighann

I’m currently 22! I was born in 1997 (Chinese zodiac is year of the Rat since I was born before the Lunar New Year)

i’m quite short at 4′11″

My Myers-Briggs is INFJ

For those into Astrology: Aquarius sun, Sagittarius moon, Cancer rising

I just graduated last month from UCSB as a psych major with a minor in English literature!

Born and raised in the Bay Area ❤ Hoping to live in SF someday!

I’m ethnically Chinese/Dutch, but both my parents are from Taiwan

I have a HUGE birthmark from my ankle to my thigh (it’s insane haha but it faded a lot throughout the years)

I have 8 piercings! All in my ears (6 lobes, 1 tragus, 1 helix)

Only countries I been to: U.S., Mexico, China, Taiwan. Top of my bucket list include: Iceland, Santorini, Japan, South Korea!

I guess I’m bi? Still figuring it out tbh. But guys my type include: Doctor Mike, Andre Hamann, Nick Bateman. girls my type: Hyoyeon, Seulgi, Maggie Q, Lucy Liu

My fav (American) TV shows are: OITNB, Grey’s Anatomy, Burn Notice, and FRIENDS

My fav kdramas are: Encounter, City Hunter, IRIS, Legend of the Blue Sea

My fav movie is Breakfast at TIffany’s

I listen to a lot of indie/alternative (Foster the People, Lana Del Rey, Naked and Famous, Mumford & Sons), kpop (right now loving Red Velvet, SNSD and Gfriend), and classic 60s - 80s (Beatles, Motown, Frank Sinatra, etc.)

I got into kpop in 2009 but stopped listening around 2013-2016 and started again in 2017. My ult kpop group is pROoOBably SNSD and my (ult) bias is Hyoyeon ❤ PLEASE STAN HER AND LISTEN TO HER NEW SINGLE BADSTER WHEN IT COMES OUT JULY 20 6PM KST!!

I was raised Catholic but now I am spiritual but not religious. I believe in constantly working on becoming a better person and doing good.

My fav colors are: black, white, most shades of light pink, turquoise (or TIffany blue), and recently I’ve been obsessed with yellow! I can’t pick a single one!

My favorite time of day is prob dawn but I haven’t been awake for it in years lol. I do love twilight too because it gives me a weird nostalgic feeling

I speak English and proficient-fluent Mandarin (I prob can’t have a deep conversation about economics or politics or something lol but I grew up speaking it with my parents 24/7). I also took 4 years of Japanese in high school (but i prob forgot most of it welp). I’m going to relearn Japanese/Mandarin and hopefully start learning Korean sometime in the near future! I know the alphabet and some basics from my countless of hours watching kdramas lol

If you’re one of my female friends, I will melt if you call me these: angel, sweetie, beautiful, babe, hun, etc!!

I try to avoid mainstream things that are talked about too much because I really believe that things are overhyped and people can lose their identity by liking things just because other people are. (no hate, but e.g. BTS, Ariana Grande, Game of Thrones, Beyonce).

I LOVEEE receiving and giving handwritten letters

Speaking of, I change my handwriting every few years since I haven’t really found one that stuck yet and I have like 5 different types of handwriting from all caps to very neat print to almost calligraphy-like cursive

Games I play(ed): Pokemon (Silver, Leafgreen, Emerald, Ultra Sun, Alpha Sapphire, and Pokemon Go lol), Animal Crossing (Wild World, New Leaf, Pocket Camp). I also did my fair share of League but stopped before it consumed my life with toxicity. I was a support main who used Nami, Janna, and Thresh!

27 is my favorite number but I really do not know why lmao

My guilty pleasure song is Britney Spears - Toxic and I still haven’t gotten sick of it. Some favorite songs of all time are prob: Aretha Franklin - Day Dreaming, Tears for Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World, SNSD - Gee, SNSD - Genie, Amy Winehouse - Valerie

My best subject at school was English and I received an academic excellence award at the end of my junior year out of all the juniors in my grade in American Lit

When I was younger, my first dream job was an artist. then I watched Grey’s and wanted to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. Other dream jobs I had for brief moments: makeup artist, fashion designer, motivational speaker. Now I’m hoping to go to grad school to be an MFT/LPCC!

