Happy Birthday or Whatever

Last night I finished Happy Birthday or Whatever; Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters by Annie Choi for the Expanding Your Horizons Challenge. I had read about it on Amazon, it looked promising, and it delivered in a great way. The author talks about growing up in California and trying to meld the traditions of her Korean family with the American culture around her.

"I remember the birthday dinners when my mother made spaghetti in my honor. My father would eat it with chopsticks and kim chee, spicy pickled cabbage. After we polished off the ice cream cake, there was a mad dash to the bathrooms because we are all lactose intolerant."

She talks a lot about her relationship with her mother and how they view things so differently, but you can see very clearly how much she loves her at the same time. The same is true with her large extended family. I found myself laughing out loud at parts and completely relating to parts in spite of myself- the book is funny and poignant simultaneously. Overall, the book is delightful, and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

One of my favorite passages in the book...

"My parents want the impossible. They want me to get married immediately, but to the 'perfect' man who apperently is waiting for me to find him. Where do I even begin? Whenever I want to find anything, I consult a map, so I typed in 'Annie's husband' into Google Maps and surprisingly it came up with four pages of options, including a bed and breakfast in Springville, California; an outlet store in Lenox, Massachussets; and a nanny referral service in Mountain Village, Colorado. Sadly, none of these places deliver to New York, but it's comforting to know you can find anything on the Internet."

I must admit that it never had occurred to me to try this approach to looking for the right man, but what a great idea! Here's what my search came up with:
1. Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, CA
2. Probe Ministries, Richardson, TX
3. District of Columbia Library, Washington, DC
4. Budget Truck Rental, Lafayette, IN
5. American Sephardi Federation, New York, NY
I didn't check with any of them about the possibility of delivering to my neck of the woods, but it's clear to me that I'm looking in all the wrong places!