Gay Right!

Gay right was a topic in my seminar class today. Fabor my teacher showed us kissing gays and lesbians, so one student said disgusting, but lesbians are better to see. The gays’ picture was not familiar to me (not disgusting), but I’m used to seeing the lesbians’ picture because I’ve seen some lesbians in Korea, but not gays. Therefore, if I get used to seeing gays, I will not care about them. I will leave them whatever they want to do because they don’t bother me. Also, it is natural. Teacher said that other species show homosexual behavior, so people could be homosexual, too; in addition, philosophers in Greek liked to have young boy friends, and even the bible mentions about homosexuals. For that reason, we should accept them to get married each other; moreover, they should have the right to adopt children; they have to teach them that homosexual, heterosexual (people who love opposite sex), bisexual (people who love both sex) and asexual (people who do not love anyone) are all normal, though because they can be confused.
However, some people believe that homosexual is harmful to themselves because we do not know what will happen if we accept them completely. Also, they think that that’s a kind of a mental disease because they do not follow their sex. Some of part of their opinion is also right because when we try something new, we might find a side effect. Especially, if we accept homosexual without criticism, there will be some problems for sure, such as confusion. Therefore, we should respect each other; furthermore, we should compromise our own idea and find a better way.

1. What do you think about homosexual people?

2. Let us think about the reason why we have over population. Societies had forced people to get married and have a baby?

Music!?

One day, I went downtown for jazz festival with my friends. A public performance would start at 5 o’clock, but we arrived there very earlier, so we drank beer in a pub, which is named The Rex. However, we still had time, so we went shopping and bought some clothes, but one of my friends has a job, so he went back to work, and another one said she had had an appointment and sorry. They left me, but I wanted to listen to jazz music. I like all kinds of music, so I was waiting for a ticket, but the ticket was sold out. I considered going back home, but I heard tough voice from the pub, we drank beer. I went there and just stood up. He sang a song, maybe expressed his emotion. I couldn’t understand what his lyric was, but I could understand what he wanted to say. I felt like to sit down and drank beer, again, but at that time, I already spent a lot of money, so I just gave the singer some tips like 1 to 2 dollars. After then, I left there and went back home.
I like all kinds of music, but the best is reggae because it is addictive, amusing, and exciting, but also comfortable. Bob Marley is good, but for me, it is not so much nice. The reason may be that I don’t smoke marijuana or I don’t know about reggae music well, yet. I recommend listening Korean reggae musician, whose name is Skull. He speaks Jamaican English, so I don’t know whether you understand or not, I don’t understand, though.
This is his space. You can listen to his music without free. Yeah~~
http://www.myspace.com/skullriddim

"Boom di Boom di" his song has been ranked in Billboard before.

(He is taking military service, so I cannot listen his song anymore!! I have to wait for his new songs until he finishes military servcise.)

Anyway, this is my taste. What about you? What kind of music do you like?

Englsih.

I talked with Kotaro and Puma about American cars. Kotaro is a smart guy and knows lots of things, so Puma and I asked him about American auto markets. He explained how American car companies have developed is that they intervene in wars. When they don’t have enough money, the America Government will make conflicts; and then, car companies produce weapons or armored cars and sell them. I knew that America makes money from weapon businesses, but I didn’t know that they provoke war for money. How important is money? What is more valuable than people?
Anyway, after talking, I showed them my essay and asked them to evaluate. They said what I want to say is clear, but I need to add more information in that, but my essay is good. I don’t think my essay is good. It’s just OK. However, I felt a kind of satisfied. When I came here, I didn’t even know what present perfect is and how to write an eassy. Also, I couldn’t make questions, well. I read what I wrote when I was level 3. It was totally Korean grammar (spelling is better than now, though). I don’t know how my level 3 teacher understood. Now, I can’t say that my English is perfect, but I can say that my English has been improving. Of course, I will never satisfied with English, so I will keep doing my best.

Nathalie!

