Going to America Part 2.

Going to America Part 2. (English Final Essay)







My friend John was courteous, Dan was effective, Mark was shrewd, Jenny was humorous, Lisa was realistic and Tom was friendly. When he studies, he looks at the textbook so intently. He had a great attitude. He was also detail-oriented. In other words, he was meticulous. Jake was rather eccentric. He didn’t seem to like associating with other students. I spent some quality time with all of these friends. My second grade teacher was my mentor. I felt like I was his apprentice. Sometimes, he told me off, but is didn’t affect my feelings at all.

He was a man of integrity. He took his responsibility as a teacher very seriously. Occasionally, I showed my gratitude for his coaching. When one of the sixth graders got arrested for shoplifting, he sat with this student and explained how bad his action was. The student was living in poverty. The teacher was always in great spirit. Even his colleagues liked him. Whenever I was in trouble, he sympathized with me. He had twins. The older one was not identical to the other.


As he got older, his career was prospering. When I chose my friends, I didn’t choose them at random. I looked at not only their external appearance but internal appearance; that is , I spent some time with them to find out what kind of values they had. For example, I didn’t become friends with someone just because he or she is a superstar at school. I liked my school’s educational system. I greatly benefited from it. Whenever I misunderstood my teacher, I didn’t pretend to understand. Some of my Korean American friends interpreted it for me.


I thought the system was properly developed. At that time, I was desperate to learn English. A few friends offered to help me for free, but I declined. It was very kind of them to say that, though. Some of them taught me some offensive expressions. The place I lived was called Rockville. It’s in the great state of Maryland. It was not a remote city but very close to DC. The city’s public transport was not that bad. Whenever I went to church on Sundays, I had to transfer to another bus.

The denomination of the church that I went to was the Assembly of God or Pentecost. The church minister was very famous among Korean Christians. He cured many mentally ill people but he was no mentalist. He organized a lot of charitable events for the needy. He emphasized the social responsibility of a church. The congregation of the church was mostly Korean.


To Be Continued...

Going to America Part 1

Going to American Part 1

(This is my final Essay for English)

It was a typical Monday morning. My grandparents woke me and my brother up to take us to Gimhae Airport. It was the day when my grand parents, my brother and I were leaving for the states to meet my mom. Our plan was supposed to depart at terminal C. My father bought us a phone card each week to call him in the states. I thought it would be a unique experience and at that time, studying overseas became a trend in Korea.

I was always curious about America and other foreign countries. My brother told me that America was an exotic place such as Bali. My father thought about immigrating to America. Instead he decided to send my grandparents, my brother and me to the states. I really missed my mom because she went to the states first to do her Ph.D at the University of Maryland. We were planning to leave Korea with mom, but the plan had to be postponed.

While my mom was in the States, I got emotional and felt abandoned and isolated. My father was obviously concerned about me and my brother. But we said we would survive. He hesitated to send us to the states. On the other hand, our outlook was very promising. I remember the first day I went to school in Maryland. I felt energetic that particular morning. I was expecting to form a lot of friendships with the new classmates. As I entered the classroom, I got nervous. Yes that is the accurate word to describe my feeling.

There were multiple reasons for this. It was a new school, new teacher, new friends, and most of all, it was a new country. Although I knew only handful English words, I was looking forward to making new friends. 3 months after my grandparents, my brother, and I arrived at America. We bought a luxurious house.

Moneywise, it was a good decision. My parents did not like consuming money on renting a house.
At that time, the property value was decreasing. My school was a public school not a private one. I was astounded by the fact that most of classmates came from different ethnic backgrounds. Similarly, their characters varied.


To Be Continued.......

Terminator 2

Terminator 2

After the deadly nuclear war in 1997, only few survived. But, the survivors had to fight another war against machines. The leader of the machines,Skynet, has been trying to kill the leader of humans, John Conner.

In the past, Skynet sent a terminator to 1984 to kill John Conner’s mother but it failed.
Now, Skynet sends a terminator to the past to kill the young John Conner.
John Conner in 2029 also sent a robot to protect the young Conner in 1991 Los Angeles.

