Countdown

28 Days until my favorite holiday of the year: Christmas

35 Days until New Year's Day 2010!

14 Days until Winter Break!

I'm beginning to feel the holiday spirit! Unfortunately, no sign of snow YET... :(

Future is in.

Sometimes, I like to go to Youtube and watch music videos of K-Pop artists. When I reached the 23rd video, I noticed that many of them shared a similar trait: they were all very futuristic. It is amazing how fast trends change in music. Not too long ago, the 50s and the 60s were everywhere: tight and colorful skinny pants, tight shirts, ribbons in your hair, converse and you get the idea... Nowadays, everything seems to be very space-like with futuristic outfits and songs: Funky leggings, (I'm telling you, you would have to be blind to not notice these types of leggings), slick, black and shiny sunglasses, high pony tails, formal coats that have pointy shoulder ends and belts that come up all the way past your belly button. Even the music is becoming more computerized to make the voices sound like automatons. I have no problem with this new and unique style, but my parents seem to detest it. Nowadays, my mom, who also enjoys listening to music, spends her time reminiscing about the past music and how pleasing they were to her ears. I am afraid to listen to music without headphones, for the fear of arousing my mom's temper. I wonder what new trend will emerge in the future? Maybe the Stone Age is next in the line!

Check out some of the videos :)

2ne1, Fire


G-Dragon, Heartbreaker


4 Minute, Muzik


Shinhee, Ring Ding Dong


Picture: http://sookyeong.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/200904061038031002_1.jpg

Technology: the cause of stress and frustration

At this moment, technology is a nightmare.

Yes, I repeat: a complete nightmare. If you utter i-movie, garage band, television, fridge, microwave, or alarm clock, I will collapse immediately on any surface, which I happen to be standing on. It is true that they were created to make our lives more convenient by allowing us to work on other things rather than go through the tedious tasks many people had to suffer back when technology was not so developed. I discovered a little bit of irony in this fact, for I had to face technology melt down today and it was not pleasant. Actually, things got a little ugly.

My parents went to jeju island for their wedding anniversary and left my brother and I alone at our house, leaving me with a huge responsibility of taking care of my little brother. Every Sunday, he has a swimming lesson at 10 in the morning. It was my job to wake him up at 8:30 so that he can take the bus to the pool. This, however, did not happen because my alarm clock, (which worked perfectly fine until this morning) did not ring. So, my brother started whining and complaining about how he is now unable to play with his friends in the pool because of me. Technically, it is not my fault; it's that clock's fault. As frustrated as I was, I did not even bother arguing with my brother because it is completely useless to blame something that is inanimate.

12:30pm. Lunch time. I looked in the fridge and oddly enough, I did not feel the chills that I usually get when opening the fridge. Then, I realized that the fridge was not working. Can my day get any better? First it was the alarm clock, and now it's the fridge. I touched the food to check if they were warm. Luckily, they were still cold. Nevertheless, I called my parents and as they always do, they started yelling at me. They of course, blamed me for the non-functioning fridge and made me open all the containers inside the fridge to see if the food have gone rotten. Oh, did I mention we have two fridges? Yes. It took hours!

3:30pm. Tired and Exhausted, I collapsed on the couch and turned on the TV. You may not be shocked to hear that the channel, which I enjoy watching the most, was not working. A screen appeared which said, "This channel is currently undergoing maintenance, so please be patient". Patience? That is the last thing I have right now!

4:18pm. Crap. I have to finish my World History project. Tragic.

8:00pm. YES! Finally finished! All I have to do is add music and export it into a movie file :)

8:12pm. WHHHAATTTTT?!? I have a problem. Whenever I export it into a movie file, all it gives me is this frightening, blank, white screen with just the sound playing. I just want to mention that I-movies consume so much time! Editing one just takes forever! I also happen to be very picky when it comes to making little movies/videos.. I have this tendency to make it perfect. (No I am not a perfectionist. I just happen to be a little sensitive when it comes to I-movies...) Nonetheless, I need help. No. I am in desperate need of help. Suggestions?

1:03am. Got everything under control. I fiddled around with every possible function on I-movie and got the movie working. YES! I am now tired, mad, frustrated, hungry, devastated, relieved (that I finished my homework) and confused. As of this moment, I am writing a blog entry expressing such inexplicable turmoil.

Oh dear Lord, what did I do to deserve this misery?

