Imagine. It was a day just like any other day. You sit at the bench, reading books and daydreaming. Out of nowhere, some stranger just came and clubbed you for no reason. Of course, your bones are broken. You even suffer uncontrollable movements of your muscles.  Then, even before the pain dies out, this stranger carelessly skins you alive. Without even injecting pain killers, he throws you away into a trashcan, which reeks like hell. There, he sees body of his friend, who
had disappeared for a year. No, actually, it wasn’t a body. It was actually rotten innards because they did not have any skin. Now, you don’t have any energy to be surprised. All you wish is to die and end this terrifying pain.

It seems like a scene from a rated R horror movie and you would probably think that it would never happen in real life. You would think that in this peaceful world, where humane civilizations exist, there won’t be people committing such murderous actions. But you’re wrong. There are people who brutally beat living things and then strip the flesh. For example, workers in the Chinese fur farms do this inhumane murdering process on raccoons and rabbits. They do the exact same thing listed in my introduction; they confine living things in the smallest box in the world, strip the furs away, and leave the skinned animals alive without even injecting pain killers.

The most shocking thing in this event is not how workers in the farm kill the animals, but it is the reason why people kill animals. The intention behind this whole horrible business is for earning money and showing off their money. By ripping fur out of these poor animals’ bodies, the people use the fur to make coat. Wealthy people buy these coats in order to show their wealth and for ornamentation. In Korea, for example, women value mink coats as the most valuable property and most wanted commodity they can have. It is because having a mink coat mean they are prosperous and fashionable. Not only Korea, but also in advanced countries, women adore buying and wearing mink coats. One of the most famous fashion icons in U.S., Paris Hilton, even quotes, “Every woman should have four pets in her life. A mink in her closet, a jaguar in her garage, a tiger in her bed, and a jackass who pays for everything.” This means she butchers animals, just to look good. How cruel, inhumane, idiotic is this! Seriously, people in 21st century need to think as if they were in animals’ place! So, whoever reads my blog, think before you order a mink coat. Reconsider shopping a fur coats. Never involve in fur trading business. So, please think like a human before you commit crime on animals.

Photo Citation: http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/55088/Paris-Hilton-Ages-50-Years

How many times have you undergone an operation? Not many, right?
But this angel of a girl had 18 major operations, six times her age. Even worse, the doctors do not even know the name of the disease that constantly makes her to bleed. She does not even have any part of stomach anymore because of excessive bleeding from the stomach. Without special nutrient food and transfusion, she can not live.

Despite living in a hospital for most of her life and having numerous painful surgeries, she never loses her sense of smile. She is always playful and cheerful. Almost everybody in the hospital knows her due to her bright personality and her maturity. One time, she gets shots. As matter of course, she is crying with pain. After the shots are done, she says “Mom, I’m sorry.” She is the one who had undergone a excruciating process,  but this four year girl genuinely consoles her mom instead. This means that at the age of four, she thinks more of her mom’s sadness than of her own pain. Regardless of her maturity and bright personality, her illness gets worse. She started to have a bloody stool, day and night. Her parents have no choice, but to let medical team undergo a surgery in order to cut off the body parts with the hole. After nerve-racking hours, she came back safely. The doctor found the bleeding part and successfully cut it off. Yet, her illness isn’t completely cured. According to the news, she, now,  readmitted to the hospital, still fighting to overcome her disease.

After I heard about her disease, rapidly worsening, I was literally pissed off. I mean I don’t get the reason why the god would make this young girl to suffer hell. He even lets a murderer, who murdered more than 11 people, stay alive in the prison. For example, Young Chal Yu, a Korean psychopathic murderer who killed 11 women and senior citizens for joy, is still alive. He even allows people, who raped a young girl, to get out of the prison and have a second chance in living. He even turns a blind eyes on drug dealers, who brutally kill his opponents and their family. But, why is he making this girl, the girl who had never committed a crime and even apologized to her mom for being sick, suffer? Why does he seem as if he is reluctant to save this angel?
To my questions, I can not answer. All I can say is it may be because of her fate.It might be her task to fight the illness with determination and diligence. So, I hope this girl will bravely combat the disease.

