The Asian Dating Dilemma
It Boils Down to Self-esteem and Perception
By Harry Mok
"It was a simple conversation with an Asian male friend which I didn't give a second thought to at the time."

True Romance
My Boyfriend's White, I'm Asian -- Deal With It
By Amy Pang
"When I first met my current boyfriend, I didn't know what he looked like for four months, and because we were on a first-name basis only, I had no idea what ethnicity he was. I had found a posting on a bulletin board from someone looking for a pen pal, and the ad was so interesting that I wrote to him. We hit it off immediately."

Remembering Mom
Exploring my guilt over the sacrifices my mother made
By Pueng Vongs
"I was having coffee with two of my closest friends the other day when we happened on the topic of mothers. 'My father never even bothered to wait for my mother at the dinner table, he would just start eating without her. And my mother would just quietly take her place at the table without ever raising a single objection,' said Ann, who never sees her parents anymore. They kicked her out of the house 10 years ago after she brought the wrong boy home to dinner."

California Should Not Kick Bilingual Education Out of Schools
By Harry Mok
"My brothers and sister could be poster kids for Proposition 227, the California ballot initiative that would end bilingual education in the state."

The Big Egg Roll: Stereotypes still dog Asian Americans
By Harry Mok

"Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston was partially right when he said illegal campaign donations were 'only the tip of the egg roll' during Congressional hearings into questionable fundraising by a number of Asian Americans. Kingston's comment and Sen. Sam Brownback's 'no raise money, no get bonus' remark are attempts at humor that are indicative of the lack of sensitivity many have toward Asian Americans. We're still viewed as foreigners in this country and bad Hollywood stereotypes are pervasive, as the Congressional hearings so blatantly showed. That's the whole egg roll."

Single Asian Male Seeks Single Woman
By S.A.M. I Am

"It started off as a joke. At the urging of my friends, I filled out a personal ad since 1) I was single, and more significant, 2) I was seemingly sentenced to a lifetime of social deprivation. Or so it felt. What the hell, I thought, nothing ventured nothing gained -- or is that pained?

Funky Love
By Pueng Vongs

"The hiphop dance class I enrolled in to work off new Christmas poundage was not supposed to turn out this way. Perhaps it was just the exhilaration of moving around after long hours at my highly regimented, demanding job or the gentle guidance from her as she taught me how to do a proper pelvic roll. If I knew going in I would never listen to a Mariah Carey song the same way again, I would not have signed up for the damn class in the first place."

Coming of Age on the Vegas Buffet Line  
By Pueng Vongs

"Not too long ago I allowed myself a trip to Vegas. I've been known to get a little crazy at the blackjack table, so I've learned to keep my distance. It's actually been a few years since I've been to sin city, and this is my first time back after turning legal. I've been to Vegas more than half a dozen times, primarily before the age of 11. My father is one of those stereotypical gambling-crazed Asians and, before he discovered the stock market, brought our family to vacation in Vegas as often as he could."

Struggle for acceptance: Overcoming my stuttering  
By Dan Wong

"Today is the day of the oral report. Everyone in class has already made their presentation, so I no longer have an excuse for not sharing my material. I slowly raise my hand after the teacher asks if anyone else needs to do the oral. As I scoot the chair back to stand up, my ears begin to turn red hot. My uneasiness only gets worse when I sluggishly walk down the aisle towards the awaiting podium and start sweating on my hands and forehead. As I look up from the podium, I am startled by the forty pairs of unwavering eyes glaring at me, awaiting to be engrossed by my brilliance."

My Former So-Called Life
A teenage girl who attempted suicide finds happiness a decade later
By Amy Pang
"I didn't go to my 10th-year high school reunion simply because I wasn't in town. Then again, I wasn't dying to go either. It would've been strictly a mood-driven activity for me; I'd go if I felt like it, and blow it off if I didn't. After watching 'Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion' and 'Grosse Point Blank,' I felt that it was even unnecessary to attend, since between the two of those movies, the reunion experience was well-covered."

Top Ten Reasons to See a Film at the Great Star Theater in San Francisco

Dear ÜberAsian: I live with my parents, have a "bowl" haircut and haven't had a date in 10 years...
New advice column for the terminally unhip geek
By ÜberAsian

"It all became so clear to Mr. X one day in Chinatown. His pager didn't do alpha, his phone was still cellular, and he pined for the days when DV8 was still open. Sitting in his lowered Celica listening to New Order on the Blaupunkt, Mr. X suddenly realized he was no different than a mosquito trapped in amber 30 million years ago or that old man in the sickly beige Member's Only jacket. Young Asian bucks in Acuras who used to give him hard stares -- good for an Asian male -- now just smiled or laughed. He could see them mouth the words: 'Look at that chump, he must still think it's 1988.'"

Dear ÜberAsian: How do I achieve ultimate Asian Status?
Advice column for the terminally unhip geek
By ÜberAsian

"Dear ÜberAsian: What phone grants me ultimate Asian status? That new tiny Ericsson or the StarTac from Motorola? I've noticed the StarTac is very affordable now and have seen it as low as $200. I still have an old Motorola 550 flip phone, can I get by with that?"

