Dajeong Choi / 4th assignment / thur 34

Love Causes Happiness                What causes happiness? What makes people happy? These questions make me remind a movie "Eat Pray Love". In this movie, a married woman realizes how unhappy her marriage really is, and that her life needs to go in a different direction. After a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey to find herself and the journey ended in Bali by looking for "balance" of enjoying life (Eat) and finding her spirituality (Pray), and finally finding love (Love). Then how these three elements can cause one feels happy?              First, there is a happiness, which is the ice cream cone, a good steak dinner, whatever it is that causes you momentary contentment. But that's all conditioned. And when there is no ice cream or steak you're not happy. Contentment, on the other hand, you're glad you got the ice cream, fine, you enjoy it, and then you're still enjoying the rest of your life or appreciating it. So your sense of happiness is partially based on particular conditions.              Then, what part does spirituality play in happiness? Spirituality or an inner belief experience that provides a person with comfort and strength is another important component of happiness. Spirituality is a deep anchoring in one's belief system and self worth that has been linked directly to happiness. I think that having some kind of a feeling of having a place in the universe helps one to feel comfort. Also, many studies agree and show a strong relationship between religious faith and happiness. They found that "people with high religious involvement are twice as likely as those without to say that they are very happy." For last, I would contend that being loved and accepted for who we really are is a major cause of happiness. Of course it's wonderful to be loved and accepted by others, especially a significant other, but I believe if someone really wants to be happy for no reason, they need to love and accept themselves unconditionally. There are very few people on this earth today who actually truly love themselves. A person who truly loves themselves has a high self esteem and has no need of the approval of others and therefore it would lead one to be a happy. Sometimes we realize too little too late that we haven't gotten what they truly wanted from life. If you also think so, from this moment, do what you enjoy and find your own belief and the true love. Happiness is everyone's everything. Pursue it! Go out somewhere, perhaps, with someone or you alone as if you were a heroine of the "Eat Pray Love". Every time you can realize how happy to be alive.

Dajeong Choi / 3rd assignment / thur 34

How Does a Person Become a Candidate to Run for Office in Korea?                Maybe we all had been dreamed to become a powerful politician either for justice or just for delusions of fame and fortune. I also had such a dream once while watching American television serial drama the West Wing. Compared to our political reality, the world in TV was an ideal world that I always dreamed of. I thought if there's nobody volunteer for this, maybe I can change this world into what I believe right. After I decided so, searched how I can run my own political office, and then, this ambition soon crumbled to dust as I found the cost required for registering the election is about 15 thousand US dollars and for conducting campaign is tremendous amount. At that time, I was so innocent that didn't know politic need money, lots of. Did you already know that? Then you are so down-to-earth person. Let's keep find out how the riches start to run for office by steps.              First of all, a person who wants to be a candidate shall register as a candidate from 14 days before the Election Day in the presidential nominating committee for 2 days, and candidate registration time is 9am to 5pm even on holidays according to the regulations of the corresponding university. In this process of registration, you need to cost about 15 thousand US dollars to guarantee you are rich enough to conducting election campaign.              Now, the presidential nominating committee shall submit one copy of the list of candidates to the competent Election Commission until the day next to the last day of the candidate registration. If a candidate is resigned or passed away, or candidate registration is invalid, the fact shall be notified to the Commission.              If everything is settled well, it is time to campaign. Election campaign is only allowed from the day after the end of candidate registration to the day before the Election Day. The methods of election campaign are attaching propaganda posters, distributing election campaign bulletins and small printed matter, holding joint meetings for broadcasting speech campaign and open debates, using telephones and Internet, etc.              Register as a candidate, verification to the competent Election Commission and conducting election campaign, these are 3 steps a candidate runs for a office in Korea. But, before you step forward, make sure you really want to run for political office and that your family is willing because it requires a lot of money and efforts which you may not be compensated.

INTERMIDIATE WRITING/NAM ALEXANDER/ASSIGNMENT 4/THURSDAY/CAUSES OF HAPPINES

You may ask yourself everyday: "Am I a happy person?". And everyone when he or she opens the eyes every morning is asking himself or herself: "What does happiness mean for me?". The common answer would be the finance power and stability. Because most of the world's population; you and me, think that the money can make us happy forever and through this "dirty" piece of papers we can get our freedom, health, respect and other artificially created things.  But lets forget about this priority of happiness for a while and imagine the world without this handmade cause of happiness; by closing our eyes lets ask question to ourselves "What would be the causes of happiness if we could get everything equally for free?". And for sure, depending on the age, level of knowledge and wisdom, there are will be other much more important things which cause happiness instead of finance power. I would like to consider the layer of society which age is an average. 

The first cause of the happiness is the health. To be healthy "inside" and "outside" is a very important thing for the bright and happy life. When people feel themselves good it makes them view the surroundings from the positive side that makes the whole environment feel in a positive and satisfied way. Especially people are happy when their parents or really close for them people are healthy. Because they all together are able to enjoy the beauty of the world from the healthy eyes and feel it with the mixture of the healthy bodies and souls. Physical health and mental health are very important tools for the realizing happiness.

The next cause of the happiness is the tied and friendly relationships. The relationship could be generally divided into internal relationship which means within a family and external relationship which means the relationship within friends, colleagues and society by itself.

The family relationship is the essential thing to be happy because it is like the "headquarter" where you learn the basics of the life principles and the place where you can get a really sincere advice without any hidden trick. The family is a symbol of happiness due to the reason of the support role even if you have made a big mistake; your precious family will always understand you and despite the hard challenges will help to overcome it.

But to have a good relationship in the society is very important thing for happiness too. Because the society in comparison with the family is not always accepting you as you are in real. And being suitable toward society makes people feel happy. The society is a good addition to the family with help of which you can build up your own identity and broaden your sight on the world and surrounding environment. The society and good friendship with people from the different areas do not make your life monotonous and boring, on the contrary it makes you live a life which is full of various interesting things, and therefore it makes you feel happy.

