"Global Issues Through Literature: To Swim Across the World by Frances Park & Ginger Park," February 18 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host a discussion of the novel To Swim Across the World by Frances Park & Ginger Park on February 18. An overview of the reading group:

This reading group for educators explores literary texts from a global perspective. Content specialists present the work and its context, and together we brainstorm innovative pedagogical practices for incorporating the text and its themes into the curriculum. Sessions this year will take place virtually on Thursday evenings from 5-7:30 PM. Books and Act 48 credit are provided.

And a synopsis of the book, from the authors' website:

Adult/YA: To Swim Across the World is inspired by the lives of the authors’ parents. Frances Park and Ginger Park’s deeply affecting novel is based on the true story of a boy and a girl from opposite ends of the Korean peninsula who endure the Japanese Occupation, the division of their country, and, ultimately, the Korean War.

It is 1941, and Japan occupies Korea. For Sei-Young Shin, a young man from a poor family in the rural south, it is a time of oppression. Life is gentler for Heisook Pang, the daughter of a prominent minister in a northern city. In the aftermath of World War II, the power of Communism grows in the north and Heisook’s future is in peril. She makes a daring escape, slipping into the south where she meets Sei-Young, an encounter that will bond them for life.

History and its changes influence Sei-Young and Heisook in different ways, but their stories share sacrifice, tragedy, and love. Precisely and beautifully written, To Swim Across the World is a moving vision of a country’s terrible and recent past, and an intimate account of the interlocking of two lives, and two destinies.

The discussion will take place on Zoom from 5:00 to 7:30 pm and advance registration is required.

1957 film Sumpah Pontianak online with Pitt's Asian Studies Center, February 3.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will present the 1957 film Sumpah Pontianak on February 3 as part of its Pontianak Film Series.

Third in the series of schlocky films from the 50s. The first Pontianak film appeared in 1957 Singaporean Malay horror film directed by Indian film director B.N. Rao starring Maria Menado and M. Amin. Based on the Malay folktales of a blood-sucking ghost born from a woman who dies in childbirth. The smash hit premiered on 27 April 1957 and screened for almost three months at the local Cathay cinemas. Its success spawned two other sequels, Dendam Pontianak (Revenge of the Pontianak, 1957) and Sumpah Pontianak (Curse of the Pontianak, 1958). It is also said to have launched the Pontianak genre in Singapore and Malaysia, with rival Shaw producing its own Pontianak trilogy and several movies of the same genre were also made in Malaysia.

The movie starts on Vimeo at 7:00 pm, and registration is required.

2020 Goro Miyazaki film Earwig and the Witch (アーヤと魔女) in Pittsburgh, February 3 to 7.

The 2020 Goro Miyazaki film Earwig and the Witch (アーヤと魔女) will play in Pittsburgh-area theaters from February 3 through 7. A synopsis, from the distributor:

Growing up in an orphanage in the British countryside, Earwig has no idea that her mother had magical powers. Her life changes dramatically when a strange couple takes her in, and she is forced to live with a selfish witch. As the headstrong young girl sets out to uncover the secrets of her new guardians, she discovers a world of spells and potions, and a mysterious song that may be the key to finding the family she has always wanted.

It is currently scheduled to play at the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville and the North Hills on the 3rd and 4th, the Waterworks Cinema and Cranberry Cinema the 3rdh through 6th, and the AMC theaters in Sarver, South Park, and the Waterfront on the 5th, 6th, and 7th. Tickets are available online; note that some dates are in Japanese with English subtitles while others are dubbed in English.

Pitt hiring Digital Marketing Manger, bilingual in Chinese preferred.

The University of Pittsburgh is hiring a Digital Marketing Manger, with a preference for someone bilingual in Spanish or Chinese and English.

The Digital Marketing Manager will support the marketing and communications of the University of Pittsburgh's Office of Admissions and Financial Aid (OAFA), reporting to the Director of Marketing Communications. The role requires an in-depth understanding of and a passion for digital marketing, content creation, website and SEO management, social media marketing, and email/sms marketing, preferably for higher education. The ideal candidate will have professional experience working with website content management systems, social media platforms, and salesforce marketing cloud within a marketing and communications framework. Applicants should have experience with campaign planning, data-driven decision making, creative problem solving, and project management. The role will assist with developing strategic, omnichannel campaigns with shifting priorities under multiple deadlines. Teamwork will be essential as the candidate will collaborate with teammates to brainstorm, produce, create, and distribute digital content to key target audiences. Knowledge of Google Analytics and data-driven decision-making for SEO, website management, social, email, and all marketing channels utilized by the Marketing Communications team will be crucial for this role.

The incumbent will have a passion for marketing and will immerse themselves in the conversation with key audiences, competitors, and partners under the direction of the Director of Marketing Communications and in alignment with, and support of, OAFA and University goals and communication standards. The Digital Marketing Manager will proactively collaborate with all business units within OAFA and around the University to develop and manage digital content, including writing, proofreading, editing, and organizing content to ensure it is current, accurate, succinct, clear, and effective. It is preferred that the candidate be bilingual with fluency in Spanish or Chinese to assist in creating and translating marketing materials for target populations. The incumbent will also interact with various levels within or outside the University, including Deans, Directors, and Department Heads. This interaction may include interpreting and explaining ideas and concepts as well as solving problems and coordinating projects. The results of actions by the incumbent may have a significant, sometimes financial, impact on a department's operations.

More information and application instructions are available via the Pitt employment website.

Pad Thai Noodle opening soon in Oakland; N. Craig St. storefront changes hands yet again.

