30 Short Things about Myself

30 brief statements:

I am a debater
I am a humanities field major
I wish to become an international lawyer in the future
I love cheese and Kimchi
I am a vocal at the school’s choir
I enjoy my life at KMLA
I want to travel to different countries
I like playing basketball
I wish I wasn’t solo on Christmas
I am not very comfortable with machines
I am very poor with saving money
I like hanging out with my friends
I like meeting new people
I enjoy exchanging ideas about various issues
I have resolute moral ideas on what can be done and what cannot be done
I support progressive tax
I am an atheist
I can sometimes be aggressive, but I try to control my temper
I consider myself as an amiable person
The best drama I ever watched was Boston Legal
My father is my life role-model
I believe conversation is the key to solving every problem
I believe proper conversation can take place when both parties are ready to talk
I believe trust is the most important quality in a human relationship
I’ve read approximately over 1500 comic books, and I have 676 volumes at my house
I’m addicted to 라면
I’m going to learn how to dance, how to cook Korean food, and Spanish after I graduate
I believe in true romance
I want to marry before I’m 30
I prioritize the people I care about more than anything in my life

4 Reasons to Occupy Wall Street

The Eternal Fantasy under the Mask-Ode to the Movie "Phantom of the Opera (2004)"

Directed by Joel Schumacher, the film was also produced and co-written by Lloyd Webber. The Phantom of the Opera stars Gerard Butler in the title role, Emmy Rossum as Christine Daaé, as well as Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson, Minnie Driver and Jennifer Ellison.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA: Movie Trailer. Watch more top selected videos about: Emmy Rossum, Gerard Butler

Phantom Of The Opera 2004 Movie Soundtrack from Jason on Vimeo.

Dear the Movie “Phantom of the Opera”

How is it even possible that you were created, you magmum opus? How is it that a masterpiece scenario met the greatest actors and singers of the time and made our dream come true? How could I be so fortunate to have the honor to encounter your magnificence? You are a true miracle. You are a true masterpiece. You are a true fantasy of all musicians and actors and directors and, mostly, of course, the viewers. You are the wonders of history; you are the legacy of the past, the present, and the future. I don’t deserve the desire to demonstrate your beauty or describe your details, but I would definitely delineate that your creation was a gift to mankind. Some would think that I am exaggerating: excessively exalting you by only emphasizing your good characteristics, but there are reasons why I euphorically eulogize my experience of you.

The first time I met one of your family members was at Broadway-did you know? I assume that even you aren’t really sure of who’s in your family tree and who’s not, since it has grown so big: from on-stage musicals to books, dramas, songs, and finally to you (movies). My first encounter with your gigantic family happened last year during the Vision Trip, with your great-great grandfather(musical). (Yes, the one who is the origin of your humongous family, the one who lies at the apex of the tree, and the one who’s now had been alive for several hundreds of years-that is who I am referring to.) I know, it’s a bit too late for someone who would like to claim that he possesses at least a sense of artistic appreciation; it’s embarrassing, I admit that. However, to tell you the truth, I was reluctant to further acquaint with anybody of your kind; I realize now that it’s foolish to make a hasty generalization of a whole species when I’d only met few of the members, but frankly, CATS was too unsatisfactory, too uninspiring, and too unimpressive! In fact, since CATS had disappointed me far too much before, I was expecting utter disappointment from your ancestor, too; my apologies.

However, instead, I found myself completely moved after watching the show. Your grandpa was my life-changing experience that inspired, uplifted, and enlightened my benighted heart. I felt utmost pleasure at the fantastic performance-the performers’ capacity to seize me and freely control my emotions at their will. I felt joy when the musical was joyous; I felt sorrow when the musical was to be sorrowful. All in all, I was fascinated by this new experience; your predecessor’s categorical charm chained me within his grasp, and I couldn’t break free from his lingering imagery even after many days had passed. They had completely “captured” me: the acts, the scenes, the songs-yes, the songs-left so much of an impression that my desire to feel the pleasure once again became so great.
When I had returned to Korea, my lust to experience the artistic ecstasy that I did with your grandfather once more had grown so large that I began “googling” your family history. Ah, and glory to the marvels of technology! After repeatedly failed attempts, I finally succeeded in acquiring you! We were meant to be, my dear, for I am downright positive that our destiny was pre-destined to overlap. Just when I was about to give up, over all the fabricated files and fragmented songs, I coincidentally discovered you-alas, it was serendipity! You wouldn't imagine how delighted I was when I had finally found you at the end of my long conquest.