This time, Skynet sends a much stronger terminator which is made of special liquids. It is called T-1000. The robot that John Conner sends looks like the same model that was sent in 1984. So, at first, John Conner’s mother thinks that the model-101 sent by her son from the future is a terminator to kill her and her son.

In the end, the model-101 played by Arnold Schwarzeneger after killing the unbeatable T-1000. Arnold did his job protecting the young John Conner. I almost cried when Arnold was dying with his thumbs up.

This movie got me thinking about the kind of attitude that I need to possess when doing my duties. In the movie, Arnold risked his life to carry out his mission. I think I should do the same thing in my profession in the future.

Tae Guk Ki "Brother Hood of War"

TaeGukKi : Brotherhood of War

This is a story of two brothers who were forced to fight in the Korean War in 1950.
In June 1950, Jintae was a hardworking Korean man who had to support his family including his fiancée Youngshin. He had a younger brother Jinsuk who was a high school student preparing for college.

On 25 June, 1950, the Korean War broke out. The peaceful streets of Seoul became chaotic. Bombs went off and people were crying. Jintae’s family decided to move to South. They were about to catch a train at Daegu Station.

Jintae’s younger brother Jintae was 18 years old and he was forced to fight in the war.
Jintae was taken by a few military police soldiers. Jinsuk was trying to get his brother back. Jintae was also forced to be put in the frontline.

They didn’t have any time for the military training. Nakdong River was one of the fiercest frontlines. Jintae became a war hero. Fortunately, they were assigned to the same platoon. In the end, Jintae ended up becoming a North Korean soldier and got killed in the battlefield.

While I was watching this movie, I though about what democracy and ideology really meant. I concluded that nothing could replace your family. I’m sure what I would have done if I were in their situation. In the end, the winner of the war was not a true winner.
As a result of the war, our country has been divided into two since 1953. I hope the two Koreas become reunited soon.

August Rush Movie Review

August Rush

An attractive band singer and guitarist Lewis meets a cellist Lila at a party. They hit if off immediately. They both have a promising future as a singer and a cellist. They have a drink and talk about nearly everything. They end up spending the night together.

They want to be together. However, Lila’s father doesn’t approve of their relationship.
In the meantime, Lila gets pregnant with Lewis’ baby. However, Lewis loses contact with Lila because of her father. Lila gives a birth to a boy, but his father lies to her that she miscarried the baby.

Lila’s father sends the boy to an orphanage. This boy, August Rush, inherits his parents musical talent and grows up as a music genius. August runs away from the orphanage to find his parents. Upon Lila’s father’s death, she finds out that her son was adopted and he is still alive.

Lewis, on the other hand, became a business man and tries to find Lila. In the end, August goes to Julliard and performs in front of a large audience. Among them, there are his parents.

While I was watching this movie, I kept thinking about August’s talent. His pure passion for music enables him to go for his dream and finally meet his parents. I think I also have a hidden talent just like August Rush. I haven’t figured out what it is. When I find it, I will develop it with pure heart like August and go for my dream.

Marine Boy movie review

Marine Boy

The former national swimming team swimmer Kim falls into gambling and now has 1 million dollar in debt. He has no way to pay it back. He owes it to a notorious loan shark.
He tries to run away from him but he gets caught and tortured.

One day, an international drug dealer Kang suggests Kim an offer that he can’t refuse. Kang asks Kim to deliver drug in his body from Japan to Korea. Once Kim has done it, Kang said, he would write off Kim’s debt. This delivery man is called a marine boy.

There’s also this mysterious woman Yuri who appears to be Kang’s girl friend but not.
She falls in love with Kang. There is another character who tries to get money from Kang. He is a former police officer.

These people run after each other for drug and money. In the end, Kang and the former police officer killed each other. Yuri and Kim take the money and go to Palau where nobody could find them. They decide to spend the rest of their life together.

At first, I thought this movie was about Taewhan Park who is a famous Korean swimmer.
I was wrong. The story was about drug dealers and their dirty tricks. One thing I learned from this movie is that I’ll never ever do drug under any circumstances.
Doing drugs could ruin people’s lives. Period. There’s no excuse for this.

