The body- after reading all

 The body, which is also known as the movie “Stand by me” is basically about four kids experiencing a journey to find a dead body. They start from the town, then across the fields and pass the garbage field, into the forest, across the river and so on. These kids overcome their hardships and grow up during the adventure.

 First, Gordie’s brother Dennis died in a car accident. Also, his parents did not care enough for him that he even felt like an invisible man. During the journey, Gordie overcomes his fear of death by confronting the corpse itself and also cures the scar from lack of interest through friendship, mainly with Chris.

 Second, Chris was born in a quite bad environment. His family was somewhat not that good. It influenced him further in the town. When something bad happened, everyone assumed that Chris was related to it, just thinking about his family. When the milk money disappeared from his school, everyone assumed that it was Chris who took it. Even though it was true, Chris was hurt by other people’s assumptions.

 Finally, Teddy has a nearly mad father who put Teddy’s ear to the stove and nearly roasted it. However, Teddy still loves his father dearly and goes furious if someone is disrespectful to his father. In the story, he kind of learns to contain himself when the guard of the junkyard insults his father.

 We all grow up overcoming hardships and every time, it is really hard for us to endure the process. As shown in the novel, we should endure and grow up. 

Science Kills Wonder?

 This is a speech by Robin Ince, discussing about whether science kills wonder. In other words, does science deplete the wonders in this world? My answer to this question is no and so is the speaker.

 Even though science technology has enhanced immensely over the past few centuries, there are still parts of this world that predecessors of science were not able to explain. Basically, because there are so many parts that science could not cover, we could yet find wonders over the boundaries of science. For instance, we still do not know why cancer occurs, but just the process of it and the hypothetical cause. Learning more and more about these would certainly give us wonder and since there are more than enough for us to research and find out about this world, we could half assume and half believe that science is indifferent with wonders.

 There’s more. Does the fact that a punch is a mere momentum with a cluster of cells lessen the pain when it lands on your face? No! Instead of talking about momentum or animated beings called cells, you say “AW” and spit out a teeth and some blood, assuaging your marred jaw. Knowing why things happen does not reduce the wonder of itself. Snow could exemplify this case very well. We know why snow falls but when we watch snow, we do not say that particles of H2O are falling in a solid state. Instead, we say “Wow it’s beautiful.” Finding out more about things does not make them any less authentic or pedestrian.

 Science and wonder, these two concepts aren’t quite different. Science isn’t just a tedious job Wonderful things are as closely related to science as pizza and cheese. We could not separate them from one another and get rid of the biased view: science and wonder are the opposite. 

10 years later

November 26^th. 2021

 These days, I started to think about the past. Where was I before ten years? Probably I was at high school, doing tons of things.

 Today was, as usual, exciting and fun. My project of earning three billion won in five years, have failed, but still I earned some of it and it took about five more years until now. Since I started that project about ten years ago, finally I came near the end. Thanks to this money, I do not have to work that hard. I do what I want to do and live every day without planning things. Today, I went to Jeju Island for scuba diving with J ate lunch at a restaurant we first saw and then went to the airport to catch this plane heading for Bali, Indonesia. After I’ve been to Bali when I was 17, I’ve always wanted to go there again. Now I’m in the plane, thinking about the restaurants I’ve been last time I went there. I think it’s time for some movies and then, sleep. I’m really happy at the moment and J keeps telling me to stop writing that stupid diary. Think it’s time for me to listen to my girlfriend.

 Maybe this diary is a little hard to understand. Ten years ago, I set a goal to earn three billion won in five years because if you have that much money, you could live without work for the rest of your life. So, I started to everything I could: designing warmer structure of clothes, trying to build a company of my own and some inventions. In five years, I earned one third of the goal and went to a person I have always missed. She came back to my side and ever since, I’ve been going places we have talked about and doing things we have wished to do. Having J back, becoming a CEO and earning three billion let me think myself as a happy and proud man. 