Tips on Buying and Maintaining a Car
The column for the unhip Asian geek
By ÜberAsian

"Dear ÜberAsian: As an Asian car buyer what are my options? I was thinking about buying a Chevy Camaro or Plymouth. Will my Asian friends laugh at me?"

ÜberAsian: Imposter Asians and the Chopstick Dilemma
By ÜberAsian
"Dear UberAsian: My roommates are supposed to be Asian but neither of them have pagers, cell phones or Hondas. I thought they were Filipino like me. I personally have two pagers, two cell phones and a Honda. Should I be worried?"

Are Asians Computerphiles? And Why Didn't Chow Yun-Fat Get the Girl in His New Movie?
By ÜberAsian
"Dear ÜberAsian: I work at a Fortune 500 company on the East Coast and recently started noticing something that's been really bugging me. Everybody in our department always asks me for help with their computer even though I work in marketing and my job has nothing to do with computer support. People ask me how come their printers don't work, how to install a new screen saver, how to change screen colors or other questions that have nothing to do with my job. What gives? I always ask them how come they don't call the help desk and they always reply that they're stupid dumb asses."

MSG TV: Turner's Secret Plan for Hip Asian Network
By Jason Lloren and Gordon Mah Ung
"In mid-1997, media mogul Ted Turner's cable network began examining the possiblity of forming a broadcast network to stave off stiff advertising competition from Fox, UPN and the WB Network."

The Million Asian Men March was a Success
By Gordon Ung

"One Million Asian Men marched into the nation's capital Tuesday morning."

Fleeing Vietnam
One family's topsy-turvy journey to America
By Michelle Hong Quach

"As I slept, my oldest brother kissed me lightly on the cheek and vanished into the night with my three other brothers. It was 1978 and my four brothers were fleeing Vietnam in search of a better future in America. I remember mother telling me that my they had gone to the city seeking work. I had no idea my brothers were secretly stowed away on a tiny fishing boat. I was three years old and too young to understand the risk and danger involved in the journey to the United States. Their main motivation: freedom."

Take the Yak Train
A Slow, Cold March Toward Mount Everest
By Marcus Chan
"My trip to Nepal was no vacation. But it was an adventure - one that had to be earned literally every step of the way. Although Nepal is one of the world's poorest countries (average per capita income is about $170 a year), it is rich in natural beauty and friendly people. After some 22 hours of flying, dad and I landed in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu. There we were greeted with a tourist-visa line from hell, which was followed by a shouting mob of taxi drivers outside vying for our business."

Returning to Where I've Never Been
By Harry Mok
"Enping, China - For a few minutes my grand aunt is speechless. 'Shue King, Shue King (my mother's name)' are the only words she can utter after seeing my mom. Grand aunt Yan Jauk Wai, choking with emotion and clutching my mother's arm tightly, eventually finds the words to express her feelings. 'I've been waiting, hoping, so long for you to visit,' she says. 'It's been so long.'"

Family Ties: Strange But Familiar Faces
By Harry Mok
"Guangzhou, China - The face outside the bus window is vaguely familiar. His head is topped with gray hair now, not the shiny black that I remember from 18 years ago. It's my Uncle Shak. With him to greet us are my Aunt Chun and my cousin's husband Kuen, whom I'd never met before. We shake hands as if we are strangers, all the time aware of our connection."

Hong Kong is Home Sweet Home
By Harry Mok
"Kowloon, Hong Kong - It hit me as the doors leading out of the airport opened. I had arrived. The differences were immediate. First the 94 percent humidity and 90 degree temperature slapped me across the face - fogging up my glasses. Then, riding away from the airport in a taxi, I noticed the traffic congestion and throngs of people. Every building is 20 stories tall with hundreds of apartments. Each building crammed next to each other. Imagine San Francisco or Manhattan with 10 times the people, pollution and traffic."

Building China's New Dynasty
By Harry Mok
"Beijing, China - Walking up the steps of the Great Wall, I can only imagine the immense power and wealth of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Wall was built with stone blocks and stretches for more than 1,800 miles atop the mountains northwest of Beijing. Up to 30,000 workers at a time were employed in its construction."

Fear and Loathing in Taiwan
By Cynthia Cheng
"Every summer, Taiwan hosts about 1,000 students of Chinese ancestry from all over the world so they can study Mandarin and expose themselves to the Chinese culture. My dad has several friends whose kids went and they all came back telling me what an awesome time they had. An awesome time scratching out Chinese characters in the stickiness and humidity of a foreign country? Puh-lease! Most people donšt participate in this particular program to study."

Chronicles of Friendship
By Joann Back

"There are times when losses of faith are unavoidable, when doubts finally catch you in your long-standing marathon of belief. Such times are the darkest in your life."

Reflections
By Dan Wong

"It was a chilly Christmas day in San Francisco. I was dressed in a gray ski jacket and blue sweater. What I needed were Isotoners. I rang my grandma's doorbell and quickly jammed my hands into my jeans, shivering from the ice cold wind. Another Christmas, another visit to grandma's house."

Paper Cranes
By Joann Back

"'Just sign on the dotted line,' he said to me, sliding the thick sheaf of parchment across the mahogany table to me. I hesitated a moment, then put my hand on the stack and reached up to take the quill from him. I paused again, looked at him, at his charming smile, his neatly parted hair, his dark eyes. Black eyes. Smoldering eyes. Evil."