Back on the road...

It felt really weird this morning.. waking up at 5:30 in the morning to get ready for school. Even though this spring break has been the most dull and stressful break ever, it was nice to lay off of my agenda and not have to worry about upcoming due dates. The past week has flown by so fast like a quick breeze that it is hard to believe I am back on my desk, finishing homework and assignments for school. What can I say? Some things are just inevitable and the road of a junior year is one of the paths that you must swim your way through to enter into the "real world". What do I mean by the "real world"? I mean a world where you are free to make your own "due dates" and "priorities"..... going to school everyday is like a new computer receiving new updates everyday. The School is the main controller and it installs all the basic, and necessary software in many different computers so that each computer can run on its own without additional updates. Approximately 1 month 'till AP exams and SATs.... 2 months 'till the end of junior year....

Nevertheless, I'm still in the process of getting updated...

Picture from Flickr

Bono Bono

One of the things I get really excited about is food. What's better than going to a nice buffet with your friends or family. In spite of my continuous coughing and sneezing, my mom and I went to a buffet called Bono Bono, which is located in Seoul, Korea. The ambience of the place is very elegant and relaxing. The dimmed lights and the soft jazz music playing in the background are only just few reasons why numerous people go there. I don't think there is a word that I can utilize to precisely describe the food served at this place. It is amazing! I would come here even if I was completely ill and inert. I would actually get someone to take me here by wheelchair If I had to. If you happen to come to Korea for whatever reason, you must, yes you must come to BonoBono and eat there :) Trust me, you won't regret it. :)

Korean Entertainment becoming Global

Famous Korean singers such as Se7en and boA are currently pushing themselves beyond Asia and are becoming global entertainers. One thing I noticed about Hollywood is that Asian singers/actresses/actors hardly gain any special attention. It seems to me that even though these Korean singers entered into the world of stardom, their fans are mostly Asians and their progress is more closely observed and applauded in their homeland. Now, I'm not saying that it was useless of them to go to Hollywood; as a matter of fact, I am very proud that they had the courage to step up to the plate. Just listening to their music and watching their music videos left me with a question in my mind. When will Asian singers attract as much attention and become one of the "everyone knows him/her" type of person? No doubt are all famous Hollywood entertainers very talented but I just don't notice any Asian person who is as equally popular.

Anyways, watch the music video of
se7en "Girls" ft. lil Kim (:



Eat You Up BoA MV


Video from YouTube
Eat You Up

Spring Work.

Spring break is here but for a junior, every minute of spring break is needed to study for SAT, AP courses and do other school-related work. So for those of you who are interested in finding out what life of a junior is like, let me show you my To do list for this spring break.

1. Finish 5 AP Chemistry Packets
2. Finish making a powerpoint for AP econ
3. Read Huckleberry Finn
4. Find 2 Articles on Feminism and make notecards
5. US History Research Paper on "How the major event on September 11th affected the later security of the United States"
6. English Research Paper
   
7. Study for SAT (May)
8. Study for Math IIC (June)
9. Study for AP Chemistry and AP Econ Exams (May)
10. Register for Toefl

Procrastination won't help me this time. Let's get started.
What a lovely spring break.

Picture from Creative Commons

Temptation

It is hard to resist something that you desire. Patience is the key to resisting temptation. I, personally need to develop such skill. When there is something that I really want in front of me, I have a tendency to grab it immediately, regardless of the possible benefit I could receive later on if I just wait. I bought a nice pair of shoes the other day. They were about $60. On my way to the super market to buy some tomatoes, I went past the same store and found a big sign that said "30% off". Many people were rushing into the store, grabbing the 30% items from the basket. I was mad. I could've saved so much money if I had just waited for another couple of days. What can I say? It is hard to resist such temptation.

Coincidentally, we watched this video called "Marshmallow Temptation" during National Honors Society meeting the other day. It was an experiment done on young kids to see whether they could be patient and resist the temptation to eat the marshmallow. They were told that they could eat the marshmallow right when they got them; however, if they waited, they could have another one. This video made me laugh because there were some kids who had the ability to wait to get the bigger prize and there were others who just couldn't stand waiting so they just ate them. Watch the video below to see the experiment.

This experiment may be a little inaccurate due to the differences in age of the kids, but it sure does tell us that patience is something that we all need to work on.

Picture from Creative Commons
Video from YouTube

Friendship

While reading and watching Huckleberry Finn, one of the important themes I noticed was Friendship. No doubt does the story include how wrongful slavery is, but it also shows the significance of friendship between Huck and Jim. Overtime, Huck becomes close with Jim as he learns to look at a person in a different perspective. From this, Huck sees Jim as his best friend rather than a runaway slave or a "nigger". I found it very interesting how there is a big age gap between Jim and Huck yet they are able to create close bond with each other.

The School I attend is an international school; yet, there is hardly any international students. The majority of the population at the school is Korean, but the teachers are mostly from outside of Korea. What I find interesting is that during lunch, I always see the teacher's/faculty's table split into two groups. There is a table where only Korean faculties use and the adjacent table is filled with international teachers. It seems to me that they never mix. From where I sit, the segregation between these two tables is very clear.

This got me thinking, is it harder to form close bonds with people from different countries? It seems to me that it is always easier to become close with people who have the same nationality. hmmmmm.. maybe I should choose this as my research topic for sociology class.

No need to make a big deal.

As I was surfing through the internet, I came across an article that appalled me. A famous TV host/former singer was condemned for sexually harassing a high-teen idol star, Tiffany from SNSD. I quickly read through the article and sighed with disbelief. What a poor, and innocent man. He accidentally tripped over, unaware of the whereabouts of his hands. In fact, his hands weren't even touching Tiffany's body. Sure, there are pictures to provide evidence, but they are mere quick shots of what lasted about 3 seconds on the show. Honestly, I'ved watched the show and saw him fall over, but I did not see or notice any signs of sexual harassment. The quick captures of this 3 second event just makes it look as if he had bad intentions in his mind. When he was asked his opinion on the "false accusations", he expressed his frustration and disappointment as he told the press that this was completely unexpected and he is sad to think that people would actually believe such things. If I were in his shoes, I, too, would be in utter shock. How could an accidental fall result in suspicions of sexual harrassment? You lose control when falling; hence, are incognizant of where you arms or legs are flying. I felt a great deal of sympathy toward him. Sometimes, we don't realize that our actions can hurt others and are capable of leaving an unwanted scar deep inside, which can take a long time to heal.

Photo

Mondays and Tuesdays

Mondays and Tuesdays used to be my least favorite days of the week. Weekends seemed so far away and there was nothing special to look forward to. That's the past. Now that a Korean drama show called "Boys over Flowers" came out, I have a reason to wake up on a cold monday morning. For those of you who don't know what Boys over Flowers is, here is a VERY brief and concise summary.

An ordinary, low-class girl named Jandi, becomes fortunate when she is invited to attend a prestigious school, Shinhwa School, where everyone is from the upper class of the society. In spite of her lack of fortune, her bright and unique personality receives attention from the four most popular and the richest guys at Shinhwa. Eventually, a love triangle is created between 2 members of F4 and Jandi. A great deal of drama is created between these three characters.

Although, this may sound very cheesy and is most likely not going to occur anytime in my life, the suspense it creates draws me in to this every-girl's dream world. Not to mention, all the actors are extremely good looking, which is another reason why I can't help but stare at the TV screen.

My parents don't understand why I enjoy this show. Personally, I don't really know either. Korean dramas tend to have this special characteristic "power" that makes the viewers want to watch more. I wonder what will happen next week?