Journal #20: I love you and I will miss you!

Dear my friends:

It was about four months ago when I met most you for the first time. I remember I was very excited and looked forward to making new friends. Although now I regret not having more time to talk to you, I am sure that I was so happy to study with you this semester. Besides the differnt nationalities and cultures, your unique personalities influenced me almost every day. If I can, I would like to remember your smiling faces and the good time when we had together forever.

I fully know that you came to the U.S. with your own goals such as gaining an academic degree, improving English skills, or getting more experience. You guys often showed your passion, determination, and enthusiasm, which made me respect you. Sometimes I was worried about you when you looked tired or depressed; however, your bright faces got me to be free from the worries afterward. You might have a hard time to reach your goals, but I believe you will succeed if you could enjoy studying and living here.

Last semester I complained about the unfamiliar weather and some unkind people many times, but I can enjoy the weather and accept almost everything in California recently. I think I somewhat adjusted to this environment. If I had not met you, I must still have complained about boring things. I really missed my familiy and friends while staying here; likewise, I will miss you very much after going back to Korea. I love you and I will pray for you!

Sincerely yours,

Hyesun


P.S. I will sell my car in August before I leave here. Please feel free to ask me about my car if you are interested in it!

Anna, Elaine, Kurt and Mai

Journal #19: To the higher sky...

Before this spring semester, I considered studying at the collegiate level beacuse I would like to improve my speaking skill at that time. However, I changed my mind and decided to learn more how to wirte an essay in the advanced class. Frankly, I was not confident about my decision although I was determined to improve my writing skill. Around the half of the semester, I found that I was enjoying my classes and I had made a wise deicision.

I was really happy when I was in class. Of course, sometimes I was disappointed at my lack of English skills and discouraged by some circumstances that made me stressed out. Except for these situations, I really loved my classes because I not only studied English but also broadened and accumulated knowledge. Especially, I learned a lot in composition class, vocabulary class, and pesentation class. Moreover, the biology class always made my day, three days a week.

In addition to the variuos classes, my teachers and classmates were wonderful influences to me. The interactions with them helped me think more deeply about humans and understand other people better. In fact, it was such an interesitng experience to acquire the similarities and differences between ALP teachers and students who have different cultures. I am very thankful for thier kindness.

Despite the thought that my English skills have been improved, I still have significant problems. I have to make more efforts to be a good listener and speaker. I also have to overcome stress that could be derived from an English test such as an IBT. It will take some more time to prepare for a test; nonetheless, I believe I will do well because I obtained enough basic skills in ALP and stand on the rock. I will continue to enjoy studying English after I go back to Korea!

Michael and Ryoko

Journal #18 : Reaction - Baraka " The beauty of water"

The sea waves are surging and smashing into rocks again and again, and the raging waves raise a large amount of spray. The lake is still calm without any ripple. There is no wind around the lake, so everything doesn't move or shake an inch. The huge waterfalls are continuously pouring an enormous amount of water, and they make beautiful rainbows. In the air, the clouds spread all over the place and cover every mountain and land. They look like a bunch of cotton candies, and they are flowing like streams.

While watching the documentary, I was in high spirits although I was keeping quiet. In fact, I was extremely moved by the beautiful scenery. However, as the differnt types of water showed on the screen, I felt like I was getting smaller. Furthemore, I thought I was nothing as a tiny human in the whole Universe. It doesn't mean that I was discouraged, yet I was rather thrilled with the wonderful scenery. Then, at the end of the film, I worried that we might destroy it in the future.

After watching the film, I thought about the balance and harmony of the nature. Although water is one of the most important parts of the nature, water cannot exist alone and it has no meaning itself. When it is with other abiotic components such as soil and air, and biotic ones such as a variety of animals and plants, water is meaningful and plays its unique roles. Likewise, the balance and harmony of the nature and humans are required for our lives. I assume most people know how to keep the good connection with the nature; however, they doesn't seem to practice with determination. At this moment, I ask myself about it.

