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

Journal #13: My First Source

Roberts, S. B., & Pittas, A. G. (2003). The role of glycemic index in type 2 diabetes. Nutrition in Clinical Care, 6(2), 73-78. Retrieved March 28, 2009, from
http://search.ebscohost.com.lib-proxy.fullerton.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=22450586&loginpage=Login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site

The authors of this article are Roberts, Susan B and Pittas, Anastassios G., and they are with the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, MA. In the article, they show several advantages of carbohydrates with a low GI, glycemic index. They conclude that consumtion of low-GI carbohydrates cause more satiety than consumption of high-GI carbohydrates and contributes to weight loss and maintenance. Consequently, they state that glycemic index could be efficiently used to treat for type 2 diabetes.

For my research paper, I need specific sources related to type 2 diabetes and nutrition therapy for diabetes. After searching some databases, I found several useful article about my topic. Among them, this article could give me key information about recent diet for type 2 diabetes. Therefore, I decided to use this article as one of my sources for doing the research. I believe that this aritcle could be a reliable guide if I combine the information from it with knowledge from another sources like academic books. During this spring break, I will have time to relax, yet I have to concentrate on my two research papers. Fortunately, I can enjoy the study despite some stress.

Mai, Kurt, and Ryoko

Journal #12: Advice

"Study hard. ", "Listen to others.", "Don't be sensitive too much.", "Find your own way ", "Be slow and steady"... I cannot remember how many times I have ever been given advice. I also cannot recall clearly whether I paid attention to the advice. Nonetheless, I believe many people around me have influenced my life by giving me useful advice and seeking my advice.

"Don't give up your dream. However, if the dream is not good for your soul, change your dream!" One day, one of my friends sought my advice. He was struggling with his study at that time, so he was considering changing his major. When he asked me about my opinion, I could not tell any words immediately because it's not easy for every body to compromise dream with reality. After thinking deeply, I gave that advice to him. At last, he followed with my advice, and he changed his dream. Fortunately, he reached his new dream, which made me very happy.

From "Hi!" to "See you!" I think the best advice for me is people themselves. When I talk with my family, teachers, friends, and strangers, I learn a lot of things from daily conversation. In other words, the interaction with them gives me wise advice every day. Their feeling, talking, acting, and responsing convey important messages to me. Sometimes they give me advice directly, yet the existence of them is meaningful advice. Especially in the U.S., I regard the various people on campus as great advisers.

"I really appreciate your advice." I would like to tell this to my friends. If I do one day, please don't say "What? I didn't give you any advice, Sunny. Are you OK?"

Tonny, Mai, Kurt, Ryoko, Kachina, and Elaine

Journal #11: Research topic

This Friday, I had complicated feelings after I handed in my first research paper in my biology class. On one hand, I was so happy becuase I completed my paprer and could be free from the stress. On the other hand, I regreted not doing my best while preparing the paper and worried that I would get a bad grade. Although it took around a month for me to finish the paper, I did not spend enough time to find sources and information. I also could not visit the writing center in the library for lack of time.

After submitting the paper, I learned about choosing a research topic as the first step to start a research paper in composition class. Wikipedia is very familiar to me beacuse I already have used it to brinstorm and find useful information for my papers and presentations. I know that Wikipedia could be a good adviser or couselor, but I could not depend on everything in it. In addition, sometimes I am coufused by less coherent articles because of the fact that a number of users could revise it every minute. Evidently, there are the pros and cons of using Wikipedia.

Lately, I have been very interested in nutrition, so I looked for some ideas and information related to nutrition in Wikipedia. Nutrition is connected with my major; moreover, I want to deepen my backgroud knowledge about nutrition. When I read several articles about nutrition, some words such as "diabetes" and "sports nutirition" caught my eyes. At last, I narrowed down my topic and listed three research questions. I will think about the questions some more to select an appropriate one between them this weekend.

Hopefully, I will learn many things at this opportunity to write a research paper in composition class. I am eager to obtain basic skills how to prepare and complete a research paper. Furthermore, I want for my reserch paper to not only satisfy my academic hunger about the topic but also give my readers helpful information, advice, and influence.

