Picture of Pyongyang taken by a Russian web designer Artemii Levedv. The center of the picture shows small houses among tall apartments. Levedv says most of Pyongyang looks like this photo.

The stories of North Korea are more than familiar to most of South Koreans. In fact, so familiar that most loses interest in them, and do not respond with strong feeling. It’s just the way it is. Trying to “educate” the South Koreans about North Korea is similar to trying to educate the Americans about racism. That does not mean South Koreans do not care about people suffering in North Korea, and the split families (some members of the family is in the North and others in the South). After all, South Koreans refer to their nation as “Korea,” which included both North and South Korea. Koreans put big emphasis on the blood that flows the family, and the people, and refer to North Koreans as the same Hanminjok, meaning people of Han (Hanguk, Korea in Korean, means Nation of the Hans). However, despite such ties South Koreans put on North Koreans, I cannot deny that most of South Koreans view defectors and reunification in a negative way. South Koreans have seen the German Reunification, and have been educated since the separation to come to conclusion that reunification will bring nothing but chaos. North Koreans will move down to South Korea for jobs and South Koreans will have to compete with them. Even now, some people oppose accepting defectors from North Korean for that reason. About a month ago, I read a posting, written by defector in her twenties who works in a restaurant as a waitress. She was serving as usual when the television in the restaurant showed news saying more defectors have been admitted. Then a man in the restaurant said “Why are they (the government) keep admitting those North Korean when we (the South Koreans) are starving ourselves!” and other men agreed. Sadly, that’s the reality. Other negative result from reunification will be that most of the money South Korea now has will have to be spent on developing North Korea. Not to mention the culture shock North Koreans will get after all those years of brainwashing in North Korea.

Also taken by Levedv, the picture above shows the border line of the North and South Korea. The dirt road is North Korean side. The picture below shows the same border from further away. You can tell that the condition of the North Korean road (the road at the bottom of the picture) and the South Korean road (the road at the top of the picture) is very different.

Last year, I had to read The Aquariums of Pyongyang for Writing class, and wrote a paper about whether South Korea should strongly promote reunification. For the reasons above, and others, I concluded both North and South is not ready for reunification yet, despite how much people like Haejung might want. There definitely are positive outcomes that will result from reunification as well, but the negative outcomes outweigh those at this point. And at this point, when the nation is facing economic and national security crisis (North Korea’s nuclear threats), South Korea cannot promote reunification based on “wish” of the few.

1) Bell mentioned James Joyce, William Faulkner, Larry McMurtry, and Mark Twain as the writers who probably influenced McCarthy’s writing style. Even though the only work I read by any of those writers is Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I can assume, from my brief research, how those writers influenced McCarthy; most of them wrote about the South.

2) Like Bell mentioned in the article, I noticed how McCarthy describes the scenery and nature beautifully and magnificently, while the characters’ thoughts and actions are described briskly, and with a bit of negative connotation. As Bell says:

“…in Mr. McCarthy’s work human thought and activity seem almost completely inconsequential when projected upon the vast alien landscapes where they occur. Human behavior may achieve its own integrity …… but it generally seems to have little effect.”

Also, McCarthy’s attitude towards humans in his book seems to be portrayed by John Grady, the main character of All the Pretty Horses, himself; John Grady likes horses more than humans and trusts horses more. This is perhaps why the scenes in which John Grady interacts with horses stand out in the book.

3) In the article, bell refers to McCarthy’s dialogue as “realistic dialogue, for which his ear is deadly accurate.” Like Twain, McCarthy wrote the dialogues the way it sounds when spoken and with slangs. When John Grady and Rawlins speaks, the dialogue is usually short, and with slangs and/or cuss most of the time. On the other hand, when Senora Alfonsa, aunt of the girl John Grady falls in love with, speaks, the dialogue is without any noticeable grammatical error and is with air of superiority.

