Image used under Creative Commons license; click image to go to original URL. Retrieved 04/13/2016.

Holy cow.  I could not find any pictures of Koreatown through Creative Commons today.  I even had trouble finding general “Albany Park” pictures, so you’ll to content yourself with the, admittedly lovely, picture above.

I have lived in this town for almost twenty years and in all that time, I am a regular commuter on the Brown Line from Kimball, its terminus.  The Kimball Brown Line is on Lawrence Avenue between Kedzie and Pulaski.  What I didn’t know until fairly recently is that this is smack in the middle of Koreatown.

I’m from the west coast and for whatever reason, the ethnic villages, also known as “ethnic enclaves,” are very visible.  San Francisco Chinatown is world famous, and Japantown is a peaceful haven in a bustling city.  There are more people of Vietnamese descent in Santa Clara County than anywhere in the States, (when I lived there, over 80,000 people).

Koreatown, however, is much more subtle.  According to what I’ve read from articles via Arcadia Publishing, (and I recommend their books highly, including Korean Americans in Chicago), the stretch on Lawrence Avenue between Kedzie and Pulaski has historically been the epicenter of Koreatown here.

In recent years, many people have moved to the northern suburbs, but once I started looking I began to see a lot of the Korean presence here.  There’s a Korean American Cultural Center not far from the Brown Line, and I’ve seen people on my morning commute on their way there for English language lessons.  There are Korean Barbecue restaurants and many, many Korean-owned businesses in the neighborhood.

References

I know Wikipedia isn’t scholarly, but I found the following article helpful when I was trying to look up images of the area because it gives the geographic boundaries – plus, I learned the term “ethnic enclave.”  “Koreatown,” Wikipedia, retrieved from the following link 04/13/2016.

There is an app I used to have on my last phone, but haven’t downloaded to my current one.  If someone recognizes it from my description, please tell me in comments because I’d love to get it again.  It’s an app that determines what’s around you by your location, and gives you tips that an insider might know – which is how I found out I was in Koreatown to begin with.  I’m mentioning it here in references not because I can remember the attribution, but precisely because I can’t, and it is the reason for today’s article.  (My apologies to the app developers for my poor memory.)

A note on attributions:  I know I’m not writing for school here, even though I’m giving myself flashbacks to when I got my MBA.  But I think it’s important to credit others for things they do, and I’d be very disappointed if someone took from my work without crediting me.  Also, there’s been a lot in social media off and on over the last several years about authors getting in hot water with photographers for posting things without permission and out of license.  Since my husband is a professional photographer, that’s a hot topic in our house.  It’s for that reason, Dear Reader, that I am using footnotes and attributions.  I hope it doesn’t bring up too many bad memories of “get at least three sources for every assignment you turn in and use APA rules for all citations.”  ~shudder~  (No offense meant to the APA, of course – grin.)

Thank you for joining us for the A-Z Blog Challenge. If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave us a link so I can come visit you too. If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

The theme at Noony’s blog, Explore the Worlds of A. Catherine Noon, is The A To Z of the Zoo. Join her as she explores Brookfield Zoo and finds animals, birds, and insects from A to Z.

Noony’s theme on Knoontime Knitting – One Writer’s Journey Into 3-D craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.

The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year. Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12^th to the 17^th, you’ll be getting live convention reports. Join the conversation!

The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from Noon & Wilder; the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well as Grace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland. Check it out!

Our friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and we’ll add you!):

• Darla M. Sands, Awakening Dreams and Conquering Nightmares with a Pen
• Kari Trenten, The Cauldron of Eternal Inspiration

Write on, and Happy Blogging!