One day, Don my teacher invited us to his house. I was so excited because I like a baby. He has a cute daughter, whose name is Nathalie. Actually, one of my sisters gave a birth a few days ago, so Nathalie reminds me of my niece, who I have never seen. Anyway, Don’s wife who comes from Mexico she served some cheese, pitas, and some olives. Those were delicious, and also, I was starving, so I couldn’t stop eating. There were a lot of Latin people, so first time, I felt awkward because I usually hang out with Asian friends. After about hour, one girl came to me to talk with, so I asked her about herself. She is Nathalie’s aunt and came to Canada to take care of the baby. I asked her about Mexico, and she seemed to enjoy talking with me. I was happy to talk to her, too. After then, I stood on a veranda with our class people. Chie was next to the her husband, who looks robust. He talked with Don, Chie and Ahamed about English and their jobs. Puma seemed to be drunk, so Maria and Ayana enjoyed with that. I was just standing and looking at his family. I felt nostalgic because when my relatives come to my house, they talk even louder than that, but I like that because they smile and look happy; also, I can feel that I am not alone. A dog was running around in the kitchen, so I went there to see the dog, but I saw the baby with the dog. I bent my knees and back, and called her “Nathalie~”. She ran away from me, but she turned to me promptly. I hid myself behind wall, and I played “Disappear and Appear”, which is Korean game for babies. Babies don’t recognize people hide their faces behind paper or something, so when we hide our faces, babies think that they disappeared. And then, they show their faces again. Babies think they come back, so they laugh a lot. However, she didn’t seem to like playing with me, but she was smiling. HaHa. After that, we went out to eat some. There was a festival, but it was just like crowded street. However, I went there with my people, so I had nice time.

Calling to my friends.

I called three of my Korean friends, who live in Korea, on different days. One of them answered my phone in low spirit, but I felt like to do mischief, so I pretended like a card company staff. I asked him to pay 300,000 won for card commission. His voice was not good. He said, “I don’t know who you are, but please stop doing mischief.” I laughed, “Hey! It’s me! Dong-Hyun! Sorry HaHa! What are you doing, now?” He sighed “I’m shaving my hair.” I was surprised. Yes, many of my friends are taking military services. When I called him, he was waiting for that. I couldn’t say anything. We talked for about 30 minutes. I said, “Don’t worry, you will do well”, but he asked me when I would take a military service. I answered after graduating a university. He said that it might be problems because younger people could be a higher grade; also, they wouldn’t use polite expression to me. (Korean people have specific expression for older people.) “Yes, but everything’s going to be OK. Anyway take care”, I said; and then, we hung up.
After few days later, I called to one of others. I did mischief again; his voice was also not good. He was taking a train to go to a barrack. He said that he would hang up the phone very early because he would arrive there soon and asked me when I would take a military service. I answered the same. He said the exactly same thing about polite expression. Then, he hung up the phone.
After few days again, I called to last one. He was at home, but after 3 minutes he started to talk about military service. He said he wouldn’t take that because he got much fat, so his weight was 110 kg, so he would work in a ward office, instead. Then, he asked me when I would take a military service. I got angry because I felt that he was making fun of me. He won’t take a military service, but he asked me when I will.
I don’t want to take that, but many people say every body takes it, so I can overcome. It doesn’t make sense to me that every body does, so I have to. However, if I don’t go, nobody will want to. Then, who is going to do it? I will learn how to take care of people and how to cope with a dramatic event; on the other hand, I will learn how to kill people. However, I have no choice. Maybe, I might find some fun in there, and I might have good memories in there. I hope.

Stereotype

I sometimes go running at night. One day, I went running. The night was nothing special. Street lamps were light, and it was little windy, but I suddenly heard a voice. “Hi, are you busy now?” A girl smiled. I was able to see her black teeth and her dark circles. I nodded my head. She approached me with smiling. I was surprised, so I turned my direction to run. I had never run like that much fast.
I sometimes play basket ball games in my neighbor hood. There are many people, who play basket ball very well. Usually, black people play very well, so when I have black people for enemies, I usually avoid pushing them; in addition, I lose my confidence before playing games. However, many Asian people can play very well, too, but I do not lose my confidence before playing with them.
I thought about her and black people little bit. First, I asked myself who she was. She might be a prostitute or a drug seller because I heard that some drug abusers have black teeth and look tired. However, she might want to ask me where a convenience is or something. Also, black people are not always good at doing sports. Obviously, many famous basket ball players are black, but not tennis, soccer, base ball, pingpong, swimming, etc. It is just my stereotype, so I refused the woman, who might ask my cell phone number and lost many games because I became demoralized. I don’t know yet how to use stereotypes like Bruno Bettleheim, but I think if I know how to deal with my stereotype, it will be my advantage.

Does anyone have a funny or special stereotype or jinx? If you have, how do you deal with it?