Then the creation of the system where everyone is equal and live a plentiful life without needs, such as struggling with poverty because of the big selfish organizations which block people to be happy, would be the one of the elements toward happiness. The earth has enough resources and the modern society has enough technology to get rid of the "dirty" piece of paper system. The only step has to be done toward happiness is to forget about selfish interests and willingness to cooperate and share the knowledge and resources without pursuing individual profit and benefit.

So after opening eyes, I hope you can clearly see that the financial power and stability is not the only instruments in our life to be a happy person. As it was mentioned above there are plenty of things are much more important than the "dirty" piece of papers and the list is bigger than it was told. The only step should be done is the realization by everyone and the "real" cooperation without pursuing only the individual interests and benefit. For sure, everyone can be HAPPY, but not with the system we live in today. 

  

 

 

 

Lee ShinHye/3rd essay/Volcano eruption/Thurs 3-4

Haver you heard about "buried city", Pompeii? After think layers of ash from volcano eruption covered the city, it was abandoned and eventually its name and location were forgotten. However, that catastrophic story is not far from the present time. Volcanoes occur all over the world. In fact, somewhere in the world, on average, 11-17 volcanoes are erupting, even though many of them are located under the ocean. Volcanoes can destroy entire cities, shape the land, and even erupt under the oceans. Then, what make colvanoes erupt? volcanic eruptions are normally summarized with three processes: intense pressures, hot spot and subduction.

 

First of all, the interior of earth consists of mostly molten rock covered by a thin crust. As many people had heard many times at geology classes of their middle schools, if the earth were an apple, the crust would correspond to the skin, the flesh to the mantle of elastic rock, and the apple core to the earth's core. Much of the interior's characteristic is a melted elastic state. This material is under pressure, since the closer to the extremely hot core, the greater the gravitational forces are pressing on it. And magma, the molten rock, contains gasses, as well. However, the gasses are shaped in solution by the intense pressures. Still, it is constantly trying to find ways to escape to more vulnerable point of the crust. so, the cracks are found in the crust, an eruption is available to occur.

 

Then, hot spots are the secondary cause of volcanic eruptions. As illustrated above, in some places, the pressure is greater and the crust is thinner than otehr points. Weak points allow the magma to spurt to the surface in an eruption. Those kinds of examples would be Hawaii andYellowstone National Park in the U.S. In case of Hawaii, an island, a series of islands were created by a hot spot and geologic plates' movement due to plate tectonics. Those series of islands rose from deep beneath the ocean. So, the height from base to summit of Hawaii is similar to that of Mt. Everest. Another hot spot case is Yellowstone National Park. Because its crust its much thicker, the bursting was not impossible, so an enormous magma chamber beneath the surface was created.

 

Lastly, subduction is the major cause of volcano eruptions. As tectonic plates move, denser rock slides underneath lighter rock slides. Through this process, the rock is heated by the friction and the heat rising from below. This makes molten rock move closely to the surface, and again it will look for weaknesses in order to escape, like hot spot cases. When it finds a weakness, an eruption may occur. The process continues, as does the hot spot process.

 

Because people cannot notice or expect the interior movement before volcano eruption, we do think the volcano erupted all of a sudden. However, with very sloe and long period movement, there had been steady and powerful movement inside of the earth. Through several reasons, intense pressure insider thin crust, hot spot and subduction, volcano eruptions may occur. In human time, the eruption seems like an impromptu disaster, but it is a long-standing movement in earth time.

Sang-Hun Lee / 3rd Assignment / Thu 11:00-13:00

How is a law made in Korea?

 

Have you ever made a prank call? I saw many friends of mine did it elementary school. In middle school, I also saw my friends send 'prank text messages.' It was possible because phones which are not made today have a function that we can change the phone number when we send a text message. If you get a big damage from any of prank text messages, you feel like we need a law which bans sending prank text messages. So, let me know how a law is made in my country Korea. There are two ways to make a law, and each way has a long step that should be followed in order to make a law.

 

First of all, lawmaking programs start the Legislative Office. Each government department and office makes a plan which law they make or change during the current year and inform the Legislative Office of their plans. The Office examines and selects the plans. For example, if it is planned to make a law that text messages should be sent from right caller number, Korea Communications Commission make in details provisions of the policy they want to propel. The Commission is in charge of matters on cellphone, but it has no authority to make a law to impose fines. So the Commission should consult the Ministry of Justice on the law.

 

As halfway phrase, lawmaking is given notice, and both Regulatory Reform Committee and the Legislative Office in turn inspect the law. The reason why people are allowed to know contents of a law is to hear from their opinion about the law. Regulatory Reform Committee then reflects deeply whether contents of the law may curtail any rights of people. If the law is deemed to be legitimate, then it is time for the Legislative Office to complement it. What the Office judges is if either the law might cause problems when it applies to daily life, or it might be conflict with the Constitution and other laws. After the Office's evaluation, the ministers concerned including the Legislation Minister participate in a Cabinet meeting under the chairmanship of the President.

 

Lastly, the law should obtain presidential sanction and it is laid before the National Assembly. In the Assembly, the law also is submitted to the Standing Committee so that the Committee put together public opinion and comments from each department concerned. The Legislation and Judiciary Committee receive the baton and refer it to a plenary session. The law is enacted by being passed in the session, and the new law returns to the government and is, at last, made public. The Legislative Office provides the online service that all people can search and get information on legislations. Visit the website and check out if it is necessary(http://www.law.go.kr/main.html).



 

This is how the government enacts a law. It is a complicated process. We need to observe the law which is that sophisticatedly made. Don't send a prank text message to your friend without letting him know who the sender is. It is not illegal now, but it can turn out to be illegal at any time.



