『Who Moved My Cheese?』- Dr Spencer Johnson

If you do not change, you will become extinct.

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find new cheese.

In the story of ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’ there are 4 characters which depicts or in a better word, ‘symbolizes’ the people in our society. People who think they are living a perfectly good life. Sometimes, we may act like ‘Sniff(mouse)’ who sniffs out change early, or ‘Scurry(mouse)’ who scurries and hurries into action, or ‘Hem(little human)’ who denied and resists change as he fears it will lead to something worse, or ‘Haw(little human)’ who learns to adapt in time when he sees changing can lead to something better!

             The four characters live in a maze, two paired together and every day, they look for a cheese to eat which represents the happiness and success. One day both groups establish routines around their daily intake of cheese at ‘Cheese Station C’, slowly becoming arrogant in the process. One day Sniff and Scurry arrive at Cheese Station C and find that there was no cheese, but not surprised. Noticing the cheese supply lessening, they have mentally prepared beforehand for the inevitable task of finding more cheese. Later at that day, Hem and Haw arrive at Cheese Station C noticing the same thing that there was no cheese. The humans have counted on the cheese supply to be constant, and so are unprepared for this event. After realizing that the cheese is gone they both started to wait for the cheese to appear. Later, Haw finds himself that waiting will get him nowhere and decides to look for the cheese but Hem continues to wait.

             This short easy to understand story gives us a great impression about which character is representing you. I was more like Hem who waited for the cheese to appear. I have realized the change around me but I was afraid to accept the change and be part of it. If it is not the way that I have been, it’s hard to try. I’m always afraid of what might come out while I’m going forward. But by reading this book, I realized that the most foolish kind of people is the people who wait forever for the world to be like you. There is also a quote ‘The squeaking wheel gets the grease’. It means that if I don’t go for the new cheese, I would never get a thing. Only the people who try will get what they deserve.

            In this story, the characters are faced with unexpected change. Eventually one of them deals with it successfully, and writes what he has learned from his experience on the maze walls. I hope I discovered for my self how to deal with change, so that I could enjoy more of my ‘New Cheese’!

『Animal Farm』-George Orwell

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

3. No animal shall wear clothes.

4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.

5. No animal shall drink alcohol.

6. No animal shall kill any other animal.

7. All animals are equal.

This was the point that all animals were meant to be treated the same. These were the commandments that all comrades meant to obey. This was the start of the 'Animal Farm' but no one knew that it would turn out to be like that.  

           The story of Animal Farm is just like its title. Well, not really. It is about animals but the animals in the book don’t seem like the normal animals that we could think of. To be straightforward, this book is satirical novel. It is meant to satire the Soviet Union. How they were cruel to innocent people and how much people had an effect by Stalin with his background supporters.

           I will first briefly summarize the story. The animals in Manor Farm were treated carelessly by the mean farmer Jones. One night, old male pig Major leaves his dying wish. Not exactly wish but a look to the future. He says that there will be a revolution in Manor Farm so all animals should be prepared. After Major’s death, animals including the leaders snowball, Napoleon, and squealer, get ready to fight. Finally animals banish Jones and change the name to Animal Farm. This was the beginning.  Snowball then throws an idea that animals should build windmill in order to get electricity for the winter but trapper Napoleon steals this idea and banishes Snowball.  From then Napoleon becomes a dictator. The first windmill collapses by strong wind, the next one collapses by Jones but animals don’t give up on completing the windmill. Finally when the windmill was finished, no animals' lives have gotten better except for the pigs. That night, pigs invite over other farmers and have a party but by looking from the outside, the animals couldn’t tell which was which.

           In the story, every character symbolizes each different things. Firstly, The old Major satires Marx and Napoleon symbolizes Stalin the dictator. Other animals like horses, and chickens represent the innocent people who do not know what’s really going up there. Not only is this about the Soviet Union, this is also representing the Nazi and Hitler. Like this, George Orwell wished to teach the nowadays’ people by simply replacing the most important characters to animals.

Before reading this book, I didn’t really think about Soviet Union or its dictatorship but now it stir my mind and made me think about it more deeply. Nowadays, countries in the Middle East are causing or maybe still preparing for revolution. Some countries just had a revolution and some are having revolution. Some has won their revolution and changed their country just like the Animals in Animal Farm. The World is changing in Middle East but there is always a chance of becoming dictatorship again as to Animal Farm. So I think the citizens in those countries should look after their revolution in order steer them in the right direction or else, there will be another dictator.

“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

Unhyun palace...운현궁

           Today for Marie Story I went to Unhyeon palace. I have a cold but I had to walk in the cold weather. I don't understand why Marie Story chooses inside like museum whe the weatheris warm but always chose outside heritage like palaces when the weather is cold and bad. Anyways, according to teachers, Unhyeon palace is a personal house which belongs to Heung-seon-dae-won-gun and it's not even a palace but people just call it palace. In Unhyeon palace, the last king of Joseon dynasty, king Gojong lived with his wife Queen Min in his youth. The Palace had many rooms(?) named Noan-dang, Norak-dang, Iro-dang and ext. Noan-dang means 'living comfortably in old age' and is also men's living area. Heung-seon-dae-won-gun used this place to meet guests and discuss political issues. He also made hanging board using Kim jeong hee's letters. What about women's living area?? This place was called Norak-dang. This is in center and it's the largest building. Queen Min stayed in this area to study and have lessons but Heung-seon-dae-won-gun passed away in this place too. When I first got to Unhyeon palace, I thought that it was too big to be a person's house and I thought I would be very happy to live in a house this big. Even though I'm sure being a king and queen would be annoying, I wouldn't mind living in a house like Unhyeon palace but if I did, I would have made the walls higher so no theft can come in. Palace was somewhat beautiful and very educational but because of the bad weather, it wasn't the greatest heritage that I learned so far.

