Three things I miss the most from Korea

My house

I grew up in the same house for decades, and I really didn’t think that I would miss my house while I am in Saipan. However, it turned out to be the most “missed” place in the world. I miss my family hot spring located in the basement. I miss my rec room. I miss my huge cozy bed where I used to watch TV from. I miss my bathroom. I miss my family dining area where I played chess with my dad. I miss my little puppy. I miss my Chinese Korean nanny who always calls me doryunnim. (Mr. DK due to too much Korean drama I guess)

Pochangmacha (Cart bar)

Pochangmacha is a very special place for me. It was my favorite place to go after school to grab something to bite. The

y have a lot of different Korean food including: ddukboggi, soondae, noodles, fried dumplings, fish on stick, and fried noodle sushi. My favorite was ddukboggi and soondae. The reason I miss pochangmacha so much

is because it was my daily routine back in Korea, but mostly because of the close relationship that I had with the lady. She helped me a lot when I felt depressed due to stress from the school works. (free food)

Motorcycle

I was in love with motorcycle. I got my license two years ago in Korea, and I started to collect motorcycles by then. My first one was Yamaha vino 5occ (scooter). This one is the most special motorcycle to me because it was my first one, but because it was the one I cared the most. My second collection was Honda Ape 120cc. this was the bike that I spent the most money on tuning it. ( neon light, number plate, helmet, etc) my third one was Yamaha R1, but it is no longer in my collection because of the crash. In addition, this bike was my last one. I got in to a crash with a sports car in the intersection, which created a trauma in me. My two other motor cycles seat in the garage now. However, I still try hard to preserve the condition of the remaining bikes. However, my dad called me last week and talked to me about selling it. Hmm… maybe he did already…

Melancholy

Sometimes when I look out the window on a rainy day; I feel very melancholy with no reasons. In addition, it is really rather hard to deal with this sort of depression. Even though this sort of depression is hard to deal with it goes away within a day. However, depression caused by loss of a person doesn’t go away for a long time. Rainy day reminds me of my grandfather’s funeral, which happened last winter.

Some people eat sweets to overcome their depression. Typical sweets such as chocolate, candy, and ice cream are the most common sweets people eat. Therefore, it is one way to overcome the depression. Sweets can reduce the sad hormones that are in your body temporarily. Most people using this method are female.

Watching movie is also one way to deal with depression. Most people watch deep and meaningful movies when they are sad because it helps them not to think about their depression. By concentrating on movie, it helps you to relax and step away from problems. Therefore, relaxing is the most important thing one should do when in depression.

Traveling is another way to confront depression. By experiencing and being in different environment, one can forsake the bad feelings and start fresh. People usually travel to somewhere clean and hot when they are depressed for the reason that sun provides one with endorphin. It is a best way to overcome any sad or bad emotion, but many people doesn’t prefer traveling because of the financial problems.

Depression can come in many forms, but if one accepts it and tries to overcome, one can win over it. Every person in the world has suffered from depression at one point or another in his or her life, whether it was caused by the loss of a loved one or another reason. Depression is not an illness and it can overcome.

Weird...

When I first came to Saipan, I was thrilled to hear that the minimum driving age is 16. In the other hand, I was very curious why the government have set the driving age so low? However, I didn’t care that time because I was too a minor and was eager to get a driving license. I was doing some web surfing via Korean site, and found weird news saying that 16 year old boy drove a car and got into an accident, WHICH was almost impossible in Korea, but the best part of this news was that the boy was protected by the law!! And I thought to myself… wow Saipan should raise their driving age. There are pros and cons about this.

When teenagers get older, they grow physically and mentally. Their hormones in their bodies settle, which truly allows them to think better. In conclusion rising the driving age to 18 could reduce the amount of accidents. In the legal side, it would make things easier in an accident-situation because then everyone would be an adult, and the courts could have an easier time with cases as they wouldn't have to take considerations for minor vs. adult.

