Artist: Ken Oak
Format: CD
Release Date: February 17, 2005
Label: jd8 Records, LLC

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An Interview with Ken Oak

It’s been about ten years since the last time I went to the Korean Street Festival in Chicago and not much has changed since then. It’s still small, noisy and dirty. All of the booths seem to have been thrown together pretty haphazardly. Aside from the exhibitions that are scattered throughout the weekend there really isn’t a large display of Korean culture; unless you count the various array of food stalls that make up the majority of the booths lining the street.

The yearly festival is located near Chicago’s K-town on Bryn Mawr in between Kedzie and Kimball. The middle portion is where the booths and the Korean wrestling exhibition site are located while stages flank the outside. Small stores and cafes line the street on either side. The larger stage is the traditional stage where the, well, traditional performances are held, which includes Korean drumming exhibitions and even karaoke contests. The smaller stage on the opposite side is the contemporary stage where there are shows and musical performances geared towards younger audiences. This is where Ken Oak performed on Sunday as the final act of the Korean Street Festival.

It was a good night to be out. The heat wave that had enveloped Chicago earlier this summer had more or less dissipated and the evening was cool with a light zephyr occasionally running through the street. Earlier that day, I picked up a friend of mine who had attended Ken’s performance in New York City a couple of weeks prior to the Street Festival. Since I had only heard recordings, she assured me that he sounded much better live and you know what? She was right.

The event organizers had scheduled performances almost back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday for the contemporary stage. As the adolescent fangirls of the hip-hop group, IBU, filed away from the seating area, Korean young adults suddenly appeared to claim the vacant seats. A little before 8:30 p.m., Ken came out on stage and began tuning his cello and guitar. At exactly 8:30, he launched into “Analog Girl” and the performance was underway.

During the one hour solo set, Ken interacted with the audience, alternating between self-deprecating humor and explanations of the origins of his songs. I don’t know what the audience looked like from his vantage point, but from where I was sitting, we seemed pretty dead. Sorry, man. We’re Koreans from the Midwest and thus, we’re pretty inhibited. However, Ken forged on, accompanied by the quiet foot tapping and head bobbing in the audience.

Most of the songs in the set were from his first CD though he played a couple of new ones, one which was actually written just a few days prior to the Festival. Although he laughingly admitted that he may get some of the chords wrong because of its “new-ness,” there was no great hesitation in his playing. Around 9:30 p.m., Ken ended his set with his instrumental piece, “Soma.” Afterwards, Ken stayed around to sign autographs and have his picture taken with a few of his Chicago fans, including me.

Though the stage was small and the audience pretty undemonstrative, the performance was still highly enjoyable. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing him perform again when he swings by Chicago on his campus tour later this year.

A. Kim is the Halfway Senior Editor

AK: How did you get started or interested in writing?

DY: I started writing stories about midway through college. One Saturday, I felt like writing a story on my computer and I liked it, and that was it for me. When I wrote stories, I was trying to figure out my major and I wasn’t interested in my classes.
Growing up, I always told stories. I wasn’t one of those writers who kept diaries or journals, though. I also lied a lot when I was younger, which, in retrospect, is pretty useful as a writer.

AK: What did you end up majoring in?

DY: Government. I also majored in English with a concentration creative writing.

Author: David Yoo
Format: Hardcover, 294 pages
Pub. Date: May 2005
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books

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“Girls For Breakfast” Book Review

AK: And where did you go to school?

DY: For undergrad, I went to Skidmore in upstate New York and I went to the University of Colorado in Boulder for graduate school.

AK: When you wrote Girls for Breakfast, did you have a specific purpose or audience in mind?