Picture: http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/jan2007/stress02.jpg

Trouble

As an avid reader of Korean Entertainment news, I could not but help notice the "life-changing" comment, which one female university student made on a popular TV show called Chat with Global Beauties: "Short guys are losers". When a girl was asked to define a "short" guy, she responded that a height under 180cm is considered as a "loser". Ouch. Anger aroused within the population of guys who fell under such category. The phone line of the girl's university is now disconnected due to overwhelming threats; not to mention the school website also had to face temporary shut down from harsh and intimidating remarks left by the crowd of angry men. It's scary how a comment regarding height can lead to this flood of rage. Today's society tends to have this tendency to categorize everything under perfect or imperfect. What is this obsession with perfection? If the world was designed to be completely immaculate with no mistakes or errors, what is the whole purpose of living? It's unbelievable how an individual reacts if they discover that they are not what the society deems as ideal...

Picture: http://popseoul.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/loser_20091118.jpg

Craving for Knowledge.

Long time ago, the quality of a person's life depended on his/her blood. For example, a man with royal blood found himself bathing in abundant riches where as a poor peasant found himself living in the dirty streets, surviving on crumbs of bread. The latter would never receive the same opportunity as the man with royal blood. Now with social hierarchy gone, individuals, including those from the lower class, has the chance to achieve spotlight. That "chance" increases with the accumulation of knowledge. Put simply, the more you know, the more likely you will succeed.

I have always perceived knowledge as a ticket to attain your desires in this competitive world. Why? Because time is always limited and the quickest and the most "efficient" way to judge someone is through their knowledge. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that you have to be smart to survive in this world. What I'm trying to get across is that even though many people try to implant the idea that creativity, motivation and passion possesses higher importance than simply knowledge, there is still this hunger for more information. South Korea, where I live, illustrates such trend.

For those of you who had the chance to walk around in a small, but crowded city of Seoul, you probably noticed kids ranging from six to eighteen, running into one of many academic institutions called "Hakwons". Many parents pay unbelievable amount of money because they crave for "advanced knowledge". A fifth grader will go to these hakwons and learn seventh grade math. In this society, not only the quantity matters, but the speed as well. The faster you attain information, the more you can learn in a limited period of time. I guess such "hunger" can be both good and bad. It does keep the society moving forward with new discoveries, but at the same time, when looking at it in a bird's eye view, we're all overly dependent on this knowledge. It has become a vital necessity.

Too many times have I heard people say, "I'd better know this".

Never have I heard anyone say "I'm full, I think I should stop."

So,

Are you hungry for knowledge today?

Picture: http://www.intellisearch.no/upload/Solution%20pics/knowledge.jpg

Swine Flu

Just when I thought it was going away, it came back to attack us all! Over 40 students, that is 20 percent of the school population, did not come to school and 75 parents called in to say that their child was sick. The school faculty, including bus monitors, cafeteria ladies and administrators wore their masks and traveled around the school with a thermometer in their hands to check each student's temperature. Eventually, the principal made an announcement saying that the students are going to be sent home at eleven in the morning and are expected to stay home until next Monday. Crazy or what? It's amazing how quickly a virus can spread from a person to another. They are minuscule, therefore, can not be seen with a naked eye, yet they have the power to affect a group of people... It's like a Domino effect. Falling continuously in a similar fashion...

Picture: http://illinoisbackpain.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/domino.jpg

Symptoms of Hard Work

Cheerleading.

Truthfully, I thought it would be easier than other sports. Boy, was I wrong. Cheerleading is more than just cheering on the sidelines during basketball games and performing stunts. It involves hard training just like any other sport such as basketball, soccer, tennis, volleyball and you name it... It has been about four weeks since pre-season started and I am already feeling pain from head to toe from performing numerous sets of jumps (May I add, cheer jumps are more than just hopping off the floor, it is like insanely hard.. you have to do splits in the air...) and practicing our dance non stop. Not to mention, our stunts require all the muscles in our body so it further exacerbates the throbbing pain. By the end of each practice, the whole squad collapses onto the floor with pinkish red faces and sweat trickling down our backs. There is some irony in a sense that despite such excruciating muscle-aches and fatigue, I can't help but feel extremely happy and proud. Normally, one would feel cranky and irritated; yet, I feel just the opposite. The squad has accomplished so much and I am so proud of us! We are like heart beats... without one, we can't function properly... That's what makes each one of us special :)