I love black cats and german shepherds! But I’m more of a cat person

If I could travel back in time I would want to live in 60′s New York or the 90′s.

Biggest turn on: someone who can hold a deep and intellectual conversation with me about meaningful subjects! Biggest turn off: someone who is extremely vapid and has no ambition whatsoever

My fav season is autumn!

The perfume I use is Marc Jacobs Daisy but I think I want to change to Versace Bright Crystal after I finish

I have perfect vision!

I did track during my prime teenage days (long jumper!) and my fastest mile was 7:20. I haven’t ran for years after that and I just started again 7 years later around this March, and I improved from around a 10 min mile in the beginning to my recent fastest at 8:09! I am hoping to get back in the ~7 mins

I also did a little bit of swim team, and I can swim all four strokes (free, back, breast, butterfly) but I mainly raced freestyle and butterfly!

I am literally the least picky eater you will ever meet. Take me to any restaurant and I wouldn’t complain. I also have a decently high tolerance for spicy things. The only food that I ever really tried and disliked is liver and the one thing that I probably wouldn’t ever try is something way out there like snail or scorpion lol

Speaking of food, I love food on the heavier side and tend to over season and over-sauce my foods lol. I love onion, ketchup, ranch, black pepper, soy sauce, korean chili spice (what they use for kimchi)

I can crack all my toes at will (it grosses everyone out xD)

My favorite book of all time is East of Eden by John Steinbeck ❤

My super power of choice if I had one would probably be invisibility

I played piano for 6 years in my childhood and I can still read notes, but veeery slowly lol

I’m kind of VERY unhealthily obsessed with (Japanese) stationery. Moleskine journals, Uni alpha gel, Pilot Dr. Grip, Zebra Mildliners, Staedler Triplus fineliners, Sakura Microns, Uni-ball signo, Pilot Hi-tec-c... yeah... i have all of those and more... yiKEs

My fav holiday is Christmas. I love holiday spirit and Sleigh Ride (I only accept the Ella Fitzgerald version) is literally such a good song??

My favorite non alcoholic drink is prob earl grey boba tea. fav alcoholic drink is whiskey!

I do not have any tattoos, but the top two I am planning are: “♒” behind my left ear, and “英” behind my neck (my mom’s Chinese name, but it also means brave/hero/outstanding person)

city > countryside

How I would describe my fashion style: tomboy, casual, chic, comfortable

#personal #50facts

2 notes · View notes

scngrias-blog · 5 years

Text

a KIM TAEHYUNG lookalike was strolling down broadway street in their louboutin dandelion spikes loafers. everett "evie" khang just had a birthday bash for his twenty-fourth birthday. he has been living in new york city for twenty-three years. i hear he tends to be hedonistic at parties, but also kind of exuberant. ( cismale & he/him. )

h-hewwo? is this thing on?? anywAYS hi i'm cait, i'm 24 ( internally 90 tbh ) i live in cst and i prefer she/her pronouns. NOW onto the good shit, aka the intro post about this bb right here. i will say that there's not a ton of super deep information bc i am still working on his background and whatnot but i have some general info and basics along w a bullet point bio / personality thing & some wanted plot ideas ( which are also v basic wow ). if you'd like to plot you can like this, hmu on tumblr ims or if you have discord you can find me @𝓬𝓪𝓲𝓽. ✨💮#7518 !! i'm literally about to walk out the door to go to dinner and a movies with my mom as soon as i'm done posting this so i won't be able to be on for a starter or plotting until LATER but please don't hesitate to hmu i'm v excited to be here !!!!

general information.

full name: everett khang.

nickname(s): evie, ev.

date of birth: october 10th.

