Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Born In California, Then Nothing Happened

I was thinking to work on a biography about my grandfather until I opened this site on ‘NPR six word memoirs’. I, just out of curiosity (I had no idea what a 'six word memoir' is), clicked the 'next' button on the screen and felt myself getting more and more involved into it. When I finally finished seeing every single one of them, I picked out some that I was interested in, and looked at some different sites. In the end, I felt that this memoir, 'born in California, then nothing happened', spoke to me the most.

The picture on the right is the picture of my family when I was about 2years old. Now, as an eighth grader, I'm not sure what exactly has changed because of the existence of me. Nothing happened except that my parents are much more stressed, a few utensils in our house broke, and...my sister is stressed.

I think (and hope) that most other people are feeling this way too, because as middle school students, we (yet) have no impact in our society, although some of us may have the potential to. The author, Mark Harris, probably felt the same way except that now, by creating this memoir, he has touched some people's feelings.

After reading this quote, instead of feeling relieved that I'm not the only one feeling useless of themselves, I had a feeling of motivation to work harder so that ‘something’ does happen. I don’t exactly know why, but I think that’s the reason why this quote was so touching and spoke to me. This links back to my quote (blog entry #1), ‘patience and fortitude conquer all things’. Although the memoir that spoke to me was ‘Born in Seoul (California), then nothing happened’, I’ll be more mature and hard working in high school so that when I graduate university and become an adult, I could say that ‘Born in Seoul (California), worked hard with patience and fortitude, conquered all challenges. Something did happen indeed’.


The picture on the right is me in a weird posture beside my cousin, Joseph Bae. This cousin of mine was a brilliant student in elementary school, but started to be a lazy a bit in middle school. However, after realizing 'something' from my grandfather's lectures about the Korean proverb 'animals leave their skins when their dead, but humans leave their names when their dead', he totally changed his lifestyle and went to a very good university in the US.


I've also been very lazy these past years, but from next year, as a high schooler, this six word memoir, 'born in California, then nothing happened', and the Korean proverb which gives a similar motivation to people will have an impact on me.

Monday, May 18, 2009

The Lost Boys of Sudan

Sudan, the largest country in Africa, has been having many conflicts and civil wars going on for 50 years since 1953. (Both of the civil wars). This caused many deaths (over 2million), especially to the Dinkas, tribes of cattle- herding people in Southern Sudan in the Bahral Ghazal region. However, only about 20,000 boys were able to escape from all the fire and gun shooting to the refugee camps in 1992. Women and girls left were taken away to be raped or to be sold in slavery. On their way to Kakuma of Kenya set out on foot, they faced a lot of obstacles such as thirst, hunger, lions, heat and gunshots. Many drowned while crossing the Gillo River, placed in Ethiopia, most of them had ripped off feet skin, and some couldn’t stand the lacking of food, eventually getting eaten by lions and other wild animals as suppers. These boys were nicknamed as the ‘Lost Boys’. Luckily (?), the US refugee program offered them to settle in the US and start a new life. They thought that the life in America would be like the ‘heaven’, they will be the future of Sudan and considered the opportunity as some kind of ‘free offerings’. There are a lot of free offerings, especially for buying electronics, but they all turn out to be later on that they aren’t actually free; you either need to fill out a lot of complicated sheets, have to pay later on anyways, or (especially for mobile phones) have to pay a lot more money than ordinary users when using the object. The Lost Boys’ lives in the US also turned out to be like that- they faced a lot of conflicts to adapt through the new culture, and couldn’t gain much benefit living there.

An example of the Sudanese boys having difficulties during their life in the US is shown in the docudrama, “The Lost Boys of Sudan” as it focuses on the lives of two Lost Boys, Peter and Santino, before, during and after they have been given the chances to live in the US. Although they had a lot of different tragedies, the major difficulties were probably loneliness, racism (low income) and cultural differences. However, the two boys eventually adapted to the new culture and (although they still had some problems) and were able to overcome the difficulties.