Kachina, Kurt, Ryoko, and Michael

Journal #10: American Food

I am so busy these days because I have many things to do, homework, presentations, and papers. I am also preparing for mid-terms and other test. Today, I wanted to complete some jobs according to my plan and did not want to waste my time, so I chose fries for my lunch at a fastfood restaurant instead of rice or noodles. It took only a few minutes to order and get the fries, and I took them outside. Then I enjoyed my lunch while I was studying. The warm and crispy fries allowed me to not only have a pleasant meal but also save my time.

When I thought about American food in Korea, I usually pictured hamburgers, fries and soda. Sometimes pizza came into my mind as a typical American food although it is originally from Italy. Those kinds of food remind me of some words 'fast', 'conveinient', and 'greasy'. I also conceived that steak was famous American food while I watched a movie in which people ate juicy steak for dinner at a fancy restaurant. A roasted turkey and stuffing are regarded as specil American food, too. I still have a little bit similar conception; however, I changed my thought about American food after I came to California.

Frankly, I don't now well about American food now; even I am coufused about it. I have had many chances to eat out here, but I have just experienced various types of food such as Mexican food, Chinese food, Japanese food, Thai food, and Vietamese food. A variety of tastes made me happy, yet they made it difficult for me to tell what is so-called American food. If I happen to eat real American food, I can answer the question. The only one that I am sure is that main American food is basically made of meat such as beef, chicken, or turkey and this is very different from Korean food which is based on rice and several side dishes.

I roughly know that the U.S. does not have many kinds of traditional food in comparison to other countires. That is obviously attributed to relatively short American history and ethnic diversity. Furthermore, globalization is another factor of that situation. On the contrary, a lot of countries in the world have been influenced by American fastfood. Especially, developing countries are accepting American fastfood and taste at a considerable speed. Although cutural interchanges among countries are inevitalbe and natural, I hope that every country will retain thier own traditional cuisine.

Michael, Rachel, Ryoko, Y, Kachina, Mai, Elaine, and Kurt

Journal #9: Optimistic Quote

If I am asked "Is the glass half empty or half full?", I will say in either way "It's half empty." or "It's half full." depending on my situation. If I know that someone or I drank the half of water in the cup, I seem like to tell the former. In contrast, I will choose the latter if it's already half full when I see the glass. It means that I am a positive thinker as well as a negative thinker like most people.

Although I usually look on the bright side, sometimes I am pessimistic when I am very stressed out or I have a physical problem. One time I had suffered from a serious allergy to certain food, so my physical condition had gotten worse. Eventually, I gave up pushing myself and and I lost some important opportunities. I was so frustrated and angry at myself at that time. I think I was a pessimist, so I did not do my best to overcome the bad situation. I still regret a bit my negative attitude about the problem though it was a good experience in my life.

Except when I am not healthy, I am very positive about problems. I don't run away from a problem and face it with determination. Interestingly, the worse a problem is, the more I try to resolve it and I focus my attention and energy on it to fight against it. At last, I feel that I am mentally stronger than I was regardless of results, I solve it or not. I cannot assure that I am a typical optimist, but I believe I become more positive as I get older.

I learned the Winston Churchill's famous quote when I was younger; in fact, I did't keep it in mind. Probably, I just understood the meaning, yet I did't have any perception of the qoute. Now I am sure that I comprehend the quote completely because I am mature enough to think about it deeply. When people have a tough time and it's hard for them to see the light at the end of tunnel, they are for certian depressed about the situation and disappointed with themselves. However, if they keep responding positively to troubles with hope, their efforts will pay off at last.

Kurt, Elaine, Ryoko, and Patty

Journal #8: My Best Friend & Me

It's not easy for people to live without any family members and friends. Especially, friends take up important parts of people's lives as they grow up, so the relationship with friends has an influece on their lives a lot. Some people even say that the their friends are better than their family.

Jinhee, one of my best friends, and we go back a long way. When I met her for the first time about ten years ago, I never thought that she would be my friend because she was very different from me in many things. While I am from Seoul and have two brothers, she is from Soon-cheon in southern Korea and has two sisters. She is very quiet and likes to read novels and study alone; however, I am a little bit talktive and hate to read books. Moreover, she is a really good singer beacuse she has very beautiful voice. In comparison, I don't enjoy singing, yet I am good at dancing.

