This month, Asian Fortune is launching its poetry series – a space for local APA poets to share their art, stories, and moments. We encourage all APA poets in the D.C. metropolitan area to submit their work. More information on monthly themes, eligibility guidelines, and prompts can be found on our website: http://www.asianfortunenews.com/poetry-submissions/ Happy writing! A Good Cookie Every Sunday …

Asian Fortune is an English language newspaper for Asian American professionals in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Visit fb.com/asianfortune to stay up to date with our news and what’s going on in the Asian American community.

By Niharika Chibber Joe “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss As of 2011, the United States was the only free-market OECD country where the current generation was less well educated than the previous. The number of adults who are classified as “functionally …

On August 18, 2013 McDonald’s partnered with Korea Daily to sponsor a college fair for Asian American high school students. Andrew Han, Montgomery County Prosecutor opened the event with a keynote speech. Also speaking was Kyu Rhee, a local Asian American McDonald’s owner and Victor Kim, winner of the MTV hit America’s Best Dance Crew and recent college graduate. This …

by Suchi Rudra For Asian Americans seeking to deepen their understanding and connection to their roots, or non-Asian Americans interested in Asian culture, here’s a round up of organizations and institutions in the Washington, D.C. area offering classes in various Asian languages, arts, dance and more.   1. Chinatown Cultural Community Center 616 H St. NW Suite 201, Washington, DC …

By Seth Karafin Do you know how low college acceptance rates were this year? A New York Times article reports that of the 35,023 people who applied to Harvard, only 2,029 were accepted. That’s an acceptance rate of just 5.79%. Or take Stanford, where 38,828 applied and only 2,210 were accepted, an acceptance rate of only 5.69%.      How about …

According to the National Council of Teachers of English, English Language Learners (ELL), also known as ESL (English as a Second Language), are the fastest growing population within the student community. Learning English can be a tough endeavor so we asked experts across the country what their top tips are. 1. Be patient and adjust expectations – Learning a new …

By Whitney Pipkin Yi Wah and Caitlin Roberts didn’t grow up eating a lot of pickles. Their Chinese mother considered them a pricey treat in the same category as Oreos. “You don’t buy pickles,” she’d say, “because they’re cucumbers.” But, over the past year, the Roberts siblings have built a business on the assumption that at least some people prefer …

By Jenny Chen It is the 1970s and Ho Chi Minh city is in shambles. American boots thunder throughout the city; the streets are crawling with the poor and destitute. This is the setting for Signature Theatre’s production of Miss Saigon – a play based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly, and the eleventh longest running Broadway show in musical …

By Chris Peden One constant in life (besides death and taxes) seems to be cost of college rises quickly every year.  According to The College Board, tuition and fees for college have increased 5.4 percent annually above inflation in the decade following the 2001-2002 school year.  As a parent, I will lie awake at night wondering how we are going …

Alexandria, VA—The second annual Vietfest kicked off Saturday with the aroma of spring rolls and pho in the air and touching tributes to South Vietnamese and American war veterans. The theme of the festival this year showcased the three culturally distinct, yet unified, regions of the country of Vietnam; the north, the central, and the south.   Located outdoors at …

By Derek Mong On June 24 of this year, the Supreme Court was faced with a case that dealt with the age old debate of affirmative action and race-conscious admissions. Fisher v. University of Texas had the potential to reverse the constitutionality of race-conscious affirmative action policies that were established through legal precedent in rulings before. Over the years, the …

“Dreamer” By: Ram, 10th grade Asian American LEAD’s (AALEAD) MD High School Program I am a dreamer… And often I question: “What is real?” Is it the life I’m living, the dreams I’m dreaming Or is it me…just me? To know another you must know yourself And that’s when you reveal your voice The voice buried by social anxiety, parental …

By Jane Chun We Asian Americans will stop at nothing to look beautiful. From double lid tapes and circle lenses we can be pretty innovative when it comes to fashion. Here are six more crazy beauty accessories you’ve never heard of – or maybe you already rock them… 1. Bang Extensions – For those who want fake hair without buying …

The International Leadership Foundation (ILF) held its annual Leadership and Business Conference last August 1, featuring Former US Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao as luncheon keynote speaker, national Asian American leaders, business and government executives as speakers and morning panelists, as well as honorees at its awards night. ILF CEO Chiling Tong remarked on opening session, “We combine the best …

By Yi Chen Washington, DC – The Korean Cultural Center, also known as KORUS House, is located in the Embassy Row neighborhood along Massachusetts Ave. NW. The brick house is near Sheridan Circle, only a few blocks from the Embassy of South Korea. The building’s Dynamic Hall and Digital Culture Hall on the first floor have been temporarily converted into …

Asian Fortune is an English language newspaper for Asian American professionals in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Visit fb.com/asianfortune to stay up to date with our news and what’s going on in the Asian American community.

To see more of Our Community: September 2013: Kollaboration Open Mic Celebrating India’s Independence Day with Ambassador Rao Asian Fortune is an English language newspaper for Asian American professionals in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Visit fb.com/asianfortune to stay up to date with our news and what’s going on in the Asian American community.

By Easten Law As the nation’s capital, D.C. welcomes persons from all over the country and the world, 17.9 million visitors in 2011 alone. Many emerge from the Gallery Place/Chinatown metro in awe of our city’s grand Chinese archway, which is the symbol for Chinatowns across the nation. Sadly, that awe often melts into confusion as they wander H and …

By Jane Chun At many of the largest companies today, Google, Facebook, Zappos, a suit and tie is so yesterday. But they also make people wonder – what is the best outfit to wear to an interview? How much do first impressions matter? The study, The Effect of Appearance on First Impressions by Karen Pine, the University of Hertfordshire, and …

By Chris Peden According to the 2010 US Census, Asian Americans combined owned 1.5 million businesses – a figure that is up 40.4% from 2002. Many of these small businesses are also family businesses, and parents have often considered employing their children for a summer or part-time after school to teach them the ropes of running a business. Before you …

Corazon Foley, Founding Chairman of the Fairfax County Asian American History Project (FCAAHP), has commended the partnership between the Asian Pacific America community and national and local corporations. This is a view shared by other organizations like OCA and the South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), which point out that without the partnership–some of which are on a sustained, yearly …

By Amanda Andrei This blog post is a follow up to our article about gluten allergies which you can read here: http://www.asianfortunenews.com/2013/07/hidden-intolerance-and-allergies-gluten-sensitivity-in-the-asian-pacific-american-community/ Lately when walking through grocery aisles, I’ve noticed that more and more packaging highlights the ingredients a product doesn’t have (gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, rice-free). Reacting to the health concerns of their consumers, producers are giving them more choices—ones without …

By Daniel Tsoy Climbing the corporate ranks in America surely requires a lot of old fashioned hard work—meeting deadlines, crunching numbers, and coming into work even when you’ve got the sniffles. But is there more to it? 50 % of Asian Americans are college educated, well above the 28% average for the nation, yet somehow they remain largely absent from …