And soon after, I clicked on your icon twice-the gateway that connected me with you, and I began watching you “perform” with my pounding heart. Do you remember how silent I was? Do you remember my astonished face, fascinated in awe when suddenly the chandelier illuminated and you played your theme song “Phantom of the Opera?” Boy, I was surely surprised back then; you were really something. I mean, I already presumed that you would be “something” since your origins themselves are noble to begin with, but what was truly amazing was that you were “something more” than even the show in Broadway. Your casting was perfect, your presentation was wonderful, your organization was splendid, your illustration was impressive, your transition was brilliant, your songs were unbelievable, your pace was marvelous, your powers were powerful, and you-were-impressive. My, my, am I making you too nervous? I hope you don’t interpret my exaltation as an attempt to flatter you. I was honestly, genuinely, touched-at-the heart by you; I can even now draw pictures of Christine Daae singing “Angel of Music” and “Think of me” or the Phantom singing the “Phantom of the Opera” and “Music of the Night” in my head. And when the songs were sung as a duo or a chorus, they were even better. The harmonious ensemble constituted of countless beautiful voices perpetually resonated in my heart. However, you couldn’t have become a living legend only because of the songs you sung; the way you delivered them, through sincerely immersed emotions and entangling them with a sad scenario, was another contributing factor to your everlasting fame in everyone’s minds-my mind. Your every line, every verse reflected ardent emotions, encompassing affection, care, fear, hatred, sorrow, yearning, disgust, haughtiness, and a variety of others. And due to such vivid portrayals of the feelings of characters, each and every one of the characters seemed “alive”; they each seemed to have possessed their own uniqueness, or conspicuous characteristics, which created liveliness and authenticity. Such verisimilitude is vital to absorb the audience, and that is what you contained to differentiate yourself from your rivals.

I could easily empathize with the Phantom’s grief, sorrow, fury, jealousy, distorted passion, desire to possess, twisted love; I was in Daae’s shoes when she felt the desire to meet the Phantom, the desire to become happy, the desire to escape from her fate and ordeals, and the desire to ask for guidance. You kept me focused, and I adore you for that.

However, despite all the aforementioned attractive features, your most valuable quality still remains; that is perpetuity. The fact that you are a movie, not a musical, is what makes you possess a historical value. Unlike the other members of your family, you last forever. I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch the musical “Phantom of the Opera” after 50 years; the show might not be popular enough to attract new viewers and disappear from the theater; even if it survives, the casting and performance would change over time, and we might not be able to feel the same astonishment, the same enthusiasm as we did years before. However, you-you are different. You will remain the same, preserving your glorious and enchanting old self, even if centuries are to pass by. You will maintain your powers forever, and I could rejoice being overwhelmed by your irresistible charms once again.

And this is why I praise you, oh Phantom of the Opera! That is why I chose you, over millions of other options, to dedicate this long ode to. And my admiration is unconditional. I ask of you nothing else than to remain as who you are in my C drive until the day comes we’ll have to part. I revere you, I worship you-you are my idol! I can’t imagine my daily routine without you know, for I will play you over and over again whenever that melody from the “Angel of Music” resounds inside my head. Even now, I am listening to your voice as I’m expressing my devotion towards you.
You are my legend. You are my Angel of Music. You are my guide and guardian (lyrics from the song). Grant to me your glory (also lyrics from the song), and let me resign in ecstasy eternally.

*And you, who is reading this ode; please, do allow yourself the opportunity to experience excessive pleasure-go watch the Phantom of the Opera.

Review Over The Excellent (?) Musical "The Last Empress"

Musical "The Last Empress"

The review and evaluation below were produced strictly based on my subjective standards.


Reputation ★★★★★

A masterpiece of an everlasting merit. Performed at Broadway and lauded by the Broadway critics. The pride of Korean musicals. These were the appreciations I had heard of the musical “The Last Empress”. So therefore, these were the similar assessments I was hoping to make myself about the musical when I had visited the Choong-Moo Art Hall with my two friends on the 12th of November, the precious golden peak of my weekend. Unfortunately, the only impression I had received from the 150 minutes of the lengthy performance was how distant the quality of Korean musicals were from reaching the levels of that of globally renowned musicals.

Expectations ★★★★★

At first, everything seemed to go pretty well: after we (me and my friends) had eaten pasta at a nearby famous restaurant which we had “googled” on the internet beforehand, we arrived just in time when the theatre was about to lock its doors. We sat down at the third row from the front, which had cost us fairly a large amount (85,000 won), with our hearts filled with grand expectations and nervous excitements. We were all hoping to see an outstanding show, perhaps not like the historically epoch-making Phantom of the Opera, but at least possessing the grandeur and scale that it ought to have considering its superb price of fame. And until the curtain was finally lifted and several musical performers appeared on stage wearing awkward Japanese samurai costumes, our sense of excitement remained.