Gyeong-un Palace

My Opinion

When we were walking around Gyeong-un Palace, we heard about a queen getting locked up in a building for 6years. After hearing the story, I thought that many traditions and the view of women changed a lot.

          In the past, women were treated as a property of men so they controlled women but in nowadays, women have independence and freedom to men. We can do whatever we want to do because women are equally viewed by men.

           Furthermore, women didn’t get enough education in the past because lots of men thought women didn’t needed to be smart, they just needed to be good wives but this changed over time too. Many women now are smarter than men and more women are leading the world. For example, in Brazil, they just elected first women president which means that more women are on the top of the world.

           Not only the views of women but also some traditions have changed over time. In Joseon dynasty(조선시대), all people wore Han-bok(한복) but now, people only wear them in special days, holidays or special events such as weddings. Even though lots of people don’t wear them very often, I think traditions like this will be remembered forever because most people think of Han-bok(한복) as a proud thing.

           Although the society is changing in Korea rapidly, I hope our tradition never gets forgotten and hurry for women!!

Natural history museum

My Opinion

           If human beings could control evolution, would it be a good chance to control it or not? If you have the power to do so, would you? Personally, I believe controling evolution would not be a good idea for our human beings.
            Evolution have been happening for millions of years and it's still happening in our everyday life. Eventually, evolution comes and it happens even though we don't realize it happening. So even if we don't control evolution, soon or later, it will happen no matter what. Evolution happens naturally so we shouldn't try to touch them.
            Furthermore, human beings are npot a perfect creature. Everyday, we make mistakes and learn from them. but changing evolution to make a better human beings is not something to try. We should not sacrifice people on something that has more possibility of getting worse. The new form of humans might bring more lethal diseases not having any cures. Controlling evolution will be a great mistake that humans have ever made.
            There are a lot of profits and benefits that we could earn from controling evolution but this is not the kind of issue where people make mistakes. It's not something to trial error. So I think even if we have the ability to, we shouldn't control evolutions.

The National Museum of Korea

▣ The land of Korea 우리 땅, 우리 역사의 터전 한반도
The Korean peninsula is located on the far east end of Asia. It is located between China and Japan. It is about 1,000kms (621 miles) long and 216kms (134 miles) wide. Mountains cover 70% of its land. Korea is divided into two separate countries, North and South Korea.

▣ The Ice Age 빙하 시대
The first human beings began to walk upright and communicate about 3 million years ago. During the time of the Ice age, people lived in caves.
The world’s sea level was much lower than it is now. And, Korea and Japan were one land.

Hand Axe 손도끼
The first tool of mankind was made of stone. Ancient people hunted animals using stone. The hand axe was commonly used for hunting.

▣ Neolithic Period 신석기 시대
After the ice Age people began building houses and living together. They also started to live near the sea or fresh water. During this time, they fished and farmed for their food.

★ Comb-Pattern Pottery 빗살무늬토기
During the Ice age, there was not enough food. Therefore, they did not need pottery to store food. However, as food became more available, people made pottery to store and cook their food. It was made using water, soil, and fire. Many comb pattern potteries from the Neolithic period were found around Amsadong.

▣ Bronze Age 청동기 시대
During the Bronze Age, people became more advanced. They made bronze daggers instead of stone knives. The blade and grip were made
separately and then combined. This is unique and quite different from
China.

Dolmens – How dolmens were made 거대한 고인돌은 어떻게 만들어졌을까요?Dolmens are the tombs of the leaders of tribes. First, the big stones were dug up. The stones were then moved into place using logs. After putting in the supporting stones, the gap between them could be filled with soil.
The capstone would be placed on top, and the soil was removed.

★ Why did they use such huge and heavy stones for tombs?Goindol is a tomb that can usually be found in the Bronze Age. But did everyone use Goindol? No, only the chiefs or leaders of a clan or tribe could use this style of tomb and the rest of the people used ordinary style
tomb.

★ Why they have to do it such hard way?Goindol was symbol of power of a man. The stones used for Goindol can only be moved by hundreds of people so that show how powerful the leader was. So, bigger stones mean bigger tribes.

▣ The Founding Myth of Korea 고조선 건국신화
A lo ng t ime ago, Hwanung, the son of heaven ruled the people. There lived a t iger and a bear. They wished to beco me human and prayed everyday to Hwanung. Hwanung called them and gave them garlic and mugwort. He told them “You can beco me human if yo u only eat
garlic and mugwort for 100 days in a cave.” The t iger gave up after a litt le while, but the bear stayed and became a beaut iful wo man, called Ungnyeo. Hwanung took Ungnyeo for his wife and she gave birth to
a son. The y named him Dangun and he later established Korea. Gojoseon was the first kingdo m of the Korean peninsula.

