exciting things in the horizon

2011 is already starting off to be an interesting year due to the huge amounts and unbelievable frequency of snowstorms followed by icy conditions. The weather has proved to be difficult for everyone, from public transportation delays and closures, snow days, and shoveling endlessly. It has gotten in the way of my being able to get to New York once for my internship, but I am hoping that does not happen again.





Naturally, I am pretty excited to escape the winter cold and be able to walk outside without being terrified of slipping. The warmer weather will also bring many wonderful adventures. Though this summer will be an undoubtedly intense one filled with studying for the bar exam, there are many other things to look forward to.

This May, I will finish my last set of law school finals. Right after, my mother and I plan to take a cruise around Northern Europe (starting in Copenhagen, going to Berlin, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, and ending back in Copenhagen). I think this will be an amazing way to bond with my mom and go to some places that I have never had the opportunity to visit before. On May 22, I will be enthralled to participate in my school's commencement ceremony.

I will be spending my summer up until the end of July studying for the bar exam. Of course, this completely warrants having a celebratory trip after the dreaded examination. August, consequently, will be a great month. I will be moving to New York and have the bulk of the month to settle in and get the place in order. Then Hayes and I will embark upon our first real vacation, heading to Peru to visit the iconic Machu Picchu, the Amazon, and whatever else we can fit into nine full days.

I know that this year is one in which I am going to be challenged and need to be patient, but I also know it will be a year of so much growth, self reflection, and progress. I think I can handle whatever comes my way. :)

one of the only times that it's best to be flaky

In honor of Lunar New Year, I have decided to finally post about a fun food experience I had last month.

When I was at home this winter break, my boyfriend and I spent a lot of time traveling around California visiting relatives, friends, and places we used to frequent and love. Of course, California is kind of a mecca of great food and great fun; during our trip, we went to some amazing places and had delicious food. This list includes: my favorite Thai restaurant in Los Angeles (Palms), a delicious hot pot and sushi meal made by Hayes's uncle, my favorite Creole restaurant (Creola), great pho and bun bo hue, steak at Harris Ranch, pizza in Berkeley (Zachary's and Cheeseboard), Suppenkuche (known for "das boot" of beer), my favorite Korean food (So Gong Dong), artisanal ice cream (Ici, Bi-Rite, and Mitchell's), In N Out, and so much more. Even though we had all this great food, my favorite culinary experience by far was at my grandmother's house in Sacramento for Christmas.

My grandmother pulls out all the stops for dinner and makes many Hunan style dishes when we come over. I am always impressed by her cooking and I know Hayes and I hope to get tips from her next time we visit. This time, she taught us how to make scallion pancakes. This dish seems so simple to make, but in order to make it multi-layered and flaky, much time, work, and strength is required. Many companies and restaurants make these in a haphazard way and the pancakes still taste good, but they pale in comparison with regards to taste and texture.

Here is what you'll need (you can experiment with amounts of each based on your preferences):
-Flour
-Water
-Oil (roughly 2 tbsp. for each pancake)
-Salt (1 tbsp. to taste)
-Scallions (cut up, as much as you like)
-Surface to roll dough on
-Rolling pin
-Pan or wok

First, you will want to combine flour and water to make a thick dough. You can use your hands to knead the batter (My grandma's advice is to keep pushing the dough down rather than mixing it around) through and through such that there are no dry flour bubbles remaining. This can be left overnight to make sure that it thickens and leaves well.

The next morning, when you are planning to eat the pancakes, you will want to divide the dough into several parts, depending on how many pancakes you want to eat.



The key to a good pancake is making sure it has plenty of layers; this is done by taking the dough and spreading it very thin (and consistently the same thickness throughout). My grandma has a really cool pull-out chopping block that we used and also a standard rolling pin. Her advice is to flatten it out, going from different angles from time to time to keep all parts of the pancake the same thickness. Also, make sure to flour the top of the surface you are using so that the dough doesn't stick to it.

After the dough has been thinned out, you will want to sprinkle salt all around the surface; a tablespoon of salt should do for the whole pancake. You then will want to put about one tablespoon of oil on the surface as well; this can be distributed on the pancake easily with a basting brush.

Next, you will want the dish's namesake: scallions! You should have the scallions cut up already and you can take about a handful to put onto the pancake, making sure to distribute it evenly and not too lumpily.



At this point, you will roll the pancake like a burrito, making sure to keep the ends closed off so the oil does not seep out.




Now you will come across the second step to ensuring perfect layers. Here, you will take the "burrito" and keep wrapping it around while pressing down on the dough. It ends up looking like this, until you use the rolling pin to completely press it down.