Photo Bib: http://blog.naver.com/djdj1186?Redirect=Log&logNo=128190596

The single mom in this documentary program, “Love,” is unfamiliar with the word “family.” Her biological parents abandoned her when she was born, and her adoptive parents starts to not care about her when their marriage ended. Thinking she is abandoned by society, she feels lost. She begins hanging out with juvenile delinquents. As she spends more and more time with them, she acts as if she is one of them. Robbing people’s wallets and getting involved in group fights land her in prison. In prison, she finds out that she’s pregnant. She wonders whether she should have an abortion or not, like the way many teenage single mothers do. But, she is unlike them. She is more mature since she decides to take responsibility for her action.
Although there is no one celebrating her daughter’s birth in prison, she decides to take care of her daughter. After her daughter is born, she does her best to provide her with good condition for growing up as well as possible. At the prison, she does not violate any rules and works hard to get a parole. Therefore, she is released, but there is no one out there to welcome her.

Even without steel barred windows, life outside the prison is harsher than life inside prison. There is no one to provide them with daily meals. There is no one to provide them with a permanent home. There is no one to hire her as an employee. Yet, in such a desperate situation, she doesn’t give up on her life because of her daughter. She works hard with the expectation of a better tomorrow. After a year of working really hard,  She become a salaried worker at a bakery.

By watching this documentary, I learned how idiotic I have been about my life. I considered myself as a bird living in a cage where there was no freedom and no joy at all. I thought I was unlucky to be born this way. Yet, as I watch this girl, around my age, diligently going through hardships and striving to live with her daughter, I realized my stress and pain were nothing compared to hers. Moreover, I found myself thinking I was fortunate for having parents who support me and my endeavor (so thank you mom and dad). Last but not least, I really respect the main character in Love. If most people were in her circumstances, they would have given up the baby. However, the main character is mature and takes responsibility for her action. I hope she lives well with her daughter.

Photo Bib: http://blog.naver.com/huchimind?Redirect=Log&logNo=70110131922

Dear Diary,
It’s been seventeen years. Seventeen years of living with gruesome Chinese. Seventeen years of living in the place where I could only find mangrove swamps, rubber plantations, and secondary forests. Seventeen years of hearing the noise from construction of the first naval base in this bloody awful place. Briefly, I’m living the most boring, sickening, and meaningless life. I mean there isn’t anything to do in this small island where only million needless Chinese live. Furthermore, I don’t get the reason why they sent us here. The commander cites it’s because of the threat of rapidly growing Imperial Japan, which colonized almost the entire Asia pacific region. But, come on, does this make sense? It’s not possible because Japs don’t have the power to take the property of Great England. It was just luck and other’s help that they took a control over islands and lands in East Asia. For example, without Great Britain’s support in Russo-Japanese War in 1900, they weren’t able to occupy Korea. And according to what my friend (Klein), who flew all the way to Singapore from U.S.,said Japs received German’s formal colonies Pacific – Caroline, Marshall, and Mariana Islands- rather than earning them. I asked him in what way did they received the chain of islands. He answered that our high-positioned officers, such a generous benefactors, granted the colonies as the compensations for participating in the World War with us.Even If they do attack our base in Singapore, they would be smashed by our “Fortress Singapore”. We just got a Force Z, a powerful warship, and the most modern version of battleship, HMS Prince of Wales. With these robust armaments, we could beat them without difficulty. Hence, I think “Fortress Singapore” doesn’t need me. I hope my commander will permit me to return back to my home. If I am able to leave Singapore, I would go to Indochina first and meet my dearest girlfriend. She is a lovely lady I’ve known for twenty years. She’s originally from France, but spent 10 years of her life in England- mostly for education. Now, she’s in Indochina, one of the French colonies for rubber plantations. I already proposed to her on the letter, which she may by now I have received. As soon as I meet her, I’ll taker her and her money to my birthplace, so that I could spend rest of my life without financial crisis. Because a low positioned military officer, like me, gets low payment, I’ve always lived in poverty. Therefore, marrying her is the only solution for me to get out of poverty. I heard she is wealthy because she got an inheritance from both of her dead father and husband. Also, I love her personality ; she works even if she has enough money to live on. Ah….Now, all I can do is pray for breakdown of Japs force and convince my head officer to send me back to England, so that I could go back and get out of this country land. Seriously, diary, I hate those barbarians, short, weak, arrogant, Japs, who constantly block my way to happy life.

