Looking Back

A year has already passed. I still remember the first time I came here, Cheshire Academy. It is still clear and feels like it is still in front of my eyes. Full of new things and strangenesses were welcoming me. This was my first year in Cheshire Academy as well as US, so I had to fill myself up with those new things and strangenesses. I knew that I was going to struggle.

Actually, it was much tougher than I thought. Everything seemed so hard and felt like nothing was helping me, and I felt like I was left alone. English class was one of the hardest things that I had hard times. However, because it was hard, I think I had a lot to learn. In this class, I had chance to read english literatures and poems I couldn't read if I didn't come here. Not only I read them but also I had chance to debate in depth with my classmates. I was not used to doing that thing, so that was the major cause of my struggling in English class. I had nothing to speak. I tried to speak something but I had no idea what was I speaking. However, at least now I know this is American style English class which has many discussions and self-thinkings. In addition, because my teacher, Ms. Guarino, was in charge of Drama, I had an opportunity to be involved in drama for winter and watch two other productions. I could approach to english in various ways, so it was great experience. 

I think I need to work on reading a lot. No matter what kind of the passage or book is, I need to read a lot because my basic english reading skill is not strong and very slow. It usually took more than a hour to read like three chapters in a book to me. If I keep reading and reading, I think it would help a lot in terms of reading skill itself, vocabulary and grammar. For next year, I have to improve my understanding and analyzing skill to prepare for the time when my class is reading a novel or fiction that requires a high level analysis.

My favorite book was Me and You. That was really interesting book. Drug addict sister, a child who has a secret story, and the depressed atmosphere were so unusual to me, and they attracted me. Also the book was easy to read and the story went to the past and went back to the present again, which was very interesting. The book that I read recently called We were Liars was fun too. It was similar to Me and You because both of them are about secret story of the families and mystery genre. 


As I said above, I just want to read as many books I can in this summer. However, if I have to choose one that I want to read, I would like to read some books about politics. I like to read social science books, but I don't know why, I don't like politics. Therefore I didn't read the books about politics so I don't have that much information about politics in my head. Also most importantly, I know it will help me a lot in the future. 

Hairspray

I just came back from the production of Hairspray which was held in the theater that was about 20 minutes away from our school. I have never seen this show before, and all I knew about the show was , it is about a chubby girl who is really good at dancing and singing. After I watched this show, I now know the whole plot, which is that she wants to be famous and eventually she gets the chance to audition for her favorite TV show. She is rejected at first because of her appearance which is not attractive at all, but she is watched by Link who is one of the major character in the TV show and she gets in to the show and becomes famous. This show takes place in 1960s in Baltimore, so the characters were wearing little bit old fashioned and loose fit clothes, and their hairstyle was very styled neatly with a hairspray.

I liked the first song that was sung by Tracy who is the main character, and the song that was sung by Seaweed who helped Tracy to be confident. The all players were so good and awesome. The sub characters' harmony was perfect and they did an excellent backing up for the main singers. I wish our drama team could make the perfect harmony just like them. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of me and didn't bring the pamphlet to prove that I was there... Therefore for now, I will just upload the official poster of Hairspray musical.

Bone Chiller! : Scary but Funny

Bone Chiller! is mystery and thriller as well as comedy play that was played by our honorable varsity players. They did such a great job. I couldn't find any big mistake or flaw. When I came into the Black Box Theater to watch this show, it made me think of this winder season. I was in winter musical and was practicing really hard as one of the actors. I was looking at the stage setting and realized that this place can be changed into completely different place. I was surprised that I couldn't see or feel any trace of Spelling Bee except for some of the actors who were also doing winter drama with me.

This show was about the mysterious death of a rich guy (I don't remember the name of him) who has a large amount of heritage, and about his will that is in a puzzle form called "rebus" which is a kind of puzzle that is consisted of letters and pictures. Around 10 people gather together to find the killer and get the money. On the will, the guy said he will give all his money to the person who can decode the secret message.


Bone Chiller!, just like its title, actually chilled my bone in some scenes. Sudden light out which was the part of this show, Pippi's sudden screaming (played by Madeline Lanni) was terrifying and the scene that Lucretia (played by Dilyara Kuanysheva) hanged herself was also bone chilling. Some parts of the rebus were hard to understand but I think that was fine to follow the whole plot. I could at least see their progress on solving it and getting closer to the killer who killed the rich guy and the butler (played by Grace Greene). Although this show is classified mostly as mystery and thriller, it was funny too. A lot of characters' distinct characteristics were so funny. Especially Flame (played by Lexi Williamson) was funny. She was wearing a fancy and tight dress and put the wig on her head. The funniest thing was when she said "I teach kindergarten." And with Buzzy (played by Jack Palmer) who is a pediatrician, when they were talking about children stuff which was pretty similar.

My favorite character was the gypsy (played by Julia Rafferty). As we learned in the class before we saw the show, our teacher said that she will use Russian accent which sounds kinda weird and stiff, and because she is a gypsy, she had a special power which was highly unrealistic. Anyhow, she used that magical skill to Addie (played by Sam Weed) and put all the bullets out from Dan (played by Nadya Ponthempilly)'s gun to save everyone. It led to the ending scene which was happy. When Lucretia came back alive, people were shocked. In fact, she wasn't dead, but Buzzy, just said she is dead so the killer cannot think about kill her again. She hit (killed?) Dan's head with pan, and everything went peaceful. I loved it haha. Once again, you guys did a great job players!

