Another violent crime was on the news today, here in Korea. This time, no young 7 year olds were attacked. It was an old grandma. A guy in his twenties violently attacked an old lady. The young man says he got ‘pissed’ because the old grandma blurted out bad words at him. The crime happened during one of the Mad Cow Disease protests on the streets of Seoul. The old lady was selling Kim Bab, cheap Korean street food, during the protest. Apparently, the young guy told the old lady to stop selling Kim Bab because of the chaotic streets.

No doubt, the crime was committed by this young man. But the unreasonable shouting and cursing should also be considered as a crime. The article, says that the old lady called the young college protest organizers words such as, “son of a b***h, s**t head, mother f**k**” and many more. I’m not saying that it was right for the 20 year old guy to physically hurt the poor old lady, but the old lady should have kept her own limits.

How unmannerly and immortal these two people are. After the cell phone video clip spread through out Korea, the caught young guy admitted his wrong doings and says he would ask the old lady for forgiveness until the old lady promises to forgive him.

What is wrong with these people? Is it all right for the old lady to offend the young guy just because she’s older than him and he tried to stop her from illegally selling the street foods at the chaotic streets? Neither of them was better than each other. They both acted like inhumane animals-one offending the other and the other hurting the enemy with unbearable violence.

What is up with the world today?

      
Hmm… I wonder what I should get my friend for her birthday? Let’s GOOGLE what summer born need for their birthdays…. What? “Students born at end of school year more likely to struggle?”

As I was randomly looking up what I should buy my May- born friend for her birthday, I got to read this article about how the UK proved that summer born tend to slip during the school year than those who were born during one of the early months of the school year. I cannot but disagree with this article, written in London pretty recently in 2007. First of all, it might be smarter to say all summer born students tend to slack rather than months at the end of the school year because the date system differs in different countries. Of course all summer born students are not stupid. Most of my friends for some reason have summer birthdays but no doubt does better in school than me, a September birthday girl. In this article, the first three paragraphs talk about how the government proved this theory… And the rest of the article is how the researchers are trying to justify the testing system for those students born during the summer time. How STUPID? They think they are justifying, but no. They are making ‘supposed to be smart’ students, like me, mad.
But one aspect I liked about this article was they compared the better grades of the September birthdays to the lower grades of August birthdays. As I was partly enjoying this pride building article, I confused my self for awhile. Although August is part of the summer season, it’s when most high schools begin their new school year. So perhaps, shouldn’t the GPA percentage of students with August birthdays be higher than students with September birthdays? Because TECHNICALLY August is when school starts, and August is the real “beginning of the school year” and September is closer to the “end of the year” and according to this article, September students should be NATURALLY stupider than August borns.

In many ways, this article is a complete nonsense and probably written for fun by researchers who think they are SO smart, just like Algy says. There are so many more aspects of the human brain that can be tested and studied. Let’s not make things complicated with BIRTHDAYS now…

RECIPE FOR YUMMY BROWNIES

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bingramos/61193469/

Why do we desire sugar when we get stressed out and lighten up our two eyes with flaming red hot fires? Going more personally, any time I go through the “red days” I definitely cram for everything chocolate and sometimes greasy food. Why? I don’t know- it’s just natural human instinct- wanting to eat YUMMY food. Chocolate! Yum…. Hot fudge chocolate and caramel drizzle on top of vanilla ice cream with Oreo crackers on top of warm, chewy, soft, slightly uncooked, hard crust BROWNIE. How am I supposed to resist! I love BAKING. Here is the recipe for a warm chewy brownie.

• Mix: 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, 1/3 cup of Cocoa powder (Hershey’s recommended), 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
• Mix: melted 1 stick of butter, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 2 eggs.
• Add liquid mixture into the flour mixture!
• Stir until flour mixture absorbs liquid well and becomes GOOEY.

If you cannot resist peanut butter like me, or the jar of peanut butter at your house is getting old, make
PEANUT BUTTER SWIRL BROWNIES.

• With a spoon, swirl in peanut butter mixture into the gooey brownie mixture.
• Mix: 1/3 cup of peanut butter, 2 tablespoons of softened butter, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of flour, and lastly one healthy egg.

Just to give it a little ‘touch’ add pecans, nuts, crush graham crackers and use it as a base.

Forget those calories….. What’s life about? It’s all about eating CHOCALATE.