When we were the juniors in university, one day we had the chance to talk a lot about personal problems in a cafeteira for five hours. That made us understand well each other and be closer. We shared a lot of opinions and sincere advice. We also found that we had some similarities such as to like watching movies, to prefer casual clothes to suits, and to love taking a trip.

Jinhee encouraged me with warm words when I quit my job and decided to study English in the U.S. She was also a reliable adviser when I had problems with my boyfriend. She stopped working to be an elementary school teacher and has prepared for it for one and half year. Last Monday, I heard that she was admitted to Gwangju National Unviersity of Education, which made me so happy. We promised to study hard to reach our goals.

Ryoko, Kurt, Rachel, and Elaine

Journal #7: Heroes

When I was a child, I always dreamed to fly in the sky because I really wanted to look down people, mountains, rivers, forests, and buildings from the air. Sometimes, I imagined the situation in which I would talk to birds while flying. As I knew that people could not fly for themselves, I gave up the dream, but instead I had another hope to travel the planets in the Solar system. Although, it seems to be very hard to realize this dream in the near future, I still keep it in my mind.

If I could have any superpower, I would like to fly freely at very high speed not only in the air but also in the universe. First, I would visit a lot of beautiful places and historc sites in the world one by one according to my travel plan. I would not worry about time and money becuase I could go everywhere any time. After finishing my pleasnt journey on the Earth, I would launch myself into space. Exploring the mysterious universe would make me experience a lot and feel like a real heroine.

Greed is one kind of human nature, so I might not be satisfied with one supernatural power. However, the ability to fly would be beyond other abilities for me. Therefore, I would choose the power if I could have only one superpower. If the dream could come true and I could fly like the Superman, I would take my ALP teachers and classmates to the sky and space. Are you ready to fly with me?

Kurt, Ryoko, Rachel and Patty

Journal #6: Talking with animals

If I could understand animals' languages, I would like to talk with most animals in the world. I would try to talk to dogs or cats around my home first, and I would rush to the zoo to meet more friends, animals. Then, I would travel all over the world to make more new wild friends. I think having an ability to communicate with animals is so exciting and exhilarating.

When I would face some pets, I would like to listen to their talking about their daily lives beacuse I am very curious about these. While some pets could compliment their owner about the warm and thoughtful care, others could complain about carelessness. If I could share their feelings by talking deeply, we could be very close friends. Next, if I could talk with the animals in the zoo, I could understand their poor situations much better. Therefore, I would have a sympathy about that, and I might help them in certain ways. Chatting with wild animals could make me happy because I could get their interesting experience and information about the world which I don't know about and I could not travel. I also could tell them about the humans' world.

It sounds like a dream that people could learn animals' languages and enjoy their time talking to animals. Some of the people who love animals or regard their pets as their family could wish that the dream would come true. Not only the people but also others might want to have a chance to talk with animals just out of curiosity. However, if it happens, we would have to prepare for more noise. In other words, the sounds form animals could distract people, for people could understand what they would say.

Ryoko and Patty

Journal #5: Music

I love to listen to music although I don't like to sing a song too much. I prefer Korean pop, American pop, and classical music. Sometimes, I listen to New Age music because some songs have beautiful melodies which get my attention. However, I usually don't remember titles, lyrics, and singers or composers, for I am not good at memorizing something. Only soft or beautiful melodies can reamain in my brain easily. Consequently, when I am asked about my favorite song, it's hard to think about and choose one. Furthermore, I am likey to hesitate when I have to pick a few songs at karaoke because of that problem.

I have met many friends from different countries since I started to study English in ALP. I am very curious about their favorite songs, especially popular songs in their countries. Thus, I plan to ask them to sing their favorite songs one time. I think that it would be a great opportunity for me to understand a variety of cultures. Unfortunately, I could not do well in my turn. Anyway, I am afraid that I don't have enough time to listen to music recently.

Ryoko, Kurt, Mai, Patty, Elaine and Rachel

Journal #4: Weather

It is raining now, and, probably, it is going to rain tomorrow. I like the sound of rain except for heavy or torrential rain, yet I do not like to walk or drive during rainy time. Moreover, I am likely to get depressed a little bit or have a headache when it rains. Those are why I love sunny days. I think it is not coincidence that my English name is Sunny though it was chosen because of similar pronunciation with my Korean first name.

