#22 Field Trip to the DMZ

A picture of Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which separates South Korea from North Korea

This film was about a twenty-years-old student named Haejung who have escaped from North Korea. I felt more emphathetic to this girl, because she is a teenager just like me, who still needs care and love from her family. Haejung now attend s a school called Han gye rae High School, which helps her to adapt to cultural gaps that exist between North Korea’s and South Korea’s environment.  It is always a big surprise to hear how the North is vastly different from the South. Every simple task such as browsing the internet, buying movie tickets, getting on a bus or a subway, is challenging for students that have just moved into South Korea. It is hard to believe that there are still people, especially those that are this close to developed South Korea, who can’t afford to eat meals or receive electricity. The biggest problem that creates this cultural gap is that the North still brainwashes students at school that the South Korea is surrounded by Americans who massacre and steal ruthlessly. Also, only a few of children in North Korea receive proper education while most work on agricultural fields. By watching the students in the film, I also felt that it would be very devastating to be separated from their family when they are only a mile away from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Recently, in Global Issues class, I have researched the relationship of North Korea and South Korea. In the early 1900s, both government have made an effort to let separated families to unite, but only for a brief time. I wish the two government continue to establish more of this chance.

A picture of a family who have been separated for almost 50 years by the 38th parallel line

#21 Modernism Examples

Space Age Modern Egg Chair designed by Peter Ghyczy- futuristic, simple, strong color,weather resistant& waterproof

 

Walt Disney Concert Hall (2003), designed by Frank Gehry- simple form, expressed structure, functional

Uno: Tomorrow's Transportation, designed by Ben Gulak-simple, technological, functional, strong color, fancy, aesthetic

Miniature Art - creative, colorful, combine reality and art

 

#20 The Man who understood Horses

The author of "All the Pretty Horses," Cormac McCarthy

Cormac MacCarthy is know for his exceptional and often inimitable writing style. He is also know as supporter of “Joycean virtues of silence, exile and cunning,” focusing only on his writings rather than awards and recognizations from the public. He is often praised for “extraordinary quality of his prose” and elaborate and elevated descriptive style. Some of the authors that greatly influenced McCarthy’s style of writing includes William Faulkner, Larry McMurtry and Mark Twain. Nonetheless, McCarthy’s writing style differs from each author. For example, while Faulkner writes about “human history and mental spaces”, McCarthy writes about “human thought and activity” and his stories are often inconsequential. Moreover, “All the Pretty Horses” is often compared with McMurtry’s “Lonesome Dove” and Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn,” but McCarthy’s writing style is described as “deeper than Larry McMurtry’s and, in its own way, darker than Mark Twain’s.” McCarthy also showed variety of writing styles through his previous books, such as “Suttree” (1979) and “Blood Meridian” (1985).

John Grady Cole, the main character of the book, is characterized as a responsible, independent, and strong man who loves horses. The author McCarthy also showed his love toward horses and it seems like he had subtituted his own love for horses to the character. Throughout the book, there are long and detailed descriptions of beautiful landscapes with horses, and this shows how McCarthy holds higher opinion of horses than humans. This does not mean McCarthy doesn’t appreciate humans, but its just unlike other authors, who usually focus on humans in the story, McCarthy had turned the center of attention to animals.

Another outstanding feature of his writing style is his use of realistic dialogue. McCarthy had excluded any form of quotation marks which was quite unique. Not only that, he had included everyday speech that is easy for the readers to understand, helping readers who are confused with his complex and difficult paragraphs. McCarthy’s diction is interesting in that his words come from mixture of different eras, especially that of Elizabethan language.



The cover of "All the Pretty Horses," which was also made into a movie

#19 Growing Up Online

A picture of teenagers exposed to dangers of internet

1) At midnight, I turn on the TV or the computer. I watch news or variety of entertainment programs on TV and search through different sites on computer. I sometimes read newspapers or magazines in the morning. Thus, it would be quite difficult to completely isolate myself from all kinds of media, especially because we need them for school work almost every day. This kind of isolation would be plausible for a few days if I stay inside my home. But it would be impossible outside because the moment I go outside, I would be exposed to all different kinds of media.

2) I spend about 4~5 hours per week on personal networking sites, especially Facebook thesedays.  I usually look at pictures or leave comments on my friends’ account. These websites notify me on new posts, pictures, status, friends, etc and makes me aware of situation of people around me. Also, I get to meet new people abroad, which is hard physically. But at the same time, these websites interrupt me from doing my intended homework and I spend more time on the computer, which is bad for my back and eyes.

