Release Yourself!

Few months ago, I recorded a short clip on how I hoped to be as a writer and a blogger by the end of the school year. I don’t quite remember what I said exactly, but I believe I hoped to become friendly and comfortable with writing and blogging. With only four months left of school, I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t’ believe I have done much to make this dream come true. Both as a writer and someone who blogs, I have done poorly in keeping my blog up to date and worthy of being read. I have failed to step up to my dream.

In the beginning, I felt like I was approaching my goal one step at a time. With regular blog posts that ranged from worldly issues to personal events, I let my fingers type away. As a novel blogger I did not try to limit my blogs to educational or connective writings; rather, I tried to get myself to become more familiar and friendly with this idea of ‘blogging.’ With criticisms stating that my blog was too personal and ‘journal-ly,’ I struggled through to find my focus–what my blog would revolve around. It’s quite obvious that I didn’t find my focus point like my other friends who engaged their writings on education or technology. And unfortunately I still have no idea.

To be frank, when I filmed my short clip earlier this school year, I believed my blog would be pretty well established–regular posts, comments linking to other blog posts, and a site that would mean something to some interesting minds out there. But in truth, its not that much different than a blog that’s just starting out. Having been careless of my blog, I have let it deteriorate and rot.

Reflecting upon my past ‘blog history’ it makes me wonder whether I view my blog solely as a school-y activity or something that really has a meaning to me. Will I not be able to graduate from this state of solely caring for my grades at school? Will I not be able to see the greater things beyond grades? Will I not allow myself to hatch open from the shell of this

(picture by frankeys creation - Crack EGG)

Technorati Tags: kisaplit, aplit07, goal, blogging, shool-y, real world, failure

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Every country is unique. Language, behavior, food, and so on. What one may consider “normal” and “okay” in one place may seem outrageous and weird in another. Now, fashion is another thing that’s quite interesting to look out for. We live in a period when people are often judged by their appearance and therefore many try to keep up with the “trend” and “the style.” But what exactly is THE trend and THE style? Who comes up with what’s “hot” and what’s not?

Recently, I read a post called Seoul: The land of man-bags, high heels and short skirts in winter by Keren about the fashion in Korea. Although I’m a Korean myself I haven’t lived in Korea for a while and so it wasn’t hard for me to nod my head and understand what she was saying as I read her post. As she elaborated on how weird and hilarious the “trend” of Korea was, I felt both empathy as well as disappointment. Although it is weird for me, as well, to see guys carrying “murses” (a man’s purse) and girls wearing skirts that barely come down to their thighs, I was disappointed on how Keren and her friends who were “sitting on the side of the road, and smoking.” Not because they were smoking, as Keren would assume based on her sarcastic tone (”The absolute shame of it all!”) but because of her judgmental attitude. As she mentioned in her first paragraph of her post, the idea of what is considered to be cool and hot differs from area to area. “Not only does fashion differ amongst us and our friends, but also between different social groups within our surrounding areas.” If she’s aware of the fact that fashion “differs amongst us and our friends” –among people who are likely to have many common aspects– I’d assume she’d be able to figure out that it will obviously differ among countries.

Murses. Yes, I’m not quite familiar with them and, being honest, I’m not a huge fan myself, but what’s so bad about that? Girls are allowed to carry around purses and guys aren’t? Why do girls carry purses in the first place? Isn’t it to keep their stuff and belongings? Oh, well trying to look fashionable might be another reason too. I don’t see anything “girly” about this. Girls may have extra belongings such a mini mirror or a make-up kit, but things like mobiles, keys, pens, and others, guys carry them around too. So why can’t a guy carry around a murse with all these stuff? Why can’t guys carry around their gadgets like a palm pilot, ipod, or organizer? And if they’re carrying around these “man-bags” to look fashionable, what’s so bad about that? It’s natural for girls to carry around purses and look trendy while it’s considered weird and “hilarious” for guys to carry around murses?

I’m a pretty busy girl and I tend to roam around a lot. Due to this, I usually wear my converse or my sneakers. But I wouldn’t say I’m the odd one out of the group. Of course I see many high heels clicking around the streets, but when I look at the owners of these high heels, they’re normally dressed appropriately for work or some special occasion. Well, maybe some wear them just because they feel like it, but so do others in other countries. Ask any girls, ladies, or women in the street and they’ll most likely say yes to the question, “have you ever worn high heels just because you felt like it?” High heels aren’t a must in Korea. I’m surrounded by flats, boots (one’s with no heels), and plain sneakers everyday. In the summer, i hear the familiar “flips” and “flops.”

