I'm saying good-bye to Vancouver

Yesterday, I had two appointments with my Korean friends, Soo and Jung-Min. Soo invited me to her place and she prepared for amazing lunch. She is very good at cooking, so I already expected that the food would be great. However, it was beyond my expectation; she made a steak, a salad, and a salmon pasta like an Italian restaurant. After lunch, she brought me to the cafe "Agro" which is ranked the 2nd on the list of the most popular cafes in Yale town. We used to hang out around Yale town before I moved to the place where I live now. She told me she wants me to be her neighbor again when I come back to Vancouver. I had a lot of fun with her while I felt pain on my heart because of sadness.

At dinner, I met Jung-Min who is my parents' friend (she is now my friend, though). She brought her son to introduce him to me. He can't speak Korean very well, but he speaks very formal Korean all the time. It was very impressive. Eventhough Jung-Min and I are not in the same age group, but we always had fun whenever we hung out with each other. She helped me get used to Vancouver life, so I could enjoy Vancouver without any difficulties. I don't know how to thank her enough. I want her to visit Korea as soon as possible, then I will treat her as a V.I.P.

How sweet they are!
I'm so lucky to meet them.

It is so difficult for me to say good-bye to people in Vancouver.
I still don't know how to say good-bye to Vancouver where I feel like it is my second hometown.

My last Mid-term exam

To tell the truth, I haven't prepared for any exam. Or I have prepare for exams all the time because I think it is amazing to study English at ELI; so I don't need to do something more just for an exam. However, I always want to improve my writing skill since I'm such a writing lover. I was very interested in classes of the last week because we could learn many different kinds of essays.

I think it is very hard to learn how to write an essay in Korea. We learn how to get a high score in a multiful choice exam not write an essay. That's why I was very surprised when I first joined Francis'class. It was all about an academic essay and research paper. I had kind of a hard time in class, but I didn't give up writing. I suppose this made my writing better.

Today, I want to review what we are done last week and I will use what I review in my reading assignment. I should write a reading response journal, so I can practice writing while I do my homework.

The more I do something related to school, the more I feel sad..because it reminds me of that the time is running out.

Being.

I had been very busy being someone cool, important, worthy or beautiful while I had kept myself busy, competitive and thirsty. When I look back on my past, I can find out that I achieved a lot of things I wanted to be but I never complimented myself on what I had done. It was like a never-ending hunger or endless task of life.


I was hungry and thirsty.


Something was always missing.


I kept asking myself "What should I do?", "What do I want to do?", "Why am I here?", and "Who am I?"
No answer. No way. No ending.


However, I couldn't give up questioning on those "Self-argument" (this word hasn't existed yet, though)
To make a long story short, I found the answer. I realized that it was not necessary to find the answer.


I make a question, therefore I can make an answer as well. All questions and answers are from myself, thus I am just aware of where there are from which is myself, no matter what my questions and answers are.


The truth really set me free.
I'm here. I have been being here. I will be here no matter who I choose to be.


There's no problem. Paradoxically, the only problem is that we procrastinate being aware of who we really are, so we keep thinking that we have a lot of problems we have to deal with. Nevertheless, we will realize that there is no more room to put it off when we face "death" which is an inevitable reality.

Thank you for "Being There"

   I was really touched and inspired throughout the movie. Being there. I think the title explains and implies a lot of things we should think about insightfully. People see what they want to see and they know what they understand. We think we live with people around me now, but I think it is kind of misunderstanding. We always use our own point of view when we think or react towards a certain situation, so it is easy for us to make up our mind differently no matter what is true or unture.
  People around Mr.Chance understand and accept him in their own way even Mr.Chance's name. Whatever he behaviors and says, people want to interpret based on who they are, what they want and what they know. All is truth. This is how the world works becuase life is a state of mind as the last saying in the movie. There is no doubt for the truth that everyghing is one's own creature.