4) Bell focuses on the usage of archaic words regarding McCarthy’s diction but I was more confused by the use of Spanish in the novel. Other than the terms regarding managing the ranch and the horses, I did not come across any archaic words that stood out and kept me from understanding the story. The Spanish words on the other hand, I was clueless most of the time whenever Spanish words popped out. I could guess the content of the dialogues most of the time but I had to search on dictionary or on Internet to figure out definitions of the Spanish words.

#2) Unlike most of my classmates, I rarely log in to my Facebook account. However I do have a blog on Korean website, and spend time on Internet communities on Korean website. I probably spend about 8 hours per week on networking sites (about 3 hours out of 8 on personal networking sites). I spend more time on cruising.

#3) As for the ads, I don’t even notice them. They are uninteresting and irrelevant to me, so why bother?

#4) As I watched “Growing Up Online,” I sympathized more with the teenagers (obviously) but I could also understand the parents’ concerns as well. However, I believe those concerns do not have solutions. I thought trying to control teenagers regarding their contact with media is same as censoring the media in the past, which we now think is violation of our rights. In the future, it will be the same with Internet; in the future people will not understand why the adults were so concerned and why they acted such way. In short, the world is changing, as it always has been, and it is pointless to try to stop it and go back.

Banksy is a pseudonym of an artist who displayed his works in various museums such as the British Museum, Museum of Modern Art (NY), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, and American Museum of Natural History. The twist here is that he attaches his works on the walls of museums with superglue while wearing fake beard and a hat as disguise. His art works carries message as well, but his act of gluing his work carries bigger message; he is challenging the big museums on their definition of art, and the art works that are displayed.

“4’ 33’’” is a music composed by John Cage, commonly is known as four-thirty three or four minutes thirty three seconds of silence. The conductor flips the music score after 33 seconds, 2 minutes 40 seconds, and 1 minute 20 seconds, which are the three movement of this piece, while the orchestra remains stationary. The “music” in this work is not played by the orchestra, but by the audience; every sound the audience make, such as noise made by shifting in their seats, confused whispers and murmurs, is music. By creating this piece, John Cage has redefined music as any sound.

A flash mob (also called flashmob) could be a performance art and a public stunt. Flash mob is an act in which large group of people assemble in public place and suddenly perform some kind of act, and like how they begun, suddenly ends their act and quickly break apart and disappears among the crowd. The idea of performance art is quite modern, but flash mob is more “modern” in sense that people (performers) gather by social network of some sort and perform among the crowd instead of performing on stage. The clip above is a flash mob in Grand Central Station, NY.

This modern building looks as if several boxes have been piled up to make the building.

"The Young and Hopeless" by Good Charlotte was released on October 1, 2002

Good Charlotte – Emotionless

Hey dad
I’m writing to you
not to tell you, that I still hate you
just to ask you
how you feel
and how we fell apart
how this fell apart

are you happy out there in this great wide world?
do you think about your sons?
do you miss your little girl?
when you lay your head down
how do you sleep at night?
do you even wonder if we’re all right?

but we’re all right
we’re all right

chorus:
it’s been a long hard road without you by my side
why weren’t you there all the nights that we cried
you broke my mother’s heart
you broke your children for life
it’s not ok,
but we’re all right
I remember the days, you were a hero in my eyes
but those were just a long lost memory of mine
I spent so many years learning how to survive
Now, I’m writing just to let you know that I’m still alive

the days I spent so cold, so hungry
were full of hate
I was so angry
those scars run deep inside this tattooed body
there’s things I’ll take, to my grave
but I’m okay
I’m okay

chorus:
it’s been a long hard road without you by my side
why weren’t you there all the nights that we cried
you broke my mother’s heart
you broke your children for life
it’s not ok,
but we’re all right
I remember the days, you were a hero in my eyes
but those were just a long lost memory of mine
Now, I’m writing just to let you know that I’m still alive
yeah, I’m still alive

sometimes…
I forgive
yeah and this time
I’ll admit
that I miss you, said I miss you