DY: In terms of purpose, I don’t write with any kind of mission in mind. That one (Girls for Breakfast), especially, is emotionally very autobiographical. It’s loosely, or tightly, based on the area I grew up in. In terms of mission, if there is one, I would say, that as fiction, I’m trying to give voice to a sorely underrepresented demographic, the below average teenager. For example, in the movies, there’s a lack of below average characters and the same goes for literature and I thought it would be interesting to write about a kid who isn’t excelling. I don’t know, I guess I wanted a lot of different people to relate. I don’t know if I do this, but I was hoping to show some sides of an Asian American teen boy that aren’t shown very often. I try to be as honest as possible. Even though it’s fiction, I want to tray and show everything, warts and all.

AK: You already mentioned that this novel is emotionally autobiographical, but other than that, are you writing from your own experiences?

DY: Not much of it has actually happened. I tried to fill it in with little touches and references to places I’ve grown up in. I guess that makes it autobiographical. I wasn’t this kid growing up. But in his worst and best elements, I guess I show some flashes of myself. I mean, I never taught anybody martial arts.

AK: But I bet you were asked if you knew any.

DY: Yeah.

AK: Are you working on anything new right now?

DY: I’m actually working on the next one. This one deals more with family, which horrifies my mom. This one is more about two siblings. I guess the main character can be described as a choke artist; a kid who is failing to live up to his expectations. I guess what I wanted to do was, my first book was called Girls for Breakfast, and my second book, I would write about anything but girls.

AK: When is this novel’s projected release date?

DY: I think it’ll come out sometime in the spring of 2007. I’ll be finishing a rough draft sometime next week and I’ll be finding out how bad it is from my editor. Most of the main work comes after I turn in the rough draft.

AK: Is there a core audience that you write for? For example, on the book jacket of Girls for Breakfast, it says that this is a young adult/teen novel. Even after I read it, I couldn’t help but think that maybe, teen boys could relate to this novel more than teen girls or even older adults.

DY: Core audience, I don’t consider it just for teen boys. I feel there’s a universal theme for anyone who’s grown up feeling like an outsider. This character just happens to project his feelings of wanting to fit in onto girls.
That’s what drives some people to excel in sports or musically: They want to fit in.

AK: Since this is your first book and you’re a new author, not too many people are familiar with you. So, how would you describe yourself?

DY: Myself. As a writer or generally?

AK: Either, it doesn’t matter.

DY: This is really hard. I don’t know, it’s kind of a kiss of death to label yourself as a comic writer. Some of my favorite writers make me laugh. I want to write something funny but substantive. I don’t know, I like humor.
As a person, formerly but increasingly dedicated to work.

AK: As of now, what do you consider your greatest achievement? And you can’t say your book.

DY: My greatest achievement? Hmm…I know this answer…can I give two?

AK: I guess…

DY: My greatest is, I quit smoking. My second one is that I was a great cat owner. I think I may have achieved something better than that, though. There has to be something else…greatest achievement…I don’t have a real great achievement.

AK: How about for the future? What would you like to achieve, or what goals do you have?

DY: Is there some other goal? Well, in terms of goals I set for myself, I guess they’re related to writing. I want to keep writing, I want to write what I want to write and keep improving. And also, I want to learn how to play drums. Oh yeah, I have one other goal in life, to become a professional pool player. I’m painting a portrait of a bum who wrote a book.

AK: Who are your favorite authors?

DY: I should probably say my favorite books, because I could say, Laughter in the Dark by Nabokov instead of just Nabokov when I’ve only read the one book and not any of the others. So, books I read every year: Laughter in the Dark by Nabokov; Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain; The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurty; and a teacher of mine, Lucia Berlin, she was the best short story writer I ever read.
I just realized, I think every summer, I read Rosemary’s Baby. I don’t know why.

AK: How about humor writers?

DY: Salinger is funny because I like Catcher in the Rye. I like Dave Sedaris and all those famous guys. Hmm….I need to be looking at my bookshelf.
You know what I found funny recently? There’s this one show that was on for one season, Freaks and Geeks. That’s really funny.

AK: Have you heard of Arrested Development?