Language Transformation ★★

However, when the show had begun, I noticed that something was…… unnatural. Surprisingly, it wasn’t just me who’d felt that way; all three of us simultaneously stirred at the “uncomfortable”-yes, that would be the correct modifier-song the samurais sang. A few seconds later, I finally understood the cause for my uneasiness; the words in Korean were being squashed into the musical rhymes, and it was hard to distinguish whether the performers were singing a song or engaging in a dialogue. It was rather odd; something wasn’t really right, when Korean was being transferred into musical lyrics, the connection wasn’t as smooth when English had. Our stereotypes that musicals should be performed in English might have played a role in generating the uneasy sentiment, but the lack of professional skills make the transition natural was also a definite factor. Somehow, the actors skillfully managed to continue, but even they couldn’t assist us in eliminating the awkward sentiment we felt due to the “forced translation” between two different languages. Such impressions made us feel……exhausted: we felt as if the singers were laboriously reciting their sentences, with great effort and ardor but without confidence.

However, despite our discomfort towards the awkward transformation, the performance continued. Thankfully, after awhile, we managed to withstand the choppy dialogues (or songs) as we eventually got used to them. So then, we quietly watched the show, waiting for the performers to impress us-to sway our emotions dexterously, manipulating us to be surprised, be enraged, be sympathetic, be nostalgic, and be sorrowful so that we had to cry out loud. Our anticipations were still very high; we were so sure that we would soon witness the source of this musical’s popularity.

The first half of the performance had ended.
We still weren’t sure why so many people had exalted this piece.

Content ★★★
Performance ★★★
Impact ★★
Presentation of Scenario ★★
Settings ★★★

The overall quality of the work was reasonable. The scenario was based on a historical event, thus the story pretty much stuck with the facts. The characters, similarly, resembled the actual figures. The singing and dancing were well practiced by the performers-by 대원군, 홍계훈, 미우라, 고종, and 명성황후, we could notice-and was put on stage without critical mistakes. Conclusively, the general content of the show had well reflected the historical incident to some degree, and the “artistic elements” of the show (singing and dancing) delivered the scenario reasonably. However, as you might have noticed from the tone of my demonstration, everything was reasonable; there wasn’t a single part in the piece where it was strikingly impressive or a single song which was euphonious and beautiful for us to remember forever. Nothing was resonating in our mind when the first half had ended.

Emotional Absorption ★


So, we expected for all the surprises and sensations in the next half. We at least had hoped to hear the historically famous quote “I am the mother of this nation” at the climax, when the empress was murdered.

Disappointingly, our poor empress encountered her tragic fate abruptly, and passed away without much drama.
The latter part had finished.

And we were just all so confused! We were thinking, “Did we miss something?” “Why is it already over?” “THAT’S IT?”We were mad, we were disappointed, and again, we were confused over what was supposed to be so impressive about what we'd just watched. The first thought that came into my mind as I was walking out of the theater: “That show is so mediocre!” The show wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good either! And, of course, it wasn’t impressively fantastic, at least not enough for it to be named the “A masterpiece of an everlasting merit” or “The pride of Korean musicals.” Where did these evaluations even come from? Where were all the lauded drama and the excessive flow of emotions-the fury, the sorrow, the empathy-that the critics of Broadway had experienced?

As we were exiting through the door, we heard someone say, “I enjoyed the show, but I couldn’t find a reason to revere it. I mean, I couldn’t find something specifically to criticize, but I couldn’t find something to craze about either.”

Mediocrity ★★★★★
Disappointment ★★★★

And that’s exactly my point.

Cost-Benefit Analysis ★★★

Did I tell you that this show cost me 85$? Well, luckily, I don’t regret spending the money. Although I did waste a crucial part of my weekend along with my month’s allowance, I could say that I paid off the performers who must have practiced really hard for this show, and who exactly aren't responsible for the banality and idleness of the show. And it didn’t suck, either, so, I’ll consider it to be the one and only annual investment I’ll make for my cultural life. Besides, I also learned two important lessons from this experience. Number one: don’t blindly trust the reputation, even if authorities with expertise had given them so; sometimes, you just can’t understand their standards. And number two: Korean musicals still have a long way to go in their path.

And my advice for you: don’t go watch “The Last Empress.”

Satisfaction ★★
My Recommendation ★







Part of the Musical that are interesting to watch:
http://www.pandora.tv/category.ptv/video/category/c1/01/c2/0097/ch_userid/barrim/prgid/34270579 "수태굿"

Music Video from Another Movie:
http://blog.naver.com/axisinc?Redirect=Log&logNo=30113366398&jumpingVid=F81A318F57E386813FB85508428F425CE66C

