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