3)  If I am correct, viral marketings are those advertisements that pop up or flash in almost all sites. But I am not THAT aware of what exactly viral marketing is and the effects of it. I guess the viral marketing uses variety of forms and colors to attract people’s attention. I sometimes click on pop-ups that interest me. I have heard that depending on how popular a website is, the advertisement companies will pay more and that this is the way the creator of the website earns money. 

4) The media and the adults always seemed so worried about effects of internet. At first, I couldn’t understand them because I thought benefits of internet are by far greater than disadvantages. That is why I was so shocked to see teenagers so greatly influenced by the internet in the film, “Growing Up Online.” I now agree with the parents that online can lead teenagers into danger, even persuaded suicide. I was also worried that there are evil “predators” on internet who easily persuades innocent teenager girls to meet them in person and abuse them. In another incident, a boy named Ryan suffered from “cyberbullying” and was persuaded to join the website which tells teens how to committ suicide.  Not after long, he really killed himself. This shows how internet is not only powerful but also very dangerous. Adding on, as some people said in the film, on internet one can be a totally different person, because the opponent wouldn’t know one’s “real” identity. For example, Jessica who is usually shy and quite in person was “reborn” as a gothic artist and model on internet. This later shocked not only her parents, who thought of  their daughter as reserved and cautious. After watching this film, I learned taht  parents should be always watchful of what their children are doing on internet.

A picture of Jessia who uses the name of "Autumn Edows" on internet

To see the film, visit here.

#18 Increasing number of “hagwons” in US

A building that has hagwons everywhere

The word “hagwon” is a very frequently-used and familiar word in Korea. It is almost weird if you don’t attend any hagwons. Korean students find themselves studying in those hagwons until midnight or even dawn. The short video clip below shows how many of the children are “forced” to stay at hagwon because of their parents. According to the articles, and what I have heard from people, many of the Koreans that attend International schools within Korea tend to suffer when they move to an university in the States. Although many of them have amazing skills of memorizing or speaking English, many of them have hard time “writing” in English. In Korea, the students are accustomed to “cramming style of education” where a student just memorizes everything, without being creative or innovative, which is the style favored in US. I relate to the first article because I have attended international school for several years, and I have never attended a school in US. I am worried that I would have hard time adjusting to the “Western” environment in US. As Doctor of education quoted,  “The pressure and poor English ability are the two main reasons why many Korean students are dropping out,” many Korean-Americans feel the burden to succeed in a culture they have never involved themselves before.

The second article was rather shocking. The statstics revealed that the young generation has high tendency to lie, cheat, or steal. What I was most surprised about was that about one-third of teenagers have stolen something within a year. I expected the percentage of cheating and lying would be pretty high, but I never thought percentage of stealing would be this high. It wasn’t fully explained, but it was interesting how in all these three cateogries, the percentage of boys are higher than that of girls. This “dishonesty” is becoming a serious problem as percentage rises every year. The school or the government should set plans to prevent any more cheating, stealing and lying.

#17 “Young and Restless in China”

Why do you think Miranda Hong describes her generation of Chinese as “confused”?

To learn more about the 9 characters, click here!

This film discusses of “new generation” that is emerging in China through nine different stories. Some are benefiting from this magnificent change, whereas some are struggling to get out of the old China. It also shows how China is starting to interact with the “outside” world and discusses positive look on China’s future. Through this film, I learnt that China surely has the potential to become one of the most powerful and influential countries in the world. (Questions #1,2,8)

 1. 

 

China has been isolated and ruled under strict government throughout the history. But beginning in 1990s, new generation aroused, and people began to break from tradition. For example, people are no longer abiding with spiritual Maoism but with the idea, “get rich as fast as you can and have a good life.” China is very much “confused” because of the conflict between the past and the future. For example, Wei Zhanyan, a migrant worker, is in midst of conflict: whether to stick to traditionally arranged marriage or to follow her heart and marry her true love. Not only that, recently, the young people in China are raising the living standard of people and boosting up the economy. This naturally led to international cooperation with other developed countries. For example, Ludong, a tailor company owner, sells his products abroad. Basically, the traditional, older generation is clashing with the innovative, younger generation.

 2.  Why do you think the Chinese government has nicknamed the young people coming home from abroad “returning turtles?”

In the film, “returning turtles” are referring to the young Chinese people who return home in hopes of finding more opportunities. Two most prominent turtles in the film are Lu Dong and Ben Wu. Lu Dong returned to China after staying abroad for over a decade. He worked at a software company abroad, and brought similar company in China. He was very excited to see his company at home double every half an year. He also set up a tailor-made shirts company, and the products are exported to Japan, United States, Europe, etc. Another entrepreneur Ben Wu also worked outside of China for over a decade. Ben Wu quoted, “I want to learn how China conducts businesses, best opportunities and industries in China.” He decides to set up an internet cafe, using what he learnt in business school in New York. His internet cafe is very similar to New York Skyline structures. Those people might be described as turtles because we characterize turtles, as although slow, a hard working, devoted, steadfast animal. These entrepreneurs are slowly helping the economy in China.