Pad Thai Noodle will soon open at 256 N. Craig St. in Oakland. It is run by the same couple who opened Street Noodles on the South Side in October (and who ran Golden Land Asian Cuisine the last few years until its reecent closure).

This particular location has changed hands numerous times over the past few years. It was Chiang Mai Noodle from August 2020 until recently; a different Pad Thai Noodle from August 2019; and a quick succession of Tan Lac Vien Express, Ana's Vietnamese Cuisine, and Miss Saigon 88 between 2012 and 2018.

"Baking Love Letter Cookies with Jasmine Cho," online on February 6.

NextPittsburgh shares news of an online baking event for kids on February 6.

Kidsburgh and Remake Learning Days are thrilled to present a series of baking events with Jasmine Cho. In this virtual session, learn to make "love letter cookies." These breakable cookies unveil hidden messages inside — a cookie that is sure to delight that special someone for Valentine's Day!

This event is free! However, you will need to provide your own baking supplies and ingredients. Upon registration, the recipe and Zoom meeting link will be emailed to you. We welcome interaction with kids and happily take questions.

Jasmine M. Cho is a Pittsburgh-based artist, author, and cookie activist most known for using portrait cookies to elevate representation for Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders. She is also a Food Network Champion (“Christmas Cookie Challenge” Season 3, Episode 8) and the Founder of Yummyholic. To learn more about Ms. Cho, please visit www.jasminemcho.com.

Online registration is free.

Mai Khoi and Bad Activist, free with Pitt Arts, January 27.

via mai-khoi.com

Vietnamese artist and activist Mai Khoi will perform Bad Activist on January 27 as part of Pitt Arts' Artful Wednesdays.

Bad Activist is an autobiographical performance piece, combining storytelling with state-of-the-art music performance. The narrative charts the extraordinary trajectory of Mai Khoi’s life. Khoi becomes a celebrated pop star in Vietnam. Bad Activist explores both the actual historic events of the artist’s life, as well as the subconscious dream worlds that have fueled her work.

She is also profiled in a WESA.fm piece on the 19th:

Mai ended up in Pittsburgh this fall thanks to the Artist Protection Fund, a program of the International Free Expression Project. The APF contacted Pitt’s Global Studies Center about hosting her. She was accepted into the Center’s Scholars at Risk program. While she’s not technically a scholar, “she’s really in the thick of a bunch of issues which as recent events underscore again, are just the essential issues of our political moment,” said Michael Goodhart, the political science professor who created the program.

The Pitt Arts performance begins at 12:00 pm on the 27th and will be streamed for free on Youtube.

2020 Chinese film The Rescue (紧急救援) continues in Pittsburgh through February 1.

The 2020 Chinese film The Rescue (紧急救援), which opened in Pittsburgh on January 22, will continue here through at least February 1. A synopsis, from the distributor:

A serious accident occurred on an offshore drilling platform, which may sink at any time. All members of the Transportation Emergency Response Team heads to location the moment they hear the alarm. With the time counting down, captain Gao Qian (Peng Yuxi) leads the helicopters fly into the explosion and fiercely burning fire, targeting at the platform. Together with his team member and comrade, Zhao Cheng (Wang Yanlin), Gao Qian gets into the platform in the most dangerous way with only one goal – to save the survivors…

It will play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and tickets are available online. The theater is located at 300 West Waterfront Dr. in the Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead (map), across the Monongahela River from Greenfield, Squirrel Hill, and the rest of Pittsburgh.

"Here's a new one for the Strip: sushi in a grocery store": (Pre-)Chaya in the Strip.

If you watch the 1996 Rick Sebak documentary "The Strip Show" on WQED you might see a familiar face setting up a stand in the Strip District. Before opening Chaya in Squirrel Hill in 2001, Fumio Yasuzawa and his wife, Jackie (pictured above), operated a stand at Sambok, an Asian grocery in the Strip District. He was photographed for a 1999 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article on local sushi offerings:

Several call themselves the most authentic. Fumio Yasuzawa's sidewalk ad reads "Tokyo trained," which is the equivalent of the UL label on electrical appliances. His devoted fans call him Yasu, and he works in what's undoubtedly the smallest space of any sushi chef in the city -- a closet-sized nook just inside the door of New Sambok Oriental Foods in The Strip.

He opened this stand in 1998, as documented by the Post-Gazette:

Here's a new one for the Strip: a sushi bar at a grocery store.

Sambok, the Oriental food store at 1737 Penn Avel., has hired a Tokyo-trained sushi chef to make the tekka maki, California roll, and other sushi and sashim specialities at the sushi bar. It's open Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Saturday, the big day in the Strip, it opens a half hour earlier. On Sunday, it's closed.

The chef is Fumo "Yasu" Yasuzawa, who has worked at the Hotel Kitano in New York City and the River Vale Country Club and Fort Lee Hilton in New Jersey. The New Sambok Sushi Bar, as it's called, and the chef also will come to your wedding, dinner party or whatever. Rent-a-Sushi Bar, the new service is called.

Chaya announced last week that it will close at the end of this month.

Screening and discussion of Keep Saray Home at Pitt for its APIA Month, January 26.

The University of Pittsburgh is recognizing Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Month in January---as there is little campus activity during May---and an Asian Pacific Islander Senate has recently formed there. One of its events this month is a screening of the short documentary Keep Saray Home with a Q&A with filmmakers on January 26. A synopsis, from the film's official site:

ICE doesn’t just separate families at the border. In the outskirts of Boston, three families face the impending threat of deportation. But as refugees from Cambodia and Vietnam, they know they’ll have to fight together to stay together.

The event takes place on Zoom from 7:00 pm and is free and open to the public.