Before they arrived and re-started their life, they were really excited about their new world, new life and a new start. Although they were a little afraid and worried, they had no idea how much challenges there will be when moving to a totally different place would be like, and were thrilled about the new opportunities and better education that they were soon going to have. Their vision of going to the US was like going to the heaven where all problems can be solved. Yet, when they arrived, things turned out to be very different from what they’ve expected them to be- many afflictions started to show up.

The first difficulty/ disappointment that they faced, was loneliness, as America is a busy country compared to Sudan, they didn’t have any friends there (or time to make friends), and they weren’t able to blend in. During the docudrama, one of the boys says “Time is money in America”. Also, other people’s behaviors towards them was another factor that made them feel lonely; since the Americans haven’t seen that many pure Africans before, they looked at the boys in a strange way, making them feel uncomfortable, and perhaps, small. On the bus way to the work, Peter was stared and glanced by other people. He said, “People just look at me. I look odd. I feel shame and I don’t like that. I’m so black than the black people living here. I’m so…black.” This shows how some people are racist towards them and how he feels about that. They also had too many things to do, such as their job or school (studies, homework, and class time) - he had no time or energy to do anything.

Another struggle was the racism and the short of money that followed that. As shown in the docudrama, Santino isn’t used to work in factories, and can’t work fast, so he couldn’t get good jobs. The job he had only paid him 7 dollars per hour, an amount definitely not enough to pay for all the necessities, rent, food, money to send back home, and he was even requested to give money to help the rebels- they didn’t even work full time as they had to study (do homework, at school) and do their housework. They were not only paid for a low income but also biased during work; Santino were told from his boss while working at a supermarket, that since he’s used to the heat, he should work under the sun. “The boss said Africa is hot and we are used to the heat. It’s not funny. She thinks I’m already burnt because we’re black. It doesn’t mean that I need to work under the hot sun,” says he. –this incidence shows how the boys are trying to blend into the American culture, but the other people aren’t opening their mind in return. Peter moved to Kansas due to the lack of jobs, since he heard that there were more jobs there. Yet he still couldn’t get good employments because he was attending high school. He even had a hard time to get this chance of being educated, because the schools thought highly of birth certificates, and Peter wasn’t able to attend the school until he requested a new birth certificate from Sudan where there aren’t many proper hospitals. His naivety about the currency in the US also gave him some challenges to deal with his money.

People experience cultural differences even when moving from one school to another- moving from a country to another that has barely any, or no similarities at all would have given them a lot of cultural shocks. Peter and Santino had this case, and when they first arrived in America, they were ignorant about everything going around them. They didn’t know how to use the facilities in their house, so they had to be instructed carefully about all the details and safety. They even needed help when making their own beds; it’s quite obvious that they would’ve had troubles in many other things, too. Driving license, cars, and receipts were all new for them, so not knowing what to do, they drove without a driving license, didn’t keep the receipts after paying the rent, causing to pay for a lot of fines when they were unaware of the laws there.


However it is then, when recognizing the fact that living in America isn’t a free offering that the boys decided to make some changes- no more sufferings. They eventually adapted to the American culture- they used slangs such as “Man” or What’s up”, changed their clothing style, ate Western food, didn’t hold hands and used advanced technology such as TV. Making friends, working hard at school was also some ways they were able to get used to living in America. Peter, after requesting for a new birth certificate and becoming a junior I high school in Kansas made many more friends, and was adjusting to America with the helps from his friends. He learned to speak English fluently, graduated and was accepted by many white friends when he went to a church along with his white friends. However, they kept most of their cultural identity, and still spoke in their own language while talking to each other. They also started to contribute to their country, Sudan.