Peanut butter mixture: http://www.donogh.com/cooking/brownies/peanutb.shtml
Brownie: http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipes/detail.asp?id=5008&page=1&per=25&product_id=19#

Video Credit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVrx8kUiHCc

Video of: Cow infected with “mad cow disease”

The new president of Korea, Lee Myung Park, has decided to allow free trading with the US. Before Lee Myung Park as the president, for the sake of Korea’s crops and peasants, importing US harvestings were illegal. Because of such limited resources, the prices were very high. Every time I went out to dinner to eat Korea’s most popular food: meat, I wondered why 150g of cow meat would sometimes cost over 40,000 won, or in US dollars, $40. If you cannot get a hold of how big 150 g is, it is definitely smaller than steaks at Outback Steak House. The reason these ‘Hanwoo’ or Korean cows are so expensive, is because the cows itself have to be raise in proper conditions. The farmers take extra care for these cows that are noticeably smaller than American cows and therefore only produce a little for us to eat. Throughout the years without importing American crops and meat, Korea’s peasants and farmers have flourished and gained abundant wealth, while consumers paid a whole lot of money to eat these luxuries lived cows. To help the consumers, Lee Myung Park has decided to allow American food. Then shouldn’t Korean citizens be happy about the new changed law? However, this is not the case. Koreans are fighting against this price lowering law because of the sick cows in the far country America. Even celebrities are publicly disagreeing and showing their complaints out to the country. Although these ill cows are very rare, Koreans are not happy with even the minor possibility of dying from eating one of the foreign cows.
But, my opinion is different. If the infected cows are a serious problem, then Americans would not eat them themselves. I have lived in the US for about 5 years and ate meat over 4 times a week, every week. Am I dead? No! Why is barbeque so very popular and famous is US? Because most people in America’s big population eat cows. My cell phone is ringing almost every 3 hours with messages that are criticizing the new president, sometimes even saying that he is our enemy and sold our historical old island, Dok Do. Even with news papers with the headline similar to, “The cows are safe” people are continuously in a rebelling mode with candle light movement fighting against these rare mad cows. Writing this post might make me one of Korea’s most hated students, but really- people should simmer down about these weird cows.

Image Credit: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/images/070504-sumo-pictures.jpg

This photo is a picture in Japan during one of their traditional rituals. Japanese people believe that a Sumo wrestler is able to help a baby cry out his or her wish for good health in the later future. This superstition seems to be a very appropriate ritual for Japan; the mix of Japan’s traditional sport, Sumo, with the healthy future of children is a perfect match for Japan. But where do these superstitions come from? Who started blowing out candles with a silent wish in their hearts? After researching about the various superstitions throughout the world, the world is very CREATIVE.

• Number representations: In the three biggest Asian countries, China, Japan and Korea, number 4 is an unlucky number. In all three languages, the pronunciation of number 4 is similar to the word death. Here in Korea, in some buildings, many times the 4th flour does not exist. For example, the 5th flour is after the 3rd flour, or the letter ‘f’ represents the 4th flour instead. In the West, the number 13 symbolizes bad luck.
• Direction representations: Although, horseshoes are not easily seen in normal houses, it is believed that when the horseshoes are seen as a U, it brings luck. But if seen reversed or upside down, it is said to bring bad luck.
• Personal Experience: I have broken many mirrors throughout my 15 years of living. Every time I break one mirror, people told me I would face trouble for 7 years. On Superstition-Wikipedia, it says that to undo this evil bad luck; I should bury the broken pieces under the moon-as the ancient people recommended. Also I always dry my umbrella at my indoor basement. But it’s written that an open umbrella indoor is unlucky. (Hope these are not true)
• In Sweden: Simply setting a key on the table signifies bad luck. There is a fairy tale-like superstition (my favorite from this research). It is said to believe that on midsummer, (just like Shakespeare!) putting 7-9 flowers under a pillow will able the dreamer to see the future lovers face!
•  Never heard of superstitions: In Scotland, setting new shoes on a bed brings bad luck, coming from the old traditions of marriage. Also, walking under a ladder is not recommended, but the spell (?) can be undone by speedily walking back under it. Placing a hat is bad luck in North Carolina. In Russia, it is best to sit on one’s suitcase before taking a trip.

Is it possible these could be true?

