ITASA Stories: Connect, Inspire, and Empower

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TaiwaneseAmerican.org's HoChie Tsai sits down with Ada Chen, the 2013-2014 national president for the Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association (ITASA) to talk about the national network and their initiatives for the coming year. Their mission is to provide events and resources that explore and celebrate Taiwanese American identity in order to connect, inspire, and empower an organic, thriving Taiwanese American community. Since 1991, Taiwanese American collegiate students have organized…

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Stringing Together Success: An Interview with Vania King

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I chatted with Vania King, winner of the 2010 Wimbledon and U.S. Open doubles titles, during one of her breaks during the Rogers Cup in Toronto this summer. She talked about her unusual path to professional tennis, the challenges she’s faced and where she sees her life after tennis. Tell me a bit about your childhood and family, and how you got started playing tennis. Did you have any tennis players you admired as a kid? I was born in Monterey Park, Calif., and I grew up in Long Beach. I’m…

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Rediscovering Ramen: A Chat with Toki Underground’s Chef-Owner Erik Bruner-Yang

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[caption id="attachment_9985" align="alignright" width="199" caption="Photo by Hannah Colclazier"][/caption] Erik Bruner-Yang may have opened Toki Underground in Washington, D.C. two and a half years ago, but lines at the modern ramen shop haven’t gotten any shorter. A casual survey of Yelp reviews shows three or four hour waits on weekends—and customers willing to stick around. “We’re lucky that we have such a good clientele and that we’re busy every day,” he says. “We’re still…

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Life Sketch: Gene Luen Yang

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I recently had the honor of sitting down with Gene Luen Yang, author of the graphic novels American Born Chinese and Avatar: The Last Airbender, among other works. In his own words, he is a high school computer science teacher by day and a Taiwanese-Chinese-American cartoonist by night. Gene is currently the Director of Information Services and a part of the Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults (MFAC) program. I first heard of Gene in my Asian Americans in…

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"A Memories Chase" With Timothy Den of Ohvaur

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What's your story? It's the simplest of questions with the most complex of answers guaranteed. For many Asian Americans, the answer begins with our parents emboldened by the pipe dream of a better life for themselves and their family. The roads leading towards this dream were tumultuous for so many generations preceding us, wrought with unfathomable hardships and obstacles.  For Timothy Den of the Chicago and Miami-based independent band, Ohvaur, these roads were a reality he experienced first…

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“A Memories Chase” With Timothy Den of Ohvaur

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What's your story? It's the simplest of questions with the most complex of answers guaranteed. For many Asian Americans, the answer begins with our parents emboldened by the pipe dream of a better life for themselves and their family. The roads leading towards this dream were tumultuous for so many generations preceding us, wrought with unfathomable hardships and obstacles.  For Timothy Den of the Chicago and Miami-based independent band, Ohvaur, these roads were a reality he experienced first…

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An Interview with Julie Wu, Author of The Third Son

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Author Julie Wu has crafted a beautiful story in her debut novel The Third Son. It’s a compelling tale of a boy named Saburo set against the backdrop of occupied Taiwan and America at the dawn of the space age. TaiwaneseAmerican.org’s editorial director Anna Wu sat down with Julie to talk about the book, her inspirations, and her path to becoming an author. * * * Anna Wu: Julie, you have written an absolutely beautiful novel. For our readers who haven't read the book yet, could you give…

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Fashion Trending with Designer Jason Wu

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Outside of the fashion corners of Paris, Milan, London and New York, it isn’t often that one comes across a Fashion Runway Showcase here in San Francisco, let alone that of acclaimed New York-based Taiwanese Canadian designer, Jason Wu. Honored and ecstatic, Creative/Editorial Director (and professional photographer) Anna Wu and myself attended to cover this fabulous event hosted by the San Francisco Opera Guild and Neiman Marcus - Union Square at the San Francisco City Hall, on behalf of TaiwaneseAmerican.org. What…

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Ai-jen Poo: Inspiring Across Generations

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I had the opportunity to connect with Ai-jen Poo, activist and keynote speaker at the Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association (ITASA) East Coast Conference in New York City. Ai-jen serves as the Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and Co-Director of the Caring Across Generations campaign. She was named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People in 2012 and was featured on Newsweek’s 150 Fearless Women list. Learn more about her story of how her Taiwanese roots influence…

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Taiwanese American Ang Lee Wins Best Director Academy Award for Life of Pi

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TaiwaneseAmerican.org congratulates Director Ang Lee for winning his 2nd Academy Award for Best Director! On Sunday, February 24th, 2013, Taiwanese American director Ang Lee was awarded his 2nd Oscar for Best Achievement in Directing for his vision and work on Life of Pi (2012). It seemed to be a surprise moment for Mr. Lee, though many in the Taiwanese American community and among his fans around the world rooted for this win, the 4th Oscar recognition for the film and the most of any film in…

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