DY: Yeah! That show’s really funny. Election was also very funny.

AK: It was slyly funny.

DY: Yeah, slyly funny, that’s a good way to put it. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth is also pretty good.

AK: Would you ever release a collection of short stories, or do you see yourself primarily as a novelist?

DY: I started out writing short stories. When I was in college, I wrote stories. IN graduate school, I started writing a novel, but I kept working on short stories. Even now, I have a hard drive full of short stories. I also write screenplays and I’ve written a lot of non-fiction essays. And by a lot, I mean three.

AK: At the end of your life, how would you like to be remembered?

DY: At the end of my life, how would I like to be remembered? Well, I guess I would like to be remembered as a writer, preferably a good one. I’d also like to be remembered as someone who didn’t waste his life.

A. Kim is the Halfway Senior Editor

Author: David Yoo
Format: Hardcover, 294 pages
Pub. Date: May 2005
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books

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An Interview with David Yoo

Nick Park is your average teenaged boy. He plays sports, goes to school and is obsessed with girls. David Yoo’s debut, Girls for Breakfast, tells the life of a Korean-American boy stuck in the white suburban hell of Connecticut. At first reading, Nick appears to be nothing more than a colossal pervert with a preternatural precocity for female breasts. Truth to tell, I almost gave up on this book thinking that there was no way I could empathize with the character. It’s been a long time since I’ve been a teenager and the male obsession with breasts is incomprehensible. However, for whatever reason, I persevered and to my surprise, there was a hidden depth to Nick’s character. This novel is not so much about a boy’s fascination with sex as it is about coming to terms with your identity and your place in this world.

Growing up in the suburbs is a difficult experience for anybody, let alone a lone yellow face in the sea of white. Nick’s unique dilemma is that, despite his best efforts, he can never fully belong in the popular crowd that he desperately wants to be in while, at the same time, the other Korean American kids at church reject him for being too “white.” However, the sting of rejection is lessened as Nick finds himself identifying more with his friends from school, so much so that even he views the Korean Americans as foreign. As he realizes, with horror, that he is not white, he tries to hide his Korean features while congratulating himself for not being as ugly as the others.

Nick eventually comes to the realization that his obsession with white girls stems from an unconscious desire to fit in or to belong with the crowd. In his mind, if he had a white girlfriend, then he could be accepted by the rest of the popular group. Most of this novel is centered on Nick’s desperate, and often humorous, attempts to find the perfect girlfriend, or at least a girl who is attracted to him. Ironically, the harder he tries to fit in, the less he is accepted. After repeated humiliation, however, he later discovers that his attitude towards dating is the result of a lifetime of self-loathing and self-hate. It’s only when he learns to accept his identity and place in the world that the pieces finally fall into place. Nick Park, the insecure jester, is replaced by Nick Park, the confident young man.

The negatives: It’s great that this is a book for young adults, however, only a specific subset of teens will appreciate it and possibly empathize with the protagonist: boys. Also, some Asian American readers who do not have Nick’s problems with identity may find themselves offended by the negative portrayal they receive in the book. The Asians are characterized, through Nick’s eyes, as ugly and losers. The only time one is described as being even remotely attractive is when one of Nick’s friends is trying to convince him to go after a fellow Asian rather than a white girl. Even when Nick has his epiphany, there is nothing that repairs the image of Asian Americans, except Nick confesses that he becomes turned on by a glimpse of a Korean girl’s breasts, which is a perverse compliment.

The positives: This novel addresses the covert (and sometimes overt) racism Asian Americans face in the white suburbs. In a way, it offers a humorous explanation for why some kids end up being “whitewashed” while others remain more balanced biculturally. Since this is a novel geared towards young adults, it may strike a chord with teen readers who are also searching for their identity, especially if they happen to be, like Nick, the one Asian American in the white suburbs.

Verdict: Even though I felt I couldn’t identify or empathize with Nick, I found myself unable to stop reading until the very end. This is a novel for anyone who’s struggled to find his/her place in the world.