Niagara Fall

A friend of mine suggested going to Niagara fall because he had never been in there, so we gathered some people and hired a tour guide. We arrived there at 2 o’clock, and weather was pretty nice, it was supposed to be raining though. We had to finish trip until 6 p.m. because of the tour guide. We just saw the nice view of the fall, had a dinner, went to a chocolate shop, and then, we left the Niagara park.
We felt unsatisfied, so we went to a pub, located near the Sheppard station. We drank a lot and had fun. At that time, a Chinese waitress came to us to take an order and asked my Japanese friend what high school he graduated. He asked her why she asked the question because he graduated in Japan, so she said that he is resembled with her friend pretty much. He tried to learn Chinese immediately and got be able to say “you are beautiful”, “would you like to become my girl friend?” or something in Chinese. After getting used to saying some sentences, He spoke that to her and tried to get her cell phone number, but it was failed. She might just think that he is resembled with her friend.
After drinking, we came to my house to drink more. Actually, before traveling we bought some drink at my home, so we drank again. There were about 10 people, my place is not that much big though. We played games. The penalty of the game was drinking, so many people got drunk, and one by one fell asleep. After that day, we woke up little early, so we couldn’t find a restaurant to have a break fast. We said good bye each other and went back to own place. It was nice time, and everybody seemed to enjoy it.

summericious~

During the summericious event, Sun a friend of mine invited me to have dinner with her friends. She said that every luxury meal would be 30 dollars or something during the summericious event, and it could be good experience in Toronto, so I thanked her for calling me.
One day, I met her and her two friends for the dinner. I knew one of both. Another one Korean-Canadian wore a nice shirt and looked smart. My friend told me that he has been in Canada for a long time, so he knows very well about luxury western food, so he reserved for a table. We were about to eat luxury food, so he suggested taking a taxi, and we agreed with him, but it took a really short time.
We followed him to a restaurant, which is located near the Union station. I do not remember what the restaurant name is, but it is a very high place. We entered there, and I became little silent. He ordered some dishes for each person, wine, and sparkling water. Sun’s friend Korean-Canadian began to explain about wine and food, and to talk with a waiter about how to serve or something. We got own dish, but every dish was different. I wanted to try everything, so I suggest sharing to him, but he said sharing food looks strange in the restaurant and gave me some his salad fiercely. I noticed that he is snobbish and impolite. Even though food was not much, it was obviously delicious; however, I was little upset and wanted to go out as soon as possible. I pretended to enjoy the meal because of my friend and her friends. Finally, he asked the waiter to bring our bill. He asked us to pay 70 dollars per a person. SEVENTY DOLLARS!!! For the tiny, tiny, tiny and little fancy food?? I screamed in my mind, and then, I got stunned. However, I pretended again and paid 70 dollars. While I was leaving, I could not help laughing. I do not know why I was laughing. The man Korean-Canadian asked us to take a taxi. I said “No, it is not far from here”, so we walked. I took a subway and went back home.
I got a kind of hectic day; anyway, it was a good experience.

Discussion about "FOOD"

Student Led discussion

Should we prohibit pet-eating? (Dog or cat)

I have been in this discussion because dog soup is one of Korean food. Not every Korean eats dogs, but we do not have right to stop them to eat dogs; also, what is the definition of “PET”? That is no definition. Some people might think cow is their pet, but they do not have right to boycott beef. Some people might think pig is their pet, but they do not have right to boycott as well. Actually, Indian people do not eat cow because of their religion, but they cannot forbid beef-eating. Just like this, some people might think dog is just “FOOD”. They do not think that is family or something; in addition, they do not eat pet. They grow their own edible dogs. I told them that.

However, they did not seem to understand me because they still think dogs are friends, but I can understand them because I do not eat dogs as well. How I understand the people who eat dogs is that I have seen some people who eat dogs. They are usually my friends or relatives. (My father likes that, too.) I think if they met many dog-eaters and talked with them, they would understand, but there was one thing which made me crazy.

One of them asked me how to cook dog soup. He just made fun of me. I tried to keep calm, but it was little hard. Finally, I got upset; and then, I started to speak little louder and became restless. There were many Muslim people, so I gave an example of pork. They do not eat pigs because of religion, but you do not have right to forbid people to eat pigs. They got little upset, they started to criticize me. It was my fault. And then, we voted for the topic. Most of us agree to forbid people to eat dogs.

I do not know how to discuss well, and how to deal with people who criticize me. I should have been patient and calm. I think that is the best way to discuss.

By the way, what do you think about dog or cat food? If you had a chance, would you try it?