age: twenty-four.

nationality: korean.

spoken languages: english, korean, chinese, japanese, french & spanish.

gender: cismale.

pronouns: he / him / his.

sexuality: bisexual.

faceclaim: kim taehyung ( v ) of bts.

background.

hometown: ulsan, south korea.

financial status: upper class.

occupation: socialite, trust fund baby & sugar baby.

education level: high school diploma.

biography.

born in korea though he didn't get to see much of it as his parents moved to NY right before he turned 2.

birth name was actually khang eunsu but his parents decided to make his name more 'americanized' for him due to the fact they were worried about people mispronouncing his name or making fun of him for it.

his parents were both well known for their skills in the medical industry. ( his father a surgeon, his mother a vet. ) and they happened to make quite a bit of money as a result.

this meant that evie never really had to lift a finger growing up, his parents buying him anything and everything he wanted.

basically bc of them he became a spoiled brat and thought the world revolved around him and well, they never corrected this behavior.

it wasn't because they didn't notice it, though. it was because of the fact they both were constantly gone, leaving evie with a handful of nannies that basically ended up raising him while his parents were at work.

so they tried to make up for it by buying his love and affection, getting the newest, latest and greatest of everything they could to try and make up for the guilt of leaving their kid in the hands of people who weren't his parents.

it worked, for a while. evie was content, a good student, never missed a day of school. the image of perfection for his parents, minus the sassy attitude and big mouth he'd had ever since the day he could talk.

but over the years, things started to change. everett grew up and started to realize what his parents were doing in buying him things or giving him money every single day they were gone and he started to realize that they were trying to buy his love.

this caused a pain in his heart as he started to think that maybe they just didn't want to be around him at all, finding every way to blame himself for them constantly being absent.

of course, it wasn't his fault, though. his parents work schedules were hectic.

but it still took a toll on him and due to that pain he felt, he turned to alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. anything he could get his hands on to numb himself ever-so-slightly, he'd buy.

that's when he started to ask them for more money, using their guilt of never being around against them only to turn around and spend it all on parties, booze & drugs.

they never found out about any of that, not once. evie kept that life and his life at home completely separate, continuing to excel in school while going on benders every weekend.

it wasn't until he turned 18 that they found out, his mother coming home to find a very drunk everett lying on the living room floor screaming out the lyrics to a queen song.

it didn't go over well, they threatened to take away everything if he didn't start trying to become an 'adult', threatened to stop giving him the money he needed to get his quick fixes if he couldn't provide for some things on his own.

so he started looking into jobs, though nothing stuck out to him. until he happened to stumble across a 'sugar baby' app. who wouldn't want to make money simply by looking pretty and spending time with someone else?

and before he knew it, he had quite a few benefactors paying for anything and everything evie could ever wants. cars, clothes, booze, drugs... it didn't matter. the money was flooding in and he loved every second of it.

personality.

a sweetheart, honestly. so caring and kind to ( almost ) everyone he meets.

however, if you piss him off, say something bad about him or a friend, or threaten him.. boy does his personality change like a flash of lightning. he'll go from innocent angel to someone who can rip you to shreds just by the words that flow from his lips.

but he could also physically hurt someone too, if it came down to it. his parents made him take kickboxing & self defense classes for most of his life so he knows how to take care of himself even though he tends to act like he's helpless.

extremely affectionate, will hug, hold hands, cuddle & kiss anyone and has no shame in that whatsoever.

a highkey shopaholic, he's shopping in store or online at least once a day, sometimes more.

outfits can go from a hoodie and sweats to a tailored three piece suit, very versatile and loves fashion so his 'look' changes a lot. as does his hair color.

has a tendency to be pretty bratty when he wants to be. ( which is most of the time )

one of the biggest flirts and teases anyone will ever meet.

a heaux.

extremely hedonistic and pretty much just does whatever he wants to do without thinking about how it'd effect him or the people around him.