Although the life in America and adjusting to it wasn’t spoon- fed to them, they gradually adapted to it, having quite a successful experience there. =]

Thursday, May 14, 2009

901

It’s the most joyful day of the year. Well- it is supposed to be. It’s supposed to be day with balloons, gifts, parties, and possibly, my favorite of all that exist in the world, money!
I woke up in the morning, excited to see what my family had prepared for me. I staggered past the corridor expecting my parents saying “Happy birthday!” but the living room was empty except for the furniture. Hmmm…this definitely didn’t seem right. I glanced at my watch to check if it actually was my birthday today- maybe I’m mistaken. Sadly, the watch clearly stated ’08-06-28 and yet, nothing had happened. I was beginning to get really serious. Have they totally forgotten about me? My birthday? Don’t they have it marked on their calendar? Then I began to imagine stories like- ‘Are they planning to reveal the secret of my birthday or something? Like…”Jaewon, you actually were adopted. We’re sorry about that. I think you’re old enough to understand” OR it’s like one of those movies where you’re normal, but everyone else suddenly turned into Ancient Roman or something’ Oh my God. I knew that those things wouldn’t happen, but I really was serious at the time. I’d rather have a real family that doesn’t even know my birthday than to become like on of those tragic characters that appear only in novels or movies.
I trudged back to my room. Maybe they did something surprising in my room while I was in the living room waiting for surprises. I inhaled deeply before entering the room- there they were, greeting me with happy smiles- well, in the family photo hanging on the wall of my room. I suddenly felt something at the back of my throat and my eyes. I tucked myself into bed and started sniffing. Crying for a while, I fell asleep. Knock, knock! The door slightly opened, and there was my stupid evil mom saying, “Your saxophone tutor is coming in a minute.” Tuition. On my birthday. Wow. Great. I was annoyed at my mom organizing tuition on my birthday, but I love to play the saxophone, so I just wiped off the tears, and went outside to greet my tutor. My mom doesn’t even know my birthday, and that’s probably why she organized a lesson today. The doorbell rang and I slowly opened the door. My tutor and I went inside my room. Then…my dream…came true…My say tutor handed me the baritone saxophone she brought and said, “Happy birthday! This is the surprise from your parent. No more crying now, JaeWon! Phew! I had a hard time organizing this with your mom secretly so that you wouldn’t notice. Well, why don’t you go thank your mom now?” I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t move an inch from where I was. A Yanagisawa 901 baritone saxophone that I dreamed about every single day in my hand… Nothing could possibly be better than this.
Baritone saxophone is much bigger than the saxophone that people normally play and the pitch is in an octave lower- that’s why I love it so much. The saxophone that my parents bought for me is made by a brand named, ‘Yanagisawa’ and it’s one of the top three saxophone making companies. When I first saw and received the saxophone, I was contented with the saxophone. Although 901 is the cheapest model in Yanagisawa, it’s far better than the professional models of Yamaha. It was so shiny and lustrous in the beginning. Its keys were made out of real pearl, and everything was so comfortable to use; the keys press down smoothly, and has a perfect thumb hook for a stable grip. I was so impressed. However, as time passed by, I was starting to have greed towards owning a 991 black- lacquered saxophone, 992 a bronze saxophone and 9931 silver- plated saxophone that has so many more functions than mine. Is there a limit to my greed? - In my opinion, the answer is NO. Yet, I still love my saxophone, and the saxophone well taken care of by me. Thank you mom and dad!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

From Colonization to Exploitation


Why do people colonize and how does colonization lead to exploitation???

