Week 13 homework

3. On the blog: Summarize the main points of your classmate’s opinion blog post and then say whether you agree or disagree and why. Link the original blog post.

Summary(Sam's Blog): Listening to other’s advice is worth taking it but it is not always the best way of learning about life. Personal experience influences people so impressively that the whole direction of their life change. (Sam's Blog)

My comment: I agree in part. I think he understood the expression, “learning about life”, in a different way with me. In his point of view, I totally agree with that personal experience changes the whole life but I still disagree about that he chose the “different lifestyle” as a disadvantage of advice. Of course, every people have their own perspectives and lifestyles and it is the main advantage of advice,, rather than bad points. We can learn various opinions from abundance of differences which make advice more helpful. In the meantime, it means we have to be advised from as many people as possible, especially to make an objective choice in our life.

http://rladbssam317.blogspot.kr/2013/05/week-12-homework-writing-essay.html

Week 12 Homework

2. On the blog, answer the following question in a 200-300 word essay:

Some people believe that the best way of learning about life is by listening to the advice of family or friends while others believe that the best way of learning about life is through personal experience. I believe that listening to the advice of family or friends is preferable to relying on personal experience.

There are pros and cons for both. Personal experience is very important in our lives. Like a famous saying, “One picture is worth a thousand words,” we often realize that experiencing is the surest way of knowing something. In Korea, however, there is another saying that has totally different meaning: “The frog in the well.” Life is such an enormous concept. Since we are mortal beings, we cannot experience everything on our own. Thus, if we only rely on what we have ever experienced, we would never know about life.

In this point, listening to the advice of family or friends or anyone else who is trustworthy greatly helps us know about life. For example, we can't experience the death, which is an important, mysterious part of life, but we can still get closer to it by listening to advice. Some people might argue that it cannot help us because listening advice is indirect but those advice came from others’ experiences, too. All we need to avoid carefully is listening to a variety of advice and stopping there arrogantly, thinking we already know everything. If only we can avoid this ridiculous error, I believe that listening to advice will give us abundant life lessons than merely relying on personal experience.

Week 11 Homework

3. On the blog, write a summary of the information that you found. Link to the original source.

   Contemporary Christian Music(CCM) indicates religious music whose lyrics are based on Christian view. Christian rock is usually regarded as CCM but it's just a subset of CCM.
   The term CCM is first used in 1976 by Ron Moore when he tried to describe Richie Furay's album. In the 1970s, CCM Magazine publisher John styll covered from 'Jesus Music' artists to mainstream artists such like including Bob Dylan but its meaning became narrower to artists in growing Christian music industries and mainstream artists such as U2 or Bruce Cockburn were less mentioned in the 1980s. With the appearance of a few record lables focusing on Christian Alternative music artists, CCM began to achieve success in the mainstream more or less. In the 1990s and 2000s, Amy Granr, Michael W. Smith, stryper and other CCM artists popped up on the mainstream Billboard charts, TV, DVD achieving great success.

http://ccmwhatisit.bizland.com/history_of_ccm.htm

week 10 homework: how to be kinder to environment?

SEVERAL WAYS TO HELP THE PLANET

This report is intended to suggest several ways that we can do to be environmentally-friendly as university studentsㅡnot just a university but Chongshin. Among the 50 ways on the website, 7 ways that are applicable and can be actually practiced are presented.

1.     SLEEP MODE?

If you used to leave your computer in sleep mode at night, try to turn off it from today. You can save “40 watt-hours per day”, which means “4 cents a day, or $14 per year”.

2.     USE LESS NAPKINS

We tend to waste paper napkins carelessly. Have you ever seen how Jackie Chan, a famous movie star, uses napkins? Go search for the documentary of him, which is made in Korea. You would find the role model of napkin user. He wipes the sweat, cleans his mouth, and sweeps the table with only one napkin.

3.     FAST SHOWER

It is very kind of you to take a shower instead of a bath. The next level is to take a shorter shower. You can reduce both water and energy used to heat water.