 

Cho,Hyun / Parliamentary Election/ Thurs34

Parliamentary Election

Do you know when Wednesday that comes on this 2nd week of April is? If
you have ever watched news or articles with little attention over the
past few months, I'm sure you know when it is. Yes, it is Korea's 19th
Assembly Election Day. Every Korean nation has right to vote, which is
guaranteed by the Constitution. And today's democracy is sustained by
the Representative Democracy, which indicates representatives of the
nation, elected by their supporters, discuss and engage in political
activities, on the behalf of general nations' will. The meaning of it
is extremely more significant than word itself because laws and
policies enacted by the lawmakers, identical to congressmen, will
influence tremendous impact on nation's real life. These three
manifest facts would strike you with one definite idea in your mind.
Yes, Vote!

However, in contrast to what I urged you to do in the first paragraph,
you can run for your own office, becoming a candidate who desperately
wishes to be chosen by your nations. Since congressman acquires
countless privileges and benefits, it is worth working hard to be
elected to the National Assembly. And even the steps for becoming
senator look substantially simple (but that doesn't mean it is easy to
be senator).

First of all, to be a congressman, you need to register for
parliamentary election. You might think this job can be conducted just
with one mouse click on the website or a short letter written as "I
would like to run for National Assembly this time." However, the cost
required for merely registering the election reaches 15 thousand U.S
dollars. It does not guarantee you that you are able to be congressman
and not even improve the chance of becoming it. So we can judge this
process as the most risky, and costly procedure of running your own
office.

Second, you should initiate the election campaign in active manner, as
to assemble loyal supporters who will finally vote on your name on the
polling day. Many politicians and candidates struggle with criticism
of media and rival parties because they often commit mistakes during
this campaign period, especially bribing and violating electoral laws.
Both attractive election pledge and considerable attention is required
during the campaign.

Lastly, people will vote and the vote counting will be followed. The
most nail biting and thrilling moment of one's life. This suffocating
ballot counting often lasts until late night, keeping torturing the
candidates. The results of the vote will be announced on live
television before whole Korean nations and the reactions will be mixed
consequently.

Dasom Yoo/how laws are made/Thurs34

How are laws made in your native country? Have you heard of the Constitution's Article 53 of Korea? Maybe you've heard of it in class when you were in high school. It says that the power of legislation belongs to the National Assembly. To learn more about how laws are made in Korea, there are 3 big steps in lawmaking; submission of a bill, vote for bill, proclamation of the bill. First, government brings a bill to the assembly or more than 10 members of the National Assembly propose a bill. The bill may be based on the pledges of the assemblymen or on the public opinion formed. When the bill is reasonable, the members hold a seminar or a public hearing to canvass the public, or the bill may pass straight on to the standing committee. Second, it is National Assembly's right to judge and vote for the bill. The submitted bill is evaluated by the standing committee, and when it is decided by the standing committee, and then it is submitted to a plenary session. After discussion and inquiry on the bill, there are two conditions to fulfill to pass the bill. It is the presence of a majority of the current member and an approval from a majority of those in attendance. Then, the bill is transferred to the government, and the president proclaims the law to the public in 15 days. And the legislation goes into effect after 20 days from the proclamation, unless there is a special regulation. Moreover, when it is not proclaimed by the president within 15 days, the bill is determined as the legislation. The laws are not made right away or by itself. It takes a lot of time and has steps and regulations to follow. After all these submitting, voting, proclaiming steps, then the bill officially takes effect, and is what we call the law. Also, it is the law that we must observe.

Seung Ah Lee/Assignment writing 3/ Thur 34

Preparation for a part in a play

        Have you even seen a play? Or have you ever been on a stage? As an audience, we simply sit down and passively accept what is given to us. On the other hand, being on a stage and acting takes so much more effort and preparation. Especially when you are in a play, it is not a single-person performance. Whether you are given a trivial or a main role, it is necessary to have full preparation prior to going on a stage having the audience at the front. Here are three basic stages to go through to get ready for a role in a play: reading the script, analyzing the character, and rehearsing. 

        First and foremost, what you need to do is to read the script as many times as possible. What I mean is that reading the script helps your understanding of the background setting, story line and messages the author tries to deliver. In order for you to be prepared for a part in a play, you need to know exactly what is going on with the characters and why certain events are happening. Better understanding of the situation directly leads to better acting. It is the only way to get to know about other characters as well. Also, reading script as much as possible help you automatically remember your line since the flow of the story is in your head. Thus, at the first stage of preparing for a role in a play, you are strongly recommended to read the script as many times as possible.

In addition to the script reading, you need to study the character in depth. In other words, you should try your best to pay attention to the character not to miss out any details. For example, you watch and listen the way how the character talks, makes movements or gestures, makes facial expressions, dresses, or walks. It is of importance to make yourself as close as possible to the character both physically and emotionally. While preparing for the part in a play, you'd better put yourself into the character's shoes and try to think, talk and behave the same way. Full understanding of the character makes you the person who you are acting for. Then, naturally you are perfectly mingled in the play from the views' perspectives.

Last of all, based on the work you have done from the first and second stage, practice with on your own and with other actors. As you may already know, "practice makes perfect." At the last stage, all you need to do is to apply what you have studied and acquired from the previous two stages. Showing it and producing is far more crucial that having something in your head and mind. You need to be able to act out naturally so that the audience can be engrossed in the play as if it's real. What is also essential is to have good teamwork. Being a part of play require a great deal of cooperation with other colleagues. Thus, you need to rehearse before going on a stage. 

       Following the three steps- script reading, character analysis, and rehearsal will prepare you well enough for an actor or an actress on a stage. As acting is all about looking natural though it is not, a great deal of preparation is prerequisite. Without such efforts, you do not deserve a big hand from the audience!

