Creative Essay:10 years later

picture of Paris

           My eyes popped open. It’s the day I’ve been waiting for years- I’m going to EUROPE! It’s 5’o clock in the morning. At this time, I am never awake usually. I always rise up at seven; I get pretty busy because of that, but I can’t help it. But today, oh my, it’s so hard to lie down quietly. I know I should’ve slept some more, but I closed my eyes at two with a sustained effort. My heart was beating so fast I just couldn’t sleep.

           I turn on my favorite song- Joyce Jonathon’s Je Ne Sais Pas. It’s French, and I love the sweet voice and pronunciation. It contributed a great deal to my French, which will help my trip in France. I’m really looking forward to using the French I learned in high school. I re-check my packing. I think it is the tenth time or something. It’s not a typical thing I do either, but I want my trip to be perfect.

           After a leisurely hour of packing, shower, and eating, I step outside, a cute trunk in my right hand. I look up the sun through my new sunglasses. It can’t be better. My boyfriend’s car is waiting for me at the parking lot. He picks up his hat and bows like a chauffeur. With the dazzling smile on his face, he looks so handsome and stylish; he almost looks like he is going traveling. However, he isn’t. He is simply taking me to the airport. I’m going with two friends of mine. Actually, I wanted to go by myself: I’ve done that many times when I was traveling in Korea. I guess it is too dangerous in a foreign country. My parents or my boyfriend would never let me do that. I hope we’ll go along well in the trip.

           The airplane departs at 10 o’ clock, and Incheon International Airport is only an hour away. I have plenty of time, and I can’t wait to fly. He glimpses at me so excited and chuckles.

           “Happy?”

           I can tell he thinks I’m cute. I come up to his expectations: “Of course!”

           A mischievous smile appears across his face.

           “Even though you aren’t going with me? You won’t see me for TWO weeks and you’re happy?”

           Hm.. that’s a hard question. I can’t give up my trip, of course, but maybe I’ll miss him after a few days. I tell him so. Two of us keep talking about minor things until we arrive at the airport. He plants a baby kiss on my forehead.

           “Enjoy your trip, honey.”

           “I will, thanks.”

           I kiss him back, this time a little longer. I close the door and the black Equus drifts off swiftly. Watching him go, I smile again. I get the feeling this trip would be a wonderful one. I turn around and walk into the building. I wore sneakers, so it’s not the usual sound of my heels, but I like the smooth sound of those. I strut like a princess, lifting my sunglasses elegantly. I know I look great right now. Suddenly, a hand hits me behind my back. Ouch!

           “Surprise!”

           There are my two friends: “Jane, Sara!” They look just as great. We hug each other.

           I say, “Ready?”

           Together we say, “Ready!” And we start our trip.

TED Video Review: Less Stuff, More Happiness

      I was surfing on TED, trying to find the perfect video for my review: to facilitate the writing, it should be concise and pragmatic, or maybe eccentric. To find it, a tedious journey of going trough innumerable TED video was inevitable. After half an hour, I was tempted at the word 'happiness'- I mean, it is banal, but provocative topic for everyone. The title read: "Less Stuff, More happiness."


     The moment I saw it, a book named 'Non-possession' popped into my mind. The author Bubjung, who is a benign monk, carries on a ascetic life of possessing nothing, and he wrote about the happiness of it. It was extolled by many people, and I was one of them. the authentic truth and strong will inhered in the small white book. It was full of philanthropy, which became a consolation for the exhausted people. I expected similar contents with the video.


     Frankly speaking, I was thoroughly disappointed. It was nothing like the book. It did not contain any prodigious meanings of life. In short, the main theme was "Say No to Squandering." Graham Hill, the speaker, provincially narrowed the meaning of 'Less Stuff' down to less consumption and less space. It did not contain any enlightenment I hoped for, so I was about to preclude the video from my sight. At that moment, it suddenly occurred to me that I don't necessarily have to like the video; it might be more fruitful to denounce something prudently. I decided to write a review on "Less Stuff, More happiness."


     After I got out of the influence of 'Non-possession', I was able to keep an objective view, and I found the video articulate and quite pragmatic. He suggests three ways to conserve stuff- in his words, 'Life Editing'. He asserted, in a temperate way, that we should 'edit ruthlessly', 'think 'small', and 'make multifunctional.'Hill gave some precise examples: a moving wall that can be a guest bed, a wide desk, or even a movie theater. We could use some of the ideas.