Good Bye~

When I was level 4, 6 months ago, I met Moe, who is from Saudi. At the first time, I got little scared because he was a big person, taller than me, having a long hair, and always with a big head set. One day, he asked me to grab a bite, so I followed him carefully. I screwed up my courage to say, “Your hair is long. I mean… it’s nice” He said “I like Bob Marley. That’s why I raise my hair just to be like him” Ooh! I was surprised because I like Bob Marley too! I told him that fact, and just then he put his head set on me. I was surprised again because it was too loud, but I couldn’t refuse it because I was still frightened. In class, he always made jokes. At that time I couldn’t help laughing because of him. Whatever he said was hilarious, so I usually tried to talk to him, and then, we became friends, so we had dinners, went his house, and sometimes played video game. After knowing his friends, I tried to introduce him to my friends, but they usually seemed to get scared. I, therefore, couldn’t have time to hang out with him a lot. Moreover, we were in different class and so busy to do own homework. We didn’t even talk many times. A few months, however, had passed; we became classmates again, so we became more familiar. We even decided to find rooms to live with friends even though it was thrown up because of money. Anyway, we had had busy days because of homework. One day, when I was doing my homework, he called me and said that he would go back to Saudi, so he invited his last party. I couldn’t say anything. I felt sad. I regretted that I hadn’t had enough time with him. Last Friday, I went to his house to have a party. At that time I drank a lot, played game, and listened reggae music with his friends. As time went by, he felt sleepy; furthermore, he had to fly in an airplane after 5 hours. I hugged him, and said good bye and see you again.
He is such a nice guy. He tries to understand other people’s feeling and situations; also, he knows how to praise people and how to make people laugh. Moreover, I learned many things. First, my speaking is much better than before. Every teacher who taught me said my English is a weakness skill before meeting him, but now my writing is the worst skill. :D Also, I don’t judge people by their appearance anymore. He is bigger than me, so actually, I was afraid of talking with him, but now he is my friend. He told me that he could come to Canada again, if he got a scholarship from Saudi. However, even if he couldn’t come to Canada again, it would be ok because we have good memories and share it, so whenever I miss him, I can think about it. I guess he would do that too, but I miss him and hope to see him again.


When we went to the high park to see cherry blossom with my friends.

LECTURE

Third World Countries & Underdevelopment.
July 8 Tuesday Nadia

I have attended her lecture, which makes me think a lot about society. Globalization is dvertised like utopia, but it is true only for the rich. People, in the U.S., began to suicide by falling after the world war because they became bankruptcy. We call that the great depression.

However, this great depression of theory becomes in the world. Even though we have social
welfare programs, people are still not sharing what they have. As a result, lots of people lose heir jobs and not are able to find new jobs, so people have begun to suicide. Nadia talked about women's rights. House work used to be only female job, but women didn't get paid; moreover, men had a tendency to look down to women because men made money.

However, if women get to work; instead of, doing chores, they would earn money as well. Actually, nowadays they have made lots of money, but the problem is that it still happens to the people of the lower classes that men look down to women because they are not educated well because of money.

Education has become really expensive, so Nadia sent her son to public school, which is cheap. One day, Nadia got the call from school because her son had been absent for a month, but it is ok for her because every kid doesn't want to go to school. However, Nadia complained about telling late, but they told her they were busy to control other students, who had been for a longer time.

Therefore, Nadia decided to send her son to more expensive school. That means as cost is cheaper, the quality of service drops. That is not real well-fare system. 34% students are expelled from school, but they are not stupid, just they don't have enough money to get good quality of education and any adult, who can care of them.

It is not fair, so even though poor people are trying, they cannot be like us because of a wrong system. Global groups are threatening us as well because they have seized power. Canada, for example, is a victim. Canada has to play U.S. rule because U.S. has national groups, so if Canada does not play their rule, U.S would say to national groups and Canada would pay for their “fault”.

After then, we watched a video, which is about global brand. They have monopolized a market, so new brands cannot sell their products; furthermore, we have no choice for products and even no jobs. They have sold not only their products, but also people’s dreams and thought. They know what people want to be, so their advertisement is made with famous people, who people want to be; as a result, people could think that if they bought their products, they would be the people, who they like.

Their manufacture system is, also, strategic, so other new brands can’t earn money as much as global brands can. Their products are made by developing countries, which have cheap labors. If the developing countries which their factories are located in claimed more money, they would change places. Consequently, the people in America have lost their jobs; otherwise, the people in
the developing countries have gotten a job, but they get paid a little. That is why we should reconsider about globalization again.

She speaks loudly and clearly, so I could understand what she was saying easily; moreover,
learned how to think critically, globally, and locally. Otherwise, it was not good to see that some
students were sleeping. I sometimes sleep in the class, so I think over what I do in the class (I
would never sleep again…). Even though, her lecture was little bit long, I enjoyed a lot because
I recognized that I can attend a lecture and understand, so I got confidence. It was good time
and worth for me. :D