Yoo rang the bell today! 🔔 🇰🇷✊ I was invited to be a guest of honor at today’s “National Liberation Day” at the Korean Bell of Friendship in San Pedro to celebrate the 80th anniversary of August 15, 1945 when the Korean peninsula was liberated from 35 years of Japanese colonial rule. Three years later, the founding of South Korea also happened on the same date of August 15th in 1948. Today, August 15 is known as 광복절 – National Liberation Day.

(NOTE: Above featured photo of Hyungwon Kang and Paula Yoo at the Friendship Bell taken by Mel Melcon. For more on his work, go here: https://www.latimes.com/people/mel-melcon)

It was a beautiful day filled with speeches by many Korean American and political dignitaries including Honorary Mayor of San Pedro Ken Creighton and Assemblymember Mike Gipson (District 65), along with beautiful music by a Korean tenor singing the national anthems of both America and South Korea and “Amazing Grace,” and a performance by a Korean drum dance troupe. Hyungwon Kang, the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer whom I interviewed for RISING FROM THE ASHES, and I were guests of honor as well.

Hyungwon Kang and I donated our books to the Korean Bell of Friendship committee. For info on our books, go here: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324030904 and https://www.kang.org/portfolio

After the ceremony, we were all invited to ring the bell in honor of August 15th. We also dedicated each bell ring to various well wishes for peace, love, good health, family, friendship, and solidarity. I also got to ring the bell with my friends and alumni of Seoul Foreign School, where I had just spoken earlier this year as their Alumna of the Year. This bell is rung on many special occasions including July 4th and Juneteenth to show solidarity with all communities and in honor of diplomacy.

It was a thrill to ring the bell. It emitted a gorgeous tone that eventually grew lower in register. We then pressed our hands and bodies against the bell as it continued to ring. Tradition says doing that helps drive out any “evil spirits” from your body. It felt very peaceful. I will always treasure this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ring this famous bell!

Some information about the bell from its website here: https://sanpedro.com/san-pedro-area-points-interest/korean-bell-friendship/ The bell was donated in 1976 to “… celebrate the bicentennial of the U.S. independence, honor veterans of the Korean War, and to consolidate traditional friendship between the two countries. The bell is patterned after the Bronze Bell of King Songdok, which was cast in 771 A.D. and is still on view in South Korea today.” The bell weighs 17 tons and is 12 feet high with a diameter of 7.5 feet, made of copper, tin, gold, nickel, lead and phosphorous (which help enrich its tone). “Each of the Korean spirits holds up a different symbol: a symbolic design of the Korean flag; a branch of the rose of Sharon, Korea’s national flower; a branch of laurel, symbol of victory; and a dove of peace. The bell has no clapper but is struck from the outside with a wooden log.”

We were very hungry after the ceremony, so of course we visited BUSY BEE MARKET, known as one of the best sandwich shops not only in San Pedro but in all of Los Angeles County! Check out the many viral videos on Youtube from the store’s fans! 🐝🥖🥪😋

Coincidentally, Busy Bee is Korean American-owned! Which was quite fitting for today’s Friendship Bell ceremony! Ben and Norma Lee purchased the store in 1978, and their family has been serving the BEST SANDWICHES since then. I had the honor of meeting their son Ryan Lee today! Here’s a great Daily Breeze newspaper article about the history of this store and the Lee Family’s legacy here: https://www.dailybreeze.com/2021/10/25/south-bay-history-san-pedros-busy-bee-market-continues-to-serve-up-tasty-sandwiches-to-all-comers/

The Busy Bee Market staff is incredibly friendly, and the food is amazing. In fact, I think one of the secrets is actually the BREAD… it’s just soft enough but yet has a “give” to it and their different sandwich combos are always made with love. 감사합니다 Thank you to the Lee Family! (Click on this YELP link and this fan-based INSTAGRAM link to find them!) And what did Yoo get? Hot brisket dip and hot pastrami! One day Yoo will attempt their famous “Belly Buster” sandwich! 🤣😋

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Of course no blog would be complete without a quick update on my cats!

For those who have been following my recent blogs, you will remember we recently adopted a FOURTH black and white cat whom we named Rocky. We already have three black and white cats – Oreo, Beethoven & Charlotte. Stray cat Rocky joined us in April after we had spent the past several months feeding him before caving in and making our house his furever home. (All our cats are spay/neutered, 24/7 indoor cats, and we take them for their annual physicals and shots every year.)

Well, this July was a CATastrophic month as elderly Oreo (adopted in 2008, estimated to be about 20 years old) is getting skinnier and clingier, so we’re constantly monitoring him. He’s thankfully still in good spirits and acts like a kitten despite his feline asthma and even though we have cat stairs everywhere for him. And then Beethoven terrified us when he started bleeding profusely from his nose for two straight weeks despite multiple visits to the animal ER and vet and specialists. We FINALLY figured out the root of the problem – he had a tooth growing his nose! An errant root had snaked its way up there. Talk about a purrfect Stephen King horror story! 🙀 And then Rocky now has a little cyst on his front leg that needs to be removed and he needs dental surgery. So far Charlotte the diva is the only one giving her brothers side-eye. 😼

But all the cats are PURRFECTLY fine now. We’re still keeping an eye on Oreo and Beethoven, and Rocky’s procedures will happen later this month. As always, Yoo would like to thank the amazing doctors and staff at Culver City Animal Hospital who are now an extended part of the Yoo family, as well as the wonderful doctors and staff at ACCESS Specialty Animal Hospitals – Los Angeles and the specialist doctors and staff at Sevilla Veterinary Hospital.

Now it’s time for Rocky and Oreo to relax this weekend with some YooTube… 😹😻📺

Stay tuned for more updates. Until my next blog, remember… WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT! #WriteLikeYooMeanIt