On the other hand, if we rise driving age to 18, people who needs their license could be in difficulty in transportation wise. For people who both parents are out for work and the bus doesn't come to their house, low driving age is very crucial for them. Therefore it is imperative to their education and their parents' work that they could drive their selves. In the teenagers there are some mature young adults. If driving age is high you are holding back kids who are in fact mature enough to take responsibility and are ready to take the plunge. They have less driving experience when going off to college and wouldn't be able to really work until they get their license. In addition youth has the advantage of faster reaction times which might help them to have lesser accidents, but what’s more important is experience and wisdom. Senior citizens might have slower reaction times, but they can pay closer attention to the task and they have already gained an experience.

I’m not saying this because I am over 18, but seriously think that Saipan should take this to a consideration. in my opinion, it should be raised.

Pride and Prejudice (오만과 편견) 3rd

Another boring review about Pride and Prejudice… wow I thought I wouldn’t have to worry about what to write for the blog if I am doing a review about a long book. However, I recently discovered that I am not big fan of writing a review. The first time and second time writing a review was okay. I thought it was kind of cool to write a book review, but naw… this post is going to be my last review about pride and prejudice. However, I really enjoyed reading it, and I am still going to read it even though I’m not writing a book review on it so… okay well… I'm half way through the book

Just now I am at the part when Mr. Darcy confesses his feelings to Elizabeth but she rejects him. Elizabeth does this because the manner that Mr. Darcy talked was so prideful and rude. He said he loved "against his will, status, etc." Elizabeth was furoius at this. They had a huge argument where in the end both of them are too prideful to lose this dispute. Darcy leaves coldly and Elizabeth is crying and thinking of what just happened.

I think this part depicts the title, PRIDE. Because of both their prides, they misunderstand each other and end up just hurting each other. Darcy, because of his pride, spoke his true feelings in a rude way that made him seem superior. And Elizabeth, because of her pride, did not take the hand of Mr. Darcy. She was too angry at everythig he had done. Pride is something we all must let go of. It will block us from opening up to people and it's just like wearing a mask. Because of pride, people will argue until one person puts down their pride and reconciliates. Pride is a mask for cowards, and only the brave and noble ones will destroy their pride.

Pride and Prejudice (오만과 편견) 2nd

Every day after school, I think about the homework that I have. Oh yeah… A BLOG. Well… at least it gets me to finish the recent book that I am reading: Pride and Prejudice. It’s actually a fun book, and you get to see the details that the movie couldn’t catch. I honestly admit that I don’t like reading novels (school materials), but really… when you start to read; you will lose a track of your time.

I only read few pages today because I was extremely tired. Today I read pages 69~97 of Pride and Prejudice. During these chapters a new chracter, Mr. Wickham, comes out. He is an officer, handsome, pleasant, and smart. He is related to Mr. Darcy, the man every despises, because Mr.Darcy's father was Mr.Wickham's godfather. Mr.Wickham, therefore, was supposed to get the profit when his godfather passed away, but Mr.Darcy did not let him and therefore he is now just an officer. How unfortunate! However, on Mr.Darcy's side they think differently and say that Wickham is the bad guy. Elizabeth Bennett chooses to believe Wickham because she already hated Mr.Darcy and had prejudice. She never thought Wickham could be the villain and Darcy the good guy.

Also in these chapters, Elizabeth is given a marriage proposal from the boring Mr.Collins. Elizabeth instantly says no to him against her mother's will but her father is content. A sad news arrives to Jane that Mr.Bingley is leaving town along with everyone else. Even though they liked each other, it confuses Jane because they might never see each other again. Elizabeth is sure that this is an evil plot by one of Mr.Bingley's sisters and reassures Jane.