A. Kim is the Halfway Senior Editor

I was never a very angsty teen. High school, as an overall experience, was neither good nor bad. I went to a pretty decent school in the suburbs where I fit the stereotype of the model minority almost perfectly (Math and Science classes were my Achilles Heel). To tell the truth, I was the quintessential nerd. Not only was I in band, but I was also a member of the National Honor Society and the captain of the Academic Team. I wish I could say that I’m embarrassed at my dorkiness, but because of the great relationships that arose from being a part of these groups, I have no regrets.

College, though, was a very different experience. For the first time in my life, I was going to a school with other Asians. Sadly enough, most of them were in the College of Engineering so I didn’t see too many of them in my English and Psychology classes. Initially, I had applied as a Psychology major and after a year, I decided I liked English so I picked that up as a minor. Soon, I decided to upgrade that into a major and then made it my primary major. After four and a half years, three summers on campus, and thirty extra hours, I graduated with a Bachelor of Art degree, and Distinction, in English along with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. But anyway, back to my first day of school.

For us, classes didn’t begin until the middle of the week. The first couple of days consisted of stragglers moving into their dorms, students mobbing the bookstores, and various clubs ranged around the Quad trying to entice people into joining. During these couple of days, I would go out with my class schedule and a discreet map and memorize the locations of all the buildings my classes were in. That way, I wouldn’t be tagged as the newbie the following day. The next day, as I scurried from class to class, I saw various anxious looking students wandering around the Quad with their maps pulled out in front of them. Whenever I saw them, I gave a knowing smirk and hurried on my way. Every year, I smirked and even now, I’m smirking just thinking about all those poor lost little freshmen meandering around campus with their maps.

I didn’t enjoy college because I got to laugh at freshmen. What really made college a vastly different experience from high school were the classes. In high school, one basically has to take a core set of classes (history, math, science and English/literature). The classes are, more or less, chosen by the guidance counselor with very little input from the student. In college, aside from the few general education requirements, students are free to choose their classes. Admittedly, even these choices must be made within the limits of what’s required for their majors. Most schools, however, usually offer a range of classes even within the required electives.

A friend of mine once admitted to me that he thought that English majors probably enjoyed their school years more than other students because they have so much to choose from. I mean, think about it, there are so many authors and genres and time periods one can choose from. Compared to other majors, there is a broad range of topics to focus on in English. Personally, I have a fondness for Victorian literature and an especial interest in the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins.

But towards the end of my college career, I took a modern American poetry class as an honors seminar. That class was influential in opening my eyes to minority literature and poetry in the U.S. There are tons of fantastic poetry written by black, Latino and Asian poets and yet, they aren’t being taught in general English classes in high school or even college. Knowing this, I finally knew what I wanted to do: I was going to be an English teacher.

I have to admit, this decision was made somewhat subconsciously. Sometime my junior year, I had made up my mind to teach. However, I was never completely satisfied as to why I wanted to teach. You see, in high school, friends and family had suggested I become a teacher and I had always resisted. Rather vehemently, as a matter of fact. Now, I wanted to become a teacher. It was all very disconcerting. For awhile, after I had made my decision, when people asked me why I wanted to teach high school English, I would laugh and say, “I don’t like stupid people and I want to teach kids how to think.” This is still partly my reason for wanting to become an educator. But I still wasn’t completely satisfied with that as my motive. It seems very petty and selfish and egotistical.

Currently, I’m a second year graduate student studying for a masters degree in education and social policy at a school that’s ranked in the top ten for education. Though I can’t help feeling more loyal to the school I went during undergrad, I don’t hate this school, either. The campus is completely different since it’s in a more urban/suburban location than my alma mater. But what I like most about this school is that this is where I finally realized my real purpose for teaching. When I took the modern American poetry class, the seeds had been planted and they germinated and bloomed only recently. I want to teach, not only so I can teach students how to think, but so that I could expose them to literature they may not have read before. I mentioned earlier that I prefer Victorian literature/poetry over other genres. At the same time, I have this strong conviction regarding the importance of minority literature and I will gladly teach Gish Jen over Christina Rossetti.

