GO TO CLASS!

Although it may seem trivial, good attendance for a class can greatly increase your chances of doing well in a course. Going to class is a good habit to pick up your first year and maintain throughout your college
career. Many freshmen either don’t heed the warnings of upper classmen who tell them not to skip, or, foolishly listen to some of the older students who assure young freshmen that for certain courses, attendance is unnecessary. However, most students who skip class, yet still do well are exceptions, not the standard. I don’t doubt that many of you have the
ability to miss class, yet still catch up when midterms and finals roll around, but why stress out while cramming, rather than keeping up with the material on a daily pace? Also, continual recitation and reiteration of the material will help you learn it more thoroughly as opposed to the couple hours or less that you spend learning it on your own. While class time that you utilize on other tasks may seem much more important, such as sleep, in the end, you’ll be a lot more thankful that you attended class than those couple hours of sleep you caught up on instead. Most professors, knowing that students choose to sleep in or skip, choose to leave out vital information on the slides they post on ctools, or purposely put only the bare minimum of information on their power points. Looking back on these slides right before an exam and not knowing what anything means or how it’s correlated, can screw you over – BIG TIME. So be wise! If you know your professor puts everything on the power point slides AND records his lectures, sure, you may be able to skip stress free, but why sit for hours
the day before an exam listening to numerous, dry lectures? Also, those who aim to go to any type of graduate school after undergrad NEED the recommendation letters from professors. How do you approach and have a
conversation with a professor with whom you’ve never attended a lecture of? For most students, unless you’ve received a full scholarship, tuition is costly, whether you’re in-state or out-of-state. For just in-state
students, it’s about $50 per class , not the overall course, but the class! Think about the money you waste by not attending. So for those of you who wish to both succeed in college and make good use of your
parents’ investment, go to class – it’s the simpler way to doing well! 

For more tips for surviving freshman year, check this website out: 
http://www.quintcareers.com/first-year_success.html


By: Michelle Park

UAAO Fall Retreat

Some of us do not really know too much about UAAO (United Asian American Organization), but you've probably heard about the different SAs around campus: KSA, CSA, TSA, VSA, etc. UAAO is basically the umbrella organization that tries to unite all the different Asian organizations on campus into one giant Asian community. They focus a lot on issues of social injustices, telling the different organizations about the most recent happenings and whatnot. 

We as KSA have unfortunately not been as involved as we have been in the past, so this year we are making an effort this year to get more involved with UAAO. Attending their annual fall retreat was one way I made a personal effort to get more involved. Because I've only ever attended church retreats, I didn't know what to expect. To be honest, I wasn't expecting too much: a lot of sitting around and talking about social injustices and the history of Asian Americans. But it was actually pretty fun. With all the interesting icebreakers, fun bonding activities, and thought-provoking topics of conversation, the retreat seemed to fly by. Not only was it a great education experience learning about relevant Asian issues such as Senate Bill 1070, an Arizona law aimed at deporting illegal immigrants, but it was also a fun time getting to meet new people outside the Korean community by playing games like balloon-fork volleyball. Overall, it was a good break from the usual mundane happenings at Umich, and I would recommend anyone who gets a chance to go next year to take it.

By: Dan Jun

Home is Where the Heart is

As October rolls around the weather starts getting colder and the leaves begin to change colors the weather creeps into Autumn: My favorite season of the year. Where its not to cold and not to hot but perfect hoodie and jeans weather <3. However, even though the weather might be amazing this is around the time I start to get extremely homesick and all I can talk about to all my friends here is about Georgia. For some reason Fall always takes me back to all the times I carved pumpkins with my girls and all of the Friday night football games all through high school. My freshman year, even with all the new things surrounding me in Michigan, October and November were my PRIME homesick months. I missed my family, friends, my car, EVERYTHING SO much but there wasn't much I could do except wait for the next break to come around. I loved my friends here and were so blessed to have found such a wonderful group of friends so fast but it didn't really help me forget about my home in Georgia. However, as a sophomore and even with my constant memories about home I realized how much Michigan has slowly become my home as well. My friends here have become part of my family here with it my favorite Fall memories. HAPPYYY FALLLLLLL :) 

By: Rebecca Yi

Michigan Football!

This might be the most obvious place to visit on campus, but I would really like to promote waking up early on a Saturday morning, gathering with fellow Wolverines, and going to a football game! I am ashamed to say that I have only been to 1 and a half games, as a senior. My sophomore year, I had season tickets and went to half of the first game of the season and became too tired to endure the game in its entirety and opted to go to Panchero’s during halftime…and never coming back. However, three weekends ago, I attended my first official pre-game and football game!

Seeing the entire campus, dressed head to toe in maize and blue Michigan gear, united by the most enthusiastic school pride in the country, and probably the world, is simply amazing. No other two colors go as well together.

 Last weekend, was our annual KSA Tailgate/BBQ! It was a ton of fun. We had delicious cheeseburgers, hot dogs, snacks, drinks, and of course, maize and blue jello shots, courtesy of me and Michelle Park. Everything, from the attire of our members to our solo cups were maize and blue, of course! It was great to see our members mix and mingle, while pumping themselves up for the great rivalry between the Wolverines and Spartans! I had a lot of fun by getting to meet a lot of new friends and had a lot of fun screaming the lyrics to “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls with my old friends. Even though we lost that game, my day was definitely a winner!

As a regretful senior, please underclassmen, make the effort to go to a game at least once this year! Get to know why we, as a campus, worship a guy called ‘Shoelace’. Go blue!