Seunghyun Lee / 3rd assignment / How would you prepare for a part in play? / Thursday 11-13

Seunghyun Lee / 3rd assignment / How would you prepare for a part in play? / Thursday 11-13

About a week ago, I watched a play "The Third Rate Actor". I was totally moved after watching this. So I called my friend who is a producer of college musical club and asked him how I can prepare a play. My friend told me that there is three steps to follow when preparing a part of a play: practicing alone, with partners, and rehearsal.

In the beginning of preparing a play, I need to practice individually. The first procedure mainly depends on my ability of acting. The most fundamental and important thing is understanding the whole script. This contains not only the memorizing line or words, but also understanding my path and atmosphere of scene. The intonation, voice tone are also other important factors I should practice. What is more, I have to understand how the hero feel.

After I finish my individual works, the second procedure begins. In this part, the most important thing is coorperation, because I am going to work with my partners. When practicing together, we attune each others. In most cases, the director of the play tells actors how to make our performance better when working with partners. I have to balances emotional expressions, voices, actions fit to my co-workers.

When this coorporative practicing is done, the final step remains. It is a rehearsal. There is two kinds of rehearsal. First, we rehearse about weeks before the play. This is the time that I can check the stage to perform. I and my friends also perform almost the whole play in this rehearsal. Lastly we practice breifly right before the show to check our coordination, and finally the play opens.

In short, I have to practice what I have to do, and collaborate with others, and the rehearsals. I believe that I could prepare a part of a play well when following thes steps, regardless of my acting ability.

Jimin Baik / 3rd assignment / What makes a volcano erupt? / Thursday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Jimin Baik / 3rd assignment / What makes a volcano erupt? / Thursday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.   Volcano Eruption   On 24 August, 79 A.D., mountain Vesuvius in modern Naples erupted and killed everyone in Pompeii within few days. This eruption was so sudden and intense that every living thing in the village is preserved exactly as it was. Including this one, many volcano eruptions have threatened human civilization through the human history. Through many studies, it has been found that there are three processes that make a volcano erupt: first, the formation of volcano; second, the creation of magma chamber; and lastly, elevation of pressure in the chamber.   To be aware of what makes the volcano erupt, first it is necessary to understand what exactly is volcano, and how volcano is formed. A volcano is an opening or rupture in a planet's surface which allows volcanic ash, gases and hot magma to escape from below the surface. There are two causes that a volcano is formed, and one of them is divergence or convergence of tectonic plates. In this case, volcanoes are formed where two plates slide past one another. For instance, the Pacific Ring of Fire was caused by two plates coming together. Next cause is stretch in the interiors of tectonic plates. The Rio Grande Rift in North America is an example that was formed for this reason. To sum up, it is obvious that volcanoes are the weakest part of the earth's surface.   Volcano eruption starts from the creation of magma chamber. There is a layer called 'rock bed' below the crust. Rock bed, which is close to the mantle, melts by the heat from the mantle and changes to magma. Lots of air is dissolved inside the magma, making it lighter than the solid rock. Since magma is lighter, it goes up and melts hard rocks on the way. For the same reason, newly-created magma goes up, and again, creates magma on its way. Then finally, with gathered magma, a magma chamber is created in depth of around 3 kilometers from the surface.   When the pressure in the chamber goes to the limit, a volcano explodes. Since the surface's temperature is lower than the mantle, the magma chamber as well as the magma inside it starts to cool down. Then air bubbles start to form. This is because when liquid cools down, it can't hold as much air as it could when it was hotter. Then gas from these bubbles raises the pressure inside the magma chamber. The pressure inside the chamber can go high when the gas emission is high and earth's volume is thick. Also, the pressure heightens when magma keeps staying inside the magma chamber. Finally, when the pressure hits the limit, magma and gas find somewhere to go out. As I mentioned earlier, since a volcano is the weakest part of the Earth's surface, magma and gas come out from a volcano. This is a volcano eruption.   In conclusion, for a volcano eruption, first a volcano and a magma chamber have to form, and then pressure within the chamber has to go up over the limit. Although sometimes volcano eruptions put serious threat to human civilization, most of them can be predicted earlier. Many scientists say that the eruption that buried ancient Pompeii could also be predicted by signals such as light earthquakes and constant gas emissions. A little bit of attention towards the eruption can help humans avoid the worst result.

Lee Jae Ryoung/How does the human respiratory system work?/Thursday 11:00-13:00

The Human Respiratory System

 

The respiratory system in our body is very important in our lives because the body needs oxygen to live and function appropriately. It is responsible for supplying our body with oxygen and it does this by enriching blood with oxygen every time we take a breath. It also removes carbon dioxide, which is a waste gas produced by the functions of the body, and other harmful and useless gases. The body parts of the respiratory system are the mouth, nose, trachea, lungs and diaphragm. Each of these parts plays a crucial role in how the human respiratory system works.

 

First, we inhale oxygen into our respiratory system through the mouth or nose. Then the oxygen goes through the larynx, the top part of the passage that leads from your throat to your lungs, and down the trachea, the windpipe, into the two bronchi, which are branch-like tissues that enter the lungs. Cilia, which are very fine hairs that grow in the larynx, trachea, and bronchi. These hairs capture germs and pollution in the air that we breathe before they enter the lungs. Germs and pollution are then emitted out of the body through swallowing, coughing or sneezing.

 

After the oxygen enters the lungs, it is delivered to the rest of the body's organs and tissues through a network of blood vessels. The another function of these blood vessels is capturing carbon dioxide emitted by the tissues as a metabolic waste. The lungs, where all the air exchange takes place, are made up of bronchioles, small tubes that have alveoli at their tips. Alveoli are very small lung sacs made up of capillaries, which are tiny blood vessels in the body.

 

Blood is delivered around the body through a network of arteries, veins and blood vessels. The pulmonary artery delivers oxygen and removes carbon dioxide. It sends blood carrying carbon dioxide to the alveoli, which expel the gas through exhalation. Then the alveoli replace the carbon dioxide with oxygen through inhalation. Then finally, this oxygen rich with blood travels to the heart, which pumps it to the rest of the body.