▣ The Three Kingdoms 삼국 시대Goguryeo 고구려
Jumo ng established Goguryeo in 37 B.C. According to a legend, Jumo ng was born from an egg. He was very good at archery. He was named ‘Jumo ng’ meaning “expert archer.” In the 5t h century, Goguryeo was the mo st powerful nat io n in Northeast Asia. King Gwanggaeto “The Great” was a brave co mmander. He defeated many nations. His son, King Jangsu, made a stone to mb for him. It is as high as a three-story building.
King Jangsu ruled the largest territory in Korean history.

Baekje 백제
In 18 B.C., Baekje was established in Wuiraeseong, by Onjo. He was the son of Jumong. Baekje moved its capital to GongJu due to the invasion
of Goguryeo. Later, they changed the capital to Buyeo. Baekje had a close relationship with Japan. Baekje sent scholars, monks and artists to Japan.
Bronze Incense Burner (백제금동대향로) National Treasures No 287 This incense burner was from a temple site in Buyeo. It is a good example of Baekje’s delicate art. This kind of burner has not been found anywhere else in the world. The phoenix on the lid represents the sky. Animals and plants on the body represent paradise. The dragon on the base epresents the sea. Gold crown ornament (금관장신구) A beautiful crown ornament was found in the tomb of King Muryeong in Gongju. King Muryeong was loved by his people because he tried to help the farmers. Including this item, 17 other items from the tomb are regarded as national treasures.

▣ Gaya - The Kingdom of Iron 철의 왕국 - 가야Gaya was a confederacy of small kingdoms in the Nakdong river valley.
Though Gaya existed for about 500 years there is little known about Gaya.
Gaya was famous for its iron making. Gaya exported iron armors and  ther weapons to Baekje and Japan.

Shilla 신라
Shilla was established by Park-hyeok-geo-se in 57 B.C. According to a  egend, he was also born out of an egg. The capital of Shilla was Gyeongju for a thousand years. Therefore, the whole city is like a museum. In 2000, UNESCO included the Gyeongju Historical Areas in its World Heritage list.
Golden Crown Of the ten golden crowns in the world, eight are from Korea. Out of these, six are from Shilla, and  two are from Gaya. They were decorated with shapes of deer antlers and tree branches. These shapes symbolize Shamanism. The Shilla crowns weigh more than one kilogram.

Vessels 기발한 조각상 모양 그릇
This is a pair of vessels in the shape of master and servant on horseback.
There are holes in the chest and rump of the horse. We guess that they were used as kettles. We can see Shilla people’s costume, weaponry and
horse equipment. The master is wearing a hat, armor and a sword. His horse has a saddle, footrests and a horn-shaped ornament on its forehead.

▣ Unified Shilla 통일신라
Shilla joined forces with Dang and defeated Baekje and Goguryeo. But later Dang also wanted to rule the Shilla kingdom. After 9 years of fighting, Shilla unified the three kingdoms and removed Dang. This Unified Shilla time period was the Buddhist cultural peak. Many monks went to China to learn about Buddhism. Many temples were also built.

▣ Balhae 한민족의 나라 - 발해
Balhae was established by Daejoyoung in 698 AD and recovered the former territory of Goguryeo. The capital of Balhae was Sanggyeong.
Balhae was the last Kingdom when Korea ruled part of the Manju area.

★ Balhae and Gaya
What do you think about the nation on the Korean peninsula throughout history? There were Gochosun, Goguryo, Shilla, Goryo, Chosun… but
there were also had Gaya and Balhae, they were also part of our
Korean history. It is important to remember the incredible bronze skills of Gaya and also the inheritance of Goguryo by Balhae. Especially Balhae is very important for bridging the gap between Goguryo and Goryo. The huge territories ruled by Goguryo are part of China today. Even now China is trying to manipulate history and take Goguryo and Balhae as their own history. The great spirit of Goguryo that ruled Manju and China is definitely our precious history that we should protect.  Bulguka Temple and Seokguram grotto was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995.We guess that kings only wore them during special occasions.

War Memorial of Korea

Since the foundation of our first kingdom, Gojoseon, many countries have attacked Korea more than 960 times. Sometimes battles were won and other times, lost. However, Korea still has its independence, own
language and culture.

Great Victory Against Sui China 살수대첩

In the 5th century, Goguryeo was a powerful nation in Asia. Sui China attacked Goguryeo with 1 million soldiers but Goguryeo defeated them.
The Sui Emperor was so angry, he sent another army of 300,000 men and attacked Goguryeo’s capital. The army was lead by a famous general, Wu
Jong-moon. Goguryeo also had a great general, Eul -ji-moon-deok.
He planned a brilliant strategy. Eul-ji-moon-deok did not fight hard with Sui on purpose. He made the Sui army tired. The Sui army ran out of food and finally decided to retreat. The Sui army reached the Sal-su River.
The water level looked low. When they crossed half way through the river, Eul-ji-moon-deok opened the dam. Most drowned and only 2,700 soldiers survived. This is one of the 3 greatest victories in Korean War
history.