Information Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstition 

Video Credit: http://www.youtube.com/v/ZDKB694kYtI

Video Credit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRWU2DysF30

As I was watching a TV show called Star King, a famous talent show, I had my mouth opened for a good 5 minutes as the child prodigy named Sungha Jung flicked the strings of his small guitar. Unlike a 6th grader, his extremely calm and respectable manners toward the audience and the MC added another ‘+’ sign from me. He started playing the guitar with absolutely no training or guidance when he was 10. It’s incredible how he handles his guitar with his small hands, unlike any child who’s been playing guitar for only 2 years. As I researched more about this young fellow, he was a true star on the world famous video website, Youtube. Most of his 84 videos are viewed over 300,000 times by people all over the world. Furthermore, this kid’s way of absorbing knowledge for sure teaches the Korean society a true moral. Korea’s educational system is nothing but absolute nonsense. Children, starting from age 6 or 7, start going to private tutor academies to learn school subjects to prepare for high school, to be accepted into colleges in the capital, Seoul. This tiny country does not have many famous colleges that can win acceptances from future jobs, unlike America, and cause the extreme competition between students and mostly, parents. Although all kids are not like this unbelievable kid, Sungha Jung, if the kids of Korean society are able to flex and expose their interests, there could be more Korean Youtube stars.
Anyway, going back to the idea of ‘child prodigies’, I am partly extremely jealous but also worried. In Sungha Jung’s case, he seems to be raised in a safe background and growing up doing something what he enjoys, not what others force. But what I am worried about are parents in the world who exceeds the limit on wishing the best for their children and even force their own child into a prodigy and as a result, disable the minds of their own child.
Any exciting case or person can be viewed in two ways. One way is to just accept the new kid with awe and accept the fact that there are gifted people and wish the world fame for this guitar Mozart. The other way is to desire the same incredibility and work for the fame, not for his or her interest. Child Prodigies are not gifted to be examples for parents; they are gifted to develop their gifted part in the world. For this reason, I hope the best for Sungha Jung’s bright future.
* To view other videos of Sungha Jung.

US Vice President who knows POTATO with an E

Image Credit: http://www.depauw.edu/photos/PhotoDB_Repository/2005/4/dan%20quayle%202005.jpg

I was born on 1992 September 29th. My front registration number in Korea is: 920929 (I love this number). Anyways, there were some exotic happenings during the year 1992. I personally believe 1992 year borns are the most handsome, pretty, lovely, and overall gifted beings of the 21st century. No reason, it’s just me. I don’t know if all these are true, but according to Wikipedia, there are some COOL, just incredible happenings. One of my favorite is, on January 8th, George H. W. Bush threw up in front of the world in one of world’s cleanest country, Japan. Five days later, the clean but also somewhat inhumane Japanese apologized to Korean women about sexual slavery during the World War II. In El Salvador, a 12 year war was ended on January 16th, and 10 days later Russia stops threatening the US with nuclear weapons. February was a sporty month with the opening and closing of the Winter Olympics and the start of a new football season. And here’s something interesting, on February 26th, “The Supreme Court of Ireland rules that a 14-year-old rape victim may travel to England to have an abortion” (wikipedia). I guess laws did have exceptions back in those days. March was a technologic month with the release of Windows 3.1. I believe the newest version doesn’t even use numbers and more, it’s called Windows Vista. Month April and May are rather boring with deaths and accusations of Mafias. Halfway of June, the Vice President of US corrects an elementary student’s spelling in a spelling bee. How thoughtful of him to add an E at the end of the word POTATO….(?) July, August, and September are months of politics (September being a teeny bit special with my birth). In October, a serial killer of 52 people was caught, and a Japanese boy was killed knocking on a wrong door. Women were legal to become priests in England on November 11th. Looking at these researches make me feel old, I’m 15 right now! I thought war treaties were all way before my lifetime, but I guess not. 16 years ago, world was a bit chaotic, just from reading these eye grabbing events, but it saddens me that murders and crimes were not less back in those days. Although technology and politics are improving, morals of people are noticeable not improving, but even worsening every second of our lives.

Mc Mong (on the right) and HaHa (on the left) are both musical artists but appear extremely frequently on TV.

Image Credit: http://www.koreatimes.com/photos/LosAngeles/20080214/h1-3.jpg

One of my biggest hobbies is to do absolutely nothing but look at photos and read articles about celebrities for hours. My experience on the internet has been rarely surprising, but at times of eye grabbing news, they are mostly about deaths. Last year, year 2007, there were two extremely goose bump making news about two female celebrities, a singer, and an actress. The two celebrities committed suicide, both for the same reason. In my personal thoughts, the real murders are the normal people, who, because of some odd and idiotic reason, spill unbearable mean verbal criticisms on them. The two famous lives could not bear the unnecessary criticism and decided to end their valuable lives, one hanging her self, and one swallowing pills. Their deaths no doubt caused the depression of the country and mostly darkened up the hearts of fans, families and friends. As an active internet browser in the ‘celebrity’ section of both Korea and US, a big difference is the luxury of these famous people. In Korean TV websites, such as SBS , KBS, and MBC there is a section called entertainment. In this section, celebrities varying from singers, actors, and even announcers show up paying games or having funny interviews to entertain the viewers. But the problem is the extremely frequent visits of the same celebrities. As the entertainer is viewed more frequently by the people, the quality of that celebrity goes down because they do not seem special or expensive anymore. Then, the repetition of their actions to anti-fans starts to become extremely annoying. The annoyed viewers start to type it to their face how annoyed he or she is. On the other hand, Holly wood is completely different. Holly wood starts are mostly seen on Movie screens or pictures of paparazzi. No doubt, these world famous stars are worth a lot compared to the next-door celebrities of Korea, who own cyworld, their own blogging pages for fans to see pictures of him or her, just like normal people. Is it wrong for celebrities to enjoy normal life? No, but in my opinion, the holly wood stars seem to gain their fame and wealth because of their rare show ups on the internet or normal MTV. But in many ways, the Korean celebrities can state the unfair comparison to the worldwide famous stars. Korea is a tiny country, just hanging over the tip of huge China with so many gifted people-celebrities, bunched up. In their case, it’s normal and necessary to fight over the every weak TV series because of the small variety. But sometimes, there are empty minded plastic face girls who show up on TV every single day without any qualification as a singer, actor, or so called-talented people. Honestly, even though I am Korean and have extreme pride of Korea, there are no great musicians and actors of the Westerners. Wow I’m awfully comparing Korea to West a lot. These are some of the mini home pages of Korean celebrities: Tablo (Korean artist), MC mong (Korean artist).