School was never a horrible experience for me. Like I said, I was/am a nerd. Halfway through undergrad, I jokingly told a friend that I wouldn’t mind being a lifetime scholar. In my mind, going to school for the rest of my life wasn’t a form of torture, I would probably enjoy. Even now, I look back upon my days as an undergrad with more fondness than bitterness. With my career choice, it seems as if my dream of being a professional student will be realized. True, I’ll be a teacher, but if I want to be an innovative educator, I’ll also need to constantly study. At the same time, there is the distinct possibility of that I may attempt a Ph.D in English literature. But that’s all in the future. Regardless of whether I remain a high school English teacher or become a college professor, I know that I’m doing what I want. I’m going to be an educator and researcher, but most of all, I’ll be a scholar.

A. Kim is the Halfway Senior Editor

Rated: G
Release Date: May 19, 2005
Runtime: 117 min
Country: South Korea
Language: English / Korean
Director: Jeong Yun-Cheol
Starring: Jo Seung-Woo, Kim Mi-Suk, Lee Gi-Young

I was watching a Korean television show with my parents which focused on ordinary people doing extraordinary things. This particular episode, I remember showcased two individuals with physical disabilities: a man confined to a wheelchair and a boy with two prosthetic legs who was also missing fingers on both hands. These two were accompanied by a gasoo, or pop singer, in their quest to climb the American Rockies. The most poignant aspect of this show wasn’t that they succeeded after enduring hardships and snowstorms. It was what the boy said at the end. When asked if he would like to return to the US, he said, yes, because there, he wasn’t treated like an outcast. The other kids played with him and didn’t mind being near him. The gasoo also went into detail about how all public facilities in the US had ramps and railings to help people with disabilities and the audience murmured in awe and amazement.

This show highlighted an attitude that Koreans have towards people with disabilities. Most of the time, their solution is to keep all handicapped people hidden. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Because I was aware of this prevailing sentiment in Korea, it was a bit of a pleasant surprise to come across a film like, “Marathon,” whose main character is based on a real person, Bae Hyeong Jin, a twenty-something young man with the IQ of a 5-year old.

The very talented Cho Seung Woo (Haryu Inseng, Chunghyang) plays Cho Won, an autistic young man. As a young boy, Won had a tendency to act out in explosive tantrums. In an effort to help him, Won’s mother, played by television actress, Kim Mi Sook, enrolled him in a school for individuals with disability and also encouraged him to participate in various athletics as a way of dealing with the world around him. After a race in which Won places third, his mother decides to enter him in a marathon. In order to aid her son, Won’s mother enlists the aid of a washed up marathoner to coach her son. Like with any sport movie, the coach is initially reluctant and it is only the mom’s determination that forces him to agree. His disgust is evident in the ways he treats Won. Soon, however, he sees the spirit and enthusiasm Won displays for the sport and he can’t help but begin to feel committed.

But because of her overwhelming dedication to her oldest son, Won’s mother drives a wedge between her husband, who files for a divorce, and her younger son, who becomes involved with the wrong group of kids. Confronted with these challenges on three fronts, she soon becomes confused and unsure of herself and her decisions for Won. What happens next is a role reversal between the coach and the mother as he seeks to persuade her to allow Won to run in the upcoming marathon.

A film like this can easily give in to trite sentiment and emotion. The happy ending is inevitable and it’s only a matter of time before viewers experiences the “feel good” atmosphere that exudes from the conclusion. Luckily, Jeong Yun Cheol skillfully directs this film and prevents it from becoming overly sappy.

