Stuff contributed by vkraus2

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Royal Milk Tea Boba and Globalization
Victoria Kraus
Boba in the United States is a result of globalization (or vice versa). It is becoming as popular and trendy as sushi and sake in the realm of food and drink culture in the U.S. My favorite boba drink is the Royal Milk Tea with less boba from Lollicup—a fast-growing …

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Japan in Spain
Victoria Kraus
My host mother is going to get on my nerves. This was one of my early thoughts during the first week of my five-month stay in Sevilla, Spain. The thought didn’t last long, interestingly, after I realized how similar Spain and Japan were.

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The East L.A. Gardeners Association sign on First Street
Victoria Kraus
The East L.A. Gardeners Association sign is one of four written in Japanese characters on East First Street in Boyle Heights. (The other signs are for Otomisan Restaurant, the Rissho Kosei-kai and Tenrikyo temples.) I looked at the sign everyday on my way to school while I was a student …
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Japanese Japanese gardening
online exhibition
![]() This is a collection of unprofessional digital photos taken by me with my $179.00 5 megapixel Nikon point-and-shoot digital camera that I bought at Best Buy 10 months ago. The … |

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When multiethnic and multicultural identity started mattering to me
Victoria Kraus
“Multiracial identity” didn’t become a part of my regularly accessed vocabulary until college. The phrase floated through conversations in junior high and high school, mainly during statewide and national standardized testing seasons (i.e. Stanford 9 during the Spring semester). “Multiracial identity”, as an idea that oftentimes provokes steamed discussion and …

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My part-time job at a Japanese grocery store
Victoria Kraus
I got my first real job when I was 16. I was a cashier at a family-owned Japanese grocery store in Little Tokyo—the Japantown of Los Angeles. Next to the fact that I wanted to earn money, for some reason I had a desire to challenge myself in becoming a …

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What is a Jewpanese?
Victoria Kraus
Someone recently asked me if I celebrated Passover because of my half Jewish heritage. I said I didn’t because I didn’t grow up practicing the Jewish religion. The only exceptions were when I went to a funeral for a family member on my father’s side or when I visited Jewish …