Resident Evil review

 The movie Resident Evil series are thrillers containing some violence. It is about a virus, which goes by the name “T virus” and has an effect of moving dead beings by restoring some of their cells and making them move. To be blunt, the dead beings infected by the T virus becomes a zombie starving for living flesh. A company “Umbrella” had made the T virus, but by an accident, it goes loose and total turmoil and massacre begins.

 The computer graphic was not fantastic in a technical way, but the way it was combined with the story itself was the best I’ve ever seen. Overall, the movie looked quite natural even though it was mainly about fictional things such as zombies, monsters, some unearthly research institutes and some inhuman action. In other words, the combination of computer graphics and actors were very natural, almost perfect.

 My overall impression about this movie was that it’s a good movie to spend time with. Maybe it wasn’t better than this because I’ve watched it on my laptop computer. However, I still think that it’s quite a good movie, taking you to the world inside the film and meet the zombies there. One flaw about this film is that it contains too much hitting, shooting, killing, eating people alive, lots of blood and human organs, some monsters. Therefore, this is not recommended for children. If one is going to watch this movie, I also recommend them to check no children are around, and then primarily consider going to the theater or borrowing a DVD and watch them on a HD screen with full volume. Or, if one is watching it on their laptops, to wear headphones and adjust the volume high enough for this movie is a thriller anyway. 

Expressing myself (Mr Moon's assignment)

10b1 강건

I emit black logic from my steel heart but others see it as hope.

 Recently, I have been thinking about life over and over. We work, study, struggle hard to survive in this jungle. When I looked back my footsteps I have printed in the white parchment called time, I found out that I could not see any bright colors in them. Grey, black, some were even missing. Considering that dark colors have filled up my life until now, I found that a change is needed absolutely, but how? I have few bright paints that I could use to paint the parchment which lay in front of me. From now on, I think it’s time for me to find more colors from others and I’m looking forward to it. 

The body -after reading the first thirty pages

 The body is one of the stories in the book Different Seasons written by Stephen King. I only have read the first thirty pages or so of that book, and to be blunt, I do not like it so much. At least, I do not like yet.

 The overall story of the first thirty pages is this. All of the main characters have backgrounds which are not that good. One boy, probably Teddy has a mad father. He put Teddy’s ear close to the stove for ten seconds each which made him nearly lose his hearings. Also, a boy called Chris had a father who was an alcoholic. One day, these guys hear that they might be able to find a dead body and makes a plan to search for it.

 The story of the first thirty pages is roughly like the above. Actually, I dosed a lot while reading that part. I hope the rest of the story is more exciting just like Shawshank Redemption. 

     Saturday morning, we watched a video clip, a story about a monk and a boy living in a temple. The boy is not yet adapt to living in a temple in the middle of a mountain and makes some mistakes such as not recognizing toxic plants. One day, maybe he was just bored and he caught a fish, tied a rock around it, and let it go again. He did the same thing with a frog and a snake he caught that day. The monk saw the boy's actions and tied a rock to the boy that night. Next morning, the boy begged the monk to untie the rock 
and the monk said "Are you in pain? What would that fish and the frog and the snake would feel?" and promised the boy that he would free him from the rock once he found all the animals and free them. So the boy finds the fish, dead it was, and buries it. The frog was alive and he frees it. The snake was dead also and the boy burst into tears. This is the part I have watched. 
     I believe that this story is trying to give us a lesson that we should think what others would feel before we act. If I tell my friend a lie, would he be upset? Probably yes and that's the reason you should not lie. If  I hit my friend, would it hurt him? Would he be angry? Yes, and that's the reason why you should not hit others. Like this, any action could bring a unexpected sequence of harming others physically or mentally. In order to prevent that misfortune from happening, we should-as the video clip has told us- be in other people's shoes before we act. Being in other's shoes remind me of my childhood. When I was a child (I'm still young but when I was 'younger'), I used to think of only myself. Most kid are like that but in my case, it was far worse. I did not know to think in other people's positions and even though everyone smiled at me and agreed to me, they were annoyed and frustrated inside. 
     Also, we could even think that we human have forgotten how to coexist with the nature. For example, the boy in the video clip is still young but is already bullying animals in a quite cruel way. He is the reflection of human race and we are violent against the nature. I think the another lesson of the story was that we should value every living being and furthermore, try to coexist with the nature itself.
     So, to wrap up, the main two lessons of this story was to try to be in other's shoes and to value life and the nature.