Despite Jeong Yun Cheol’s direction, this movie could have easily become unbearable if it hadn’t been for the superb acting of the principals. Cho Seung Woo could have easily given into histrionics and played his character in a stereotyped manner. Instead, he gave a nuanced performance that lent humor and dignity to the role. Kim Mi Sook played the part of the loving, frustrated, and slightly guilt-ridden mother with the right balance.

This isn’t a movie that is so saccharine that it makes the teeth hurt. It’s not a movie with a flashy script or impressive dialogue. This is a simple movie about people and human emotions. It is this simplicity and reality that makes this film so appealing.

A. Kim is the Halfway Senior Editor

Most of the worship-praise stuff is a bit too dramatic for my tastes and some of the Christian artists seem to be permanently stuck in the 80’s. But most importantly, none of the singers looked like me. It has become somewhat stereotypical for an Asian, especially a Korean, to be labeled as a Christian (remember that one scene from Better Luck Tomorrow?), and yet, there really wasn’t a major role model I could identify myself with. A couple of years ago, while I was still an undergrad, I was attending an enormous campus church that was mostly Asian. Somehow or other, I heard of several Asian Christian artists from the East Coast. I was a bit skeptical when I first heard of them because of my previous experiences with Christian artists (synthesizers? Really?), but when I heard their songs, my disbelief was shaken.

While it’s inevitable that their songs will contain certain elements of spirituality, the average listener won’t feel overwhelmed and then feel as if they’re being preached at. What I find most appealing is that, despite their Christian backgrounds, their songs are not full of “church-speak.” The songs are as human and real as those who wrote and sing them.

Each of these testimonies has been written by the artists themselves. All four can be found on the Broken for Good Record label. Booking information and contact information can be found at www.brokenforgood.com or on their personal websites. For their biographies and discographies, please visit their individual sites.

I would like to thank Kara Kim, Neah Lee, Jinny Kim, Minnow Park and Koo Chung for their cooperation and for taking time out to contribute to Halfway. I wish you all the greatest success in your futures and God bless.

A. Kim is the Halfway Senior Editor
Contributions for this article from Kara Kim, Neah Lee, Jinny Kim, Minnow Park and Koo Chung

A campus church is a very unique subculture, especially if it’s a church as big and as mono-cultural as the one I attended. True, I attended a large church at home (the biggest Korean church in Chicago), but it was at school that I was able to interact more with my peers and see what a 2nd generation Asian church was like. My experience is unique to myself. There is no way I can say that another person went through the same events with the same feelings I did. That said, these following pictures capture my experiences during the time I attended Covenant Fellowship Church (www.cfchome.org).

There are 10 photographs in this series.

A. Kim is the Halfway Senior Editor

Unfortunately, no other group faces discrimination by stereotyping as much as minorities (ethnic, economic, religious); and there may even exist multiple stereotypes within one minority group. For example, there are at least three main stereotypes Asian women are judged by. Asian men, also, labor under various stereotypes that are detrimental to their identity and dignity.

Long Duk Dong
Ahhh…remember the 80’s? This was the era of the big hair, heavy metal, questionable fashion and teen movies. While some of these movies are entertaining to watch, at least for nostalgia’s sake, there is one that will always be vilified for introducing the world to the stereotype of the Asian nerd. Sixteen Candles, starring Molly Ringwald, is primarily a movie about a teen girl who is turning sixteen but everyone in her family seems to have forgotten her birthday. For some reason, her grandparents have agreed to host a foreign exchange student, Long Duk Dong, who is decidedly very weird. Interspersed with the main character’s angst is the comic relief provided by the foreigner with his broken English and clownish antics.