In Class Reflective Writing

How do we understand the value of life? Everybody so plainly, easily says that life is sacred; but how are we supposed to really "grasp" its importance when the concept itself is so broad and abstract? Sure, we breathe, we eat, we sleep, we walk, and thus, we live, but the "gravity" of life and death cannot be educated to the same group that simply. The answer is simple: we simply have to encounter death in order to truly understand what life is and how much importance it bears.
Although the idea of interpreting "life" through "death" seems a little ironic, it is the truth. People "feel" life only when they have witnessed the breaths of their beloved ones gradually fading away. They understand the immeasurable amount of value life embraces only after they have experienced the mournful sorrows of the deceased's relatives, or, possibly, their own's. The elder monk employed this exact method to enlighten his young pupil of the severity of his actions. The child could realize how malignant and atrocious his acts had been to other "lives" through his first-hand experience of the same ordeal and furthermore, the death of his victims. Just like the old sayings, experiencing was again, the best means of learning, even in such fundamental matters such as death.
As for myself, I'd witnessed the death of a person twice, both of them being my friend's parents. The only reason I can be confident in writing this reflection is because my belief roots from my personal experience. Tragically, both cases were the cases of the friends here, at KMLA, and I'd attended the funerals both times to console my friends. I wouldn't want to elaborate on the details once again, but I must say that the loss is nothing I could have imagined or evaluated until the very moment-when I saw the portrait of the deceased, bowed, turned around and saw the sullen eyes of my friend. For a second, I thought the eyes in the portrait were literally looking at me, full of sorrow and sadness, and I froze; I felt something unimaginably heavy and painful weighing down on my chest. If someone actually had had a similar experience, he or she would understand what I'm talking about. That was when I genuinely understood the gravity of death, and paradoxically, the gravity of life as well. I "felt" how meaningful the person on the picture had been to his friends and families. I "felt" how valuable and meaningful his life had been, by itself and to the world.
In spite of our government's enthusiastic campaigns preaching about the value of life, suicide rates in our country keep going up and up. Numerous people choose to give their lives up because they think their life is so miserable and unbearable; they think nothing could be worse than their lives themselves. However, there is, and it's called "death". Most of those who intentionally give up their right to live underestimate their desire to live. They underestimate the intrinsic value their every living moments contain. According to an interesting research, over 90% of the people who had attempted to commit suicide but miraculously had survived admitted they had regretted their decision when they were about to face death. So, maybe this result suggests how we can curb suicide after teachers, parents, friends, professionals, and even our national government had vigorously tried but failed to do so. "The encounter of death"-that is what would, once again ironically, make the people who are about to jump off their apartments reconsider their reckless decisions. Since the "lack" of something is what most effectively teaches its importance, people would learn to value their lives-or every life-when they had faced death and its excruciating brutality. Remember the painful outcries of our repenting young monk.

I've learned how thankful I am to be alive through their (friend's parents') lessons.
Requiescat in pace. May the deposed rest in peace.

Dong-Young's Love Story (Sad Version)

NOTIFICATION: THE FOLLOWING STORY IS COMPLETELY FICTIONAL. THE CONTENT OF THE STORY ISN'T CONNECTED TO REALISTIC CHARACTERS, STORIES, OR SETTINGS WHATSOEVER. EVEN IF YOU DO FIND ANY RESEMBLANCE, IT'S MERELY YOUR IMAGINATION.

It was raining. A beautiful couple did not even think of escaping from the rain. Wherever they went, whatever happened to them, nothing really mattered because they had each other. They walked all the way to the 'Han-River'…….



‘Sigh. Stupid book. What was I thinking-am I really going to follow the stupid scenario of this low rated romance fiction?’


Dong-Young thought to himself as he was waiting for his girlfriend near the han-river. He couldn’t believe the absurd plan he’d decided to carry out, all because his overtly dramatic friend, Hyung-Seok had advised him to do so. “The Midnight Drama by the Riverside of Han”. That was the name of the book Dong-Young was holding in his hands, and that was also the name of a top bestseller that’s been the “hot potato” among teenagers recently-the dramatic settings, characters, and mostly the plot attracted people who were wearisome over their mundane lives. And it was only two days before when Hyung-Seok had given Dong-Young this book and recommended him to “refer” to the content when going out with his girlfriend. Since poor Dong-Young had no prior experience of dating a girl-in fact, he’d never spoken to a creature of the other sex throughout the 17 years of his life (of course, his mom and sister being exceptions)-he had no other choice but to rely on the intelligence of the bestseller writer to guide him. (That being said, Hyung-Seok never meant that he should “literally trace” the story when he told him to refer, but sometimes Dong-Young just couldn’t catch the implied intentions of advices.)

Anyways, luckily, like in the book, it was raining near Han River. Everything was perfectly identical with the book’s story except for the presence of the boy’s lover.


‘Why is she so late? Have I just been dumped on my first date? Christ, she was the only girl who’d accepted me after 17 asking-outs; she’s the only chance I’ve got left to experience something that at least something that resembles “a romantic relationship”! No, that won’t happen. She’s probably just caught up with something. Maybe…… in a car accident? Oh hell, what am I thinking? She’s going to be here soon enough.’


And fortunately, Dong-Young’s hopes did not let him down. To his surprise, his girlfriend had actually showed up, dressed magnificently in a silk laced Y shirt and a black mini skirt. Her black glasses matched the color of her dark brown eyes and hair, and her sheer white skin created a vivid contrast that almost made her naturally glow in the dim and humid weather.