Coke Family in 2037

 In 2037, KMLA is in war. Students have formed a group in order to get snacks from the outside and to protect their identities as the Coke Family. One day, most of the members are taken away and the chief reads the story of the finder of the Family, to the rest of the clan.

 Maybe it was because I was so stressed out studying. Anyway, for some reason I went to the supermarket and bought a bottle of coke. It was the start of everything.

 Its taste was strong and thrilling. Bubbles in coke were biting my tongue. I wasn’t sleepy or tired anymore. I felt as if I could do anything without being stressed out. When I left the market, my backpack was full of bottles of coke. That was my first encounter with coke and I knew I would not be able to get away from it.

 Since then, in my daily routine there is a special event. In England, there is a time called “Tea time” when most people drink tea and take a rest. Instead of tea time, I made “coke time.” At 9:45 p.m. every day, I put a bottle of cold coke and a piece of brownie on the table. Until 10:00, I enjoy the taste of coke and brownie, reviewing the day. My friends might say I’m nuts, but I stopped to care about what others say.

 After buying coke every weekend and carrying them from the market all the way to the dormitory, I started to feel the need of a transportation system that could bring snacks safely and swiftly into the school. I had to persuade some of my friends with coke in order to get lend their help for transporting coke into KMLA at night. This group existed until I graduated.

 This is the history of us, the Coke Family. The first boss of this group, Gun, has first established this group to get, and spread coke. Now, since the school is trying to ban all snacks and drinks in dorm, we need to fight against it. Gun gave us coke, a reason to rebel and also the shield from stress. Now, get back to your own missions and let us survive this war and enable coke inside KMLA!! All hail Coke!!!!

shawshank redemption reading journal

 The story, Shawshank redemption is about Andy Dewfrane who lost everything and was put into Shawshank prison for committing murder.

 Andy Dewfrane was put into Shawshank for murdering his wife and her lover. He insists that he did not, but the situation is very bad, all proofs say that he committed the crime and thus, he becomes a prisoner. His first few years in Shawshank are an absolute nightmare. However, he eventually adapts to prison and uses his experience as a banker to help the warden earn enormous money and in exchange, he receives protect inside the prison society. Things are well until a guy called Tommy provides Andy a story and with that, a hope that Andy might be able to prove himself innocent. He had met the murderer who actually murdered the two people. The warden Norton hears the news and sends Tommy to another prison so that Andy could not prove his innocence he could use Andy longer and earn more money. Some days after, Andy disappears. In his cell, behind the picture of a Rita Hayworth, was a tunnel. Andy had dug a tunnel out of the prison and had disappeared.  This is the overall story of the book “Shawshank Redemption.”

 The movie of this story is somewhat different. Some scenes I have seen in the book were exaggerated to emphasize the terrible life inside Shawshank. Parts such as Hadley killing one of the new prisoners could be one. Also, Brooks committing a suicide, Tommy being murdered by the Warden, Red and Andy rejoining at the end, all these are the points where the movie is different from the book.

 I actually like both the book and the movie “Shawshank Redemption”, but if I had to pick one, I like the movie better. While the book takes time for the story to develop, the movie shows only the highlights and events required to understand what is going on. Furthermore, the part where Red and Andy met at the place Andy always dreamed of, was really impressive. I kind of felt like… as if they just had to meet.

 Shawshank Redemption was a story that made me think a lot. I’m still young and even free unlike Andy who was imprisoned. Why am I feeling so depressed and having a hard time struggling to survive? Andy did it when he lost everything and was thrown into a prison. As Andy did, I would finally free myself from this problems and one day, would become happy.

Education kills Creativity

  I watched a TED lecture video “Education kills creativity.” As the name which depicted the first letters of Technology, Entertainment, Design, the video we saw was quite educational and also fun. Sir Ken Robinson, who talks in this video, shows us a really humorous and also educational speech. In the video, Ken Robinson keeps talking about how and why education is lethal to creativity. According to his words, we are educated out of creativity in order to be like others, assuming we should follow the major.

