Welcome to groundings, a podcast project from choa magazine. In our first episode, we (re)introduce you to the team. Harriet, Mirae, and Ki-Sang reveal the origin story of choa magazine and discuss what being Korean means to them.

groundings, a storytelling project from choa magazine, takes a deep dive into the inner lives of women in the Korean diaspora.

Hosted by Ki-Sang Yi

Music by Haedeun Kim

Follow us on Instagram @choamagazine or visit our website choamagazine.com

Harriet chats with Emily about her visit to Arirang Age-friendly Community Centre, approaching the theme of aging in place as a form of capturing time, and ways people gravitate to communal spaces at all ages. Check out Emily’s piece “Korean seniors don’t care for Bingo” in choa magazine’s ⁠Volume 3: Aging in Place⁠.

Resources: 

If you are able, please consider supporting Arirang Age-Friendly Community Centre’s work, including their fundraising campaign for Rose of Sharon Long-term Care Centre, ⁠with a donation⁠.

If you are curious about Adult Day Programs in your community, or other services for seniors, the guide to programs and services for seniors in Ontario can be ⁠downloaded here⁠.

If you are based in Canada or the US and looking for some culturally specific mental health resources, please consider checking out our ⁠Resources page for Asian communities⁠. 

Song Credit: Another girl, 김현정, 공유마당, 자유이용

Harriet chats with Jennifer about her Great Aunts creating a shared space to grow old in the intense energy of New York City and putting in the labour to document the everyday moments. Check out Jennifer’s piece “New York Grandmas” in choa magazine’s Volume 3: Aging in Place.

Song Credit: Another girl, 김현정, 공유마당, 자유이용

Mirae chats with Lily about aging alongside house plants, viewing the world through the perspective of “tree supremacy,” and the intricate hands-on process of her paper diorama. Check out Lily’s piece “Living in House Plant Time” in choa magazine’s Volume 3: Aging in Place.

Song Credit: Another girl, 김현정, 공유마당, 자유이용

Harriet chats with Juliana about end-of-life rituals, death, and family history, her approach to photographing legacy portraits, and the cultural practice of jesa. Check out Juliana’s piece “We are all going to die” in choa magazine’s Volume 3: Aging in Place.

Song Credit: Another girl, 김현정, 공유마당, 자유이용

Harriet chats with Ji-Youn about what jip-bab means to her, contextualizing her rage and grief, and discomfort with bringing ancestral practices to stolen land. This chat was recorded before publishing Grace Gittelman’s piece “Don’t Get Your Hand Stuck in the Kimchi Jar” and its theme of grief. Check out Grace’s piece in choa magazine’s Volume 2: 집밥 — JIP-BAB.

Song Credit: Another girl, 김현정, 공유마당, 자유이용

Mirae chats with Subin on jip-bab as an intimate yet communal sharing, food as an artistic exploration, and cooking as the best gift of care. Check out Subin’s illustration for the cover of choa magazine’s Volume 2: 집밥 — JIP-BAB.

Song Credit: Another girl, 김현정, 공유마당, 자유이용

Harriet chats with Michelle and Sena on their first impressions of each other’s piece, Korean food cravings and sentiments behind them, and what kind of halmoni they wish to be in the future. Check out Michelle and Sena’s “Welcome Home” on choa magazine’s Volume 2: 집밥 — JIP-BAB.

Originally published on IGTV on December 2021.

Song Credit: Another girl, 김현정, 공유마당, 자유이용

Featured on choa magazine Volume 2: 집밥 — JIP-BAB.

The connection to farming is obvious when thinking about jip-bab and the systems that allow us to enjoy it, but we often forget the labour and care. Kristyn Leach, a seed saver and farmer of Namu Farm, shares about her practice of infusing community care, global and Korean socio-politics history, and peasant-led movements in her practice.

Originally published on August 2021.

Interview by Harriet Kim.

Audio Edited by Seungwoo of giant doma.

Harriet and Mirae chats with paper artist Cat Lamora on their inspiration behind recreating a symbolic communal space, first steamy mokyoktang experiences, and why a space like this could feel uncomfortable coming from the west. Check out Cat’s “We Bathe Here” installation and text on choa magazine’s Volume 1: 물 — WATER.

Originally published as IGTV on November 2020.

Song Credit: Another girl, 김현정, 공유마당, 자유이용