A Comparison of "Hills Like White Elephants" and "The CLOD & the PEBBLE"

   Ernest Hemingway and Willam Blake show us the different aspects of love in their short story and poem. When we think of love, it is easy for people to come up with "romantic love". We like to believe that love is pure, innocent, and happy; however, we cannot avoid to facing uncomfortable facet of love. In the short story "Hills Like White Elephants", Ernest Hemingway make the reader imagine what attitude the characters have towards the unromantic situation by describing the conversation between an American man, who tries to induce his "girl"friend to follow what he wants to do, and a girl, who struggles for going through the disadvantageous situation. On the other hand, William Blake expresses what love is like in the poem "The CLOD & the PEBBLE" from his point of view. He portrays two angles of "love" metaphorically: "And builds a Heaven in Hells despair" and "And builds a Hell in Heavens despite". This shows how contrasting his point of view of love is.    
   Love changes as things change. Falling in love is sometimes like riding a roller coaster, so we might get ready to be brave. We can be in a Hell. We can be in a Heaven. We don't know which one we are going to be in.  It is the beauty of love, however, even if it becomes a tragedy at times. Nevertheless, being in love is such a pleasure because at least it means that we are breathing and have a chance to go on a way to where we wish for.

Hills Like White Elephants: Personal Response

     Whenever I read Ernest Hemingway's writing, I feel like I have met him before in person because his writing I have read is very realistic. I don't mean his stories seem to be real or a non-fiction, but the way he created the conversation makes me feel familiar as if I heard the conversation right next to them. I could imagine the situation the American man and the girl argue with each other like a movie or soap opera scene because of the vivid dialogue. The conversation between the man and the girl is very typical and classic, but it is not, either. That is because the writer show us things that can happen to anyone but nobody wants to know the uncomfortable aspect of love; he doesn't make the story fancy like a Hollywood romantic movie girls mostly like.
     The girl, who is probably very young, faces the truth that makes her confused and upset, but she seems to grow up by going through the tough moment at the end of the story. Actually I cannot be one hundred percent sure whether she became more mature or not, but I can tell she already knows it is time to move on even though she doesn't know what to do yet. On the other hand, I don't think the man doesn't have responsibilities because he knows what he can do and what he can't do. I think he is not responsible if he let her give birth despite he is not ready to be a father or at least support her.  We can see hills as white elephants when we are full of emotions, but we can see them as they are when we realize that life goes on no matter how ready we are to deal with things we don't want.

Hills Like White Elephants: Setting

      In the short story "Hills Like White Elephants", Ernest Hemingway describes the conversations between the American and the girl. The story happens in Spain and this setting makes the story exotic; even though it shows us a quite typical conflict that anyone can face in life. However, we can find this story atypical because of the setting. The writer informs us that the American guy can speak Spanish and see the situation simply and clearly; on the other hand, the girl cannot speak Spanish and see things she faces indecisively. The man seems to be relatively familiar with this kind of situation like he is able to do something in other country by speaking other language without difficulty. In contrast with him, the girl is a stranger in both the place and the situation. She actually seems to know what she wants, but she is not strong enough against his no-pressure pressure like she can say only "thank you" to the woman in Spanish although she might have to go through a new experience she doesn't want.
      The reason why the setting is the most important part to understand this story is that it shows us how different the way these two characters think about the same problem; and it helps us imagine what the place is like and how the characters feel like by picturing in our mind. This gives the reader strong impression in spite of the short length and the short conversation; we can see the inside meaning of each person's lines despite the fact that Ernest Hemingway doesn't give us so many details. Like he said himself, he nailed how great he is as a writer by giving us a chance to understand the story with our imagination from the small piece of the whole things that he showed us.

"A very short response"_sorry, Nathan!

     If I read this story three or four years ago, I might be unpleasant what Luz and her boyfriend did. It is always hard to accept that all kind of love can be changed even if somebody goes through many experiences of love. I'm not sure what message Ernest Hemingway wants to show us through the story; however, I can see it is not only a created story, but also a story based on his experiences. I don't want to be critical about those two main charaters because we never know what we are going to do unless we place the same situation as them. Things change. People, including me, want things they love not to change, but I think change is very natural like seasons change. The matter depends on how fast people accept changes that can happen to them. Like the title of the song "Too much love will kill you", Luz and her boyfriend seems to be killed by their too much love. However, what can we do if we cannot stop being stupid because someboday breaks our hearts? I think there is no answer. We should figure it out by ourselves no matter how stupid our reacations are. Nevertheless, I don't think the way Luz and her boyfriend get over the pain for their broken relationship is wrong or silly: it is definately one of many ways of overcoming harsh situations. 