 Ken Robinson’s point is this. Creativity could achieve fantastic works. It could show people how god looks like for example. Actually, the speaker spoke this in order to entertain the audiences but it kind of makes sense. A girl was drawing a picture and when her teacher asked what she is drawing, she responded that she was drawing the picture of god. When the teacher said “Nobody knows how god looks like”, the girl responded “They would in a minute.” This is just a story for humor but isn’t creativity the thing which enables these things to exist? That humor was quite funny and what enabled it to exist? Creativeness did. Of course in reality, we would need a certain degree of education in order to let a person reach a certain level of intelligence. Without the knowledge which exists in the present, it would be a hard thing to create new ones. We build up things using our creativity and knowledge as the ingredients. The most impressive part about his speech was when he expressed how we lose creativeness by the term “We are educated out of creativeness.”

 Some people might say education is necessary in order to make any kind of human resources including creative people. They say that people should be educated and thus, become useful to the society. I have a rather different opinion.

 I agree with Ken Robinson’s idea. Education might pass off the ideas from old generation and would certainly keep the human race comfortable, but most or actually nearly every student doesn’t want the current education system. It forces information into students’ brains which is called cramming education. Forcing young students to learn information is an apt way to produce thinking computers for information storage. However, it is not that efficient in growing creative and wise people who would lead and make the world a better place. According to Ken Robinson, creativity could make fantastic things happen. We could not risk losing these possibilities in order to produce human dictionaries.

  Even though I agree with the professor’s idea, I cannot ignore the flaws in the statement “Education kills creativity.” There are many kinds of education and some of them are even designed only in order to develop one’s creativity. Simple memorizing of information would certainly keep the students from being creative and forcing them think in a certain way would do the same as well. However, nowadays, there are education systems which actually helps one develop creativeness and the trend is to increase one’s creativity. I believe that the creativity-killing-education would soon disappear and would finally focus on what students want and truly needs. 

First assignment!

 I don’t have a lot of experiences with writing but still, I have my unique style. My style of writing is writing only the essential points. That is, my writing is usually very easy to understand. My strength is that my writing is as clear as science or math. It is not hard to find out what I’m talking about. However, this style of writing sometimes lacks deepness. It is easy to read and understand, but that’s all. No more meanings or emotions are contained in it. It could be compared to a body. My essay just has bones. It makes the essay very clear, but without the flesh, it feels somewhat empty and is usually very short. Therefore, I need to improve the skill of writing long and still not losing clarity. I would very much like to write a long essay and still maintain my strength of clearness. My goal is to kick redundancy out of my essay and by that, benefit in both length and clarity.

 My best work until now was an essay I wrote when I was preparing for the Toefl exam. I revised it several times and wrote it over and over. Finally, I got my best work. I submitted it to my writing teacher and she gave me full points. Before that essay, my writing score hovered over the early twenties. I was paid back for my hard work and the time spent for the work by my enhanced writing ability. Since then, I got higher scores in my writing assignments and when I actually took the Toefl, I got 30, the top score I could get. This essay was an event that showed myself that I too, was capable of working hard, just like the people on the TV for successful life. However, it was deleted when I had to fix my laptop and is not available for now.

 Since my goal is to get rid of redundancy, I would like to learn some skills to get rid of it. Also, I lack ideas for my essay, which makes it even more redundant. Learning more skills to develop and support my ideas would be a way to solve my problems and strengthen my essay. Things I do not want is overloaded vocabulary. Actually, I do not use a wide variety of words in my essay and there is insufficient time to memorize all the vocabularies. In last semester, reality forced me to choose either to memorize the wordsmart book or do other homework and get grades from them. I actually do not want to make that kind of decision again. As for class, the primary thing should be how much we get. However, I believe that how exciting the class is actually effects on the student’s efficiency of learning. Therefore, I hope the class to be fun and exciting rather than difficult and heavy. I am really looking forward to this semester, and hope that I could learn a lot more about writing.