 

Respiration is the way of breathing in and out. As we breathe in, our chest muscles lift the ribs out and moves the diaphragm down, expanding our chest cavity. This expansion decreases the air pressure in lungs and fill them with air. As we breathe out, this process is reversed. The lungs let the air containing waste and foreign matter out from our bodies. In this way, we are able to live with oxygen.

Siho Yang/ volcanic eruption/ Thu 11~1

Volcanic Eruption

 

 

 Have you ever experienced of any natural disasters? There are many kinds of natural disasters such as tsunami, earthquake, and volcanic eruption that have been occurring throughout the earth history. These are happening mostly because of the fact that 'the earth is alive'. The earth is covered with big rocky plates and these plates are constantly moving and sometimes bumping into each other. Here, we are going to see a volcanic eruption, which is one of the phenomena caused by moving plates.

 

 The earth is composed of 4 layers; crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core from the top. Under the crust, the degree C inside mantle, outer core and inner core is so much high that rocks are being melted into magma. This hot magma flows and circulates under the crust. If there is a rift in the earth's crust, the magma flows out through this crack steadily. But this is 'an eruption'. Then what is it?

 

 Volcanic eruptions occur at the thin parts of the crust but with no rift. If there is no rift, magma cannot go out of the crust, which means the magma gets accumulated under the crust. If this captivated-magma-situation lasts for some time, the hot steam from magma, also accumulated, starts to put pressure up to the crust. Since this is a thin part, these suppressed magma and steam soon make such a big outburst – the volcanic eruption! Along the eruption, there comes out of volcanic gas, lava, pyroclastic debris, etc. Pyroclastic debris, such as volcanic ash, usually floats in the air. This leads to sun-blocking and affects the weather. Flowing-down lava makes the geographical changes around there.

 

 Volcanoes are mostly located on the area of plates' meeting points. The most well known is Japan. Japan island itself is the result of the volcanic eruption. As you know, there have been many devastating earthquakes including the Great Earthquake in Japan for a long time. Volcanic eruption, as a natural disaster, kills people and gives tremendous damages. To prevent this, people do research and try to make precautionary activities.

Hanul Park, How does the human respiratory system work?, TUR 11-13

Have you ever imagined the life without air? Perhaps you felt tight in the breast and thought the word, 'death'. Like this, breathing is one of the most basic instincts of human life. But breathing in the oxygen which accounts for 20.946% of the atmosphere, however, is not easy as much as saying 'like breathing'. In summary, the human respiratory system can be divided into 3 period as follows.

The first period is inhaling. There is a diaphragm under the lungs, and it can be transformed. When it contracts and increases the volume of the lungs, the air let come into the lungs through nose and bronchial tubes. At this moment, the oxygen in the air goes to 'alveolus', seemed like a micro raspberry, and dissolves into the blood.

Next is the circulation. The body consist of a huge amount of cells, and each cell needs to supply oxygen when it acts. Circulation based on heart`s pumping, the oxygen-filled blood goes to all around of body through arteries. When it arrive at a capillary vessel, like a tiny corn silk, oxygen adhered to hemoglobin in a red blood cell is delivered to the cells. Instead, the blood receive carbon dioxides from cells.

Last, exhaling. Blood returned to the lungs through veins put out the carbon dioxides. When carbon dioxides go out through the alveolus, a diaphragm puffs up, then the air exit out to outside of body.

The breathing, thinking nothing of difficulty, is be provided in such of complex procedures. But the respiratory system works quietly in now. Like this, when having a curiosity, we can solve the question by using basic scientific knowledge. And also, finally, we can understand our own body.

[NATE] 네이트메일 어플리케이션 출시! 실시간 메일알림, 메일 통합관리 기능 제공 [다운로드]

Seongyool, Myung/How to prepare for Mr.Hufs/Thu 11-13

How would you feel if you heard of a bodybuilding competition in your school? Well, there is one called Mr.HUFS which will be held in May this year. This is the 14^th time of the contest and about 20 participants will compete with their body shape after making so much effort for it.  Since I'm one of the competitors too, I'd like to have an opportunity of informing you about this game.

Before deciding to hold Mr.HUFS, we need to gather people who have the will to be a part of this long and harsh sailing.  About 10-11 weeks ahead, the captain of the Fitness circle calls all the members on to teach them how to be on a diet, investigate how much they weigh and how much kilos they want to lose.  If there are enough members, about 20, to do the project, we decide to hold the contest and separate the participants by the weight limits, -65kg, -70kg, and -75kg are which. Each weight would have 6-8 competitors.

After gathering and separating the builders, we are to be on a diet. The diet is a whole different thing from what common people do to lose their weight. The meals we have consist of chicken breast, sweet potato and a bit of colorful vegetables. Nobody can eat anything else during this preparing period.  A certain amount of protein, carbohydrate and vitamin should be ingested 4 times a day at the exact time.   The exercise begins after having the 2^nd or 3^rd meal. The exercise we do must include weight training to achieve the muscles' definition and running to burn the fat the body has. Exercise can be done 5 times or more than that depending on the individual. All the members should keep this routine for approximately 10 weeks.

Then we are ready for the show. One day before the day of the contest, we paint our body with an artificial tanning paint and measure our weight once again. All the contestants practice their body poses to get the optimum muscle display. They also prepare for their free performance shown for about 1 minute and 30 seconds. Right before the competition on the very day, the participants help each other to pump all the body muscles up. Then they pose in front of the spectators and judges. Each one can get big applause and people's cheer no matter how good or bad they did. The one who is given the most point wins for each level, getting a trophy. It's the time of Mr.HUFS's birth.

It takes much effort to keep the food away you want and stand the hunger you confront because it's one of the 3 natural instincts. Yes, whether they got a good result or not, the competitors deal with the evil inside that tells them to do this no more and eat more. I therefore say that all of them deserve to be Mr.HUFS, for all the perseverance they demonstrated.

