Park Ji-Young, 박지영
email me angrykoreanwoman AT gmail DOT com
I was born in Seoul, South Korea. I’ve lived in Los Angeles since 1975. I’ve traveled a bit domestically and internationally.
I have two children (young adults), two dogs (shiba inus), two cats (mutts), and one husband.
I’m a published writer. I used to write about food and restaurants for the LA WEEKLY and KCET Good Food. I wrote three articles for Greenwood Food Cultures of the World. Sometimes I’m a culinary instructor, chef, or caterer. I founded a nonprofit in February of 2020.
I’m also a public speaker. I’ve spoken at UCLA, USC, Cal State LA, Cal State Long Beach, GUSD (Glendale Unified School District), and a Sundance Panel on race relations in America. I’ve been interviewed by the LA Times, CBS, FoxLA with Hal Eisner, The Korea Times, Korea Heral, SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System), and Radio Korea.
I’m a community organizer in Los Angeles. I engage in systems change work through the lens of Korean language access for government and nonprofit services. Yes, I speak Korean really well. I can read it at decent adult level. I’m not limited to street signs and restaurant menus. I can write Korean. My spelling is horrible, but it’s improving and I know how to look things up. I also use my older brother or a professional copy editor when I need their help.
I engage and work with numerous government offices to demand Korean language access. It’s the law. I also engage with the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) on policies to increase Korean language access.
My hobbies include kick boxing, cycling, roller skating, cooking, sewing, knitting, and Korean calligraphy. I used to sweep row at Mother’s Beach in Marina Del Rey. But the water is just too gross. There’s no tide, so bird shit infested water just sits still at Mother’s Beach.
I have nominal passing awareness of “Angry Asian Man” and “Angry Little Asian Girl”. Two minutes before writing this sentence, I found out about “Angry Asian Girls.” Mostly, I know a little bit about the spat they had over tradmarking “Angry Asian”. My blog has nothing to do with any of them.
I generally don’t believe in the idea of an Asian American brand or type of anger. As a writer and creative person, I prefer specificity. Although, I’m a second generation Korean American, I was born in Seoul, South Korea. I have been back to Korea over 100 times and I went back to live there as an adult for about four years. I’m KOREAN in all caps.
I don’t speak Asian with my parents. I speak Korean. My mother doesn’t make me Asian foods for Asian holidays. My mother makes Korean foods for Korean holidays.
I’m not a particularly angry woman. But when I do get angry, I can feel my Korean ancestors and the forces of han and hwa-byung boiling in my blood. I have no issues expressing anger. I’m not afraid.
Like Danny Cho, “I’m so sick of smiling”. I’ve lived in America for over 48 years and I am still irked by the incessant demand to smile. Smiling at strangers is a uniquely American phenonmena. But a blog called “The Korean woman who doesn’t want to smile for your comfort” doesn’t have the same bite as “Angry Korean Woman.”
I use the term “Asian American” as a political term. It’s not a personal identity term for me.