Photo Citation: http://laurelwoodbooks.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1

Photo Citation: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Crazy_Harry

Post image of movie, HARMONIE

The actual definition of harmony is simply “the combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce chords and chord progression having a pleasing effect (Oxford).” But I want to define it as a movie that produces scenes and a plot line that spurs strong sensations and emotions among the audience. This movie is about 31-year old female prisoner forming a choir in the prison. Her main motivation behind forming the singing group  is mainly to have an (outside)day-trip with her 17-month-old son; the high positioned policeman promises her that he will permit their trip. Not surprisingly, there is a tremendous amount of difficulty in order for the protagonist to assemble an organized group of singers in the prison, a place mostly filed with people who have difficulties controlling their temper. Furthermore, the main character, herself, blows up a clash between the members of the choir group, resulting from her painful past. Fortunately, she succeeds her goal by coordinating and executing a superb concert. However, the jubilant moment was temporary. The day for her day0trip with her beloved son is the day she must say good bye to him since another woman will be adopting him. Her goodbye is short because the prison guards limit the time between the two. I will end the summary of the movie to this point, so I don’t spoil the rest of it.

The whole point of my blog entry today is to discuss the impact the film had on me. From this movie, my thought about criminals totally changed. In the past, I was highly for capital punishment and didn’t understand those who were not advocates as well. Nevertheless, the movie shifted my opinions about crime and punishment. It made me comprehend that humans always have a reason behind their actions, including even the illegal ones. I know that there are hard, evil criminals who might not fit into my generalization, like psychopaths. For further explanation, I will use examples from this movie. The motives of protagonist’s crime, murder, was due to her abusive husband, who constantly beat her and the baby inside her stomach. in another case, the youngest member of the choir is in prison for killing her step father in order to stop the beast-like men from sexually abusing her. Most of the detainee seem to have a some sort of justification behind their unlawful acts. Again, these examples made me think about the causes and effects of crimes. I think because the protagonist’s husband insanely beats his wife, he is killed. Because the girl’s stepfather sexually assaults her, he is hit by a vase. Hence, I didn’t  think the law should punish them because it was right for two weak people to defend them.

PHOTO CITATION: http://kr.news.yahoo.com/show_img.html?img_url=http://l.yimg.com/go/news/picture/2010/2/20100213/2010021310120152302_101528_0.jpg

“International Criminal Court | Uniosil.” Human Rights, United Nations, International Laws, International Court, Humanitarian Law.. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2011. <http://www.uniosil.org/international-criminal-court.html>.

Citation: “Definition of harmony from Oxford Dictionaries Online.” Oxford Dictionaries Online . N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2011. <http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/harmony?view=uk>.

They indirectly carry out the ideals of filial piety that is frequently shown up in real relationships between a father and a son. For example, when Young Ja’s (one of Ji Bong’s disciples) grandmother dies, Ji Bong decides to take care of her even though they are not related; He is aware that there is no one to look after her, so he decides to take upon this father-like responsibility. Furthermore, the coach constantly shows parental caring towards his students. This is the part after his students were forced to change coaches. Ji Bong comes over to the new coach and tells him things that the new coach needs to be careful of when he is training the girls. He asks the new coach to take extra good care of them. The reason he does this is for sake of his students’ future for their good, completely unselfish. Such action reflect how the coach cares for his students as if they are his own daughters.

Furthermore, the students also think of their teacher as a father-figure. For instance, Young Ja asks Ji Bong to giver her away on her marriage day, a duty that is expected of a father. This implies that Young Ja, too, truly respects and loves the teacher dearly. Hence, the relationship can be seen as one of father and a son.  The relationship between friends and friends appeared as well.Young Ja’s friends knows she is alone when the practice season is over,so the friends comes over to eat and hang out with her; this mean that Young Ja’s friends care about her dearly. A few minutes later, two other friends come over to see them because they need the consolation of friends; one of them had been humiliated at the competition and the other miss her dead father so much. When Young Ja and rest of the girls see the pain and the crying over their issues , they hug two other friends closely. This means that they are true friends who share their concerns and stand by each other when one is in need of someone.

By seeing the movie, carrying out numerous Confucius ideals, I realized that our society still has been greatly influenced by Confucian ideals. I learned that Confucian ideals indirectly influence teacher to be upright and growing children to e respectful and well behaved. As one who is growing up under confucian ideals, passed down from my ancestors, I am truly appreciative.