Fever Pitch Movie Review

Fever Pitch

Ben is a friendly and nice 9th grade math teacher. One day, he falls in love with a successful business woman Lindsey. Lindsey thinks Ben is a perfect guy. But, his friends wonder why he is still single. They think if you are perfect, before the age of 30, should be married or divorced.

To solve the mystery, Lindsay asks Ben if there’s anything that Ben hasn’t told her which might ruin their relationship. Here comes the moment, Ben confesses that he is a huge fan of Boston Redsox. Is that all? Lindsay thinks. She gladly accepts the fact that her boyfriend is the most pathetic creature on the earth, which is a Redsox fan.

Up until the baseball season begins, their relationship goes really smooth.
Once the season has started, Ben’s focus shifts to the baseball games. Ben’s uncle left him Redsox season tickets and he is always popular among his friends. Lindsey tries going to the Pen way Ball Park. Unfortunately, she gets hit by a foul ball and hurt badly.

Lindsey decides to break up with Ben. Ben realizes that baseball is just a game. He decides to sell his season tickets. When Lindsey hears this, she realizes that Ben really loves him. They get back together. The important thing is that this all happened in 2004.
That’s the year when Redsox broke the curse of Bambino and won the World Series.
They haven’t won the Series in the past 86 years.

Since I am a great fan of Major League Baseball, I enjoyed the movie very much.
I realized that in every relationship, I need to understand other people’s needs and likes.
This is the only way to keep a long-term relationship. I should apply this valuable lesson immediately.

The Negotiator Movie Review

The Negotiator

Chicago Police Department officer Danny Roman is an expert negotiator in hostage situations. For the last 12 years, he has been able to keep zero casualties. Now, he is newly wed and it looks like everything is going well for him. One day, his partner tells Roman about some police officers’ fraud from the police funds.

That night, Roman’s partner gets killed. Roman is very sad. However, the following morning, he learns that he has been pointed the prime suspect of his partner’s murder.
Roman gets angry and goes to see the internal affairs inspector Terence Niebaum.
In the office, there are Niebaum, his secretary and Rudy who is being questioned for fraud.

In order to prove that he didn’t kill his partner, Roman decides to take them hostages. He wants a police negotiator from a different area because he can’t trust the people who have been working with him. Some of Roman’s friends have framed him. Roman’s job is to find out who is or are the real criminals.

In the end, it turns out that the police chief and three officers have stolen money from the police pension fund. The chief tries to commit suicide, but other police officers stop him by shooting him on the shoulder. Finally, Roman clears his name and his colleagues begin to apologize him for suspecting him of murdering his partner.

While I was watching this movie, I kept thinking about what I would do in his situation.
In Roman’s situation, his couldn’t trust those around him. His wife was the only one he had. No matter how nice I am to those around me, there will be some rats like the ones who stole money from their friends’ pension fund. Therefore, I conclude that before I make friends with someone, I need to be careful about his or her character.

Letter To John Bohmer

Letter To John Bohmer, who invented a solar cooker called Kyoto Box which can save millions of poor people.



Dear Mr. John Bohmer,

I would first like to say that I was very impressed of your little invention called the “Kyoto Box.” I never thought that an invention that is only worth 5 dollars can save the whole world. I think you are a not that kind of a person, who only thinks about himself and thinks about the money they will get for winning the contest. I believe you made this invention because you care about the poor. Anyway, the reason I am writing this letter to you is because I have some questions for you that I am really curious about. Well the following are my questions.

First, what is the specific reason why you planned to make this little invention? I mean, were you sure that you were going to win this contest? Did you make this Kyoto Box for fun? Because to be honest, nobody would’ve thought that this 5 dollar invention would win the contest and I would never make it even though somebody tells me to. Second, what is more important to you? Your invention or your money and the fame you get from it. Could you even be willing to donate the money you got to the poor? Third, I would like to know when the “Kyoto Box” would be on sale in Korea. I think it will be really good for cooking and the fact that it is only worth 5 dollars just persuades me to purchase it.

Lastly, I would like to know if you are going to make another invention that could save our environment. I believe that a person like you can make many more cool and cheap inventions. Incase you don’t have any idea for another invention; I would like to tell you some of the ideas I thought of. First, I think you should make a mini solar car that is a size of a cart that is used for shopping. This would be good because poor people who have no money to buy a normal car would be able to purchase this car. Not only that, it is solar which no gas will be used and will help the world from global warming.