‘Wow. Is she real? Can this really be? She must be an angel, or I must be dreaming. I’d have been satisfied if I could hang out with someone who’s covered herself up with a skirt; she’s way too gorgeous!’


And it was true. Dong-Young’s girlfriend-let’s just say she’s K-was quite good looking for a high school girl. When she’d approached Dong-Young, our timid protagonist felt as if he was going to faint because of the overwhelming ecstasy K was making him experience.



“Hi! Sorry, am I late?”
“H..Hey! No…no…not at all! Wel..welcome!”



Dong-Young couldn’t believe the unbelievably awkward response he’d just made to the most casual greetings of his first girlfriend. “Shoot, darn it! Welcome? What do I mean by welcome? She’d think I was a waiter serving at a restaurant! I’m a total washout. I’ve got to take a look at my guidebook.” And so he did, only to find something even more preposterous than his situation right now.




The boy sang a song to the girl. Time passed so fast when they were together. An hour would pass when they thought only ten minutes have passed. They were afraid if they cannot hold this happiness forever.

“Nothing better…… Nothing better…..than youuuuuuuu oh oh owwhhhh…”

Dong-Young started to sing instantly as it was described in the book. He made his best effort to impress his girl, performing his repeatedly practiced favorite song, “Nothing Better” However, unexpectedly, an hour didn’t pass like ten minutes as it did in the story, and apparently nobody was happy at the weird silence he’d suddenly created.

“W…wow! Tha…That’s very impressive! Haha…”

K reluctantly complimented with a nervous smile. It was obvious she was startled and confused at her boyfriend’s eccentricity. Dong-Young had to do something, and he had to do it quickly.

‘Oh my god, stupid book! Why isn’t it making time fly? I got to follow the instructions in the next chapter.’



After staring deeply into each other's eyes and whispering to each other how one had missed the other for minutes did the boy realize that the girl's shirt was soaked, water dripping in a steady rhythm. "We'd better find somewhere to hide from the rain for now." The girl blushed at the thought of her dear boyfriend caring for her and agreed. The two,standing so close to each other that the 40 year old man at the convenience store a bit faraway regarded them as one, bulky person standing in the rain.



Dong-Young slowly approached his girlfriend and gently whispered in her ears,

“K…I’ve missed you so much… You wouldn’t be able to imagine how deeply I’m in love with you…”

Speaking in his excessively buttery tone, he fiercely gazed into her eyes as if he was going to assault her.

“Um… Dong-Young… It’s only the 2nd time you’ve met with me… Remember? I’m sorry, but could you back off a little?”

Now, K was conspicuously uncomfortable, or even a little afraid, with her date's idiosyncrasy.

‘What? What’s wrong? This is exactly the same as what’s happening in the story so far! Damn, why isn’t she happy? Oh well, whatever-I’m sticking to the plan.’

Because K’s shirt wasn’t soaked because of her umbrella, Dong-Young took her blue umbrella and threw it out of the way. Now, finally, the rain could make his partner wet and then turn everything back onto the romantic pace he’d originally planned.



“K! We’d better find somewhere to hide from the rain for now!”
“ARE YOU CRAZY? WHAT ARE YOU, TOTAL NUTS? Just give me the umbrella back!”
“Umm….No! I can’t! I’m not supposed to.”
“What do you mean, you’re not supposed to, you duschbag? For heaven’s sake, you’re the worst date I’ve ever met in my life! GIVE ME MY UMBRELLA BACK!”
“What? No, gosh, I shouldn’t, please understand! You’re not supposed to have an umbrella right now!”
“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN? Oh my god, you’re completely insane, aren’t you? You psychopath! Never mind the umbrella, I’m going home!”



Then K angrily stomped off, heading for the subway station. Now, Dong-Young was totally perplexed and didn’t know what to do.

‘HELL, WHAT IS HER PROBLEM? No, I can’t let her go….. I need to get her back! My first date! I need to retrieve her!’



So Dong-Young started racing after his frustrated partner, yelling her to stop. K began to run, but Dong-Young was chasing her closer and closer by the moment.

“AARRGH! What the hell! He’s completely crazy! Help, someone help!”


Hearing her desperate call for rescue, a policeman who was patrolling nearby hurriedly raced over. Apparently, the policeman in his forties had been taking a break at a nearby convenience store.
‘And that’s supposed to be the man who was to watch us emerge as one? Get out of my way-I need to get my girl.’

Then Dong-Young punched the intruder’s jaw, which made him faint in pain. In case you didn’t know yet, Dong-Young had mastered Kung-Fu at the age of 5, being praised as a martial arts genius but further alienating females from him with his barbarism.

“Help! Help! A mad person is chasing me!”
“Oh, would you please shut up, K! Why wouldn’t you recognize my love?”
“Help! HELP! MOMMY, DADDY, PLEASE SAVE ME!!”
“Arrrgh… Sorry, K!”