Chorus:
it’s been a long hard road without you by my side
why weren’t you there all the nights that we cried
you broke my mother’s heart
you broke your children for life
it’s not ok,
but we’re all right
I remember the days, you were a hero in my eyes
but those were just a long lost memory of mine
Now, I’m writing just to let you know that were still alive

and sometimes
I forgive
and this time
I’ll admit, that I miss you, miss you
hey dad

Rock bands, or just rock music in general, have an association with profanity, tattoo, drug, sex, you name it. And perhaps not without a reason. However, if you look out for them, there are songs that seem to be “too nice to be sung by rock band,” and this song, “Emotionless” by Good Charlotte is one example. The song is basically a letter to father, who apparently left the family. The song talks about what the family, and the writer, went through since father left but amazingly enough, it does not show anger but instead shows forgiveness. This song was written by Joel (lead vocal) and Benji (guitar and backing vocal) Madden, identical twins in the band, as a letter to their dad who cheated on their mom and walked out on the family when they were sixteen. Now, knowing this song was based on true story, the lyrics sound much more personal. Somewhat ironically, because of this personal element, more people are drawn to this song, especially those who had similar experience. At first I was drawn to this song because I was not expecting this type of song from a rock band, then because the lyrics sounded so sincere, and now because I know it is sincere. It’s interesting how stereotypes created by music can be broken by music.

Which one are you: looking at your own paper or looking somewhere else?

Both articles, “Hagwon is U.S. cash in on Korean undergrads” and “American teens lie, steal, cheat at alarming rates,” are unnerving in a way that both are problems of my generation. The first article is closely related to me since I am Korean American preparing for college in the U.S. and have went to hagwon before to prepare for SAT and such. As a Korean American living in Korea, and whose first language is Korean, I know well about the hagwon buisness, why it thrives, and why Korean students feel as if they need it. When I ask my friends who atted Korean schools whether going to hagwon really helps and those who does go to hagwon (others do not bother to because their school ends late anyway and/or have tutors) and they say not really but they go anyway because of their parents. Hagwon is considered to be one of those things you have to do because everybody else is doing it. Hagwon is almost a second school, and became part of Korean culture. Sadly, what the article says of the Korean students is mostly true.

“There are a number of Korean students who withdraw from prestigious universities after they find it extremely difficult to catch up with their peers in English writing and in logical reasoning – which is fundamental to studying in Western classrooms,” said the head of another hagwon, also identified only by the surname Kim.

This goes back to previous posting about how 44% of Koreans drop out from Ivy League and my points on whether those Koreans are “all-Korean” or Korean American. Korean Americans might struggle at first as well, but get used to colleg life after a while. However, Koreans who went through 12 years of “Korean way” of learning will struggle, not only because of the language barrier but because they are not used to coming up with their own, creative answers. With no one, no teachers and tutors, to guide them and tell them what they have to know and memorize, Korean students get lost and panic. That’s why they seek out hagwon, place that is almost like a school for them. In some ways, going to hagwons during 12 years of mandatory education in Korea made them incapable of doing work on their on, and doing work of their on. I hope this article makes the Korean parents and students realize that but reality is not that simple to change, is it? All I can do is hope that Korean education system changes for sake of students’ future, whether in Korea or in abroad.

As for the second article, I’m not sure how to respond to it. The percentages are definitely alarming, but then what else? My question is, is this a new thing? I mean this is almost like saying “there are criminals out there who do bad things. You might be the next victim.” Didn’t teenagers of the past lie, steal, and cheat before? The article mentions that the students’ response “reveals entrenched habits of dishonesty for the workforce of the future,” but what about the current work force? Are you telling me they didn’t lie, steal, and cheat while they were teenagers? Perhaps not to such alarming rates, but it still happened, didn’t it? May be the rates were almost the same but not much studies were conducted back then or something. So, if I assume this, why should I be surprised by this article? Sure, something must be done about this, but what? If I knew answer to this question, an answer that will actually work and lower the percentages considerably, I would not be attending high school right now.