Anna, Michael, Elaine, and Kurt

Journal #17: Confucius Quote

When I worked in Korea, I was somewhat satisfied at my job, but I was often stressed out. It doesn't mean that my job was tough; in fact, my task was affordable and working hours were reasonable. In addition, my salary was good. Unfortunately, however, I never enjoyed the work because I thought I couldn't develop my knowledge and skills while working.

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"Find a job that you love doing and you will never have to work a day in your life." - Confucius
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It's not hard for me understand this qoute because of my direct experience in the past. I believe this qoute means that someone will be happy and can enjoy her/his life if she/he successfully gets her/his dream job and does what she/he really wants. In fact, the majority of people is disappointed by thier current job. Some people keep working at the same wokrplace despite some dissatisfaction, but others are seeking and pursuing their dream job.

I planned to have a different job from the former one after going back to Korea. I am eager to have a more professional job in the near future. When I reach my goal, I will be very confident and proud of myself. I will also feel that I will never have to work a day in my life as the qoute says.

Omar, Kurt, Ryoko, Mai, and Michale

Journal #16: Anticipating your Parents' Objections

Dear, mother and father:

I know that you really love me and always concern my health and study. Besdies, you want me to reach my academic goal in the US. I appreciate for it all the time and I never forget your love and pray for me. I am sorry to suddenly say that my boyfriend and I decided to marry this summer and live together.

When you hear my plan about the marriage, you must be very surpised and worried about my study first. I understand that you could think about any future situation in which the marriage could interrupt my study. However, my boyfriend and I already planned important thing so that my marrige would not badly affect my academic study and work in the future. First, because we fully know that our priority is studying, we chose a wedding date in this summer break. Furthemore, we will not have a baby until my graduation. We are mature enough to think about possible problems, so we considered many things before we made the decision.

I hope my words will relieve any concerns about me. I believe that you will take my words and be on my side. I love you, mother and father.

Sincerely yours,

Sunny

Rachel and Tony

Journal #15: Analyzing Arguments

Paulesn, S. (2009, March 26). Understanding otherse in Theology. Daily Titan.
Retrieved April 11, 2009, from http://www.dailytitan.com/opinion/understanding-others-in-theology-1.1629305

Paulesn argues that humility could help people to communicate with others in a better way. Thus, she suggests that people should appply theology to having a conversation and interacting each other even if they have a different religion or religious belief from others. To support this argument, she point out the difference between religions and theology. Thus, her argumetn is the claim of values and based on ethos. In addition, she gives her opinion by using the deifnition of religion and illustrationg several situations.

Omar and Ryoko

Journal #14: Summary/Paraphrase Practice

Hirsch, Jerry. (2009, March 23). Student obesity linked to proximity to fast-food outlets. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 29, 2009, from http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fastfood23-2009mar23,0,7483715.story

It is evident that a cosiderable number of American students are suffering from obesity and most people attribute this problem to junk food in fast restaurants. Hirsch(2009) informs us of the recent research about the connection between obesity and higher chances to eat at fastfood restaurants near schools. According to Hirsch, this study was conducted by UC Berkeley and Columbia University, and they found that the higher was the number of fastfood restaurants near a school, the more were obese students. As one of their findings, Hirsch(2009) shows the comparison between a rate of obese students in Fullerton and that in La Habra.

In terms of causes, obesity has many factors like gene variants, environments, nutirtion and exercise. However, high school students are much more affected by proximity to fastfood restaurants than other groups beacuse they are not able to get around farther for lunch. Hirsch(2009) also reports that Latino and female studetns are relatively vulnerable to obesity. His article includes the conclusion that high school students are still exposed to bad environment for thier health and cities should consider limit the number of fastfood restaurants near schools. I hope that the government or cities will implement proper regulations to resolve this problem and students will have a variety of choices for their meals.

Anna and Kurt