Colonizing refers to an action of taking control of an area or a country that is not your own, especially using force, and sending people from your own country to live there. Then why do people colonize? There are many different reasons for that, but for many occasions, colonizing doesn’t occur simply to ‘help’ the indigenous people that originally live in the land; I would rather say that it’s due to religious or territorial problems, and even to obtain natural resources of the land.
According to an excerpt from a book written by Englishman, Richard Hakluyt, called ‘Reasons for Colonization’ written in 1585, he justified colonization by stating its purposes as-
1) “The glory of God by planting of religion among those infidels”
2) “The increase of the force of the Christians”
3) “The possibility of the enlarging of the dominions of the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, and consequently of her honor, revenues, and of her power by this enterprise.”
4) "Where there be many petty kings or lords planted on the rivers’ sides, and [who] by all likelihood maintain the frontiers of their several territories by wars, we may by the aid of this river join with this king here, or with that king there, at our pleasure, and may so with a few men be revenged of any wrong offered by any of them; or may, if we will proceed with extremity, conquer, fortify, and plant in soils most sweet, most pleasant, most strong, and most fertile, and in the end bring them all in subjection and to civility. . . The ends of this voyage are these: 1.) to plant Christian religion. 2.) To traffic. 3.) To conquer. 0r, to do all three."
(For the rest of the text, click:
http://www.netlexfrance.info/2005/07/28/reasons-for-colonization/ )
All of these justifications show a strong desire for power. The first and the second one are mainly to spread their religion, which was Christianity, and the rest are to earn more land, natural resources, and authority. They were willing to conquer other countries for honor, wealth and power which they believed would be the outcome. There are many other examples of religion and greed causing colonization. The first example could be from Queen Isabella of Spain who showed a genuine desire to bring about the conversion of the millions of new subjects. She funded Columbus and his successors to providentially bring the discoveries and to extend the bounds of Christian influence further into unknown regions of the New World (America, Oceania).
(For more information about the relationship between religion and colonization, click: http://southwest.library.arizona.edu/spmc/body.1_div.2.html ) The second example is also from Spain; In the 16th century, the Spanish dream of finding great riches in America was realized when Hernando Cortez, the Spanish conquistadores and Francisco Pizarro each conquered the Aztecs in Mexico, Maya, and the Inca Empire in Peru, South America. Natural resources such as gold and silver were poured into the Spanish king’s treasury and satisfied many Spanish. The last example is during the Age of Exploration. Brazil was the only country in South America that wasn’t conquered by Spanish, because the Pope at that time divided South America into half when Spain and Portugal came to ask who had claims to what, and what was fair for whom to colonize which country. At the time, land and wealth went hand in hand, and they wanted access to whatever potential natural resources were in Brazil- people seemed to think that there were just ridiculous stores of gold all over the New World. (Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_colonization_of_the_Americas#Conquest_of_Mexico for more information)
It’s so beneficial for one country to colonize others, yet it’s too appealing for people to resist all the benefits they’ll gain by colonizing like the three examples. Many thought that colonizing was sensible as it brought in so many natural resources and enlarged the domains of their country.

Then why did people start to exploit the indigenous people if they actually went to colonize other lands for the spread of religion or for money?

In the famous poem, “The White Man’s Burden” published in 1989 by Rudyard Kipling, there are exhortations to empire with sober warnings of the costs involved.

For example, he says “Your new caught, sullen peoples, half devil and half child”, showing how the Americans neglected, and thought lowly of the Filipinos. By calling the Filipinos ‘half devil and half child’, he’s showing his feeling that the Filipinos are as uneducated as young children, and are as immoral as devils. The colonizers thought colonization to be a justifiable action as they would make the colonized and their land more civilized and modernized. However, the results didn’t turn out to be good. For instance, the British intention for making Australia more civilized caused the act of taking away the Aboriginal children from their parents using force. The British ‘educated’ them and ‘employed’ them to provide the Aborigines the chance of a better life, but all that did, was producing many mixed- race children with lost family, their cultural identity, freedom, and much more.