I really love sunny days; however, I prefer a sunny day with some cloud in the sky to one with too much sunshine. I like the mild and dry weather of California, but sometimes it is too bright to open eyes well. I am worried about my eyes because my vision have been going worse since I came to California. Besides, the dry weather made me have some freckles and wrinkles on my face.

Korea has four distinctive seasons, and every season has its own features. It is warm and breezy in spring, and it is cool and windy in fall. In winter, it is usually cold, and it snows from time to time. In addition, Korea has hot and humid summer, so most Koreans do not like this season. Even though I adjust to the California's weather, I miss the fall weather in Korea many times. Brilliant, yet not strong, sunshine, cool fresh air, clear blue sky, and beauiful trees of which leaves turn from green to red or yellow. I believe that people will be fascinated by the wonderful weather and scenery if they visit Korea in fall.


Ryoko, Kurt, Mai, Rachel, Patty and Elaine

Journal #3: Old Fears

I have a few friends who have acrophobia or agoraphobia, but I do not have any serious problems like these. However, I was very afraid of dogs when I was in elementary school. I usually ran away as soon as I faced a dog, which was not an appropriate way to avoid being bitten by the dog. I sort of got over a fear of dogs as I grew up, yet I still did not want to have any dogs. Even though I thought some small dogs were so cute, I could not imagine that I would keep a dog.

Seven years ago one day, I happened to meet a very tiny puppy that had white and fluffy hair in my church. The puppy caught my eyes at first sight, so I pet it softly, gave it some food, and even walked it. Finally, I found that I almost overcame the fear of dogs. It is not easy to explain how I could get over it, but I believe that it happened naturally because I was an adult at that time.

I have not seen the dog "Woo-ri" since I came to the U.S., so I really miss it as much as my family. Although "Woo-ri" is a big dog now, and it is not as cute as it was in the past, I would like to attribute my overcoming the fear of dogs to "Woo-ri".

Elaine, Kurt, Patty, and Rachel

Journal #2 Getting around

Walking, riding a bicycle, taking a bus, or driving a car. Which one do you prefer when you get around? Although I really like walking around, I usually drive my car to go to school or go shopping in the U.S. My car makes it easier for me to get to somewhere, but I have to consider gas prices and car maintenance. Also, I have to be careful not to violate traffic regulations such as speed limit. There are similarities about a transportation system between Korea and the U.S.; however, certain differences are realized easily.

First, while Korea has the great public transportation system, the U.S does not and most Americans depend on cars to move around. That is because Korea is not so big country, so it was not too difficult to develop the public transportation system. On the other hand, the U.S. has the huge territory; therefore, cars became main means of transportation. Another difference is gas prices. People in Korea pay more money for gas than people in the U.S. No one in the either country can ignore gas prices, yet Koreans are more sensitive to fluctuations in the prices.

I know that some of you are going to buy and drive a car sooner or later. When that happens, you could see different traffic regulations or laws, and strange condition of roads. It takes some time for you to be familiar with them. Anyway, I would like to say that you have to drive carefully and safely because your health and safety are the most important as you know.


Kurt and Han

Nice to meet you, friends!

Dear friends,

Hello! My name is Hyesun Lee, but just call me Sunny : it is very easy to call and remember. I am from Korea as most you already know. Some freinds are familiar to me because this is the second semester in ALP, but the others are new to me. I am really happy to see and talk with you almost every day during week days. I am very curious about you, especially your dream or goal for the future and favorite things. I believe I will get to know you well while we are studying together.

First, let me introduce myself some more. I live with my aunt in Buena Park, so I drive every day to go to school. It takes around 20 minutes except for heavy traffic. I graduated from university and worked for a company in Korea. I came to the U.S. last year to study English and broaden and deepen my knowledge to get a better job in the future. Therefore, I cosider studying in another major related to my former major, Chemistry.

I think Cailfornia is one of the great places for international students to study in because of warm and dry weather although sometimes it is very hot in summer. I hope that we will have good time in ALP classes and events and suceed in specific academic areas in the future. Have a wonderful weekend and see you on Monday!

Sincerly yours,

Sunny


Ryoko, Elaine, Patty, Han, Rachel, Y, Michael, Kachina, Tony