As for the fact that the shoulders needing to be covered any time of the year, I don’t know where that came from. Maybe it’s because it’s winter at the moment in which it would be realistic to cover up one’s shoulder considering the freezing climate, but in the summer time I see tank tops everywhere. The “rule” on having to cover up one’s shoulder is so old in which no one cares anymore.

Should the girls be the only one’s wearing cosmetics? The point in using it is to take care of our skin isn’t it? The toner, essence, and other lotions are all to keep our skin young and beautiful, right? So why can’t guys be allowed to take care of their skin? Why is it normal and almost mandatory for girls to take care of their appearance and weird and wrong for guys to take care of theirs? Would you be happy if your boyfriend or husband ended up having wrinkly, dry skin? I have several sets of skin care production at home and, honestly speaking, it gets annoying to remember to put each one on before I go to sleep and before I leave my house in the morning. If guys are actually taking their time to put on these cosmetic products it’s something that should be applauded not scorned at.

Peope look at themselves at least once every day. It may be in the morning while washing your face in the bathroom, or during the day when you happen to see your reflection. Now, some may see themselves more than once daily, but what’s so bad about that? Isn’t it just to take care of their appearance and make it more pleasant? It’s not like people enjoy looking at others who have messy hair or have food stuck between their teeth. Some still look at mirrors even though they look perfect. But that’s not just for Korean people. I’ve lived in 5 other countries and visited 43 others. Unsurprisingly, I’ve seen many others who constantly look at themselves, whether it’s through a mirror or their reflection in window.

It’s funny how these foreigners who are believed by the Koreans to be more open-minded and acceptable to be so judgmental and stereotypical. Everyone knows, different countries have different style and culture. As foreign people live in Korea, I would hope for them to observe and just appreciate its own culture and the different taste that can only be experienced in that country. If the trend isn’t what seems to be “hot” in their country then just ignore it and let it be. Oh, and one more thing. Keren asked this question in her post: “Are you sure this isn’t the year 1986?” My answer is I’m pretty sure its not. But if she’s confused because of the “trend” of Korea, then I have one more thing to say: things that that are considered fashionable at a certain period often tend to come back in fashion after a while. Besides, there’s even a saying: History repeats itself.

(picture by Time4SumAksion - Korean Girls Holding Hands )

Technorati Tags: kisaplit, aplit07, Korea, Fashion, Man-bags

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It’s a new year. It could be seen as starting over for some people–a way to clear everything and start from scratch. For me, however, I wouldn’t want to start over from scratch. Well, technically I don’t think it’s possible since I still have things that are unaccomplished from 2007 and it’s the middle of a school year. But there are a few changes. Many people are familiar with this–the new year resolution–but I have never really made any “new year’s resolution” before. So, for a change I made some this year.

1. Read the whole bible
2. Be consistent with my tithes
3. Make three complete songs (not chicken scratch on my notebooks)
4. Smooth things out with at least five of my “ex-friends”
5. Be satisfied with my accomplishments.

Sometimes people get carried away with their list. I tried not to make huge ones–ones that are impossible even in my dream, and I’m pretty confident about most of them. I might have to watch out for #2 and #5, though. I’ve got to say, last year was…well, let’s just say I wouldn’t call it my favorite year, but hopefully this year will be different. And to everyone who has had a bumpy year in 2007, it’s a new year, a new page, be confident and optimistic and hopefully you’ll have better luck this year!

(picture by peevee@ds - 2008)

Technorati Tags: kisaplit, aplit07, new year, new year’s resolution, 2008

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Since the days I was a fetus, I lived abroad. Till now, I have lived in five different countries and traveled to 42. Roaming around all over the world, it was natural for me to make friends from different nations. Russians, Arabic, Africans, you name it.

Earlier, I read a post from Bruce Fong’s blog about what he missed at Christmas.

Everything shaped up to be a wonderful Christmas. Then, in moments of reflection I imagined what I would really miss at Christmas. It certainly is not a regrettable gift that needs to be returned. It certainly is not a forgotten gift that I need to buy. The only longing that I would like to change is deeper than that. It is about people that I love.