After using a rolling pin to press the pancake down to its shape (which is much smaller in circumference than when you first rolled it out), you should be able to see the scallions peeking through.



You are now ready to cook this sucker. The best way to do this is to use a wok or a pan that is non-stick. You will need some oil and then will put the pancake in to cook, flipping regularly until lightly browned.

Your pancake is finally done! You can cut it as you please and repeat as many times as necessary to use up the dough you have made. I assure you that you will enjoy this wonderful breakfast treat, which goes well with some soy milk. It is not the most healthy option, but it is important to indulge once in a while.



Enjoy!

one more to go

My last fall semester of school has finished and I still do not feel an overwhelming sense of relief, which probably stems from being a little stressed, on edge, and sick for a couple of weeks. I have, however, been able to get an ample amount of napping done the past couple of days, which has been a wonderful treat.

Tomorrow, I head off for California, where I am sure to have a whirlwind of a break. Hayes will join me and we plan to visit Southern California (to see his extended family), Sacramento for Christmas, Tahoe, and the Bay Area. It will be great to have him spend more time with my family and see more of our home state together. I am also thrilled to spend our first Christmas and New Year's Eve together. The holidays are such a joyful time that have been marred by the perceived need to buy tons of presents and emphasis on material giving. This season should rather be a time for giving our time, our love, and our resources to those we love and to those in need. The holidays have lost the true meaning of being a time of hope and renewal, giving way instead to crowded parking lots and frenzied shoppers. I must say that I do love decorating the Christmas tree and listening to Christmas music, but I find more gratitude in the experiences than in the mandatory presents.

2011 awaits and will bring so many blessings: graduation, a move to a new city, (hopefully) plenty of travel, and more thankfulness for what I have been given.

not through me

The past few days I have been at the annual National Asian Pacific American Bar Association convention in Los Angeles, an event with over 1600 lawyers, law students, and members of the bench. The theme of the event was "Inspire" and it did just that for me. The convention was filled with informative panels, networking time, and plenary sessions. This year, the convention had its first Public Interest Summit to kick things off and that signified a strong emphasis in the APA community towards giving back and using our skills to help those who are less empowered to do so. The organizers expected only 20-30 people to come, but there was a much larger showing, which I found to be encouraging as I want to go into the public sector. The International Committee also had its own summit and I attended a panel entitled "Asian Litigants in the U.S. Courts," which offered practical tips on working with clients, juries, and judges in a way that preconceived biases of APA witnesses and attorneys would not get in the way of justice.

The other two days of the conference, I attended panels entitled, "Let Me Break It Down For You" and "Trial Practice and Litigation Skills," both very practical discussions about making complicated legal issues more accessible to laypersons and about being effective in the courtroom. It was great to hear experienced litigators, judges, and even jury consultants speak about what works best and how APA lawyers can develop their own lawyering styles that enable them to reach their audience in the most effective ways. I, for one, know that as a very petite Asian American woman, I worry about how to put my best foot forward and seeing that others have come before and paved the way, I know that I can be a strong advocate as well.

During the conference, I had the opportunity to learn about some interesting cases involving Asian defendants, including the senseless murder of Vincent Chin, the treason trial against Iva Toguri D'Aquino (who was nicknamed "Tokyo Rose"), and the question of citizenship for Wong Kim Ark. These cases really reflected that Asians have not always been treated fairly especially in difficult economic or war-ridden times. The take-home message was that, as APA lawyers, we need to fight for the rights of our community by putting our talents and degrees to good use. I think the first way we can do this is by making ourselves aware of the injustices that have occurred and finding out what problems our communities face that we can help with through pro bono work or even just teaching others by example, defying prejudicial stereotypes that may exist.

Through the multi-day conference, there was plenty of time to network with other individuals, which was great because the attendees came from all across the nation and worked in many different fields, from private practice to public sector and public interest to in-house. Most of the people I talked to were very willing to offer advice, tell me their story, and be a resource to the law students who were in attendance. The amount of judges at the conference was also astounding: from Judge Chin of the Second Circuit, to numerous District Court judges, to State Court judges from the Superior Court to Supreme Court levels. It was so inspiring to see and hear about how far so many of our APA lawyers and judges have come. They have been named leaders in the field and have promoted diversity in their respective firms and organizations, essentially helping to break the glass ceiling.