The second invention I thought of is a sticker or a pad that would kill all the bad bugs that smell or go near it. This could be used in forests and trees that are located in poor African countries. This will reduce the death of children who die every year because of harmful insects. Last, I would like you to make a solar air-conditioner. This would be really cool because this thing could sense the hot sun and the hot weather and turn on by itself. Which then in night, it would turn off by itself as well. This invention can help people to not waist their energy by using electronic air conditioners.

I hope that this letter didn’t exhaust you and that my questions and opinions are persuasive enough for you to answer them or think about them. I would really want to see you someday and talk more about things that you and I could do to save the environment.

Sincerely,


Jason Moon

The Host Movie Review

The Host

Rating: ★★★★☆

A 42-year-old Korean guy Kangdu works at his father’s convenience store located near Han River in Seoul. He has a 7th grade daughter. One day, his daughter gets upset because her uncle, Kangdu’s younger brother, turns up at a PTA meeting but he was completely drunk. She was also ashamed of her old cell phone. Kangdu promises his daughter to buy a brand new cell phone and the family begins to watch Kangdu’s younger sister’s archery game on TV.

She is on the national competition. It is a beautiful Saturday afternoon and people are just sitting on the grass resting. As Kangdu is doing a few deliveries, there is a monster hanging on the Han River Bridge. People begin to take pictures of it. All of a sudden, the monster comes down from the bridge and kicks people and bite them. People are screaming and running away from it.

As Kangdu is running with her daughter, the monster snatches her from Kangdu and disappears in the river. Due to the sudden appearance of the monster, the whole city gets panicked and the river gets closed. However, Kangdu and his family have nobody to help them find his daughter.

Kangdu and his family fights against the monster and Kangdu’s younger sister shoots an arrow at the monster. Eventually, they find the monster’s house hidden in the sewage.
Kangdu’s daughter is alive and rescued by her family.

As I was watching this movie, I kept thinking that the monster symbolized something unpredicted that could happen to a family. It could be a disease, accident, or difficulty that a family might face. Whatever it is, the movie shows that a family can get through it when they work together.

GP506

GP 506 Movie Review


Rating: ★★★★☆

Around the border lines between South Korea and North Korean, there are a lot of GPs (guard posts). In fact, the GPs are within DMZ(Demilitarized Zones). Usually, several platoons rotate to guard GPs. One day, a group of 21 soldiers staying at GP 506 died except for one. A Military Police officer was called in to investigate this horrible incident. The Defense Department sent a group of 21 soldiers to check the matter out.

Upon inspecting the scene, 19 soldiers were shot to death and a soldier who seemed to have shot the 19 soldiers was carrying an axe in his hands. He began to attack the soldiers who were there to check things out. They had no choice but to shoot him.

The thing is that there is still one missing soldier. While the inspection team was searching for the missing soldier, they found him hiding in a storage room downstairs.
The Military Police officer interviewed him in order to solve the mystery. What he told the officer was very shocking.

One day, a few soldiers went out to do a regular search mission. When they got back, they looked very tired and got rashes all over their body. They got infected with a deadly virus and the virus spread in the unit.
However, the platoon leader chose not to report the matter to his superior. He was afraid that it might be bad for his military career. He hoped that everything would be fine. As time went by, the soldiers went mad and shot at each other.
In the end, the Military Police officer and the 21 soldiers who were there to check the scene out got infected as well. Sadly, they had to kill themselves to stop the virus.

While I was watching this movie, I got scared of serving in the Army. On the other hand, I began to appreciate the Korean men and women doing a great job of protecting our country. I also think when there is a even small matter, the leading officer should immediately report it to his superior to solve it.

The Rock

The Rock

Although the movie “The Rock” was released in 1996, I watched it in 2002. I liked this movie so much that I watched it several times. That’s why I picked this movie to post on my blog. A Marine general Hummel got sick and tired of seeing his soldiers die while doing secret missions overseas. So, he gathered some of his loyal Marines and got hold of rockets filled with deadly nerve agent. They went to the Alcatraz Island, which used to a prison. They took all the tourists on the island hostage. Now, General Hummel demands full compensations for their sacrifice and those who died on secret missions.