4.     TREASURE HUNTER

“Second-hand doesn’t mean second-best”. Being environmentally-friendly, you can enjoy the treasure hunting experience. TIP: Go to second-handed store in Express Bus Terminal Station and be the fashion leader.

5.     YOUR OWN CUP(OR TUMBLER)

It keeps your drink warm and let you be healthier. Go to coffee shop and ask them to fill your cup. Look awesome while being eco-friendly person.

6.     USE ONLINE BILLS

Many organizations support online-bill-service nowadays. For example, you can receive your smart phone bill and check your fee. It helps you save papers and check your fee easier and faster.

7.     SHARE!

“Many hands make light work”. “Take what you’ve learned, and pass the knowledge on to others. If every person you know could take one small step toward being greener, the collective effort could be phenomenal.”

           In addition, don’t smoke. It messes up both you and the others. I believe none of the readers of this article smokes.

All of those above are from the website http://www.50waystohelp.com/ . See the ways, share them out, and save the earth. 

week 9 optional: Try this course!

  I have a few optional courses in this semester. One of them is called ‘The understanding of the play and the movie’, though I’m not sure if it’s correctly translated. When I plan my schedule, I chose it because merely I heard that there is no mid-term exam. Another reason was that I like to watch movies.

   Instead of the mid-term, however, there was a report assignment about the play. I had to go to Daehak-ro(대학로) to watch a play. It was quite bothering because there was so far from both the Chongshin University and my place. I also had to arrange time for it among the mid-term period. Moreover, I expected the lecture to be about the movie so that I don’t have to study for it, but it was almost about the play.

   Despite all of these, I am very satisfied by the class. The play was an attractive genre than my thought, and understanding the play was such an instructive thing. In the most valuable works, I could learn what life is like and how to live as a human. It was interesting that the writers had nothing to do with Christianity but the themes were very close to what we are supposed to concern about. Furthermore, I could thoroughly consider about the biblical view of the culture and the human. The most fascinating part, however, was the professor. I felt like I was watching an entertaining show every class. Literally, his motion, gesture, face and words were like comedian. It was very amusing. In addition, the lectures were not really difficult to understand.

   The class is both on Mondays and Tuesdays, and in each class there are about 8-90 students. Now I know why. It’s totally worth taking it. If you didn’t pass the course, I strongly recommend you to try. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed as long as you have the least interest and passion.

week 9 homework: Lecture Review

Joachim de Posada: Don't eat the marshmallow!

   In the lecture, Joachim de Posada talks about an outstanding experiment on self-discipline which was done in Stanford. The experiment presented how the reaction of the kids who were told not to eat the marshmallow in front of them for 15 minutes to get another one and the future success are related. In the follow-up study 14-5 years later, those who had not eaten the marshmallow was reported living successful lives. In addition, Dr. de Posada got exactly the same result from the another same experiment in Colombia. Perhaps many of you already heard of this study as Dr. de Posada says that he wrote a book of it and spread into Korea. Nonetheless, I recommend you to watch this video again. To see how kids were trying their hardest not to eat marshmallow is both funny and impressive. Also, it must be helpful to keep this in mind when you teach little kids in your future.

To watch the video, click!

week 8 homework: how to do a spin move in basketball

HOW TO DO A SPIN MOVE IN BASKETBALL


I found the instructional video about 'how to do a spin move in basketball' on the Youtube. It gives quite detail information and easy to understand. You'll see both the motion example of the player and the caption with stop motion. The best part is that the speaker uses EASY ENGLISH so that you won't have problem in listening comprehension. The only reservation is that the player looks somewhat feeble. It may demotivate you. All the same, it's helpful.


I took some notes to arrange the steps in order.
(* It is basically for the right-handed people.)

1. dribble lowly but powerfully before meeting the defender

2. lower your left shoulder into the defender to make a fake direction while protecting the ball

3. plant with left foot and shift your body weight

4. push off your right toe to rotate your body

5. spin tight and quick (don't swing out your right leg too wide)

6. keep the ball close to your body

7. pass to your open teammate, or drive to the hoop and take a shot


To see the original video, click the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0MzjnMzbj4

Week 7 Homework

Week 6 Homework

3. On the blog (optional extra credit): Write about someone you admire. Tell why you admire them (at least 200 words).

Michael Jordan. Perhaps it’s useless to describe him. No matter how much you know about basketball or love it, you may know who he is. Famous logo of him spreading his arms and legs is quite easy to be seen when you walk along the street. For people who love to play basketball, he is more than a star; he is called even ‘God of basketball’.