 

Preparing for play/Nam Alex/Intermediate Writing English/Thursday 9.00/

Everyone in the childish period of time had the magic dreams. And for sure one of them was to become a megastar actor. Usually the children of the former USSR wanted to become a cosmonaut, but I wanted to become an actor of the Hollywood, because if I was the actor, I could be not only the cosmonaut, but a superhero, a famous sportsman or a businessman and so on. But I am not the megastar actor because it was just my childish dream, which pushed me for something more. But even today I sometimes imagine how I would prepare for my play, if I was the actor.

For the beginning I would ask my manager and directors what they expect from me. Therefore I would go to the library and find as much background information as possible about my character. Because before I began to practice my skills, I would have to know theoretically how my character behaves, his hobbies and his preferences. Especially it would be necessary for me to read a lot of psychology related literature due to which I could understand the way of thinking of my character.

The next thing I preferred to do would be living or making some "friends", which are mostly match to my character, because the theory would be not enough to get a good result in playing my character. Therefore I would like to meet a lot with my "friends" and learn from them by following their behavior, guests, and movements. It would be essential for me to know how they answer and what they do at the particular situation. From my personal evaluation, it would be even better to spent time with them, instead of doing readings in the library. At the same time I would ask my art friends for advice if they experienced the same character as mine, because a good advice can lead to a successful result.

And finally I would to go to my colleagues and play for them as a practice, in order to get evaluation from them. And I am sure it would be a perfect performance and I even can imagine that they would ask me how I could achieve those results. And I would share my experience with them and they would share their experience with me. Therefore it would be a matching my experience with my partners, which would satisfy our directors and our team by itself.

So, everyone had his or her dreams in the childish period which could be magic for them or even push for getting something valuable and define their place in the life. I dreamed to become a megastar actor of Hollywood, but I did not have a such opportunity, as a result I could not become the megastar actor. Despite of that I am not disappointed, because it was a kind of push for me to get something more. Not being a cosmonaut does not mean not to be the star.

 

       

Preparing for play/Nam Alex/Intermediate Writing English/Thursday 9.00/

Choi Dajeong / 2nd assignment / thu.34

How to Enjoy Music Festival                Summer breeze! It' time to ready for music festival. Summer music festival season is a great time to discover new beers and to enjoy the festive spirit. Music festivals are quite a bit of fun, but you're still pretty sure you could be more comfortable? Fun can be spoiled if you find that you haven't done thorough preparations. In order to get the most out of attending a festival, while being responsible and not being annoying, the following steps will help you enjoy attending a music festival.              First, book your trip early. Purchase the tickets well in advance so as not to be disappointed if it's sold out. Maybe the price of a four-day ticket is more than you can afford. Never fear. There are single day tickets available as well. Just make sure you check who is playing what day to ensure you won't miss your favorite star. After that, have a look at the event information so you know what time it starts. You can usually even find maps of the sites online which will help you find where you're going. If you know that a band you want to see is on early in the day, leave plenty of time to get to the site and find the right stage as queues.              What I recommend is that try not to be too single-minded about where you stand or sit, part of the festival experience is being part of the crowd. Some of the best festival experiences are to be had further back in the crowd, singing and dancing with total strangers. However, don't be too rigid about what you have to see and do because there will be time clashes of things you want to see, and don't get upset if your friends want to do things that you don't. You don't have to spend the whole day together. If you split up for a while, though, make sure you know where and when you're going to meet or make sure you have mobile phones so you can get in touch if you need to.              Lastly, there left the most important thing. Get into the spirit of the event by dressing up, using makeup creatively or even just sporting a treasured pin celebrating your favorite band. It will empower you to let yourself go on this special day. You may easily find people wearing the latest style or a highly individual style of clothing here and there because music and fashion are bound up each other. I personally like to see how other people dressed up. Maybe you can be the one appearing on television as a stylish people.              I've listed few steps to help make your trip the best it can be. Follow these steps, and be rewarded with a happy summer adventure experiencing some great music and a whole lot more. But how much you can enjoy yourself in this variety festival is still up to your mind. Then, enjoy!

Choi Dajoeng/the first assignment/thu.34

My computer-free life                Can you imagine the life without TV? I've been living without TV for 4years now. I know it would be pretty much unimaginable for people who already have been accustomed to it. TV nowadays is more than just one of home appliances. We can say it had become an essential part of modern people. However, in my opinion, we can actually live without it and even can enjoy more abundant styles of life. Here is a great example of my own. I also had one when I was in my old home and watched it almost every day. However, at the age of 20, I started to live on my own in Seoul and there was no TV in my new house. At first, I thought I won't be able to live normally without it because it was closely related to my life. For example, I had my own programmed list called "must watch" and parents even called me as a "TV worm" So it was very uncomfortable and felt awkward to being without my old friend. I desperately found a way to watch TV from the internet. There were some websites providing free download services but most charged costs. Most of all, It was such an annoying thing to search a program every time comparing the way I used to before, simply switch the channel with a remote. The number of programs I watch was slowly decreased down to 2 or 3 and, naturally, the awkwardness that I felt first few days was gone little by little and filled that blank with other social activities or healthy hobbies. I found this a surprisingly easy habit to break. I didn't need old friend anymore and it just faded out in my life such like that. There were lots of benefits in this free life. The best thing was I could use my time more wisely. For example, I used to come back home early to watch my favorite TV programs and couldn't do anything until it starts. But after I could choose when to watch it by internet, I didn't need to interrupt my valuable time and could enjoy it simply as refreshment at my spare time. One other bad habit was lunchtime watching. I used to watch recorded shows during lunch, so without the TV, I would eat lunch faster, often finishing in 10-20 minutes instead of 30-60. This gave me some extra time in the middle of my day, which I liked. Furthermore, with no TV in the evenings, I started reading more, going out more, and spending more time talking with my family. I found all of these more enjoyable than watching TV. Now 4 years down the track without TV, I've never looked back. I don't miss it and I've never missed it and I will not miss it. Recently someone told me he can give me his TV if I want but I immediately rejected his favor. Because now I never have the urge to rush home to catch my favorite TV show if I'm out, and I absolutely love not being advertised at. It has actually been a great way to bring more peace into my life. I'm very happy in my computer-free life. How about you also try this lifestyle?