I think this part of the book shows a part of the title of the book, Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth is the one who has prejudice against people. Her first impression of people is what she sees them through. Her first impression of Mr.Darcy was that he was an arrogant man, so keeps on thinking that he could never do one good act. On the other hand, her first impression of Mr.Wickham was that he was handsome and kind, so she is always on his side and favors him. This is not good of Elizabeth because first impressions are usually wrong and you shouldn't stick to the prejudice of it. I could really relate to this passage because I can see how people view me at first thinking that I’m a jerk with a tattoo. Well… you really never can judge a person by his or her look. I have already mentioned once on my blog that I hate how people have stereotypes. I hate Elizabeth for it, but you know she still looked great on the movie so I will let it slide this time.

Pride and Prejudice (오만과 편견)

I have absolutely nothing to write on my blog. So… I came to a conclusion to write a book review, which is very time consuming, but still I don’t have to worry about what to write for a long time. I am recently reading Pride and Prejudice English-Korean version. I decided to read this book because I really enjoyed the movie :) Here's an interesting part from the book:

"A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must posses a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions , or the word will be but hald-deserved." [said Miss Bingley]
"All this she must possess," added Darcy, "and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading."
"I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any." [said Elizabeth]

I thought this discussion between Miss Bingley, Mr.Darcy, and Miss Elizabeth was very entertaining. Certainly a normal woman can't do all this, or even a superwoman. Who would expect anyone to be this great? I agree with Elizabeth that no one can be this great. This part shows how much people expect from women, especially during that time. Women had to be skilled in so many things and it was probably very hard for anyone to be perfect at anything. I think this shows that you should just be satisfied with who you are because no one can be perfect

I really like Elizabeth's sarcastic humor here. This is the style of Patrick Jake O’Rourke’s writing. It seems boring, but there is quite some humor in it. Anyhow, this book revolves around one girl, Elizabeth Bennett. She has four other sisters and her mother's only girl in life is to wed her girls as soon as possible. It shows how life was back then and it's really different. Everyone's so polite and there are so many visits to different houses and dances. It seems to be a simpler life than right now, in some ways. So stress from school and homework. How great would that be? hah but, in my point of view i would love to marry a girl like her. PERFECT ain't she?

Tattoo

Living as a Korean there are several rules and musts: using honorific to the elders, going to military, having a son, cutting your hair short, and more. However, I grew up in a very unusual family. My two older sisters and I lived a rather comfortable life comparing to the kids in our age. We didn’t have to attend academy or have to cut our hair short. It is not an exaggeration to say that I lived a life that most of the Korean students will envy. Despite the fact that I lived in a very lenient family, my family always followed one rule: don’t do anything regretful.

I was a kid with a distinct philosophy of life, and I did everything to maintain my philosophy. There are three basic principles in my philosophy: do not fight with people who are younger or older, do not marry an older woman, and do everything that I want to do before I get too old. (The second one might sounds too obvious, but I have dated many girls who are older than me, and they are very attractive.) The one I care about the most is the third one: do everything before I get too old. This was my philosophy or in other word, my bucket list. Bungee jump, sky diving, and world tour are some of the common wishes that everyone has. However, what I really wanted to do was to get a tattoo.

At the age of 14, I decided to get a tattoo, but it wasn’t easy to find a place that will actually do a surgical procedure on 14 years old boy. However, I found this one man who actually thought I was 18 or above. I lay down on a bed and he started to assemble his gear. It was rather mind-freezing to think that 18 needles are ripping my cell walls and putting in an ink, but it was too late to stop anyway. The machine started to make a frightening noise and without notifying me, the tattooist started his procedure. The pain was unbelievable, but after an hour my skin started to adjust the pain.

In Korea, it is rare to see a person with a tattoo. This is because many people believe that tattoo is closely related to gangsters. As soon as I got a tattoo; my life changed dramatically. Every single person that I encountered in street avoided me, and it was easy to tell by their face that they think I am unsafe. It got harder for me to live like everyone else each day. My family was deeply disappointed at me, and I got into many troubles in school because of people’s stereotypes thinking that I am the cause for everything bad happening to school. “Are you responsible for this?” was the single most questions that I heard the most in my life.