In a desperate attempt to silence his shrieking lover and to adjust the situation as similar as possible to the book’s plot, he knocked her out with a blow.

‘Oh, oh, K! What have I done? Why did this all happen? I have no other option to keep up with the book’s instructions…. I’ll kill the author if this story isn’t a happy ending!’


The boy looked at the clock and it was already 3am. Both bus and subway were not available at that time. It would take too long for them to walk back to home. Afraid that the girl might catch a cold, the boy covered her with his body. The boy led the girl to a place with a ceiling, which could cover the rain. The girl leaned against the boy. Strangely enough, the girl fell asleep quite fast in such harsh environment. The boy looked at the girl's face and thought that nothing could be as pretty and innocent as her sleeping face.


Dong-Young looked at his watch. It was only half past midnight. So our patient protagonist waited a full two and a half hour until it was finally 3 AM. No means of transportation were available. He’d already put his coat over K’s body. She was already leaning against his shoulder, unconscious. And since she was unconscious, she surely was fast asleep even in her harsh environment. Finally, he already thought she was pretty and innocent as hell-dead serious. There was no question.



‘So…… What’s it going to be? What’s next? Do I finally get to kiss the bride and live happily ever after? What’s does it say in the next chapter?’

What the heck is the boy thinking! Is he a pervert? Well, what he was doing did make him a pervert. To become a normal person, he decided to wake her up and take her back “to her home, which was too far. So the boy decided to take her to a nearby inn. He rented two rooms and gave one to the girl. They said good night and slept. The boy was dreaming. In his dream, he was with his girlfriend again beside Han River. She was hiding her face deeply in between her knees. She was crying harshly, and trying her best not to show her face to her boyfriend. The boy asked, "What happened to you, sugar? Show me your face. Everything's fine." The girlfriend had the face of Mr. Garrioch. "What the...!" The girl said, "I'm so ugly.... So I went through plastic surgery to below! Do you hate me too if I'm Ugly?" He woke up, and thought about the dream again. Then, he decided he should love her, no matter how she looked like. We would be a loving couple forever! But she was so ugly can't nobody wants to love her just like one she wanted to be pretty, she wanted to be pretty....all alone all alone~

‘……………………………………’

The book’s title wasn’t “The Midnight Drama by the Riverside of Han” for nothing. The sudden twist in the story-the drastic shift from a romantic love story to comedies and farces-was what the bestseller “drama” was so renowned for. The author had magical talents at distorting serious stories into hilarious-or even ridiculous-comedies, and everyone enjoyed his satire towards incorrigible lovers. Of course, unfortunately, Dong-Young did not.


‘WHAT IS THIS? What just happened? Who’s Mr. Garrioch, and how am I supposed to make K look like him, whoever that is? Am I a pervert if I take her to the inn? AHHHH! Hyung-Seok, I am so going to slaughter youuuuuu!’

So poor Dong-Young’s first, and probably also the last, date ended in a complete devastation. All thanks to Hyung-Seok and the author of “The Midnight Drama by the Riverside of Han”, Dong-Young’s life had been completely ruined. He would very much likely live the rest of his life “all alone~ all alone~”. After all, life isn’t so “dramatic” as it can be in stories.


And what happened to Dong-Young afterwards? Well, to tell you the truth, nobody exactly knows. However, there are people who claim that they saw him heading towards a nearby inn, his unconscious girlfriend in his arms, desperately hoping he’d still be able to make a happy family with his angel.






Too bad.

NOTIFICATION: THE FOLLOWING STORY IS COMPLETELY FICTIONAL. THE CONTENT OF THE STORY ISN'T CONNECTED TO REALISTIC CHARACTERS, STORIES, OR SETTINGS WHATSOEVER. EVEN IF YOU DO FIND ANY RESEMBLANCE, IT'S MERELY YOUR IMAGINATION.