Who were the Hwarang? 화랑은 누구인가?

The Hwa-rang were an elite group of young men in the Silla Kingdom.
They were sons of royal families or noblemen. Originally, they gathered to study and practice martial arts. They were good at archery and very brave. Later, many Hwa-rang became warriors like General Kim, Yu-shin.
They had five rules:
1. Loyalty to the country
2. Be good to parents
3. Trust friends
4. Never retreat in battles
5. Don’t kill anything without reason

Mongol Invasions 몽고의 침략

The Mongol Empire was the largest kingdom in world history. They invaded Goryeo first in 1231 and attacked Goryeo six more times until 1254. At that time, the ruling class of Goryeo did not have enough power to keep the country. They ran away to Ganghwa Island. However, the people of Goryeo did not give up. A brave army called Sam-byeol-cho kept fighting to the end. Though Goryeo resisted for about 40 years, they
eventually lost control to the Mongols. The people of Goryeo had to wear Mongolian costume. The Goryeo prince was forced to marry a Mongol
princess. Goryeo was free from Mongolian rule during the King Gongmin’s time. During the Mongolian invasion, the people of Goryeo made “Pal-man-Dae-jang-gyoung”. Otherwise known as the Tripitaka Coreana.
It is Buddhist text on 80,000 wooden blocks. They wanted Buddha to save the country.

Imjin War 임진왜란

Japan attacked Joseon in 1592. This war is known as the Imjin War or Hi-de-yo-shi's Invasion. The Japanese army had muskets and the Joseon
soldiers only had bows. The Japanese reached Han-yang (modern day Seoul) within a few weeks. Many houses were destroyed and thousands of people were killed. The war lasted seven years. The Battle of Haeng-ju is one of the battles during the Imjin War. While men fought the Japanese, women helped men by carrying rocks in their aprons. After this battle, Haeng-ju-chima (apron over the skirt) became famous.

Admiral Lee and the Turtle-ship 이순신 장군과 거북선

Admiral Lee, Sun-shin was the war hero. He won many naval victories against the Japanese navy. He predicted the war and prepared the military. He made the first ironclad ship in the world. It was called the turtle ship (Geo-buk-seon). The ironclad made ships safe from fire attacks and it could destroy Japanese wooden ships easily. A major battle took place at Han-san Island. He destroyed 66 enemy ships out of 70. 40,000 Japanese naval forces out of 55,000 died. None of the Joseon ships were destroyed and only 18 Joseon people died. The final battle took place at the No-ryang Shore. He also won the battle, but he got shot. He said “Keep waving the flag and don’t tell anyone of my death”

Smoke Signal Station 봉수대

The Joseon people used smoke signals (Bong-soo) for long distance communication. The Bong-soo looked like a chimney. When a soldier saw an enemy attacking, he fired the Bong-soo. Smoke was used in the daytime. Fire was used at night.

The smoke signal of Bong-soo
1 smoke – normal condition
2 smokes – the enemy is preparing for war
3 smokes – the enemy is near the boarder
4 smokes– the enemy crossed the boarder
5 smokes – it is time to fight


--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--⊙--
My Opinion


      The topic for today was war and battles. Therefore I went to the war memorial of Korea. It's totally out of my interest but at least I learned many things. Korea had been attacked so many times by the foreign circumstances and there were also many wars where Korea it self fought with other parts of Korea. Even with all those wars, we still have our country Korea, indepenence, language and culture. I can't imagine us using Chinese or Japanese or even Mongolian. I'm very proud and glad that our ancerstors protected out country.
      First, in Sal-su battle known as 살수대첩, we won thatnks to  was Eul -ji-moon-deok's brillian strategy. It was obvious that we could't win against the Sui China by actually fighting. Even though I think it was a little bit a sneaky attack, we won.
      Second is Mongol's invasions. The Mongols invaded Goryeo several times and eventually made us wear Mongolian custumes but in gmin King's time we were released. It's very good that they released Goryeo because I really don't want to be a monolian. :) 
      The last war is Imjin war. Imjin is very famous in Korea for admiral Lee Sun Shin. He made his famous last words "Don't tell anyone of my deathㅠㅠ" then died. He also made turtle ship which really looks like a turtle.
       Today was rather fun even though I'm not very good with history and remembering wars but now I feel very proud of this country and that I better know more about my land. I hope someday, I could go back to the War memorial Center with a foreigner and explain about wats and battles that I learned today.

Prison History Hall

In 1910, Korea lost its independence. Japan ruled the country for 36 years. Korea tried to recover its freedom. Many patriots were put in prison. Seo-dae-mun priso n was the biggest prison at that time.

▣ Independence Gate
The Independence Gate was built in 1896 as a symbol of independence.
People donated money to build it. It was modeled after the “Arch of Triumph” in Paris. Japan built the Seo-dae-mun prison next to the gate.
They wanted Koreans to stop think ing about independence.