loves drama.. will sit with a bag of popcorn on the sidelines watching it all go down w the biggest smile on his face.

loves to cook, cooks frequently and usually in abundance meaning he'll probably end up showing up with food like 'surprise!'.

him in a nutshell is that one tumblr post: due to personal reasons i'm baby.

plot ideas.

bad influence. ( on your muse. )

best friends.

childhood friend.

confidant.

current hook up(s).

drinking buddies.

drunken hook up.

enemies that used to be friends.

enemies.

exes who ended on bad terms.

flirtationship.

frenemies.

friendly competition.

friends that used to be enemies.

friends with benefits.

good influence. ( on everett. )

hate sex.

one night stand(s). ( past & present. )

partner in crime.

party buddies.

past hook up(s).

ride or die.

social media friends.

trouble makers.

unlikely friends.

#wealthyhq:intro #❝ ✦ ◜ᴀ ᴅɪғғᴇʀᴇɴᴛ ʙᴇᴀᴛ.◞ — OUT OF CHARACTER.

9 notes · View notes

rytshen · 6 years

Text

Reflections about visiting Southeast Asia

Don’t know where this post will take me, but hopefully there’s not going to be too many run-on sentences. I am writing this to capture all the thoughts I have during and after my trip to Bangkok, Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, Ho Chi Minh City, My Tho, Can Tho, Hue, Hoi An, and Hanoi/Halong bay.

There are no direct flights from New York City. The cheapest and manageable flights for Jenie and I were to get to and from Southeast Asia through Taiwan. For me, this connected what was going to be foreign for me with what was familiar. (I’ve been to Taiwan and my parents grew up in Taiwan)

My thoughts on Bangkok is that the city itself is not particularly foreign. My brain struggled the most with becoming comfortable seeing foreign written language everywhere, but a city with high rises and with more to come is a city to me. The thing that is most different here is the very ornate Buddhist temples and the adoration of the royal family.

One evening, we did manage to make it out to the Calypso Cabaret in Bangkok. The show itself gave me some ideas on how an Asian American drag show could look like. I am not entirely sure it sat well with me how they chose to diversify their cultural coverage in the show (e.g. arirang, geisha themed lipsyncing, and even hava nagila). Note that as much as ladyboys are known in Thailand, there are no gender neutral toilets and I didn’t feel like one could just decide to explore their genders there...so when there was subversive parts in the show, it felt like there was some room.

Before going to Cambodia, I knew about Angkor Wat and the killing fields. We made a conscious decision not to go the killing fields, but there is no way to escape the fact that the country has been devastated and the people are still struggling. If you are a tourist that may seem interested in buying something, the saleswomen in the market will talk to you -- that has not changed from 2010 (when Anthony Bourdain visited for a No Reservations filming). I bought a pair of swim shorts that I think was smuggled out of a brand name factory. The cows and dogs are all very skinny. The cops could stop you and want some money before letting you go. Our tour guide wants us to love the country enough to recommend more tourists to visit and thinks foreigners should invest more, even though he also said that the Chinese bought up all the forests and basically own all the wood. When we saw Ta Prohm where the Lara Croft movie was shot, he told us about how Angelina Jolie has citizenship because of all her charity. Honestly, I totally understand and if I had the means easily I would too. Cambodia felt like the adventure I was seeking all my life...It might be because Cambodians don’t know how to make boarding boats accessible for tourists and there’s wilderness everywhere.

We chose to explore north, central, and south Vietnam altogether because in the travel books each part of Vietnam seems to offers something unique.

We stayed at a Japanese 5-star hotel chain in Ho Chi Minh City. That area was absolutely not pedestrian friendly, and a stark awakening from the countryside feel of Cambodia.

At the Cu Chi Tunnels in the south, we got our first strong dose of national propaganda. Even if the tour guide acknowledges that there’s bias in the stories in every place we visited, there is definitely a sense of pride in the people of being resourceful in order to survive against all odds and different invasions from other countries. The folklore about how Halong bay came to be is also a reflection of that pride in the north.