 8.  Who do you think is the happiest of the young people profiled in this documentary and why?

The happiest of the young people would be Ben Wu who set up the first internet cafe in Beijing. Forty years of communism in China had led people to do anything to earn money. As I said before, most people go after “get rich as fast as you can and have a good life” idea. That is why Ben Wu would be considered successful in China. He is consistently earning money by working at the largest computer company in China. He is also leaning new ideas from travelling abroad every week. His internet cafe is stable and is the number one cafe in Beijing. His second internet cafe is also profitable. By building three more, he would earn more and more money. Not only that, his wife is coming back to China after three years of isolation, so he would have a supporter by his side and love from his family.

#16 Who is a Warrior?

During the past few days, we have read aboout Fu Mu Lan in “Woman Warrior” and have watched three films: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The House of Flying Daggers. These sources revealed some particular aspects of warrior tradition, although characters come from different time and background. First of all, warrior is defined as “a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness, as in politics or athletics”. In films and the book, warrior usually involves in physical fighting. Although there might be some complex plot, the main character always becomes a hero and wins the fights. Whether he/she fights against one or ten people. Also, while the heroes portray calmness throughout the fight, the opponents seems to be akward and struggling. Many times in the movie, people ask each other of who their school or master is. It seemed like everyone belongs to one group and follow that group’s traditional moves that are noticeable by other people. Also, many of the characters called themselves by names such as “Iron Man,” although it definitely didn’t match with him in real life. For all these films and books, film makers and writers tend to follow the archetype, “the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based.” For example, Jackie Chan works as an archetype for martial arts that involve action and comedy at the same time. As you can see from image below, he always seems ready to fight, with his fist high up in the sky and his sharp eyes.

Jackie Chan, who looks ready to punch someoneJackie Chan who shows typical pose of warriors

 Nature is always part of warrior fightings, as Jin and Li Mubai have fought in the forest in the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The House of Flying Daggerse. Both of them walk on the trees or hide themselves behind the leaves. In many of warrior movies I have watched before, the characters forms nature as the basis of background. They usually spend most of their time in the nature, training themselves to become the most powerful warrior. For example in the “Woman Warrior,” the old couples leaves Fu Mu Lan alone in the nature, where she learns to survive with only roots and vegetables. While living there, Fu Mu Lan interacts with the animals from the wilderness. She becomes agile like the animals and often learns moves, which she incorporates in her fightings.

A scene from "Mu Lan" where she interacts with animals

 When we think of the word “warrior” a manly and mascular man comes to our mind first. This shows how warriors are more common as a male than a female. In the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The House of Flying Daggerse, the thief was dressed like a man to cover herself, and the guards called her “Get him! Get him!” Also when she goes to the restaurant, she hided her identity by covering her long hair and wearing big and masculine looking clothes. Often, female is named by words that have negative connotation. For example, Li Mubai names the old lady as Jade “Fox” which is often characterized as sly, treacherous, and dishonest. When these two were fighting, Li Mubai attacks her in the breast, and Jade Fox falls immediately. The camera angle shows Li Mubai standing tall and proud, compared to Jade Fox on the floor. Yet, unlike obedient and loyal women in other films, woman warriors in this film were strong and independent. 

A female character Jin who is particularly independent and strong

Another similarity between “Woman Warrior” and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The House of Flying Daggerse is that martial arts is all about winning obedience, rather than killing someone. Only one or two people were killed in the film, and only few of the bad guys in the book were killed. Before Li Mubai and Jade Fox fight, he states that he would not fight if Jade Fox obeys him, but obviously fight starts when Jade Fox rejects this offer. Also in the book, before Fa Mu Lan slaughters baron, she first “asks” him to give land and money back to the people. When he denies his wrongdoings continiously, Fa Mu Lan cuts his head off.

#15 Fiction or Non-Fiction?

A different cover of "The Woman Warrior"

The styles of first two chapter of The Woman Warrior were contrasting and rather confusing. The first chapter “No Name Woman” seems to be a non-fictional story of Kingston’s family and life. She talks about her aunt who had become pregnant when her husband had left for America for a long time. She was abandoned by her family and later drowned herself in a well. This is a “true” story that the whole family wants to keep as a secret. However, I was a little confused with the second chapter where the author had suddenly become a warrior-like character. Later when I found out that she had been just imagining herself as Fa Mu Lan, I realized that in contrast with the first chapter, the second chapter was fictional.