    The problem is, his actual assertion that less might equal more is not really lucid. After I watched the video for the first time, I couldn't make out what he was saying except for that novel moving wall. I think he should have more focused on why less stuff leads to more freedom or more time, not why more stuff leads to credit card debt or huge environmental footprints.


    Overall, it was not flagrant. There were some obscure points in his talking, but he acutely pointed out today's fallacious dissipation and even gave some realistic solutions. With some self-reflection, I think the video has potential get much, much better.

Strange Reading

  

         This is new.

           I read many novels and miscellanies; most of them were not hard to understand. But this, this is new- Rainer Maria Rilke’s ‘Breife en einen jungen Dutcher(Letters to a Young Poet).’

           Okay. Maybe I’m just 17. There’s a lot I haven’t experienced. Still, I read many books. I thought I can at least understand what others tell me. Apparently, that was a serious misconception.

           Just to let you know, ‘understanding’ does not just mean recognizing the lexical meaning of each word and sentence. One has to truly understand the author’s purpose and thoughts. I couldn’t. I was merely reading the words and pronouncing it in the head. Even if I went back and try to concentrate, I couldn’t. Even when I read it thoroughly and finally understand the meaning of the sentence, I could feel nothing, nothing. Utterly surprising really, if I think about how much I was look forward to read this book and the overwhelming happiness I felt when I read the first few letters.

           So I wondered: why?

           I even presented another copy of the book as a gift for my friend’s birthday, speaking very highly of it. Now, I still haven’t finished the book. As I try to read the letters, I can feel it: normally, I would have loved this book. The words are carefully crafted, and the writer has extreme sensitivity and unique perspective that let us readers to be grateful for who we are. I was happy to enjoy such privilege until somehow I became strange.

           And I wondered again: why?

           I tried reading different books then, careful not to read literary works- I don’t want to get mixed up. I chose a nonfiction book about Korean democracy. I haven’t finished it yet, it was very interesting, which means that with other books, I’m just fine! I had no idea what to do. 

Expelled : No Intelligence Allowed (Review)

Last Sunday, at the church, I was very tired. I could tell, I would definitely doze off if the minister started a sermon. Instead, he turned on a video, warning it would be an academic and scholarly one. Yeah, it was, but the provoking content was more than enough to keep me awake. Actually, I was furious.

           "Freedom to follow the evidence, wherever it leads.”

           Sure thing, isn’t it? What else a scientist should follow, then? Surprisingly, though, this natural claim is not protected in current academic world.

           This is the Era of Darwin. Anyone who disagree the evolution theory is literally ostracized from the academic world. There is a theory called ‘intellectual design’- a theory that says the world is not just made out of mud and lightening, not by a coincidence, but that it is a product of a higher intelligence. Seemed highly unlikely to me, since I’m not a devout Christian, but what people believe is up to them: it is not a matter other people can interfere with. However, scientists who mention that theory are losing their jobs and being denied publications, even the ones of high reputations.

           As I watched this movie, what I felt was- more than skepticism of the evolution theory itself, as the minister intended- skepticism of my blind trust for science. I have already learned that science is not always right and that the most fundamental basis for all scientific theories can be completely wrong, like Aristotle or Newton. Just because I learned in textbooks, though, I forgot to question the theory. I accepted it by heart.

           For an example of a wrong scientific hypothesis, there is global warming. Once in science class, our teacher told us that global warming is not a fact. It is merely a theory, one that is highly unlikely, actually: he said that the rise of temperature is due to circulation of Sun’s energy, not human’s actions. Still, they are teaching it like a verified fact. Why? -to get advantage, of course! If emission of carbon dioxide is banned by such theories, the developing countries would not be able to develop the industry, thus depending on the already developed countries.

           It was the painful truth. Science is not always true. And even if the scientists know the truth, they don’t always tell the truth. They even block people from free speech. What can I trust, really? 

ME

I wander around like a cat. People believe cats as the most adequate animal for pets, but in reality, cats do not act that loyal to their masters. Cats stay at their owners' houses only because it is the easiest way to get food. If the masters do not provide food, they will simply leave and stray around, just like me. To me, keeping a certain state for a long time is like climbing a mountain of ninety degrees. It doesn't matter what the state is: studying, playing, working, or even being friends with someone. I want change constantly.

