Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
“At eight years of age, it was an easy transition [to the U.S.],” said “Squid Game: The Challenge” winner Mai Whelan. “The hardest was learning English, because there are so many tenses. In Vietnamese, we have general, formal and no tenses.”
“Bob [Saget] and I went to London, Paris and Sicily and it was all just spectacular,” on-air host Kelly Rizzo said of her late husband. “Thankfully, memories were made that would last a lifetime. He was so happy on that trip. It made me so happy to see him so happy. I’m so forever grateful for that trip. It was truly the trip of a lifetime.”
“I’m an only child, so I have a lot of memories of being very solitary and entertaining myself,” said “Batwoman” star Nicole Kang. “I liked doing anything creative to entertain myself. I liked to lose myself in my imagination.”
“We were going to go to Mexico to see Phish, but that got postponed (due to the pandemic),” said Katie Rich, the co-creator of the Netflix animated series “Chicago Party Aunt.” “I actually think we ended up traveling more than ever just in the Midwest, tooling around in our little Honda Fit.”
“I Still Do” singer-songwriter suggests that when planning a trip, “Get a hotel with an ocean view where you can walk across the street and be at the beach within less than a minute.”
The Claudettes’ Johnny Iguana says he will always try to speak Spanish when he can to natives: “I almost always have to say, “Mas despacio, por favor,” as the answers come flying back too fast for my brain to apprehend.”
“I’ve always loved Japan,” says “Council of Dads” actress Sarah Wayne Callies. “It’s ancient and modern at the same time, from the food, to the clothes, to the architecture. I stayed in a ryokan that had been in the same family for 16 generations and ate kaiseki dinner every night.”
“When I was younger, I spent a month living in Belgrade, Serbia,” says “Shrill” actor Luka Jones. “But all I can recall from that time are some curse words!”
“I have regarded myself unambiguously as a Chicagoan,” says “Presumed Innocent” author Scott Turow. “But we will spend more time in Naples than any other city. Sandy Stern, my main character, is an elderly lawyer. To me, there is a lot to love in Naples, but Stern despises all of Florida. He says that America’s elderly are like characters in a Shaw play who do not realize they are actually in hell.”
Born and raised in Chicago, NCT 127’s John Suh got his first taste of concerts thanks to his mother, who worked for a local radio station. “I was too young to remember who I saw, but I remember myself having a lot of fun,” says Suh, who goes by the stage name of simply Johnny. “(One day), I would love to see Coldplay at Soldier Field. That would be very awesome.” Johnny and some of his band mates took a breather from promoting their EP “We Are Superhuman” to participate in this interview.