JYP (2nd from left) with Lil Jon and pre-debut Korean artists.

Image Credit: http://devnewsimg.mydaily.co.kr/2007/06/22/200706220854281138_1.jpg

What is the point of being able to speak two languages fluently? Being bilingual is extremely helpful and useful; kids at my school, an international school, are extremely gifted. These days, Korea is expanding all over the world.

• From Asia, where many Korean actors and singers are extremely popular in Japan, Thailand and even world’s 3rd largest country, China.
• To England, Park Ji Sung- an incredibly active Korean soccer player in one of world’s top soccer teams, Manchester United.
• And even America, with three extremely successful Korean celebrities now active in Hollywood such as Rain, who signed his grand contract with America’s top entertainment WMA , which consists of artists such as Eminem, Jennifer Lopez and the famous boob accident, Janet Jackson. And also Ji Yoon Kim, starring actress in the popular TV series, Lost.

There are few idols in my life that made me want to succeed in the sometimes boring American education system. The famous JYP , a Korean singer and producer, succeeded in launching his music into the streets of New York and is working with US’s most popular artists such as Lil’ Jon and the soul of Black R&B, R. Kelly today. Artist Rain, whom I mentioned above, could not have signed his life changing contract with an American company without JYP’s help. Ji Young Park, once a famous ugly Korean singer promised his fans that he would come back to Korea only after succeeding in launching his production of music in America. His story in America, told in a TV interview, was very compelling. He used ‘dogged determination’, what Koreans are famous for, to succeed in making Will Smith listen to the weird looking Asian’s music by buying the pretty assistant girl sitting in front of the office coffee everyday handing her the same exact copy of his CD over a month. Then after being entitled an amateur producer, his way of gaining respect was nothing but selfishness. He says, in front of American people, especially as an Asian person, he needed to act as if he was somebody superior even though he was only one step closer to what he wanted to be. Furthermore, his number one recommendation of ‘how to succeed in the US’ is confidence. He says, his way to gaining respect might seem selfish, but without the fake selfishness and confidence it is impossible to add your name in the list of successful people in the West.

I have attended American schools for over 5 years and completely agree with JYP’s story. After watching his interview, I could not hide my feelings of regrets with my life back in the states. Unconfident actions of Asians at American schools are what gained Asians the nickname ‘nerds’.

Face of grandfather/father of 7 children, and an unbelievably small house for Elisabeth and her 3 children.

Image Credit: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/29/austria.cellar/index.html?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail

http://www.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/1/285×214/43127_1.jpg

Writing about these insane crimes of men may lead you into thinking me, the writer, in a wrong way. Just for your information, I am raised by a loving family and am able to write these posts because of my parent’s devotion to work and produce the expensive tuition of my school.

Like the men of “Crimes of Men I” post, a similar insanity of men has been written about on CNN . This time, a 73 year old Australian man confessed of raping his own daughter and poisoning her in the basement, where there is absolutely no sunshine, for over 20 years causing her to give birth to 7 children. This cracked head man became a father of 7 young children at an old age and even killed one of his son/grandson by burning him in an oven. He captured his daughter, now 42, and caused her wife to believe that their daughter has run away. Elisabeth, captured daughter, left 3 of the children on the front stairway of her parents, because of unbearable labor and stress over the children of 6. Elisabeth was found with 3 children, of age 19, 18 and 5 all in bad health.

The foggy part of this article is Elsabeth’s mother’s action. She believed that Elisabeth was unable to come back home, involved in bad activities but simply did nothing.

How can people, entitled “parents” act in such unspeakable manners. Even dogs, animals, never abandon their own children. Do humans really deserve the authority to be superior over animals? With these types of ‘lower than dog’ people, I say no. Maybe electric chairs are necessary. Look at me; even viewers and listeners, who have nothing to do with crimes of these types of news, are turning violent and nasty.