▣ Korean Independence Movement
One of the most famo us resistance demonstratio ns was the March 1s t Movement. Thirty-three leaders declared Korea’s independence at
Pagoda Park in 1919. More than 2 million people jo ined and shouted
“Dae-han-min-guk-man-se (Long Live Korea).” Many people were arrested and put in prison. Yu Gwan-sun, Han Yong-un and many other patriots died in the prison. However, Koreans did not give up. They set up a provisio nal go vernment in Shanghai. Korea finally wo n back its independence in 1945. Resistance Room This room tells us the historical background of Seo-dae-mun prison. We can also learn about resistance history. There is a screen that shows the Kang, woo-kyu bombing
at the Japanese governor-general building. Torture Room This room displays the cruel tortures done by the Japanese. There is an actual roo m
where real atrocities occurred. The basement priso n was built to put fema le freedom fighters. This place is also known as Yu Gwan-Sun’s cave.

**** Who is Yu, Gwan-sun?Yu Gwan-sun was a famous female freedom fighter. In 1919, she was a student at Ehwa Wo men's School. She returned to her ho metown
because the Japanese government ordered to close all the schoo ls.
She planned a jo int demo nstratio n wit h other towns. It started on the 1st of March in 1919, at the A-woo-nae Marketplace. Yu was arrested and impriso ned in the Seo-dae-mun prison. Even while in prison, she cont inued to protest for the independence of Korea. So she rece ived harsh beat ings and was tortured. She died in prison in 1920, at the age of 18.

Prison Buildings
These are the prison cells where our patriots were locked up. The rooms are dark and damp wit h no toilets. Many people died of hunger and disease in here. Execution Building This is where the executions were
carried out. There is a chair and thick rope for hanging. Next to this build ing, there is a secret tunnel for carrying dead bodies. This place reminds us of the sacrifices made by our freedom fighters. Tae-guek-gi The Korean nat io nal flag is called Taeguekgi. It is known that King Go jong the 26t h king of Joseon dynasty drew it. It has many meanings. The circ le in the center is divided into two parts. It symbolizes the harmony of two opposite forces such as sun & moon, man & wo man, heat & cold etc.It’s fro m the yin and yang theory (oriental philo sophy). The lines at each corner represent the four universal elements : heaven, earth, sun, and moo n. It also represents four seasons :spring, summer, fall & winter or
the direct ions : east, west, south and north .

MugungwhaThe nat io nal flo wer of Korea is the Mugungwha (Rose of Sharon). The flo wer bloo ms everywhere in Korea and lasts lo nger than other flowers.
It symbo lizes pat ience and endurance. National Anthem Korea’s nat ional ant hem is called Ae-guk-ka, which means “Song o f Love for the Country.”
We are not sure who wrote the lyrics. We had different versio ns o f this song for many years. Composer Ahn, Ik-tae wrote the music in 1937.
The Republic o f Korea adopted this song as the national anthem after the liberation from Japan.

Lyrics
Until the day when t he East Sea's waters are dry
and Mt. Baek-du are worn away,
God will protect us, lo ng live Korea!
Thousands miles of splendid rivers and mountains, filled
with Roses o f Sharon
People of Korea! Let’s preserve this land forever!

Japanese Colonial Government
After the Han-il mergence, Japan established a powerful colonial government to intervene in Joseon. Japanese led the destruction of our unique culture and took over our economy such as land, property, resources. Establishment of the Provisional Government After the 3.1 Movement, the national liberation leaders were organized in Shanghai and established the provisional government to resist against Japanese occupation. They resisted until August.15 liberation until 1945.

--▣--▣--▣--▣--▣--▣--▣--▣--▣--▣--▣--▣--▣--▣--▣--▣--▣--▣--▣--
My Opinion


       When a country invades another country, should the aboriginal people resist forever or stop resisting at some point? It's possible that a country could have freedom after resisting for a while but in my Opinion, I think people need to stop the resisting at some point for their goods.
        I think with resisting, there is two options. Either resist forever and get killed or even though it would be harsh stay where you are and live. If a  country resist forever, there is a greater chance of getting attacked and killed because force and millitary are the best way to stop the resist but if the people don't resist, there wouldn't be as much as people suffering. Yes, there would be people who become slaves but isn't it better to gain your life? Though the citizens will no more be a citizen of the country, the people don't have to give up there lives for an indepence that nobody knows when it'll come or even If it actually comes. The innocent citizens don't have any relation with the invasion it self and they shouldn't sacrifice there precious lives.
        Related to what I learned today at Seodaemun Prison History Hall, just like we resisted a while to Japanese , the aboriginal people have resisted a while back in history. Even though we can't turn the history up side down, it was a great oppotunity to think about the resisting deeply.

today's diary....