Seung Ah Lee/ Assignment Writing 2/ Thur 34

Ramadan in Uzbekistan

The Islamic month of fasting, Ramadan is the religious period when Muslims all over the world abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex during the daytime. Central Asian states were no exception to these festivities, as Islam is the predominant religion in all states of the region. In Uzbekistan, the religious holiday was declared to be a public day off. Muslims with their respect, dignity and sincerity try not to go against their belief and prepare for the days in advance and perform their actions during the period.

             First, prior to start fasting, it is important that Muslims are well aware of the exact date. Because of the differences in sighting the moon with naked eyes, people often argue about the actual dates. When they are set with the term, they should start preparing for it. In the process of getting ready for the event, Muslims are expected to put more efforts into following the teachings of Islam and to avoid obscene and irreligious sights and sounds.  Fasting's purpose is to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm. It also teaches Muslims to practice self-discipline, self-control, sacrifice, and empathy for those who are less fortunate. Therefore Muslims set their minds and get prepared for the worship.

Furthermore, the daily period of fasting starts at the breaking of dawn and ends at the setting of the sun. During the day time, Muslims streets and public places are decorated with lanterns that are known to be a symbol of Ramadan. Lanterns are hung up to light the city and celebrate Ramadan. Yet, not all places do the same way.

In addition, Eid which means back to the fitrah, is a huge celebration when all the Muslims go to mosque early in the morning pray and enjoy themselves for the next 2 or 3 days. Usually parents buy new clothes and toys for their children. A well cooked dinner is provided. Muslims are expected to pray as an act of worship, and to thank God. Presents are also given, mainly clothes and money.

In short, Islamic culture in Uzbekistan celebrates Ramadan and it plays quite a crucial role in Muslims' life. In preparation for Ramadan, Muslims clear their minds, decorate their surroundings, have time of intensive worship and do good deeds as to get closer to God.

Lee ShinHye/2nd writing assignment/ Thurs 11-1pm/ Festival

Do you know what fiesta, 축제, 狂欢节, or フェスティバル mean? Yes, all of those
words mean "festival." Every year, lots of festivals are held in the
world. Korea, however, has the very special festivals which are held
in every spring: university campus festivals. Most universities in the
world have their own festivals each year, but our campus festival
culture is something else in terms of its background history, scale,
and cultural meaning.

When freshmen start college life, many seniors say that campus
festival is "the flower" of your college life, which means campus
festival can satisfy students who had dreamed some fantasy of campus
lives. Before introducing campus festivals in Korea, it is necessary
to think about why those kinds of festivals are considered so
important during undergraduate years in Korea.

At first, Korea has a different university entrance structure, which
means not the systemic structure but social structure. As President
Obama had mentioned before, most of us and pretty much the neighboring
countries in Asia know that the enthusiasm for education in Korea is
really high. In other word, the passion on education is so great that
it is thought to be excessive. For this reason, after finishing three
years of high school life, and harsh university entrance exam, many
students who got college entrance "pass" deserve to feel the freedom
of their college lives. So, the college festival means the first
official emancipation for students, especially for freshmen.

Because of that special trait that Korean campus festivals have, most
students are welcomed to do everything they wanted, and dreamed. Some
universities hold small rock festival during the festival period, and
each university and department has typical characteristic. For
example, my school, HUFS utilizes its multi-cultural benefits, so each
department prepares traditional customs and food for introducing
countries' culture where their major languages belong to. Then,
students and many visitors can experience various countries' cultures
during the campus festival. Furthermore, many pop singers visit campus
to celebrate their festivals.

Lastly, we cannot explain Korean campus festivals without mentioning
alcohol. Most students drink and enjoy their festivals, even students
who rarely drink alcohol. In the night, we are able to feel the climax
of festival, and each department holds its own bar by selling
traditional food and alcohol. At that time, it is good time for
professors to gather with students and communicate each other.

Campus festivals in Korea are considered as very crucial rite of
passage in many ways. As I mentioned above, festivals can be the
emancipation for freshmen, and the best way to express students'
stress on studies. Also, it can be the opportunity for students to get
closer with their professors. However, many students are wondering
that these festivals are fading away because most of students in these
days have no interest in festivals that are not helpful for their
future career. Because of this desolate atmosphere, campus festivals
are losing their own features: fun.

Cho,Hyun / Prise de la Bastille / Thurs34

Prise de la Bastille (Bastille Day)

 

 

September 14^th, 1789. Angry citizens of Paris were bunched together in plaza and they soon headed to Bastille prison, where political offenders against Louis XVI had been in confinement. At once, the king’s loyal prison was burned by a mob of furious crowd and the royal army dashed to suppress the riot was brutally slaughtered by the citizens. The city was immediately occupied by enraged Parisians, who were believed to be lowest class of the society and obliged to serve the privileged minority. The heat of revolution spread rapidly to the whole city. No one could stop this fever. This French fever was slowly but, surely being propagated to entire countries of the 18^th century Europe.

 

September 14^th has been the most significant national holiday in France since the establishment of modern French government. It has a unique nickname, La fete de la Federation, which means ‘Festival of civil armed forces’. As this title shows, French Revolution, the origin of the holiday, broke out in September 14^th, 1789 by the riot of enraged Parisians who had long been exploited by the privileged class of French society, composed of royalty, nobility and cleric. It took more than 5 years for this magnificent revolution to be concluded by the emergence of Napoleon, highly-recognized French soldier. Although the 5 year process of brisk change had not been constant and spotless, French Revolution is considered as the most influential and momentous incident in whole human history. It has first erected the concept of human right, equality and freedom, which are regarded as a matter of course in our time.