The FBI Director wants to take control of the situation by sending a group of Navy Special Forces to Alcatraz Island. In order to do this, he needs someone who can guide the Navy guys to the island through the underground tunnels of Alcatraz. They found a British prisoner named John Mason who successfully escaped the Alcatraz but was caught again.

About 30 years ago, Mason stole secret files from FBI and hid them somewhere. Because of this, he has been held in prison. Mason led Navy guys and an FBI agent Goodspeed to the island. As they got to the island, they fired at each other. In the end, all the Navy guys died and only Mason and Goodspeed were left on the island.

There was a disagreement between General Hummel and some of his Hummel’s soldiers. Hummel didn’t want to hurt civilians with the missiles even if they didn’t get paid by the government. However, some of his men didn’t think so. As a result, Hummel got shot and dead. Finally, Mason and Goodspeed succeeded in killing the remaining Marines and saved hostages.

This movie reminds me of so many things. I can’t name all of them. I realized the importance of one's loyalty to his country. I also learned that true sacrifice doesn’t always come with rewards. This movie was not only an action blockbuster but also a human drama.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Bourne Identity Movie Review

Bourne Identity Movie Review
A guy was shot a few times on his back and was dumped on the Mediterranean Sea. When a sailor found him, he was totally unconscious.
After being healed from the gunshot wounds, this guy had no clue of who he was. He had a total loss of his memory. He found a chip under his hip and had it surgically removed.

It was the bank account number in Switcherland. In the safety box, in the box, he found several passports with different names and nationalities but the same photo. His name is Jason Bourne.

As soon as a group of people began to notice the appearance of Bourne, they had an emergency meeting and decided to kill him for whatever reason they might have. Upon noticing attempts being made on his life, Bourne was trying to find out who sent him the killers.

Later on, it turned out that Jason Bourn was a highly trained CIA secret operative whose mission was to kill a former president of an African country on his private boat on the Mediterranean Sea. However, he failed his mission. In stead, he got shot on his back and fell into the sea. CIA’s Special Activities Unit felt compelled to kill Bourne to cover up the assassination attempt. Bourne fights to gain real freedom. In the end,
Bourne took care of everything and disappeared.

While I was watching the movie, I kept thinking about my identity. As Bourne realized how he wanted to live his life after getting back his consciousness, I should also think straight how I should live this special God-given present called my life.

Boy, 11, accused of killing father's pregnant girlfriend

Boy, 11, accused of killing father's pregnant girlfriend

I was doing my English assignment when I heard this news. I just couldn’t believe what I heard. An 11-year-old school boy shot her father’s pregnant girlfriend to death. He shot her at close range. This terrible crime should raise awareness of the control of weapon usage in America.

If there had been strict policy on guns, none of this would have happened. It has been almost ten years since the Columbine school shooting. However, nothing has changed when it comes to gun-related crimes committed by juveniles.

The American Government must do something about the gun control in order to keep the U.S. citizens from danger. As you would know, this is not the first gun firing incident happening in United States. Many of these gunfireing occurs, especially in poorer neighborhoods.

It is good to here that this boy could be sentenced to life in prison. I think this because this will show and warn other kids around USA to never play or even touch guns because the rules are getting stricter and stricter every time this kind of madness occur. I really hope to never see this kind of crime in my future life.

Even though I have never seen a gun shot or muduring, along people dying , I am really grateful for the fact that I am a South Korean citizen and don’ have to worry about getting shot. I hope those influences from America will not reach Korea, and make Korean children think before they act and never play or touch guns, even though they grow up. Near future, these crimes should never happen again.

"Saw 1"

This movie was a real shocker when I first saw it. The plot was thrilling and had a twisted ending. The movie begins with the two men chained and trapped in an abandoned restroom. One is Dr. Lawrence Gordon and the other is Adam Faulkner. They have no idea why they are there and how they end up being there. In the micro cassette recorder in the restroom, the voice identifying himself Jigsaw gives Dr. Gordon instructions to kill Adam in 8 hours.