By: Sorah Park

Mia Za's Café

If you are looking for a quick and cheap, yet classy and sit-down dining experience, Za’s just might be your answer. Located on East University adjacent to East Quad, the restaurant shares a building with another business, making it easy to miss. If you can find it, however, you will be rewarded. The menu offers four main entrees: pasta, pizza, panini, and salad. The options are nearly endless from here. Although ‘traditional favorites’ are offered, there are numerous toppings that can be selected in a ‘create your own’ option. My personal favorite dish is the white wine pasta with chicken and shrimp, but I do not think I have ever heard anyone point out a ‘bad’ dish to me. The entrée alone comes out to around $7, with drinks and desserts costing extra. I really like the general atmosphere of the restaurant, and I often recommend it when grabbing a bite to catch up with a friend. If you are ever in the mood for Italian food on campus, I would highly recommend giving Mia Za’s café a go.

By: James Oh

Class Info- Asian Language 138- 1st Year Korean for Heritage Learners

Ok, so it’s a 5 credit class…but it barely feels like one. Really, it feels more like going to Hangul Hakkyo (Korean School) in-between you’re classes every day. To get into 1^st Year Korean for Heritage learners, you have to take a placement test and meet some bare minimum requirement. When I say bare minimum, I mean bare minimum. I haven’t been to Korean school since 5^th grade and even then, I was in the 3^rd grade level. If you can speak and understand basic stuff, you should be able to get in. The class is made up of people like you who understand just fine but have problems with grammar, reading and writing.

The teacher, Ko Insung, is one of the most beloved teachers by Korean students on campus.  I have always heard about him and wanted to take a class with him. He teaches the 1^st year and 2^nd year heritage classes so it’s really chill and laid back. He really just wants to see us get better at Korean.  There’s weekly vocab quizzes but, again, it’s nothing too crazy. He’s goofy, fun, and very passionate about his work.

As a way of getting us to learn to type better (and use Korean more openly) we set up class facebook accounts where we write on each other’s walls, update statuses and write postings ALL IN KOREAN! It took me a very long time to learn, but it is a dam effective way to teach people to type. Cmmon….Facebook as a classroom tool? Awesome. If you’re struggling with Korean or just ashamed that you’re not proficient at it (like myself), then I would 100% recommend you take ASIANLANG 138!

Last year’s class…

By: Sam Moon

Bed Intruders and Cute KorAm Entertainers

So, it was between Korean underground hip hop and up-and-coming Korean-American artists for this guest blog of mine. And quite frankly, I'm choosing to talk about Kor-Am artists just because Victor Kim is a lot nicer to look at than Sool J, especially at 2am. Haha...2AM!

Get it?

Anyways, while I love talking about mainland Korean music - be it kpop, rap, or indie electro, lately I've been totally re-falling in love with the amazing Victor Kim and dumbfoundead, thanks in part to their wonderful Youtube videos!

Youtube is the rising voice of all Asian-American artists (see KevJumba, who I?m going to marry even though he's not Korean, Nigahiga, David Choi, Wong Fu Productions, ISA, and even the reborn Jay Park, for just a few examples). And lately, the Kollaborations (<- OMG, I legit accidentally just spelled it that way --- wow, I have a problem . Look it up if you don't get it.) they have been creating are not only highly entertaining, but also help each artist branch out to the fan bases of the other. Or when a person already likes both artists involved, it makes them squeal with joy and jump around their room cements their love and adoration for the artists.

Now, I could go on and on forever about how this AsAm artist met that one there, and they both made a video with this other person about that, etc., etc., because I know way too much about the lives of Asian American musicians/comedians/dancers/etc. (I really am a total creeper).

But to keep it simple, the success of the Korean American and Asian American collaborations lies in the creativity, talent, and use of humor these artists employ. They use each other to become even greater than themselves as individuals. They capitalize on each other. They capitalize on the YouTube medium.

See the beginning of this NigaHiga video as a perfect example:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1DWrTnvyJQ

Furthermore, their individual multidimensionality plays a huge role in their capacity for success. Back to Victor and DFD, for example.

Though most people know Victor Kim from ABDC's Quest Crew, and that is undoubtedly where he got his initial fame, many of his most popular music videos are for his singing and guitar playing, rather than his bboying videos. The fact that he is talented in so many ways is what makes him such an asset to the community. And for dumbfoundead, besides the fact that he is an effing dope rapper, he also can incorporate both serious social issues and humor into his raps, oftentimes simultaneously.

Put these two guys together, and add some Antoine Dodson (another YouTube hit), and you get one of the most enjoyable and re-playable videos on earth...at least in my opinion.

How can you not drool over Victor's sweet voice, be amazed by dumbfoundead's creative rhymes about "spooning strangers?" and leaving "booties endangered," and smile at the funny faces they make throughout the video. On top of that all, their talent manages to turn a funny news spoof into -surprisingly- enjoyable music.

And, okay, even though guys may not *drool* over Victor Kim, they at least admire him and think he?s cool. Am I right? ...He even has a hot girlfriend! Haha

Now go check out Victor and dumbfoundead being awesome with their Bed Intruder REMIX! It's at your own risk though - you'll have the song stuck in your head for days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E1r83wkENE

You can also check out their latest joint video, "Liquor Store Blues" here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LE9iVtPEG4

While you're at it, check out some non-Korean Asian American artists in these two KevJumba/NigaHiga productions! (Watch out for the AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL Poreotics dance crew and KorAm musician David Choi!)

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV9PDliCFyc&feature=channel

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IA4p-CHw4Q&feature=channel

And just remember, long story short: Capitalize on other Asians. Capitalize on Youtube.

Hahahaha ><  I need to go to bed....

Peace.

Lyndsey Twining