He also said, "To veil the threat of terror, and to check the show of pride," showing how the Americans were scared towards some courageous Filipinos who were dedicated to protect their country and their people, that they might take their country back.
Lastly, he said "Take up the White man's burden... To seek another's profit and work another's gain," which tells us that the Americans thought that they had great burdens that they should watch over the Philippines to seek their profits and take them back to America on them. This is very unfair, but this was not their only greedy act; they took away the native’s land and resources so they could use it for their own benefit. For example, the Japanese colonizers took away the Korean’s land, weapons, houses, and daily necessities so that they could use them. Also, all males were taken away from their family to fight for Japan (not Korea), so people left had nobody to help them gain food, harvest, or at least, steal things. King Leopold, the colonizer of Congo, also took away resources such as ivory and rubber, and afflicted the ones that didn’t bring enough of them.

Religion is a means of exploitation employed by the strong against the weak; religion is a cloak of ambition, injustice and vice” (Georges Bizet)

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Patience and Fortitude

"Patience and fortitude conquer all things" ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson, through this quote, is trying to give a message about a valuable tool in life, ‘patience’. We often don’t receive instant gratifications, and therefore, one of the most essential things in life require years of hard work and waiting. Fortunately, patience is a virtue that can be formed through cultivation.

This quote represents my personality well, as whenever I’m facing a dilemma, the last thing I would do, is to give up. For example, when solving questions, especially for math, I keep trying until I can’t think of any other ways or answers to the questions. It’s quite annoying and frustrating when it’s a tricky question and isn’t easily solved, but I feel really proud of my accomplishment- that I figured the solution out after working on it for hours. Another example would be on music. When I first came to Malaysia, the only instruments that I knew were flutes and pianos. (I got confused between xylophones and saxophones, so…-_-;;) I didn’t know how to read music, and totally forgot how to even hold the flute up- I was the worst flute player in Junior Band. However, I love music, and I constantly practiced so that I could be one of the good players, not the worst. Two years and a half passed, and I don’t think that I’m the worst player in our band anymore, and I also learned to play the saxophone-I now know the difference between a xylophone and a saxophone. I’ve concluded from the fact, that these two subjects math and music are my two strongest subjects, that patience and fortitude can conquer just about everything.



This person is 'Yoo Il Han', a true patriot of Korea. He helped Korea a lot by himself, and the medicine company that he constructed is still one of the strongest medicine selling companies. He was born when the World War 1 almost started, and although his family lived a poor life due to the war, Yoo Il han always worked for other people's benefits. He was sent to America at young age by himself. He had troubles socializing and communicating as very few people knew the existence of Korea at that time, but even so, his goal was to help the poor kids of Korea that is suffering due to the war. When he went to the university, he found out that he could get a scholarship if he is accepted for the American football team. Yet, he was way too small to play against big, bulky people in America. He trained himself, and finally, he was able to get in as the only Asian among the big ones, and was successful to study for free with the scholarship. When Japan finally took over Korea, the medicine company that Yoo Il Han constructed became dangerous under the threat of Japanese medicine companies, but he always was honest in his business and he emphasized that to his workers, which made it possible for Yoo Han Yang Haeng (the company of Yoo Il Han’s) last so long.




I love Beethoven. I love his music, and I love his enthusiasm towards music. Beethoven simply loved music. His only purposes for having performances was so that many people could listen to music, not to show off his talent. Music was his life, and a life without music meant nothing to him. When he was young, he was forced to play the piano by his father, and he hated that, but he still loved music. His family was so poor, so Beethoven couldn’t afford to do anything besides piano tuitions. He wasn’t able to get any kind of teachings from other people until a person volunteered to support him, letting him be able to travel around, meeting famous musicians. Later on, Beethoven slowly became deaf. For musicians, their ears are very important in many uses, so not being able to hear meant a lot to him- a great tragedy. He committed suicide, but was unsuccessful. He then decided to compose music again, since he already know how each notes sound like in his head, so he doesn’t really need his ears. He tried hard with patience and fortitude- he was able to compose many famous songs of his even when he was deaf.

Both of these two people are the people that I admire and look up to. Their patience and fortitude towards their goals and what they love to do are admirable. They both became extremely successful at the end, so this again proves that perseverance, tenacity and bearing are the main factors that helps one become successful.