This is the part that I tell you it wasn’t as dreamy as it looks. The sidewalk overlooking the park was crowded, so we got placed around the corner facing a building, but could still peek at the park if we looked to the side. At least it was quieter than the main sidewalk. But the sun glared in our eyes and the wind blew bits of dust onto our table. And still, it felt perfect to me.
It’s finally summer break! Is it still called summer break if I’m out of school now? It’s been an eventful month, starting with the stress of finals, followed by the elation of graduation, and now I don’t know how I feel. I don’t have any real plans this summer (just staying in Philly until my lease is up mid-August), so I’ll have to have a lot of initiative to get my life together. To encourage productivity, one of my summer goals is to get out of the apartment every day, and one way I’m motivating myself to do so is with a-photo-a-day challenge, which I created a new Instagram account for. I just started towards the end of this past month, and if it turns out to be something I want to continue, I might share it on the blog!
It’s hard enough pulling the whole squad together for a brunch, forget a breakfast! Only the most special occasion could motivate us to wake up and haul ass for breakfast at a cafe. And indeed it was a special occasion: to bid Grace a temporary farewell. (Note: This post is massively delayed, like, by five months. Grace graduated Fall 2017, a semester before the rest of us, so we were saying goodbye until she came back for our graduation ceremony in Spring 2018.)
May Day is one of Bryn Mawr College’s most beloved traditions. It basically just consists of white dresses, flower crowns, music, and lots and lots of photos. As a frosh in 2015, I was wide-eyed and swept up in all the festivities. It rained the following year, so I slept through the whole thing. As a junior in 2017, I missed most of the morning activities because it was my first year living off campus and I had taken too long walking over to campus. At the end of May Day 2017, I decided that for May Day 2018, I would go to all the activities and put together my most thorough May Day vlog yet (I’ve vlogged every May Day, except for 2016, which I didn’t go to, and my May Day 2015 vlog is the most popular video on my Youtube channel!).
The last month of college has been absolutely nuts, and for the first time in forever, I took a step back from the blog. I definitely needed it, because I couldn’t have given the blog the time it needed, and I would have been further and further disenchanted by my careless blog posts. But now that I’ve finished off college (though graduation isn’t until this weekend), I’m back to the blogosphere! Even though we’re midway through May, this April recap is very much needed, especially since I haven’t been doing my weekly check-ins.
I read Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan in 2017 and mentioned it in my 2017 Reading Challenge recap. When I heard there was a film adaptation coming out, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Now that the trailer has come out (just earlier this week), Kat‘s here to tell you what makes this film so groundbreaking.
This is a groundbreaking time for Asians and Asian-Americans in media and entertainment. In the past year, two Asian-led television sitcoms have graced the small screen, Fresh Off the Boat, which will, fingers crossed, be renewed for its fifth season, and Dr. Ken which was only recently cancelled by ABC after two seasons. BTS (방탄소년단) has captivated the international music scene, winning Top Social Artist at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards (breaking Justin Bieber’s six year streak) and performing live (in Korean) at the 2017 American Music Awards. And, most recently, Crazy Rich Asians has created a huge stir as the first English-language film with a primarily Asian cast in 25 years (the last one was the film adaption The Joy Luck Club released in 1993).