ㅠㅠ;;;;
I guess today was very wierd

Book Review-The Odyssey

이번 겨울방학 동안 나는 캠프에 갔다 오게 되었다. 생각보다 힘들지만 그곳에서 꽤 알찬 방학을 보냈다. 그 캠프에서 책 한 권을 받게 되었는데 그 책의 이름이 오디세이이다. 물론 나에게는 한참이나 어렵고 이해하기 힘든 책이지만 그래도 누구나 한번쯤은 읽어봐야 하는 책이고 그렇기 때문에 한번 도전해 보았다. 오디세이도 누가 번역을 하느냐에 따라서 책의 내용과 스토리가 달라지는 법이다. 나는 호머(Homer)가 쓴 원작 오디세이를 똑같이 번역한 책을 읽었다. 물론 대부분이 이해가 가지 않는 내용들이었다. 한참을 생각하고 어렸을 때 읽었던 그리스 로마신화를 떠올리면서 읽어야만 조금이나마 이해가 갔다. 오디세이는 그리스의 영웅인 오디세우스의 길고 험난했던 모험(여행?)을 뜻하는 말로 이 책 오디세이는 오디세우스가 트로이 전쟁을 마치고 이타카(Ithaca)로 돌아가는 도중에 일어난 모든 일들을 엮은 책이라고 할 수 있다. 트로이 전쟁은 10년 동안이나 계속되었고 오디세우스는 10년 동안 바다를 떠날 수 없었다. 바다의 신 포세이돈의 원한을 산 오디세우스는 스킬라, 카리브디스를 비롯한 바다의 괴물들에게서 병사들을 잃고, 키르케와 칼립소를 비롯한 여신들에게서 수많은 구혼을 받았다. 10년동안 오디세우스만이 고생을 한 것은 아니다. 오디세우스의 아내 페넬로페는 많은 남자들에게 구혼을 받으며 지내왔고 아들 텔레마코스는 아버지 오디세우스를 찾기 위해 많은 노력을 해왔다. 한 사람만이 아닌 한 가족을 힘들게 한 그 10년 동안을 그린 책이 바로 오디세이라고 할 수 있겠다. 이 책은 호머뿐만 아니라 이 책을 쓴 그 당시 사람들의 가치관과 여자들을 보는 시각을 잘 알 수 있는 책이었다. 책에 담겨 있는 괴물들이 가지고 있는 뜻 하나하나를 추측할 수 있고 당시 사람들의 바램을 잘 알 수 있는 책이다. 제우스는 그리스로마 신화의 최고의 신이라고 할 수 있다. 이것으로 보아 그 당시 사람들은 자신의 조상을 최고로 여기며 매우 뿌듯하게 생각한다는 것을 알 수 있다. 마치 우리나라의 조상을 단군인 것처럼 말이다. 비록 영어로 읽어서 훨씬 어려웠다고 생각 할 수도 있겠지만 한글로 읽던 영어로 읽던 받는 감동은 같을 것이라고 생각한다. 호머는 아주 오래전 사람인데도 불구하고 어떻게 그런 발상을 가지고 책을 썼는지 참 의아하다. 방학처럼 시간이 많을 때 다른 친구들도 한번쯤 읽어봤으면 하는 책이다.

Out My Window

ONE HIGHRISE, EVERY WINDOW, A DIFFERENT CITY

 

         Do you know where this quote came from? One highrise, every window, a different city. You probably do not know. This is from the site called "Highrise". This site is one of the world's first interactive 360˚ documentaries. Each film is told by the people who look out on the world from high rise windows. From this site, everyone can chose different person in different places and explore them. The person that I chose to explore was a baby girl from Bangalore. Her name is Akshadha. By watching these three short films, I found a lot of differences and also similarities with her life comparing to mine. First, I will talk about her life and her highrise then I will compare and contrast with mine.

          A little girl Akshadha lives in Bangalore in India. Her and her parents live in a gated highrise community. From their high rise, they see the monkeys going across the fense. Unlike Korea, they can also see the train going by infront of their house. Also the parent's office could be seen from the windows.

         In the country India, there are many people who work in the complex but people also have a dhobi who does laundry and irons their clothes in the basement parking lot. Dhobi is the Hindi word for laundry washer. Akshadha's parents worked there for a year. They work full days on Saturdays and Sundays too. They usually arrive at 7 in the mornings and leave at 8 in the evenings. Akshadha's mother works 2 days at home bringing clothes to wash at home. So that's 6 days for her. For every 3 buildings, there are usually 1 dhobi. There is not much washing to do because it's mostly ironing. The mother do washing at home to reduce the amount of work. The family live in Belathur in India and it's not very far to the hospitals. Prior to this, the mother used to work at the Sai Baba Hospital doing the same work, that is "Dhobi" doing laundry and then later on in Vaidehi Hospital. But in both places, she worked for the doctors and staff of the hospitals not the patients. There was an economic IT boom in Bangalore but has not touched Vishwarama(mother)'s wages. She earned no less, no more and it's the same as before. Still, she enjoyed being in that place and doing the job.

         There are place called 'Ghost building'. This building is an issue in Bangalore because of the recession. All the builders have stopped building. So all of them are in a halt now. All the builders are out of money because of the expensive steel prices and cement prices. No construction is going on right now.

          Now I would like to compare and contrast with Akshadha's life and mine. First, there is one dhobi in every 3 buildings which shows the cultural differences and our house design is like Han-ok. In Korea, the apartments usually all look the same with no differences but in my house, most of our furniture are made of wood making it to look like Korean traditional house Han-ok.

          From watching these short films, I found some similarities and differences between the little girl Akshadha and me. I learned that even though we are all living in a high rise, the environment is very different for each everyone and the culture difference.