   Also, I let myself to be like a whiteboard in an open room. Every now and then, people come in freely and write or draw things with a board marker of different colors- red, bue, or black. Unlike a canvas, though, erasing is pretty easy. You can easily erase things on board, as I forget things easily. But If you think more carefully about it, a whiteboard that has been cared well is left with marks of markers. Some things I dare not touch it, and I leave it as it is until it is stuck on the board.

Lastly, Clown. We are not allowed to express your feelings thoroughly around here. If you tell them you’re hurt whenever you actually are, they’ll see you as a timid and vulnerable person. To get people’s affirmation, you must be smiling, cause they like to be happy with you, all of them do. So I act like a clown in a show and try to keep them interested. Such a coward I am, not able to say things clearly, always putting a smile mask over my face. That is simply the way I live; it is very depressing sometimes, but it is more comfortable for me.

Reading Journal #2 - Metafiction?

Metafiction is 'frame structure' in Korean

-story within a story!

           At first, when some strange guy named Chico appeared abruptly in bold letters, I could not understand why. Why does he pop up all of sudden? What does this story mean? I even asked the friends about the meaning of the story because it was frustrating to not know the purpose of what I’m reading. They merely told me to keep on and I would know the answer, but I simply did not want to keep on reading! I decided I will read it some other time, and that state went on for quite a period of time. I admit, I’m a little bit picky in reading. 

        The next minute, I realized I would get in trouble if I put the reading off any longer. I opened the book reluctantly. It was still hard to focus, but as I continued on, I got the point. It was a kind of reflective story of Gordon- the narrator. It was exciting to see the pages left of the story decreasing, too. Then I finished it. It was when I read the part about Gordon dismissing the essay to a typical product of an undergraduate creative writing workshop. So it was the story Gordon wrote! It is even mentioned that Gordon did not show this story to his parents unlike everything else since it contains too much of his dead brother Dennis and ‘most of all, too much 1960s.’ The story, as a whole, was straight from own experiences.

         Surprisingly, it was pretty much interesting when I thought it over. What is his ultimate purpose of putting that story in, also keeping in mind that Gordon- and furthermore, Chico- is very similar to Stephen King himself in many ways? We used this tactic called metafiction- the method of literature which the narrator tells the authors that the story is fake- in class as well. Firstly, I wanted to know bit more about metafiction, not just the definition, so I looked it up on the internet. It said: ‘the metafiction novel gains significance beyond its fictional realms by outwardly projecting its inner self-reflective tendencies.’ Simply put, it becomes real by not pretending to be real. In the story ‘Stud City’, it becomes more reflective of the writer-in-book Gordon by stating that it is only a fiction. I don’t think I completely understand what his intends were, though; I guess I will read it again, this time more carefully and enjoyably.

Reading Journal #1

           The book this time is ‘Shawshank Redemption’ by Stephen King. Unlike my first impression of the book- that it would be a boring horror story- I truly enjoyed reading it. I wondered why; the story is certainly not the type I read usually. I thought, maybe, if I analyze the story, my writing could become more interesting as well. Fun! That is the most important thing in stories.

           First is hope. It seems to me that Stephen King keeps faith in humans that even from the darkest nights, people have the potential to rise again. The author’s writing style is pretty unique; the narrator is not Andy, the main character who breaks out of Shawshank, but Red, an Irish man ‘institutionalized’ by the prison. Red is not the kind of guy who gallops around trying to help people. Instead, he is a dangerous criminal who murdered his wife for money. The man stayed in prison for 20 years and adapted to the environment too well that it is even frightening for him to go to the ‘outside’ world. So why did Stephen King make this man as the narrator? It is to examine his changes first-hand. Red is telling the story from the future, so he already knows that Andy escaped. That makes the reading really enjoyable, since it constantly gives out hopeful messages. The intensity of Red being fond of Andy makes me smile. Suddenly, I get to find myself wondering desperately when and how, for god’s sake, Andy will escape.

           Moreover, Stephen King uses some skilled tactics. For one thing, the story is in the format of so-called ‘Hero’s Journey.’ It is a cliché structure really, but effective too. Many of the famous movies and novels follow its stages, such as the ordinary world, call to the adventure, meeting of the mentor, the ordeal, the resurrection, and so on. I guess such popularity of Hero’s Journey is because everyone has some desire to be the hero. It is very easy to get 동화 with the main character; as people read, they become to feel the same thing as the main character. Nobody wants to be so melancholy while reading the book.