Philippines Uprising: Ripple effects in America (in National News) Asian American Bars: Heeding the no-smoking law? (in Bay Area News) Sunshine Policy: Will it work for the two Koreas? (in Business) Kip Welbeck's Self-Inflicted Paper Cuts (in A&E) Letters to the Editor: Comments from AsianWeek readers (in Opinion)

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See and read some of the winning entries! • Kindergarten through Fifth Grade • Sixth through Eighth Grade • Ninth through Twelfth Grade

Growing Up Asian in America Contest

Winners in K-5 Group

1st place art: painting by Kelly Chu, age 8
Chinatown YMCA Young Artist Program, Concord

Click for large, full-size image.

Click for large, full-size image.

Click for large, full-size image.

Proud Ocean

I am standing on the beach in San Francisco, California
I am looking at the ocean
The wind blows cold against me
I feel proud

I’m sharing this ocean
with my cultures
I close my eyes
and think
about the other side of the ocean

Viet Nam

What about my other land of Viet Nam?

I think of egg rolls

I open my mouth
taste the carrots and vegetables
a thousand flavors exploding
I’m like a rabbit
munching and crunching
like a tiger
devouring a zebra

America

What about this land of America?

I think of french fries

My fingers are greasy and slimy
I taste the potatoes and oil
wash it down with soda
I’m like a hog
slurping and slobbering
like a Great White Shark
eating a thousand anchovies.

I look at the ocean
and see my Vietnamese culture
part of who I am
where I come from

My cultures
separated by the water
are like a boat that will never sink
a boat that will always float

I am standing on the beach in Phan Thiet, Viet Nam
I am looking at the ocean
The wind blows hot against me
I feel proud