1. Why do you think Miranda Hong describes her generation of Chinese as “confused”?
 I think Miranda described her generation as confused because rapid influx of new ideas in China from western world. That alone is not a negative thing, but it is when the old ideas remain firmly as well. Miranda’s generation is influenced by the new ideas so they want to do things in a new way while the older generation refuses to accept those new ideas. The word to catch here is that Miranda’s generation is “influenced”; as children, they grew up with the old ideas and met the new ideas while younger generation will grow up with the new ideas. This means Miranda’s generation is caught it the middle, in the confusion, and has to decide themselves whether they will follow the old way or venture into new way, while there is no right answer.

2. Why do you think the Chinese government has nicknamed the young people coming home abroad “returning turtles?”
 I think the nickname came from turtle’s behavior of being born, as eggs, on the land and going into the ocean when they hatch. In this case, turtles are those who are abroad, and ocean is China, where they belong. Since the turtles are hatchlings when they return to ocean, this also fits with how the nickname is for young people. So I think the government gave the nickname to indicate that although the young people were abroad, China is their home and where they belong. The “turtles” who return may not share the government’s view on this because most of them return to seek success; after receiving Western education, the young Chinese entrepreneurs see large opportunity in China.

6. Lu Dong likens Chinese ambition to a poor kid going into a candy store and grabbing too much candy because he has been hungry for so long. Is this an apt analogy about China? Propose another analogy to describe Chinese ambition.
 I think that is an apt analogy about China because to an outsider, it looks like they are seizing any opportunity to globalize; their technology is developing rapidly, they started to accept western ideas and capitalism (McDonalds in China is a good example of this), and also hosted the Olympics recently. However, I get the feeling that Chinese are trying to accomplish things much too quickly and before they are prepared. The Olympics, for example, may have appeared successful but it was also severely criticized by people who had more information. The lip syncing and use of CG was nothing compared to ongoing clash between the minorities and the government, and the way Chinese government tried to hide old, shabby neighborhood by building tall walls around it. The list goes on, but the point is the same: they take risky measures to accomplish what they want, which could cause more trouble than success. Another analogy I would use to describe is “trying to bite off more than they can chew” for the same reason as I mentioned already.

1. Do I think what Kim says is the most likely reasone for the high drop out rate among Koreans? Yes, probably. But the thing is, it may be the other way around. You see, those Koreans could be studying instead of enjoying social life because they felt that they could not fit in to the environment, instead of shunning social life on purpose to study. The problem could be culture difference (difference in social values and/or education system, principles) or language barrier, or both. Anyhow, I should agree that isolation is the problem.

2. Compared to drop rates among other groups such as Americans, Chinese, and Indians, Koreans are the highest. But so what? Does that define Koreans as having weak wills or motivations? As a Korean myself I do not want to see it that way. Then why is the rate so high? Well, I guess Koreans have harder time leaving their “Korean way” of life behind. I cannot come up with a solid answer because part of me does not want to say that the core of the problem is our nationality.

3. As a senior in high school, preparing for college, what am I doing to increase college readiness? Not much. What should I do? Uh, I don’t know? Honestly, can you really prepare yourself for college readiness? By doing what, practicing living away from home, family, and current friends? Or by practicing meeting new people? I think the best, and the simple preparation in taking a big breath before entering college (I mean a day before of the morning of THE day) and embrace yourself to face a new world. But other than that, I can’t really think of anything.

4. As for my other opinions on this article in question, I do not think the article is specific enough. I mean, I am Korean, not just Korean but actually Korean American. And whether you have experience studying overseas or studying in Werstern education system makes big difference. I am guessing that most of those 44% are Koreans who went to Korean schools and learned in Korean system. The Korean education system is very strict and study-centered and it will not be easy to suddenly make a change from Korean way to American way because those two are so different. Korean Americans on the other hand will not struggle as much because we know time we have does not have to be spent studying, we are familiar with Western culture, and also do not have, or feel, much language barrier.