Red Thread Maiden: Character

     In the story "Red Thread Maiden", Yuan Chiao shows three characters, General Hsueh Sung, Red Thread Maiden, and General Tien, to the readers by describing the main conflict between them. I think it is very obvious that Red Thread Maiden is the protagonist in the story while it is hard to say that General Hsueh Sung and General Tien are the antagonists or foils. We can say General Tien might be the antagonist or foil, but it is not clear not only if he considered Red Thread Maiden as an enemy but also if Red Thread Maiden really wants to be against him; because she seems that she doesn't want to kill him or harm him. However, General Tien can be the antagonist to be reckoned with at some point because he is an evident antagonist of General Hsueh Sung and Red Thread Maiden is on General Hsueh Sung's side and wants to help General Hsueh Sung by stealing General Tien's golden box. Meanwhile, Red Thread Maiden and General Tien have something in common; they are both round and dynamic whereas General Hsueh Sung is flat and static; they are both active and "clever". It had better describe them as the clever than the wise because what they have done doesn't harm anything-at least life-but they already know what they can get from others. It seems that they know what they are doing and they predict what is going on next.

Summer is coming

I have travelled around the world

since I became 20 years old.

I didn't mean to go traveling a lot,

but it just happened to me even though I didn't plan to.

I think I am so lucky.

However, I didn't enjoy it enough

even when I was in Paris, the city of love.

Only place I could fall in love with is Italy.

I still don't know why.

I came to Vanouver last summer.

The begining of the most beautiful summer.

I can't forget how beautiful it is.

Unfortunately, I have to leave here soon

before everything in Vancouver turns poetic.

I hope I could come back as soon as possible.

Ciao!

The Gold Mountain Coat

In her short story "The Gold Mountain Coat", Judy Fong-Bates describes what the life of immigrant chinese neighbors was like based on her own experience in childhood. There were two chinese families including her family in her town, and the story is mainly about her neighbors such as the owner of the chinese restaurant and his two sons. The owner, Sam was not friendly at all in her point of view and he was not generous to his sons at all. This made the story have a conflict. Even though his business was going well, his sons had only one coat for both.One of his sons, John's family had been about to come to Canada from China, and he had started to plan to ask his dad to let him buy a new coat since then. However, it was very difficult for John to make his dad spend money on a new coat, so he had to wait for the best time to tell his dad. As a consequence, John came up with buying a new coat, but his dad looked very unhappy with that. Then, John's brother, Kei, interrupted to their conversation and tried to convince his dad by explaining the reason to his dad; they need a new coat because of John's son who need to go to school. Eventually, their dad accepted it and the brothers could get over the tough situation.

If it is not fun, why do I have to do it?

Yesterday, I was very weary because I didn't sleep well. I usually sleep for 8~10 hours. Some of friends think that I'm crazy, but I don't think so. My awesome friend, Julien used to say, "You are such a grandma! You don't like to have fun!" (I suddenly miss him now.) I partly agree with him. My routine is very similar to a grandma's and I really like it. Getting up early, having a good breakfast, going for a walk, and going to bed early. These were my dream, actually. So, my dream came true here in Vancouver.


I don't know why I'm saying these things now.


Anyhow, I like my new writing class with Nathan ;)

Writing from Reading

Today, I read my diary that I wrote three years ago. I was very surprised because I couldn't believe that I used many beautiful vocabulary in my writing. I used to read a lot of books when I wrote it down. I have thought about the relationship between "Writing" and "Reading" for a long time since then. My conclusion of this is that I should read and read if I want to write very well.

Whenever I read a book, I can learn a lot of vocabulary that I usually don't use and sentence structures that make me impressed. Reading certainly helps me write something better than usual. It is incredible. That's why I try to read whenever I have spare time to do something. I am really proud of myself when I create a beautiful writing.

I lost my train of thought.

     I used to contemplate everygthing that happened around me. It sometimes made me make a wise disicion, but it also made me feel tired. One day, I seriously meditated on how I can stop thinking of unnessary things. It was not easy to get rid of things from my mind, but I kept trying to be free from my train of thought. As time goes by, my effort started to work out and I realized that the more I considered my past and future, the more I created a lot of thoughts that made me scared. The worse thing was that I couldn't enjoy the present that I actually had.
     What I did to encourage myself was "writing". I started to write a diary every single day to release my emtion and feelings. I checked what was going on my mind and what I wanted to do in my life by writing a journal, so I could gain some sense of catharsis.
     Practice makes perfect. I have been practicing on being free from my thoughts, so I can be aware of myself and satisfied with my life without any concerns and worries. Something tought to deal with might happen to me someday, but it is not as important as knowing myself and feeling free to do whaterver I want.