Long Duk Dong is the personification of the Asian clown and/or the Asian nerd. There is an unfortunate tradition in Western civilization dating from the time of Imperialism where anyone not from the West is considered the “Other.” If you are not one of “us,” you are something “other” than us. From this, we get the idea of the foreigner as someone who has customs and personalities that are different from what we perceive as “normal.” Just by virtue of this definition of the “Other,” Long Duk Dong, the foreigner, is definitely abnormal. Furthermore, he is not merely strange because he doesn’t know the customs of the society, but he is the comedian, bolstering his differences with funny phrases spoken in broken English and chasing after the buxom white women. This last part also emphasizes the belief that Asian men desire white women; this is the basis for the “Yellow Peril,” which was a popular belief in the early twentieth century.

Aside from being the foreign clown, Long Duk Dong is also the Asian nerd. Though there isn’t much evidence for his “nerdishness” in the movie, we can draw our own conclusions regarding this facet of his personality. The student that Ringwald’s character has a crush on is the popular boy in the high school. He’s handsome, dresses well, drives a cool car and is well-liked and well-regarded by others. Long Duk Dong, on the other hand, is the antithesis of cool. Therefore, the opposite of being cool and popular is a nerd. Though this is a bit of a stretch, it’s not an implausible deduction. After all, I doubt many people walked out of the theater thinking, “Man, I wish I could be just like Long Duk Dong.”

Next Page: Fu Manchu and the Asian Gangster

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Pub. Date: April 2005
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group

Kazuo Ishiguro is perhaps most widely known for his novel, The Remains of the Day. Like this earlier work, Never Let Me Go is narrated from a first-person perspective by a narrator who is looking into her past and trying to make sense of her life, especially her childhood. We learn from the beginning that Kathy, the protagonist, works as a “carer,” or, someone who takes care of a transplant donor. She speaks of her skill as a carer, but not as a boast; rather, it’s a statement of fact. Most of the novel is set during Kathy’s childhood while she was still a student at idyllic Hailsham. There is a sense of candor in her recollections of her various friendships and relationships that were formed among the students. However, despite the candid confession, underlying the framework of words lies a certain darkness.

Through various hints dropped throughout Kathy’s story, the reader soon learns that Kathy’s England is not the same England that we know. Unlike his other narratives, except, perhaps The Unconsoled, Never Let Me Go is set in an alternative universe, one where cloning of humans is commonly undertaken in order to “harvest” their organs for future transplants. It is this strange society that Kathy navigates with her quiet and restrained narration. In her descriptions of the school Exchanges and Sales, Ishiguro creates a microcosmic society that is an echo of the world without.

The most science-fiction of his novels, the crux of Never Let Me Go focuses science and ethics and whether they can be reconciled. The children of Hailsham are cloned and raised with the purpose of helping out others with their bodies. But the truth is, the children suffer since they will inevitably die as more of their organs are donated. In a world where everyone is looking for a purpose, the students of Hailsham are created to provide a specific service, and of this, they are fully aware. However, this does not keep them from living out lives that can be described as extraordinarily ordinary which demonstrates that inherently, we are all the same.

A. Kim is the Halfway Senior Editor

“Where are you from?”
“Oh, Chicago.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”

In reality, I actually live about an hour north of Chicago. In fact, I live closer to the state of Wisconsin than I do to the City. I’ve never been a city girl; I am most definitely a product of the suburbs.

So, then, why do I keep telling people I’m from Chicago?

The first reason is convenience. Honestly, if you’re not from Illinois or even from northern Illinois, how many other towns and cities do you know besides Chicago? Instead of going into an uninteresting geography lesson, it’s just easier to tell out-of-staters that I’m from the city that they’re most familiar with. They don’t question it and I don’t have to go into tedious detail. We’re both happy.

Secondly, I love Chicago and I have no compunction about associating myself with the city. Truth to tell, aside from Seoul, I have never been to a major city. I’ve never been to New York City, never been to LA, London, Paris, or any other major city. And yet, I know that none of them will compare to Chicago.