Honestly, however, I am not a fan of Jordan. Rather I was a fan of Allen Iverson, who is famous for his ankle-breaking cross-overs and machine-like shooting, despite of his physical disadvantage. Many Koreans like Iverson because he gave the hope that they can overcome their short height with his well-known saying: “Basketball is played not with your height, but with your heart”. I was one of the Koreans and I also loved his speedy, skillful dribbling.

Nevertheless, I cannot ‘admire’ him. He is admirable as a great basketball player, but not as a human. In contrast, Jordan was both the best player and a great human. This is why I chose him in this writing. Behind his glorious appearance are his tremendous practice and his personality. Iverson had been continuously told about his bad habits and troubles with his team, and now he has disappeared from NBA. Jordan, on the other hand, had done his best before he retired (though he retired more than once) and his story is treated legendary until now.

From his life, I learned how important life is despite of all my skills and abilities. In the meantime, I learned how much blood-and-tears endeavor is needed when I want to be the best, too.

Week 5 Homework

2. On the blog: write an English review of a Korean TV program, film, or book (200-300 words)

Review: Dachimawa Lee

           Ridiculous, hilarious and odd are the words that may come to you watching this movie. This is a kind of ‘genre movie’ where 1970s’ Korean action movie style is combined with ridiculous parody of famous films, such as 007 series or Enter the Dragon, and insane story about spies in 1940s.

           This film plainly shows the most basic plot: the good win and the bad are punished. To find national secret documents on which the information of the Korean spies are written, our brave, handsome(?) hero, Dachimawa Lee leaves a journey. You don’t have to think about its story or meaning carefully, because it was not made to provoke your thought. All you have to do is just enjoying their intentionally exaggerated acting and utterly hilarious fiction. Watching this, there are two points that would help you to enjoy. First is the parody scene. For example, there are a variety of brand-new-weapons as of 007, but they are used unexpectedly or wrongly. Secondly, you may think that there is more than one language in the film, but only one in fact. They sound like Chinese or Japanese, but if you listen to them carefully, you’ll realize that they are Korean though it’s a little bit strange.

           If I have to say about the reservations, it would be its popularity. It was absolutely ridiculous to me. However, some people may not be able to understand the code of the movie. I guess that the reaction of those who watch this will be totally extreme.

           All the same, I recommend you to try this film. One thing I can surely say is that it’s fresh. You might have not seen this kind of movie before.

Week 4 Homework (on the educlass)

3. Reading: Read two different reviews of the same movie. Upload your report here on Educlass.

Review 1
  Web address:
 http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/good-will-hunting
  Writer’s opinion of the movie:
 Improbably, Good Will Hunting works. It succeeds in being both touching and funny, and if you enter the cinema with even the tiniest amount of good will, you're guaranteed to exit this movie with a whole lot more.
  Write at least 3 useful phrases that you found on the site:
 -Facing a jail sentence for his latest run-in with the law
 -makes for a preposterous pitch.
 -liberally stuffed with dazzle and wit.
 -Indie maverick Gus Van Sant chooses to shoot Good Will Hunting pretty straight.
Review 2
  Web address:
 http://blog.beliefnet.com/moviemom/2002/12/good-will-hunting.html
  Writer’s opinion of the movie:
 Mature teens will appreciate this story, written by its appealing two stars, of a brilliant young man with a troubled past.
  Write at least 3 useful phrases that you found on the site:
 -with a troubled past
 -who grew up as an abused foster child in tough South Boston
 -only to find that he is in jail for hitting a policeman.
 -a string of therapists

Mission Trip in Philippines ♬

  On early 2011, the very year I became 20, I travelled to Philippines as a Mission Trip for 3 days with a few members of church of the time. It was the first and only time I have been to foreign country, until now. I spent 5 hours in the airplane where I felt a bit cold, and then, at the moment I opened the door of the airport, I could felt the muggy air covering my whole body.