However, I wouldn’t necessarily call this book as a memoir (an account of one’s personal life and experiences or the published record of the proceedings of a group or oragnization, as of a learned society) because this book goes back and forth between reality and imagination. In fact because of this unique writing style, this book doesn’t fit under one specific cateogory and “American literary world still seems to regard the tissue-thin boundary between memoir and fiction as absolute and inviolable”. However, as mentioned in the article, I believe not all of the stories that people share are entirely made up of “true” facts. Some people would believe so, but our memory is unconsiously mixed of fictional and non-fictional events. The interactions between these two different styles might bring about confusion, but this shouldn’t be the subject of criticism.

On the other hand, I disgree with the critic that argued against Kingston’s “radical stance against American racism; for presenting a Westernized, sanitized view of Chinese culture.” The purpose of the author was not to criticize Chinese culture, her culture, but to put a point of view to show how to live as an female Chinese American in California. The book is mainly about the conflicts between different cultures, rather than going against China or its people. The short film below consists of important quotes from the book and comments from various magazines. The New York Times quoted “A remarkable book. It is dizzying, elemental, a poem turned into a sword.”

#14 Why is Korean Ivy League student dropout rate so high?

American colleges that are considered "good" in Korean society

Compared to the 44% dropout rate of Koreans, 34% of Americans dropped out, whereas 25% of Chinese and 21% of Indians dropped out. The biggest and most evident reason for the high rate of drop out rate of Korea Ivy League students is the “study-concentrated” way of life.  As stated in the article, Korean students only spend 25% of their time on activities, such as community service. In Korea, since childhool, people are taught to value education and think of education as the only way to success. That’s why most Koreans people judge people based on which university they attended. This pressures and sometimes “forces” students to attend universities they aren’t so enthuastic about. Also, Korean parents unintentionally raise their children as a dependent person because they try to do anything for them so that their child can concentrate only on studying. When these students are suddenly out of reach of their parents, when they enroll into a university in America, they tend to get lost and confused easily. They tend to study all the time rather than socializing or getting involved in different activities that could help them rid of stresses. Koreans should change their views that studying is the most important factor in life and value other parts of life such as different cultures or backgrounds.

A picture of a student at Minjok Leadership Academy, which has a spectacular record of admission to Ivy League colleges

As many teachers in SIS emphasize, to get better prepared for college, I should read more because reading would help me in many different areas. By reading different books, I would, firstly, acquire knowledge, whether it is significant or not. These knowledges would eventually build up and help me become more confident about my decisions. Also by reading a lot, I would get myself prepared to read faster and more accurately at the same time, which is an ability vital in college where there are lots of reading. Reading, obviously, will help improve my vocabulary and writing techniques. Then, I would able to make my writing sound more interesting and to flow more smoothly. I should also practice to use English at home so that I can speak English with ease when I go to America. I am very excited to meet variety of people and to make new friends in my future college.

#13 STEP UP!

 

Movie poster of Step Up1

 

Movie Poster of Step Up2

Recently, I have watched a movie in a long time. It was called “Step Up2,” which I enjoyed very much because I am greatly interested in dance. I have also watched “Step Up1″ which is similar to “Step Up2″ but somewhat different. The first one was rather focused on the romance of two main characters, with dancing incorporated. However, the second one revolved around dancing and harships the main characters had to go through in order to pursue dream of becoming the best dancer. Dancers often face

conflicts with people around them, especially their parents, because they believe dancer can’t be a longlasting or a professional job. But I believe if someone is really interested and passiontate about dancing, no matter what other people say, he/she should follow their dream. Below is the final performance shown in the “Step Up2″ and is my favorite part of the movie. To see pictures or a list of characters from Step Up, visit here.

 

At the beginning of the year, my friend pursuaded me to join the dance club. I have never been involved in a club at school and because I was greatly interested in dancing, I decided to join the group. Once we were divided into groups within the club, we had to make up our own routines according to the music. The music was from “Step Up2″ so I had so much more fun. During the preparation time, I realized that these moves in the movies can’t be perfected within a few days. We had to practice for over 2 monthes to come up with routine that is much shorter than the ones in the film. Before going onto the stage, me and my teammates were extremely nervous because we never have been on a stage with a this huge audience. However, when we got up there, we performed to the best of our ability and were satisfied at the end.