Photo Citation: 옌년. “Lifting King Kong”. 22 September 2010. Flickr. Web. 9 March 2011. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/44451941@N07/5016435685/>

This movie make me have a few misgivings: Would I be my sister’s donor if I had a sick sister? Would I choose to bear a child to donate his or her intestines for my other ill daughter?  Would I force my daughter to donate bone marrow or her umbilical cord, even if she were to refuse? After pondering this awhile, I came to few conclusions. I don’t know. It is because I am not in Anna, Kate, or Sarah’s circumstances right now. I have never given birth to my own child before. I also do not have a sibling, dying from leukemia. Thus,I may choose what Anna did if my parents compelled me to donate an organ to my brother. Or, I could be like Kate, who convinces her sister to keep rights to her body. Perhaps years later, once I am a mother of few children, I might determine to follow Anna’s mom’s methods, using another child to save the sick one. It is not as easy as solving simple math problem, since the issue is excessively complicated. One has to think from another persons perspective. Therefore, this movie teaches me to think before I from certain opinions about other, no matter what circumstances they’re in. It also makes me see life differently. I always complain about living a life where there is a lot of work and stress. Still, it is nothing compared to having to fight an uncontrollable and painful disease, seeing my closest family member dying, and giving my organ to my sibling. My life seems like piece of cake compared to the difficult decisions and circumstances that Anna’s family faced.

*This is the promo of the movie, My Sister’s Keeper.

Photo Citation

letxy. “My Sister’s Keeper”. 25 September 2010. Flickr. Web. 13 February 2011. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/letxym/5027568495/>

The movie highlights the protagonists’ adventure of saving his only pal, five-year-old girl who lives in his neighborhood. Ahjushi is an ex-government agent, who lost his wife during an enemy’s attack. As a result of this tragedy, he becomes a loner and sustains his life by owning a small Pawn shop in an impoverished neighborhood. Although he lives a life where no one really knows him, his only friend considers him as important.

Semi lives in poverty. Her mother is a prostitute and is not the best caretaker for her daughter. In addition, to being a bad mother, she is a drug addict and felon, almost resulting in her daughter’s death. She steals a high-priced drug and with her boyfriend, she attempts to sell it. The owner of the drug finds out and kidnaps both her and her daughter; he kills Semi’s mom and removes her intestines to sell her organs. He then forces Semi in to child labor and later tried to take out her eyes.The movie ends with Ahjushi, saving the girl, which really makes me to think that good guys wins.

After I finished watching the movie, I was relieved that $7 was more than worth it. One of the main reasons is that it make me think about our society. In the movie, it vividly shows how drug cartels deal with drugs and human trafficking. They kill people who betray or offends and even sell their intestines! Not only that, they kidnap and force young children to work in laboratories, where they make drugs. The incidents in the movie mimic the dark side of our world. For example, the drug trafficking in Mexico shows that the incidents in the movie actually happen in real life, all over the world. The media also reports that Mexico’s drug cartels do actually kidnap, harass, and brutally kill people. This triggered my ideas and thoughts about the dark side of our society and about how evil and inhuman certain people can truly be. I hope there is a way to effectively remove the monstrosities that this film brought to life for me.

Photo Citation

3mlr. “The Man From Nowhere”. 22 December 2010. Flickr. Web. 1 February 2011. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/42350721@N02/5284209987/>

I am a sophomore, now. In other words, I become junior in a six months,a senior in one and a half years, and freshman at college in two years. This means that the last two years in high school are the most important years for me. I cannot deny that these two years left in high school can possibly determine my career, social status, financial circumstances, and husband in the future. Hence, I need to face the brutal reality as soon as possible and bring an urgent and effective change in terms of my studying habits.

Up to this point of sophomore year, I did fairly okey job, regarding my schoolwork and extracurricular activities. Yet, from this point on, it is not okey to just do fairly okey  job. I must try a hundred times harder. I must strive to get into the college that I want to go. I must exert tremendous efforts to get a good score on the SAT. So, how do I become more diligent and successful student, who attains fruits of one’s labors?

Well… All I want to say to myself is STOP PROCRASTINATING!
Time is  too valuable to put a price on it. Yet, I waste it, and regret that I spent it too carelessly; I certainly spend more than two hours on watching dramas, surfing on the internet, reading cartoons; I even delayed working on my school work and studying the tests by surfing the internet and watching dramas. Therefore, I need to stop spending time on these meaningless thing and work!

These are my three therapies rules, to treat my ill habit of cramming and wasting time.

First, STAY ON TASK!

• This means no more wasting time on facebook and internet-surfing.

Second, organize your time table!

Last but not least, set up daily goals and determine how I will reach the goals!

• I will set up certain hours for studying and reading to make myself meet my set goals.

I promise myself to follow the rules above and be more determined to acquire knowledge, needed for my future!

Photo Citation:

Podolec. “Stop Procrastinating” . 17 January 2008. Flickr. Web. 28 January 2011. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/news46/2199460575/>