  After we sustained ourselves in McDonald’s, we went to San Jose village (I don’t remember exact name) together.

ㅡBright sunshine, cute houses, fresh green grass… beautiful.

There we met our missionary friends, though I had never met them before. Our destination was one of the slums in Philippines(I don’t remember the name of that slum, either…). Next day, we prepared to start our mission. One of the things we did was making the small packages of cookies, sweets, and chocolates, which were for the children of the slum.

ㅡWe made the small packages. The man standing at the center is a pastor of the church.

ㅡSomehow similar to ‘POLO’. It’s called ‘WhisOring’. Yes. You can whistle through them. J

Everything was done, so we went to the slum. On arriving there, I was shocked. All I could see was muddy and stinky narrow streets between the dirty old houses which have no lights inside. Some children were lying on the shabby billiard table as if they were on the bed. But they were smiling. They didn’t look sad at all. Pastor of the church explained me their smile. He said,

“They are all Catholic. They believe in God but they are lazy. Though they are poor, they don’t try hard to earn much money. They are looking satisfied because they are always smiling, but sometimes it is not that good for them.”

I was confused. I couldn’t understand them completely, but simply I liked their smile. Anyway, we began to do our job. We prayed for them, disinfected the streets, and handed out the small packages to children. Children came in flocks shouting “one more!”, though we couldn’t give them anymore.

ㅡI liked their smile.

ㅡSome children were lying on the shabby billiard table as if they are on the bed.

  The rest of the days were free. Until we got on the airplane, we enjoyed our time eating fruits, looking around the stores, and playing soccer. All of them were the happy moments of my life.

 ㅡI made my face on the mango fruit...with spoon!

 ㅡThis is a kind of transportation of Philippines called 'Jeepney'. If you ride like him, you don't have to pay any transportation fee.

 ㅡBathroom in the Philippines' Airport. Do you see the shower? It's a manual bidet...^뉴^

ㅡA little girl who followed me around when we were doing our mission work.

Week 3 Homework (On educlass)

3. Reading: A travel blog (next week we will be writing travel blogs in class) Upload your report here on Educlass.

  Web address:
    -http://jessicahdrw.blogspot.kr/#!/2012/08/23-days-for-love-of-prague.html
  Author:
    -Jessica Hendrawidjaja
  Place that the writer describes:
    -Prague
  Did the blogger have a good time? Why or why not?
    -The blogger absolutely loved the place. Fantastic view from every angle, old but beautiful architectures, fascinating classical musicㅡinstead of Justin Bieber's. She so loved the city and its rich culture that she said "everything is just breathtaking".
  Write 3 interesting or useful phrases that you found:
    -It was installed 'back in' 1410.
    -I was 'living in my own bubble' in Jakarta.
    -This city is now 'ticked off' from my list!

Week 3 Homework

2. On the blog:
   B. Write a thank you letter (200-300 words) to someone (a family member, a friend, a teacher, a pastor, etc.) Include at least two of the following ideas:

- How that person has helped you
- What you have learned from that person
- A good memory that you share
- Things that you enjoy(ed) doing together

Dear John

  Thank you for being my friend, John. Do you remember the time we met at first? It's already 8 years ago! We sang together, played basketball together, and made girls angry together. It's pleasing to recall those memories, but sometimes I felt ashamed of my stupid behaviors. But maybe that's why we are friends now. Anyway, you are the one who taught me what is 'friend'. Thank you and I love you.

Best Wishes, 조영남.

P.S. This is my assignment of English Writing class of Chongshin University. Have a terribly nice time there in Vietnam. :)

   D. Optional extra credit 2: Write about a club or church group you are involved in. What does the club do? Why did you join?

  I'm a member of a small worship team of youth department of my church. We serve the praise of the youth worship service where 5, 6 graded primary school students worship God. A friend of mine plays the keyboard in the team and there was once no one to play the drum. About 2-3 years ago, when I'm involved in a small church, I had learned how to play drum. My friend heard of me and asked me to help them. So I joined and began to play the drum on Sundays.