Chicago is a city that was built on hardships and tested by fire. Literally. In 1871, during an exceptionally dry summer, a fire tore through the entire city, utterly destroying it. Hundreds were killed and even more were left homeless. Since everything had been constructed of wood, there was barely even any rubble; just some charred skeletons sketching out the locations of a building or two. It would have been so easy for the survivors to leave and start their lives elsewhere. However, they chose to stay and rebuild and by 1875, there weren’t any traces of the devastating inferno.

It was during this time that Chicago became the architectural wonder that it is today. Just as Christopher Wren gained renown in the aftermath of the Great London Fire of the 17th century, architects flocked to the ruined city on the shores of Lake Michigan with dreams of becoming famous. Architects like Louis Sullivan and the architectural firm of Burnham & Root designed the prototypes of the skyscrapers that make up the distinctive Chicago skyline today.

The nineteenth century was an era of progress and nations competed with one another, not with war, but with the World’s Fair. In 1890, Chicago was the successful claimant with a team of brilliant designers and architects, including Frederick Law Olmstead, the first landscape architect who had designed New York’s Central Park, and headed by Daniel Burnham, of Burnham & Root. By 1893, they presented the “White City” to the world. At this fair, Chicago introduced the world to the Ferris World and Aunt Jemima Syrup. Antonin Dvorak composed his “New World Symphony” in honor of the World’s Fair and Scott Joplin, the composer of, “The Entertainer,” and “The Maple Leaf Rag,” developed his famous ragtime while he working there. L. Frank Baum visited the Fair and was so enchanted he transformed it into the magical world of Oz in his story, The Wizard of Oz.

Unfortunately, the White City burned, one building at a time, after the end of the Fair, but the grounds were not left fallow. Today, where the White City once stood with Lake Michigan as its backdrop, is the Museum Campus, consisting of The Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium. Close by is Grant Park with Buckingham Fountain, the site of the famous Taste of Chicago, a sampling of the different types of food the city has to offer. Michigan Avenue is close by, with its fantastic array of shops and even closer is Millennium Park, with its Frank Gehry designed bandstand and the magnificent “Cloud Gate” by sculptor, Anish Kapoor.

Whenever I see Chicago set as the backdrop of a movie or television show, I inwardly squeal like a schoolgirl. I can’t help myself. You know the movie, The Fugitive? It’s one of my favorite movies. Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones were great together but the icing on the cake was that it was almost entirely set in Chicago.

I’m admitting I’m a dork here, but I love hearing about how O’Hare is the world’s busiest airport and that the Sears Tower is the world’s tallest (occupied) building. It’s probably just a case of me BIRG’ing (Basking In Reflected Glory-it’s a real phrase, look it up), but it’s great to be associated with record holders. When the Chicago Bulls won one NBA championship after another, that was the ultimate BIRG’ing opportunity.

Chicago is a wonderful city but I’m not so blinded by its magnificence that I don’t see the darker side of the city. During the Prohibition, Chicago was the city of Al Capone and other mobsters and bootleggers. Even now, there are neighborhoods that are more or less overrun by gangs and children can’t play out on the sidewalks because their parents fear for their lives. In one area, there are million dollar mansions on one side of the street and run down projects on the other. It saddens me to think that in a city with this much wealth, there are people who are among the poorest in the state.

But I feel strangely optimistic.

After all, this is a city that had already been obliterated once, only to build itself up again. This is a resilient city, a growing city. This is a city with a splendid history and a wonderful future. This is the city I call home.

This is the Windy City, the City of Big Shoulders. Inside its borders are the rich and the poor, the various ethnic enclaves, the best universities and also the worst public schools. It’s a city made of up opposites, but they all share one similarity: strength.

This is Chicago.

Recommended Readings:
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. A factual account of Chicago’s heyday as the site of the 1893 Columbian Exposition and the murderer lurking on the fringes.
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. The dark side of the meatpacking industry in turn of the century Chicago.
The Pit by Frank Norris. Fortunes rise and fall in the pit of the Chicago futures exchange in the early 20th century.

A. Kim is the Halfway Senior Editor