In several parts of Vietnam, I got the sense that sexual tourism was a thing...especially when Hoi An have virginal women in white as a motif, and how Can Tho and My Tho are known for their beautiful women. Hoi An also had a theme of lanterns everywhere which made it a great romantic scenery in the night.

Despite that, since the markets are mostly run by women and since women participated in guerrilla warfare, women’s contributions are definitely very important to this country. In the women’s museum in Hanoi, they honored the contributions of women in the war. There was also a display of marriage traditions of different tribes, where some of the tribes were matriarchal in a way that was sounded like a mirror of patriarchal ones.

The Cham people are matriarchal. In Cambodia the history books have written them as Muslim. In Danang, Vietnam, the relics that archaeologists collected of the Cham people are Hindu. I had to turn to Wikipedia to really understand who they are.

On my trip, my conclusion is that Chinese people are everywhere. Chinese people have integrated themselves into Vietnam so much that it was not as interesting when the guides explain the significance of the old temples and architecture to me. And today many Chinese people are investing in Danang and Sihanoukville -- enough for there to be Sichuan restaurants with the storefront in Chinese. I think I read somewhere they’ve also intermarried with the Cham people. Confucius was also a strong influence in the north. And in Bangkok, 40% of the city is Chinese (even our tour guide was ethnically Chinese.)

(Koreans on the other hand have chosen Vietnam to stretch their dollars to live wealthy, so much so that there’s a district in Ho Chi Minh City that is nicknamed Gangnam.)

All the tour guides had differing views of other parts of the country and/or of the other country (there are definitely not so favorable feelings in Cambodia about Vietnam.) After everything I’ve experienced, I see more similarities than differences across all people, and that there are definitely atrocities from humans against humans...and I feel that this trip definitely demonstrates that of genocide, war, corruption, and poverty.

0 notes

omnipop-mag-blog · 6 years

Link

http://time.com/5255850/why-south-koreas-conservative-christians-dont-want-to-get-cozier-with-the-north/

Friday’s inter-Korean summit is renewing hope that North and South Korea could enter a new era of engagement. But one group of South Koreans has historically been uncomfortable with the thought of getting cozier with the North: Conservative Christians.

To make sense of that, understanding the peninsula’s recent history is crucial. The three-way conversation between the South, North and the U.S. might finally be heading toward peace and renewal, but it’s also informed by a complicated post-war legacy—one of military might, economic transformation and religious fervor, which has influenced how more conservative South Korean presidents have approached the North in the past.

For decades after the Korean War, which ended in 1953, Christian missionaries from the U.S. put down roots across the South. As Korean Christians began to prosper, they formed a powerful and politically-conservative cohort that is closely allied with the U.S. and staunchly opposed a renewed relationship with the North.

While this conservative political bloc would typically have been opposed to an Inter-Korean summit, U.S. President Donald Trump’s sudden support for engagement complicates those feelings.

“As long as the U.S. is supporting this diplomatic outreach, a lot of the people on the right can’t come out and oppose it openly. The one entity they trust in all of this is the U.S. government,” says Peter Ward, a Seoul-based columnist at NK News and a former researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Despite that trust, he says they are no doubt worried about what lies ahead.

A Giddying Transformation

Over the last four decades, South Korea has moved from a poor, largely agrarian society to one of the world’s largest economies. Its capital city, Seoul, has made its name as one of the most populous, technologically advanced cities on the planet. It’s a place where the subway is almost never late, where families live in “smart houses” and where school kids morph into flame-throwing superheroes at virtual reality cafes.

That same transformation also means South Korea has become a nation of much division, simply because Koreans’ lived experiences vary so much by generation. While the elderly likely lived through the devastation of the Korean War 65 years ago, the young may see no evidence of the war at all. The dramatic social and political change over a short period of time means that many middle-aged South Koreans grew poor and witnessed the bloody, pro-democracy movement that ended South Korean dictatorship in 1987. Meanwhile, South Korean millennials—despite the privileges of growing up in a developed, democratic society—are struggling with high costs of living and a newfound youth unemployment crisis.