 

Since Bastille Day(September 14^th) acquires special meaning to French people, festivals and ceremonies on the day are held on large scale. The fact that Eiffel Tower, the well-known French landmark, was built to commemorate 100^th anniversary of Bastille Day, shows how much French value the day. On a daytime, visitors can enjoy magnificent military parade with crowd jamming the streets of Paris. French Air Force participates in this parade by flying over the capital city. It is custom that French President shows up in the midst of the parade and celebrates this meaningful day with his nations.

 

When Paris gets dark, the parade proceeds steadily toward the climax. Spectacular fireworks are displayed on the night sky of Paris, which drives people’s excitement to the zenith. The whole city is filled neatly with crowd who are eager to have opportunity to appreciate this annual masterpiece in better spot.

 

Describing the history and festivals of Bastille Day induces me to plan a trip to Paris again. Since I was a child and with my family in my first trip to France, I couldn’t share joys and happiness of Parisians on the holiday. If I get chance to visit the place again, I would like to enjoy the wonderful moment in Paris, where dynamic history of civil revolution is alive and well.

 

Siho Yang/ holiday/ Thu 11~1

'Seol Nal', New Year's Day in Korea

 

 In korea, people start a new year by celebrating 'Seol Nal', the Korean New Year's Day. 'Seol nal' is the first day of a year in the lunar calendar. A whole family gathers to celebrate it together by doing various things. There are three stages to celebrate 'Seol Nal'; preparing, having a ceremony and enjoying together.

 

 On Seol-nal, we prepare special food- 'ttoekguk', the rice-cake soup. It is not that complicated to make ttoekguk. First, boil water with meat in it for a long time. Then prepare 'gomyung' – dried laver, fried egg, etc – to decorate on. Next, cut garaetteok (bar rice cake) into small pieces and put those into the boiled water with some vegetables. And keep boiling it. Then, season to taste with salt and soy sauce. When it's all done, put it in a bowl and garnish it with 'gomyung'. There is an interesting belief about 'ttoekguk'; we grow a year older as we eat 'ttoekguk'. When I was a child, I used to eat ttoekguk more than twice because I wanted to get older quickly. For now, I want it the other way around.

 

 Then we perform a ceremony 'Charye' for our ancestors. For a ceremony, we first prepare 'Charyesang', a table full of New Year's Day food including 'ttoekguk' and some fresh fruits. Then we all make a bow to our ancestors' spirits and wait for them to eat food that we prepared. Since this ceremony usually takes place in the early morning, I used to doze off to sleep leaning against my mom. The atmosphere was not solemn but comfortable as I remember. We would have a small talk together.

 

 After all finishing preparation and ceremony, there is only one thing left – enjoying together. We eat delicious ttoekguk after the ceremony. We sometimes eat ghalbi – a kind of rib – with it. After we enjoy food, children do 'Sebae', a New Year's bow, to adults. Adults who received Sebae then give 'sebaetdon' , New Year's cash gifts, to them with words of blessing. This is what children like the most and what adults like the least about Seol-nal. Then we play games such as    'Yutnori' – a game of yut. Yutnori is a Korean traditional game but too bad it has almost disappeared.

 

 People in Korea gather at 'Seol-nal' to celebrate it together by eating ttoekguk, performing a ceremony and doing 'Sebae'. It seems that it must be a happy day for everyone, however, people nowadays seem to get stressed when Seol-nal is coming. They see this celebrating day as a burden to them. This might be because Seol-nal becomes too commercial. People should remind of its true meaning of Seol-nal – to celebrate a New Year and enjoy with a family. The meaning of a holiday is far more important than just observing the forms.

Seunghyun Lee / Seollal / Thursday 11-13

Seunghyun Lee / Seollal / Thursday 11-13

 The new year's day, Seollal is the biggest holiday in Korea. All the family members gather on Seollal at the house of the eldest's. During the holiday, fathers are exausted because of the nationwide traffic jam. The road is choked with traffic because most families move on Seollal. My granparents lives in Chuncheon and It takes about 1-2 hours to get there, but it takes twice longer with traffic jam. To avoid the conjestion, my family go out early that day. We left home about 5-6 a.m this year.

 When we leave home early before dawn, we usually arrive grandparent's house around 7 a.m. We hold ancestral rites there at 9 a.m. My family used to prepare all the dishes for the ceremony before Seollal, but we buy those things in recent years. My grandfather hosts ancestral rites because he is the eldest of our family. Though I attended this ceremony for over 10 years, the procedure is still confusing. After the ceremony, we feast on tteokguk, the rice cake soup. Eating tteokguk means that one gets older.

 A little past the lunchtime, there is whole family gathering in the livingroom. We gather to bow to each other for New Years. After the bowing, we gave each other some words of blessing. The youngers like this moment because older people ususally give them some poket money after bowing. Because all the elders give money to the youngers, they can get a sizeable amount of money at this time.

 In the evening, the end of the busy day, whole family enjoy some entertainment. The elders gather to play "Go-Stop", kind of gamble resembles poker. They play it all night in most cases. Family members do not attend this gambling gather livingroom to watch TV. Since Seollal is the biggest holiday, broadcasting companies run several special features. Famous movies, special entertaining programs are running on every channel for all day. Even kids are allowed to watch TV late at night in Seollal.

 The next morning my family woke up late except my grandmother. She prepares the great breakfast. This breakfast is the last meal that the whole family have together in Seollal. My family prepare to leave after having our nice breakfast. Before leaving, my grandparents usually packs some foods like dumplings, ricecake. When we get back to Seoul, the long holiday finally ends.