History-Circe

Circe

Park Jong Ae

Class 26

Jan.20.2011

[About Circe]

• Goddess and enchantress • Turns men into animals

• The daughter of Perse and Helios • Fell in love with Odysseus

• Lived in island Aeaea

[Story of Circe & Odysseus]

When Odysseus came to Circe’s island, she invited the crew and turned them into swines with magic. With the help of magic herb given by Hermes, Odysseus managed to drink the poison without turning into swine. Circe was very surprised because nothing happened to Odysseus. When Circe was defense-less, Odysseus threatened Circe by placing sword to her throat. By doing this Circe turned his crew back to men and they all stayed with her for a year.

[Personality]

• beautiful                                • cruel

• craving* for love                    • lonely

• treacherous*

[Represent/Symbol]

• A woman who is jealous and wants love

• A solitary person

[Perspective of Woman]

Woman   • who threatens man’s spirit

• who lures man

Diary-11th Day in GLPS

          Today, I messed up really bad. It was our history presentation and I screwed up. I thought I had everything ready to present but Mr. Ganse said that the cotent had little mistakes. Even though he said little, my grade went down so badly. I was in the second place for last presentation but I was really shocked to get the scores. I had everything ready; I typed my presentation, made hand outs, made more eyecontact and presented with confidence compared to the last presentation which I finished my handouts a day before the presentation. I was so nervous that my voice was shaking and I made the content as I wet through because I ahd no time to prepare. Julie and Lily are in my room. Julie has gone down like me but Lily has gone up so much that she's having the best day ever so far. I guess i just need to put more effeort to it even though I prepared the most among us three. I guess I couldn't keep my premise from last week's diary about doing better ㅠㅠ

Diary-11th Day in GLPS

         KMLA has a rule banning all the relationship with their opposite sex. Guys can't ask girls to go out nor can they hold hands. I think this is ridiculous rule. I've never been to a school that bans relationship. I understand that it causes students to not actually concentrate on their school work but I think meeting a girl or a boy is also a learning that schools can't cover. Our debate TA said that he had a girlfriend in America. He told us that she is a year younger than him and that she's pretty but he didn't show us her picture so I don't know for sure. But the thing that I'm mostly curious about is his name. I wanted to write his name earlier but I couldn't because I din't know how to. I wonder if it's 한창희, 한창의, 한창이 or 한창히 or whatever. I think it's the first one though..^^ Anyways, we found out that 이윤정PA also has a boy friend. I think even if the school makes a policy, it's unstoppable. School shouldn't be resonsible for students liking each other. I think school should just be a place for education. My mom also said that she is totally fine with me having boyfriend if he is tall enough^^. Someone in our room also likes some other guy and I think people should have experience like this to have more comfortable relationship in the future with anybody.

Diary-5th Day in GLPS

            Yesterday, we had the importand debate and todya, we had the history presentation. Our history teacher is Mr. Ganse so I needed to prepare hardly but I couldn't because I had so little time to do anything. First, I needed to print or write all 14 handouts but I didn't finish that because I didn't have a computer. I didn't write my speech because I was too busy with the handout and my topic was so hard. The general topic for all of us was the cartoon Asterix. My character was the dog named dogmatix and unlike other characters, mine didn't talk at all so I had to read the dog's body language. It was kind of hard but I found lots of information in the Internet so it was okay. I was the 5th person to do the presentation. After each presentation, there also was a discussion on shether the person did well and what needed more improvements. Because I didn't have anything planned out, I had to speack out of my head like a free talk. When I walked toward the infront of the room to present, My head got blanked and turned white but I showe all my potential and did the best I could. I'm sure Mr. Ganse saw that too. I didn't  expect but my score was very good. In fact, Mr. Ganse told the class that it was one of the best presentation because I free talked alot unlike others who read the whole thing. I coulnd't feel more happy. Next presentation, I will prepare more and do better!!

Diary-4th Day in GLPS

            It has been my fourth day of KMLA here. It feels like a month or two but actually we just started this camp GLPS. The last few days have been really busy. History homework, debate homework and on top of that, this diary. I guess all that get left behind are diary and pictures^^ Since yesterday, I've been practicing for my debate class today. Even though it's been only few days, because I made to the intensive class 26, we are doing a debate. Honestly, I've never done a formal debate before in which I have to POI and talk for 6-6:30 minutes. It is going to be a real challenge. The topic of the debate was THB uniforms should be abolished in all Korean Public schools. I got to be on the negative side in which I had to pretend that I like uniforms and need them. It wasn't a hard topic actually, but I couldn't sit back and relax because it was going to be the first debate in my life(formal). I could neither practice nor prepare for it much so I was very nervous. When the debate started, my body started to shiver. When it was my turn to speak, my head just turned blank. I really couldn't think of anything to say so I used my notes to help. When Tr. Baumgardner gave each of us feedbacks, it was very surprising to hear that I had my speech pretty organized. He said the goasl is to get better and we will if we try to push our efforts but I'm really not sure. But I hope I'll get better eaqch time. I better do my homework because I have history class tomorrow with Mr.Ganse.