Week 2 Assignment

Week 2 Assignment
   2. On the blog:
     C. Make a draft of a letter to one of the organizations you found last week

I have seen the article about the Passport, 'Exposure: East Africa', on the website.
I would like to apply this trip, but it would be better if I can get more details about this trip.

I have noted that this is a trip not just for fun but also for the needs of some of the most impoverished nations. Since I am a university student and this semester is going to end up around late June, my schedule is not free until then. Therefore I need to know if there are any meetings before July for cooperation of the team so that I can fix my schedule. And I also need to know what's included or not in the cost. In addition, if I could be informed tips for the things I have to prepare by myself, such as transportation(if it's not included in the cost), things to pack, bedding, etc.

I will be looking forward to your reply.
Thank you.


     D. Optional extra credit 1: Write an extra blog post. Tell about something you did this week.

    -> Please check my post uploaded on 3/15/2013.

   3. Reading: Read about an inspirational person. Fill in the following information. Upload your report here on Educlass. (I sent a message, but upload here again.)

Web address: http://christianity.about.com/od/oldtestamentpeople/a/Joseph-In-The-Bible.htm
Name of the person: Joseph
Author’s name: Jack Zavada

Why is the person inspirational? There are two points I want to be like Joseph. First is his absolute trust in God. It's literally unbelievable. If I were him, I would forget God or totally get frustrated. Second, he was such a hard worker. My situation is pretty good compared to his but I don't work hard. I am so lazy that I throw away my precious time. I want to be a deligent person who trusts only in God with all his heart, like Joseph, giving the same inspiration to others.

Write two useful phrases that you found in the article:

-regardless of what happened to him.
-Only then did the cupbearer remember Joseph's gift.

   I can't forget this ridiculous experience happened 2 days ago. I was in the 'Calvinism and Faith' class of professor La(라). The professor came in with 2-3 boxes and said ,
 "Here are books. I'll call and check your name. If you are called, answer me and come to buy a book."
He began to call the students' name and students started to move. When I saw a book, I couldn't help being shocked. The book was huge and it was about 15cm thick. The most ridiculous part was the title of the book written on its green, horrible hard cover: 'Easy-to-know-Institutes of Christian Religion'. Moreover, it was 45,000won! I turned on my laptop and changed that class with one of another professor which is at 5-6 periods on Fridays. I wanted to go out when he gave a break, but he gave no break.
   This is my story. It was quite a brief moment, but enough to embarass me. Thing were gone fine so I'm happy now. I just hope not to meet him again.

5 interesting facts

     I have a few characteristics that most people who see me in the first time can easily realize. I am going to introduce myself with those features to you who are reading this article.

     I'd like to begin with my face. The most impressive part of my face is maybe my mouthㅡslightly tilted chin and my irregular teeth. Although I'm in the progress of straightening my teeth and they were worse before, they are still the most outstanding ones.

     I talked about my face, so I may have to talk about my body this time. When people see me, they usually say that I am 'skinny'. But my legs are not that skinny. I once was fat because of HanYak(medicine of Korea) where steroid was put together. Now I'm skinny again, but I have the remnants(?) on my legs. Funny thing is every time I say this to girls, they look at me with unpleasant face.

     Next one is about my behavior. When I'm sitting on the chair, I'm like a pendulum. I move back and forth, left and right, always. When I'm standing, I get into the rhythm. I'm afraid I can't fix this habit in the army.

     Fourthly, I have my own personality. It's special, unusual, interesting, unique, offbeat, strange, odd, peculiar, weird, and eccentric. I don't know how to explain myself. Perhaps I think I am normal. But those words are what I heard from others...

     Last one is about my hobby. I have so many hobbies. I love to play the guitar, listen to musics, write songs, play the drum, draw paintings, play basketball, sing and dance and etc. Sometimes I think I have to choose one and concentrate on it. But I love all of these things. And I want to be good or even perfect in all of these things.

     Now, you can maybe know what kind of person I am. But remember. Knowing these are nothing but just a first step.