I see familiar faces. They are miles away. They are represented in Christmas cards piled in a basket in our kitchen. Some connect via email or quick text message. Lives of amazing friends scattered around the world are on my mind. Some are relatives. Some are hurting. They are friends for life. I would love to be with them.

My hope is that they will know how much they mean to me during this special season of the year. Stories of great shared adventures with great friends tug at my soul. Relationships that will last into eternity fill my heart. Special people who are far away is what I miss the most at Christmas. I love my friends.

As my eyes scanned these words, I got the chance to think about my friends. Living across the world, they’ve been absent from my life and also my mind. Although I labeled them as my friends I had been so wrapped up with my life that I had forgotten about those who were absent from my sight. As I look back in my life, I realize without this amazing group of people, I wouldn’t have become the person I am today. They’ve supported, guided, and loved me and helped me stay strong in times of despair and need. Just like Bruce Fong, I, too, hope that my friends know how much they mean to me and how I wish I could be with them. They’re my angels without wings.

(picture by Josh Russel - My facebook friends)

Technorati Tags: kisaplit, aplit07, friends, Christmas, Angels, love

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Oil Spill. Korea’s worst maritime crisis. Tons of oil on the west coast of South Korea. It’s all over the media. Everyone who watches the news regularly would probably know what I’m talking about. I visited the west coast yesterday with my mom, my brother, and my friend. We were part of our church group which consisted of 60 or so volunteers. After a whole day of working and coming back home exhausted, I got to think more about things. This accident is a huge issue, and seeing it with my own eyes made it clear to me. It’s very unfortunate that something this disastrous happened to such a powerless nation (I’m not implying that it should have happened to a powerful nation though). Actually it’d be horrible no matter which country it happened to. But, I believe things happen for a reason. I guess that includes this incident as well.

As I saw the group of strangers lined up in a row passing the buckets of oil from the coast to the dump spot, the whole lot of volunteers working together to clear up the black shore, and groups of people cooperating to clean up the oily ships, I realized maybe this happened to unite the people of Korea. Some might say that I’m foolish to be this optimistic, but to lament over something that won’t get better by just feeling bad is being foolish in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to imply that I’m happy that this happened but its better to look at things from a bright side, don’t you think?

I know not every single person in Korea will visit the west coast to help out with this national crisis. But many have and I believe many will. Plus, people who haven’t physically been to the site have still shared the sorrow and have indirectly helped those in need by prayers, donations, and encouragement. People who have never seen each other stand side by side to help their nation recover from this damage. To get it back on its feet. It’s unbelievable how such a disaster can lead to something so amazing. People from all over the country have traveled hours and hours to wipe rocks and clean sand, and the number of volunteers has been more than anyone expected that the news reports have even lowered their number of years that would take for everything to be okay again from ten to six. I know this is probably because right now, everyone is aware of how grave the situation is and the accident is still fresh and as time goes on the number of volunteers visiting the sea coast will decrease, but still, the fact that numerous people gave up their weekends, workdays, and school to help the nation means a lot.

I hope I’m proved wrong. Hopefully, the number of volunteers won’t decrease. Maybe it will even increase. This may be just my wishful thinking but the past few weeks have really amazed me and have shown me how one nation, populated by people who are so busy with their everyday lives, can unite and work together to help its country. The sea means something to everyone, and while its more worthy to some, it only has an indirect impact on others. But this doesn’t matter. From fishermen and local villagers to city residents, we all worried over this environmental disaster. It didn’t matter if one was a high class wealthy man or a struggling college student living by himself. Everyone cared. And we all united.

Technorati Tags: kisaplit, aplit07, Korea, Oil, Spill, United, Disaster, Nation

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It’s Christmas! What comes to your mind? Presents? Christmas trees? family gathering? Normally, all of this would be true for our family but this year was different. There were no gifts and no Christmas tree lighting the living room. Of course we still went to church though–something we always do on Christmas. What was special about this year’s Christmas was what we did after the sermon.

My mother is part of an organization in which their goal is to spread love and charity. Thanks to my mother, we heard about what our church was doing on Christmas day, which was giving out boxes full of food and other necessities for a group of unfortunate people who were drafted. How it works is people at church volunteer to deliver the boxes to certain homes with no limits. Our family decided to deliver six boxes, and so we loaded six boxes and six bags of rice. Our way to the poor neighborhood was surprisingly quite tiresome. The roads were so narrow and squiggly, and there were random furnitures stacked on the side of the road. Unfortunately, the roads became to small to allow our car to pass, so we had to get off the car and carry each boxes.