Otherwise, his family will be murdered. This is the deal. Dr. Gordon doesn’t have a choice but to accept it. Later on, Dr. Gordon realizes that in order to kill Adam he has to cut his foot off with a saw to get the pistol placed in the restroom. The question is that is he really going to do that to save his life and his family’s?

The Jigsaw is a serial killer who has been hunted by the police. The thing is that he or she doesn’t actively participate in the killing. He just sets the stage. It turns out that Adam has been hired to follow Dr. Lawrence and take photographs of him with his mistress.
Yes, he has been cheating on his wife.

In the end, the Jigsaw Killer only traps those who don’t appreciate the precious gift called life. So, he puts the victims in a test. The whole purpose of the test is to have them realized how precious life is and have them appreciate their life better. Dr. Lawrence ends up cutting his own feet and escapes the bathroom but Adam remains there and gets trapped.

After watching this movie, I admitted that I took things for granted. I stopped complaining about inconveniences in life. In summary, whatever critics say about this movie, I found a true meaning of life and became a better man.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Our English Teacher(우리학교 E.T.)

Casting: Kim Soo Ro, Lee Han Wee, Park Bo Young, Lee Min Ho

This movie is about Mr.Chun who is a gymnastics teacher at a private high school in South Korea. One day, he is told to leave the school because the school is losing money. He has to either leave the school or teach English which he hasn’t studied for years. Luckily, Chun finds his certificate as an English teacher in the attic in his house.

When he was in teacher’s college, his then girl friend was an English major. She encouraged him to get the certificate and Chun passed the test and got the certificate. The problem is that he has never taught English in classroom. He is now asking the brightest student in the school, Han, to help him improve his English. Yes, that’s right. An English teacher is getting help from a student in order to improve his English.

Chun even registers for classes at a private English coaching college after work. He is given 2 months to prove he is capable of teaching high school English. In 2 months time, he is set to do a demonstration lesson in front of students, parents and the principal. If he should pass this test, he will be able to continue to teach at school.

While Chun is studying hard, he helps so called trouble maker at school ,Baek, to be back on the track. Chun helps Baek to become a student boxer. He introduces him a boxing coach to get proper training.
Chun has also been helping those students who are from poor families.

Here comes the demonstration lesson day.
Chun is dressed up like a real English teacher. Normally, he wears a track suit as a gymnastics teacher. As he teaches students English, students, parents and the principal are impressed by his teaching.
Finally, he gets to work as an English teacher.

I think this movie shows that we need to be a multi-player in one way or another. In the time of economic difficulties, companies are looking for people who can perform multiple tasks. At the same time, we all should try to have a warm heart like Chun trying to help the poor and the needy. So, I’ve learned a few lessons by watching this movie.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

The movie, "Speedy Scandal"

The Korean movie “Speedy Scandal” is a story about a Korean entertainer ,Taehyun Cha, in his mid-30’s. He has had a few bad years, but now his career is beginning to pick up. While one of the listeners ,Boyoung Park, of his show is talking to him on the phone, she tells his her secret. She has a 6-year-old son and she is only 22.

On top of this, her biological father doesn’t know that she was born. Since her mother passed away, she has been wondering if it’s all right to meet her dad. She is advised to meet her dad. However, her biological father happens to be ,yes, as you guessed, the famous entertainer,Taehyun Cha.

When Taehyun was in the 9th grade, he had unprepared sex with a 20 year old college girl living next door. She got pregnant. 9 months later, she gave birth to Boyoung Park.
Boyoung’s mom never told Boyoung who her father was. After doing DNA test, Taehyun accepts Boyoung and her son as his daughter and grandson. Although he is somewhat embarrassed to live with them, he begins to see them as his blood and flesh and decides to have a press conference to let the public know that he has a daughter and grandson.

I strongly recommend anyone watch this film. First of all, it is very funny. I laughed every 3 minutes when I watched it. The movie’s humor is based on wit and play of words and of course a little bit of slap stick.

More importantly, there is a lesson we need to learn. I’m not saying teenagers should go out and have sex like Taehyun. But, Taehyun decides to take full responsibility of what he has done. Nowadays, when I see or hear what politicians or businesspersons are doing, I become disappointed at their way of avoiding responsibility. This movie has given me both pleasure and lesson. I hope you get the same.