How to live fall in love in 90 seconds: http://pann.nate.com/video/213033879

Creative Writing Type-Up

Dozing in class should be tolerated. Furthermore, sleeping in class when the person is unable to resist the tyrannical snooze should be allowed, or even encouraged, to some degree. Because, you know, when you're sleepy, it's extremely difficult to shake off the drowsiness by yourself. It just has to go away, naturally. And until the unwanted guest leaves on his/her own, there is no way the host is going to return to his sober condition. Not only that, in the meantime that the person tries to break free from "sleep's control", he struggles without any progress, dissipating his time longer than he would have if only he had just taken a short 5-10 minutes of nap. So, like in times when it's simply impossible for you to not sleep, like in 8:30 in the morning or right after lunch, why not just take a short break to recover? A short break for every student is needed, especially to students who are engulfed from severe waves of homework, assignments, and responsibilities. The unfortunate part is that the adults even do not allow the tired students to rest "a bit". Reprimanding them for not paying attention to the class, the teachers close their hearts toward their students, forgetting their own experience of dozing off frequently in sleepy and silent libraries. Well, maybe the teachers do realize the fact that the students are under extreme stress and several tasks. However, they only care their students to "pay focus" to their "elaborately designed" classes. For students, rather than pleading students to stay awake, giving them 5-10 minutes of sleep and making them engage effectively in classes will be much beneficial for both students and teachers. Not only the teachers do not want the students to doze in their classes but also the students themselves do not like to sleep in classes. They regard sleeping in class as a clear evidence of being a bad student. Moreover, in a competitive atmospheres of school students cannot let themselves to lose their mind in class and lose the opportunity to take good notes that will help in their examinations. Take KMLA for example. Some classes in KMLA are extremely soporific to an extent in which most students faint. No one in his right mind would say that fainting in class is healthy. Limiting a nearly-fainting student from sleeping in class is an inhumane crime. It should most certainly be legally penalized and severely monitored. Apart from arguing whether or not dozing off in classes should be justified or allowed, we have to first consider whether dozing off in classes is student's fault. From recent research in Harvard Medical school, it is revealed that in certain environment, a bacteria named "Jol-Ryeu" can prosper, which is actually the cause of dozing off. Yes, you are not misheard, it is now revealed that bacteria is responsible for students' dozing off. This is totally a paradigm shift! Therefore, to repel the effect of the bacteria and increase productivity for students, we should sleep when we want to in class.

JESUS! Camp (Real Ver.)

The film “Jesus Camp” was quite an appalling film for me. Now, this was quite surprising, since I was usually unmoved with materials that chose “religion” as the theme of its content. Although I might provoke some pious believers, I must admit: I personally think religion is ridiculous. Because of their inherent irrationality and the mesmerization that they practice to their followers, religions-every single one of them-have always been my favorites to criticize about and my least favorites to advocate on. Just to go over a few quick points: the most representative teachings that many religions deploy to their followers include claims like “only the ones who believe in thou God shall be rescued” or “do not dare doubt or question the Creator, since he (or she) is always right, and it is best for us mortals to abide by his (or her) teachings and practice only benevolence”. My instant question: if the gods who are “supposedly in charge” of taking care of the poor mankind were so benevolent and magnanimous, why do they discriminate the people who follow them and who don’t? It seems pretty narrow-minded and mean for such “great beings” to only care for the ones who swore the pledge of allegiance to their rule. Furthermore, how are we supposed to know “what’s good” and “what’s bad”, since the vague concepts were never cleared up in the “sacred” Bible or in the “absolute” Koran? Is stealing a loaf of bread to feed the people who are starving a “good” act? Or not? What about killing a dictator who had the clear potential for slaughtering millions in the recent future? Is there a clear answer? Who’s to decide? And even if God (Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, or whoever)

were to evaluate somebody’s action, how are we supposed to know of his standards? What if what we had done with a good intention actually turned out to be something bad for many others? Are we guilty or not? And how can we know if we “don’t question or doubt” God’s thoughts? It all makes no sense. Absolutely no sense at all. And since the “perfect God” is supposed to make sense to us at all times, the contradiction that exists within religion (especially within Christianity) inevitably proves, ironically, that it is flawed. All forms of religions, without exceptions, are created by the people for the purpose to seek relaxation or even salvation by depending on some hypothetical, but ultimately superior, existence.
Well, that’s about it for my personal viewpoints on religion. And this disbelief was precisely the reason I was uninterested in materials that dealt with religion. However, “Jesus Camp” was an exception; despite my efforts to remain indifferent, the video startled me nonetheless. There were mainly two reasons that the documentary was so shocking: the “content” and the “director’s illustration of content”.
First and foremost, the most sensational factor of the video was, of course, its content. At first, when Mr. Garrioch had introduced the film as a nonfictional documentary demonstrating a camp for evangelist children, I’d thought it would be pretty interesting. I never knew that “Jesus Camp” was about to greatly surpass my expectations; what the video had contained was far more interesting than what I’d imagined-even horrible, to some extent. In the video, I saw the images of Becky Fischer, a woman around her fifties who was in charge of “Kids on Fire School Ministry Camp” (Jesus Camp), preaching in front of hundreds people, most of them children.

(Becky Fischer)

I witnessed her fervent speeches in which she commanded her audience to completely dedicate their lives to God, to fight against and repel whatever might be “influenced by the devil”, to sacrifice whatever they have for the “supposed will of God”, and finally, for heaven’s sake, to become “obedient soldiers” who comply with God’s orders; or, practically speaking, Becky’s orders. And this “stringent orders” were directly delivered to children-to 15, 10, and 7 year olds! During the interview she had done with the filmmakers, she commented that “I believe it is critical to properly educate our children to worship God and to devote themselves to the Christian cause. It’s what our loathe enemies, Islams do as well. Do I think that this is brainwashing? No, I think my children are ready for it. Others express their concerns on preaching to youngsters, but my youngsters can handle it.”