Read more: “Our hands are already full.” For young South Koreans, the inter-Korea summit is just another thing to worry about

Today, South Korea’s conservative Christians—who are typically older in age — harbor political views that are closely tied to living through a war that painted North Korea as the enemy and the U.S. as a crucial ally. As one article in The Diplomat summarized it, “Following the Korean War, South Koreans came to view the Americans as saviors, and the Americans’ religion, Christianity, as a source of strength and wealth.”

“Having the talks at all is great. It’s about time. But how will it end? I just hope South Korea doesn’t get fooled by the North,” said Kim Jung-pil, a 78-year-old Christian priest from Gwangju. “South Korean people in general are very divided into two political sides: conservatives and the leftists. Among them, the conservatives are very concerned right now, while the leftists are optimistic.”

Not all Christians in Korea feel this way—in fact, many supply aid and religious materials North—but conservative Christianity as a whole still tends to be aligned with anti-Pyongyang and pro-Washington ideology. As a result, they also tend to dislike President Moon Jae-in. After the impeachment of conservative former President Park Geun Hye in 2016, Moon represents a revival of the South Korean political left—and a reopened era of dialogue and cooperation with the North.

“[Conservative Christians’] view on the Moon Jae-in government tends to be very critical,” says C. Harrison Kim, an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa who studies socialism in East Asia and North Korea. “They think he is just a puppet or just too pro-North, giving up everything for the sake of the North Korean leader.”

How Christianity Became Political

In 1945, about 2% of South Koreans were Christian. Today, that proportion has risen to 27.6 percent, according to 2015 numbers from the Korean Statistical Information Service. That’s much higher than the 15.5 percent of Buddhists, despite the fact that the Korean peninsula has a much longer history with Buddhist, Shamanist and Confucianist thinking (more than half of the country has no affiliation).

Christianity arrived to the Korean peninsula long before the 19th century, but its miraculous growth really started in the 20th century. Just 1 percent of the Korean population identified as Christian in 1900, but by the end of that century, proselytizing Christian missionaries—particularly from the United States — built an estimated 293 schools and 40 universities on the Korean peninsula, including three of South Korea’s most elite universities today.

During brutal Japanese rule of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945, many of Korea’s most famous freedom fighters were Christian (as was the father of Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s first leader). One could argue that this was the beginning of Christians notably entering a political circuit, but the true mainstream landmark was in 2008—when Hyundai CEO and devout Protestant Lee Myung-bak was elected as president.

Read more: What would Korean reunification look like? 5 glaring problems to overcome

“He represented not only the conservative party, but also the conservative Christians in South Korea. His church got incredibly wealthy and famous, and it was really a bizarre moment,” says Kim, the University of Hawai’i professor. “The whole Christian landscape in South Korea became really dominated by the conservative right-wing sector. The most powerful and wealthy leaders in South Korea came to be associated with these churches.”

When Lee took office, he largely shut down “the sunshine policy” era of aid to North Korea, which his more liberal predecessor—Kim Dae-jung—had started.

But now, the political tides have turned in South Korea once again, and the leftist Moon is working hard to set a new tone with North Korea. And in a time when conservative former-presidents Park Geun Hye and Lee Myung-bak are both in jail for corruption, it doesn’t appear as though conservative Christians will see an anti-engagement foreign policy anytime soon.

“I don’t hear them talking about taking back political power,” Kim said, “But I do hear them being really concerned about Moon Jae-in.”

This story is part of a collaboration between The GroundTruth Project and USC Annenberg’s Knight Program in Media and Religion, made possible with support from the Henry Luce Foundation.

The post New world news from Time: Why South Korea’s Conservative Christians Don’t Want to Get Cozier With the North appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

#IFTTT #WordPress

0 notes