I’ve been to a few missionary trips in which I visited the poor villages in each country to help them in any way I can. But in Korea, my home country, I have always stayed in the metropolis. This was my first time visiting the slum. It was so packed and the houses looked like they’d collapse even at the slightest sign of a mild windstorm. The elders seemed to be surprised by our visit, but quite grateful. Their smiles and gratitude made me forget about walking through the rocky streets with the heavy box–definitely worth while. As we finished up and got into our car, we all stared at each other and smiled. At that moment, we all knew we were thinking the same thing. Let’s deliver some more.

We ended up delivering around 15 boxes in total. Even though I spent half my day delivering boxes, I felt much happier than receiving Christmas gifts myself. It might look like I was the one giving the gift, but in fact, now that I think about it, it was I who received the greater gift. The feeling of joy after helping others. The indescribable sensation you get after seeing the huge smile on the other person’s face. This was my Christmas gift.

Technorati Tags: kisaplit, aplit07, charity, slum, Christmas, present, church, donation

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At home. Rolling around in my pajama. Tick tock tick tock. This sounds nothing like Christmas eve does it? I soon realized this grave situation and decided to just go out. Of course, walking around all alone in Christmas Eve seemed worse so I asked my brother, who happened to be home, to join me. As we were strolling around the busy streets, my mom called and told me that we were going to go out. Seeing that we were already out, our parents came out to where we were.

In our neighborhood, we have this street with restaurants and cafes on each side of the road. The architectural design and feel of the place emits a sense of European style–perfect for special occasions. We decided to take a stroll there–the Jungja cafe street. Of course, being that it was Christmas eve, the whole place was packed. Luckily, we found a spot to hang around.

As we were settling in after ordering, my dad, who tends to listen to our conversation, started talking.

“Let’s make a promise. Next year, on Christmas Eve, we’ll come back to this same restaurant and this same time, and when we do, Jiseop will be a student learning music production–his dream, and Jieun will be a pre-med student.”

There was a pause for a second and it was followed by smiles. We made a promise that day. We’re probably not the only ones who have. I guess we’ll all see next year if we’ve kept our words…

(pictures by puplerain -  DSCN 0603, DSCN0610)

(picture by _mpd_ -  Christmas on the Island of La Grande Jatt)

Technorati Tags: kisaplit, aplit07, promise, Christmas, eve, next, year

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So, I’m normally use to waking up and eating the already-made breakfast in 10 minutes and dashing out the door for school. But, since it’s the winter break and I wasn’t in such a hurry to go somewhere, I thought I’d make my own breakfast for a change. As I was in the middle of making an omelet, my brother walked into the kitchen and decided to join me. While he made a Korean dish, I made the omelet and got the toast and fruits ready. The food wasn’t different from any other day, but somehow it tasted amazing.

(picture by LynnlnSingapore - Breakfast on Sunday)

Technorati Tags: kisaplit, aplit07, breakfast, brother, omelet, morning

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Deadlines are approaching for the college applications. Writing about why I want to attend that specific university and what makes me a suitable student to attend it over and over again to ten or so universities, I find myself slumping more and more. After hours and hours of typing the essays, I’m not surprised to find myself with eyes looking like they were hypnotized and a back shaping the alphabet ‘C.’ These deadlines are just like the words say. Dead-Line. These deadlines seriously do feel like they’re killing me each second. The more I approach the D-day, the more I feel myself dying.

(picture by volcanodancer - deadline_logo)

Technorati Tags: kisaplit, aplit07, deadline, college, application

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As I look out my window, I see hundreds of cars zooming by the highway. Doesn’t matter if its 9 am, 6 pm, or 3 in the morning. There are always people busily going somewhere. I see them and then look at me. Time’s flying by. One minute, one second is a precious moment that cannot be taken back. Those people in the car might know this fact and so take advantage of each second. But do I? Some days, I notice myself just sitting around or in front of the computer doing nothing of importance. I’m living in the 21st century where everything has to do with speed and here I am just dazing off. Wasting time…how sad.

Well, as a change, I’ll start off by getting off my bum, get my coat on, and go out and do something worthwhile…

(picture by splorp - Time Lapse Traffic)

Technorati Tags: kisaplit, aplit07, time, speed, highway, waste

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