And the youngsters really could. They responded to Becky’s demands with absolute subordination and voluntary enthusiasm. When their teacher asked them to pray, the children held their hands up in the air, violently swirling them around along with passionate prayers to be connected with the “spirits”. When they were asked to give sermons in front of their peers, they transformed themselves into masterminds of Christianity, just like their teacher, and argued that “they are the selected generation of God and they have the duty to spread their beliefs to “sinful” others”. The kids in the Jesus Camp weren’t “kids”. They were zealots. Mentally armed, ardent, fanatic, and blindfolded zealots. Becky’s “education” to “train God’s potential army” was clearly successful; she had institutionalized brainwashing.

What was particularly so “remarkably terrifying” were the “techniques” Becky employed to achieve her goals. Yes, the realistic depictions of the camp were quite disgusting as well, but the most appealing substance was Becky’s genius. Her ingenious tactics to persuade the children was distinguishable from any plain sermon; she effectively addressed the ethos, pathos, and logos of the innocent minds.

Everybody could see that her dramatic preaching was directly appealing to the pathos of the children; the impressionable emotions of the little ones easily sympathized with Becky’s impassion. Furthermore, her entire campaign attracted the kids’ unsteadfast “ethos”. By “defining” everything related to the evangelist faith to be “good” and everything else to be “bad”, the camp manipulated its participants into thinking that whatever it tells them to do is “ethical”. And this method was extremely effective, especially since children in their puberty always try to behave and be “good boys and girls”. Since the youngsters desired to become nice and likable (which most children want to), guiding them to believe that upholding religious morality was the correct way to do so worked magically, showing critical effect. Lastly, Becky even employed tactics to logically persuade her students to conform to Christianity. In her lectures, she explained the reasons why “they must believe in Christ”, why “they’re so important to Christ”, and why “they must be ardent in doing so”. Using devils and hellfire as vivid imageries of the consequences that would penalize sinners in the end, Becky utilized her dexterous linguistic abilities to exaggerate the “logic” behind religious zealousness. So, in summary, Becky used her skillful tongue to seduce the young, by appealing to their emotions, ethics, and reasoning. And as it is clearly shown in the film, her strategies worked superbly.
However, it wasn’t only the “content” itself that made this documentary so sensational; it was also the way the director of this film so craftily led its viewers to obtain a negative impression about this camp, and moreover, evangelicalism and Christianity as a whole. Most of the people who watched the film would have been fully absorbed to the loathsome features of “Jesus Camp”, (like what I had done) and thus they wouldn’t have realized the bigger scheme that lay behind the shocking images. That was the filmmaker’s intention, which was to deliberately portray religion as something to be afraid and disgusted of.

(Rachel Grady)

The director of this documentary, Rachel Grady, purposefully chose “one of the most extreme cases that illustrates the distorted form of religious fervor”, chose the most “extremely malicious images” of the camp (Becky screaming her heads off, children crying insanely because of religious enlightenment, and other chaotic pictures overall), and intermittently inserted gruesome music and interviews that satirized the distorted versions of Christianity. Although I was personally against all the concepts Becky had proposed, (which was the reason why I was almost absorbed by the director’s message, like many others) I barely noticed in the end that my “ideas” despising religion were being strengthened and encouraged. That is when I realized this film was crafted and designed by Rachel’s strategies; her splendid strategies that produced the intended and maximized results. Of course, the response from the public was immense. The audience, including even the most renowned film critics, was enraged and flabbergasted at the malice of Becky and her camp. Some even left comments like “I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing”. Well, for me, that kind of made sense, since what Rachel disclosed to the public was the very extreme and perverted images of the truth, not authentic ones. I’m sure Becky was crazy to some degree, but I can say with almost absolute certainty that she wouldn’t have been THAT crazy as shown in the film. Same goes for the camp: I’m sure it was ludicrous, but not “sincerely terrible” as the director wanted her audience to believe. Of course many people couldn’t believe what they were seeing; it wasn’t the genuine version of the truth. The true mastermind in “The Jesus Camp” wasn’t Becky; it was Rachel, who edited the film to emphasize Becky as a mastermind. She adopted the exact same techniques to influence her viewers that Becky adopted to influence her students: by emotionally, morally, and logically demonstrating that “RELIGION IS BAD.”
All in all, I thought I had seen the model examples of “great, eloquent persuaders” after watching the “Jesus Camp”, although they had utilized their fantastic skills of persuasion for distorted purposes. The way the film-Becky and Rachel-struck me, or struck my sentiments, ethics, and rationality, was greatly shocking; enough for me to scream out loud “JESUS!”

Some Videos to Watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGceAojHR6o&noredirect=1
-->America's political commentator and stand-up comedian, Bill Maher discusses Jesus Camp from three different perspectives


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LACyLTsH4ac
-->Highlights of "Jesus Camp"