An Ode to high heals

This is an ode to high heels. I love to wear or at least look at the high heels since I’m not allowed to wear them. It makes me very proud to have them. Also whenever I go to the shopping mart, I always go to the shoes section to look at the high heels. High heels make me tall so it helps me to cover up my complex of being short. All the grown ups including my parents think it’s very unacceptable for a student who should be wearing sneakers to wear high heels  so I’m waiting until I become an adult…^^

Dear High Heels,

O, high heels, when did we first met, during my dance class or at weddings.

You were so bright which caught my eyes, and that was when I first thought of wearing you.

When I was young all the grown ups said, you don’t need high heels because it’s not good for me.
But don’t get upset about what they said, whatever they say, I will wear you someday.

O, high heels so thin and sharp, it also makes me thin and fashionable.

High heels, please come to me everyday, so I can wear you to look tall.

Lots of colors are used in you, and lights reflect from your shiny materials.

I love choosing you in shopping malls also trying every one of you too.

You make me happy for I want to buy you everyday, but I don’t have money so I’ll get in trouble.

All the girls love to wear you, they say you’re the last point of fashion.

Wait for me until I can wear you, and walk on earth making myself proud.

O, high heels, when did we first met, it’s been years since I wanted you so badly.

It is hard to just look at you but I can wait forever if I could wear you once.

So wait my heels, wait for me.

Wacky Web Tales

This is a short story that I made in the website Wacky Web Tales. This site is very enjoyable for I can make my own funny story. You never know how your story might turn out to be. In the site, it asked me to write nouns and adjectives and many more and I decided to write about Banana which represents someone. This story can only make sense to people who know what banana means but it's funny anyways so everyone can laugh about it.

Why I Love Fall

Yesterday Banana and I went for a pretty fall walk. It was getting colder, so we had to put on our woolly warmer and sweaters.

Halfway down the block, we saw the Crawford family out in their yard. The Crawford children were raking big piles of boogers and leaping into them. Mrs. Crawford was planting dung bulbs so she would have beautiful dung flowers in the spring.

“Fall is in the air,” Banana said. “Soon the days will be getting more smelly.”

We walked down Park Street admiring the yellow and black leaves. Overhead, strawberry were flying south for the winter. Two mosquito scampered by, hiding acorns in a tree for the winter.

“That makes me hungry,” said Banana. “Maybe we should go pick some nice round red beans and bake them in a pie.”

“She loves BANANAS!!! Wow!” I said. “That sounds disgusting.”

Wacky Web Tales!!

This wacky web tale story is about how Julie made the golf team at school and what difficulties she has gone through. It was very funny reading my story because there was a part where Julie got an itch on her armpit. When you actually think about it and imagine Julie doing this kind of stuff, it's funnier than any other story I think.

Flying Through Lunch

This evening, Julie tried out for the golf team at school. Julie worked very hard, eating every morning and kissing every day after school. She was sure to be a shoe-in!

That was what we all thought until this afternoon at lunch. Julie was carrying her lunch tray filled with cakes, oranges, and beans. She walked over to sit with the captain of the team, bella. Suddenly, Julie got a terrible itch on her armpit. She tried to scratch it, but instead she tripped over a(n) spoon and sent the lunch tray flying across the cafeteria, where it landed on bella's toe nail and made a complete mess!

Julie was so embarrassed. She was sure she would never make the team. What she didn't know was that a similar story happened to bella when she was trying out for the team. bella accidentally threw garbages all over the coach.

At tryouts this evening, Julie did great and bella personally congratulated her on becoming the newest member of the team.


Please COMMENT!!!

Writing in the 2nd Person Narratives!

This essay is about writing in second person Narratives. I had to use you instead of saying 'I'. It was quite hard at first but it was fun to write and it was also different experience.This story is about love in KMLA. It is not real so I hope our class PA Insun doesn't get angry.ㅠㅠ I chose to do the 2nd person narrative story about fictional love (or maybe nonfictional ) that Insun have with Claire because whenever we see them together, they always deny strongly that they have SOMETHING. But it seems like they do have SOMETHING. Also there's a saying that a strong disagreement is a strong agreement.  

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You woke up in the moring. It's Monday again. Even though you didn't set the alarm, you automatically woke up. For two days you couldn't sleep because you were thinking of Claire at night. It was weekend so you couldn't see her at all for two days. Whenever you don't see her, you go crazy. You're not really sure why you kept thinking about Claire but everyone else seems to know. Claire came last week. She changed with Han Chang Hee(?) and now she is the debate TA for class 26. I don't know why but I'm glad. When you first saw her, you thought she was a student. You were shocked when Mr.Baumgardener told you that she will work with you  but at the same time, you really wanted to become a good friend of hers or maybe start as her friend.^^ Whenever you are with Claire, your students always make fun of you. You don't feel pleasant but also you don't feel bad either. You don't know your feelings well enough. When students make fun of you and says that you and Claire have SOMETHING, you really want to say that you do have something but you're afraid of what Claire would say. She always looks at you with a smile on her face and you feel like the whole world has stopped spinning. whenever there's history class, you do not ever sit with her. Instead you always sit infront of her to see her face. You ask your friend about this feeling you have and all of your friends laugh at you. All of them said to ask her out but you still don't know what this mean. At the end you choose to keep your friendship her instead of asking her out!!!!!!!

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