The gala dinner on Saturday brought everything together, from the people to the message that the APA legal community knows no bounds. One of our alumni, Christian Na, was even awarded a "Best Under 40" honor for his great contributions. Personally, I have seen his great work to the APA community through his generosity in getting to know and mentor BU law students and help us with our APA Alumni conference. Tammy Duckworth, the Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, was the keynote speaker of the evening. She was a military service member who was badly injured in combat while deployed in Iraq, losing both her legs. Despite her injuries, she has come so far and has become an inspirational APA community member, reminding us that it is important to use our skills to defend the nation and what we believe in. She gave a great analogy that as lawyers, we need to defend and guard the perimeter of what we are fighting for to the fullest; when others try to break down the rights that we seek to uphold, we need to stand strong.

All in all, the convention was everything I hoped it would be. It was a great opportunity to learn about what works well for successful attorneys, meet many wonderful role models, hear about the struggles Asians have gone through in the legal realm, and eat lots of food. I am very thankful that BU Law graciously funded the registration costs for students to attend this event and that several of us were able to gain so much from the experience. Attending these events in turn inspires me to become a strong advocate for the community and hopefully a good mentor to future attorneys as well.

the most wonderful time of the year

Halloween festivities have ended and I had a lot of fun being a princess Bee in Boston and New York. It seems like the start of November immediately brought the winter cold and I have been layering up to stay warm. November, however, also marks the start of the holiday season. It is definitely a bit earlier than the Advent calendar would have ever imagined, but I guess the commercial market would have it no other way in the name of profits.

Even though the holiday season seems to extend earlier each year, I cannot complain. I love seeing the resurgence of Christmas commercials, holiday cheer, and general goodwill. In fact, charities see a huge increase in donations towards the end of the year; whether this is because of holiday generosity or the hope of tax breaks before the new calendar year is another issue. This year, I feel extremely grateful. I will be spending a good bit of November in California for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association conference and then be home for Thanksgiving. In December, I will get to spend the holidays at home and will also be bringing my boyfriend back with me, which will be wonderful.

I am not too excited about having to change my clothes everytime I go into a building to modulate my temperature, but I am pretty happy about everything else. I cannot wait to spend more time with loved ones and get that much closer to graduation from law school.

third's a charm

Summer is officially over and I had my first day of classes today . . . my last first day to be precise.

The end of my summer was pretty amazing; I spent a little more than two weeks in Brooklyn, getting acquainted with the neighborhoods, running errands, and feeling what it would be like to live there. The prospect of moving out to New York after graduation is daunting, but exciting at the same time because it would come with so many jumps in my life. I was able to have lots of great quality time with Hayes, which was so so great after spending the summer apart.

My birthday was relaxing as I spent it wandering around Brooklyn, relaxing at Prospect Park, watching the sunset on a Park Slope rooftop, and having a nice dinner in Manhattan. It reminded me that simple days can be absolutely wonderful if you strip away any time stresses, worries, or expectations.

This semester will be interesting as my largest class has less then twenty-five people and my smallest class has only nine. I will be interning two days a week at the U.S. Attorney's Office and further honing my research and writing skills. I am excited to keep staying busy with work and being productive.

In exciting news, my student note was selected for publication for Public Interest Law Journal's fall edition. This means that I will be a published author, which is both exciting and a little nerve wracking. It is gratifying though to have a piece that I labored over for months be used as a source of knowledge to the academic world.

Life is a bit scary and uncertain now, but it's also extremely extremely blessed.

fog rolling in.

My summer legal internship has ended and it was such a wonderful experience. From substantive research to drafting motions and briefs to assisting in witness preparation, I have really seen what it takes to be a litigator. More importantly though, I have seen that I am up for the challenge. I love the thrill of creating an argument, learning the existing case law, and finding themes. Everything about litigation excites me. The ability to continuously learn about new innovations in the law, form your lawyering techniques, and keep honing your skills really enchants my sense of drive and passion for progress.

Summer in San Francisco was wonderful. The fog rolls in every morning and the sun burns it away (sometimes) to reveal the absolute beauty of the city, its architecture, and the scenery. I have heard that famous oft-quoted Mark Twain phrase many many times and it does ring true to some degree. Still, I love this city. Being able to explore the different neighborhoods, rather than just visit the touristy areas that I was used to growing up, has been so much fun. I have gotten to partake in numerous outdoor fairs, listen to some great live shows, visit a number of museums, see many of my friends from various stages of my life, and of course, try out lots of delicious food. San Francisco's huge trend of cute ice cream shops with long lines and unique flavors really appealed to me. Dessert is always a nice end to a meal or a nice snack and the meticulousness put into the creamery creations was pretty amazing. This is definitely something I have not really seen on the East Coast.

After a week with my parents and Benny, I will be back to Boston (and New York). Though my summer on the West will be over, the sun still rises on the East and I will have a few weeks before 3L commences to enjoy my time. I feel pretty reenergized for my last year of school. I am ready for new challenges, more learning, and to take the next steps toward my professional career.