The United States is one of the only countries, if not the only country, that defines a person by biological percentages. How much of a certain ethnicity you are matters significantly to this day. For example, to stay on a reserve, you need to be a certain percentage of Native American, and in

Last spring, as my friend Dannie and I were trudging up the slopes of Central in Hong Kong to get to a happy hour, our conversation turned to the way we speak. Or rather, the way how we speak has changed. "I don't mean to do it, and I feel kind of douchey, but I feel like my accent has changed

I had very mixed feelings going to Los Angeles International Airport a few nights ago. On that last night, I had a warm, cozy dinner with my friend Heather, her new baby, her husband, and my friend Joy. Heather is one of my oldest friends, one of those friends who has seen me at my best and at

I walk to 7-Eleven almost every day. Sometimes it's for food or coffee, sometimes it's to get money from the ATM (my U.S. bank card only works at 7-Eleven ATMs and the post office ATM), sometimes it's to pay bills. Right now, it's kind of the center of my outside-my-home life. I know what

I don’t know if you’ve ever had the pleasure of tearfully explaining to a salesgirl that, no, the largest size in her ultra-trendy boutique won’t fit your fat ass no matter how many times she nods encouragingly and shoves clothes at you, but that’s a glimpse of what my life was like working and