In-class writing

In my opinion, three liars in summer 17 who didn't actually exist but were visible only to Cadence were the illusion that Cadence saw. The feeling of guilt and sadness from the loss of friends made Cadence see them. She had a really hard times struggling with those feelings, and maybe that damaged her mental system which helps human to memorize and behave normally. She didn't have the memories that she didn't want to remember, and saw the illusion she wanted to see.
At first, I thought they were the ghost because of my asian-like idea. The reason why I thought they were the ghosts was because of the grudge they had on Cadence who can possibly be regarded as a killer of three. However, when I thought about it again, I found it was way too unreliable and unrealistic.

Full of Unexpected Events

We were Liars was the book our English class has read for a month and eventually we finished reading it. Although I didn't read it carefully because of the schedule conflicts and making up quizzes, this book was fun to read. Especially it was fun to predict the next story. I remember the class time when our classmates talked about their opinion about the ending and their prediction. The ending of this book was extremely tragic and unpredictable, our discussion was longer than usual discussion I guess. Nonetheless one of our classmates actually succeed to predict, which was pretty impressive and even made our teacher shocked. Anyway, I liked the novel. 

The process of choosing this book was completely different from any other books we have read so far. To celebrate our last marking period as well as the end of the school year, we accepted the suggestion system and voting system which were very respectful and democratic. The book that was chosen is called We were Liars which looked like it has some similar parts to the previous book Me and You according to the description of the book that was on the book website. 

I expected kind of different ending. I didn't think it would be happy ending though but I thought Cadence was really injured and three of other liars were bullying her. Three other liars were pretending to be her friend by agreeing in front of her and talking in favorable way. However in fact they made the accident on purpose to harm Cadence. I didn't know that the ending will be this sad. I think Cadence dropped the fire by mistake and was so shocked so she just got out from the house justifying her action by assuming other liars would already be in meeting place otherwise it is not reasonable to me. I think, also, Cadence will live in suffer of survivor. I don't think the fire accident happened because of her but also every one's stupid, mischief, and thoughtless behavior.
If they thought one more time before they have done it which cannot be rewinded, and if they weren't drunk so they could think normally, would things be different? 

What is revealed?

What is revealed? What did we learn? What new information does Cadence remember? 

Cadence remembers some parts of summer fifteen such as Johnny, Mirren, Gat, and she squashed into that Clairmont swing together. She remembers all four liars gathered and set the fire. She also remembers a piece of accident and Harris's dogs are died. She was plunging down to the bottom, her legs and arms felt numb and cold, and she saw the slices of seaweed as she fell. And she sees the Claremont burns. Honestly, I am not done with reading all twenty chapters after chapter 50, I don't know this well. 

31-40 notes

31- Cadence drags the basket of her possessions to Cuddledown and meets Mirren. Mirren gives her handful of rocks and shouts out that she loves Cadence. Johnny comes and asks about the basket.

32- Gat comes and asks for a hug because he didn't get from her Cadence. He asks her to start over. Cadence agrees.

33- Cadence goes to the lunch at New Clairmont. She notices that Harris's old stuff has gone. Cadence asks Carrie if she found Johnny last night, and Carrie says she doesn't know what is Cadence talking about.

34- Cadence asks Will and Taft about the accident. Taft says that Bonnie saw the drug in her room.

35- Mirren says Bess has been trying to get out of Cuddledown. The Liars talk about Cadence's memory loss. Cadence needs to remember by herself.

36- The Liars play tennis. Gets asks how was Europe to Cadence. She tells about puking into the toilet.

37- Cadence remembers a part of summer 15. Everyone was having a dinner and was arguing about renovation. Cadence isn't sure what has changed.

38- The Liars talk about a motto. Cadence's is "always do what you are afraid to do" which she shouldn't.

39- Cadence kisses Gat because that's what she's afraid of. He asks if she has read the book Wuthering Heights. He tells about Harris's view that he would never be enough to Cadence.

40- Another fairy tale about the three daughters and a king. If you want to be around people who aren't afraid of mice, you can't live in palace.

16-25

Cadence tells the story that she wrote when she was eight years old, which is about three princesses.
She also gives away her possessions. She talks about her lost memories. Although her mom is telling her, but she can't remember it. Her cousin Taft calls just before she arrives to tell her that Cuddletown, one of the houses on the island, is haunted, and to ask if Cadence is a drug addict. Carrie Meets Penny and Cadence in the port town of Woods Hole, and they get on the boat to Beechwood. She sees the liars.

10 vocabs

1. embroidered : to sew a design on a piece of cloth
2. taxidermy : the skill, activity, or job of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of dead animals so that they look like they did when they were alive
3. bustle : to move or go in busy or hurried way
4. oblivious : not conscious or aware of someone or something
5. wrangling : to argue angrily with someone
6. villainous : very bad or evil
7. recuperate : to return to normal health or strength after being sick, injured, etc
8. ooze : to flow out slowly
9. liquefied : to cause to become liquid
10. vile : evil or immoral

Quiz Questions

Fact Questions
1. What is the name of the kid of Ed and Carrie?


2. How many buildings in Beechwood Island?


3. Which college did Harris go? When did he graduate?


4. What is Ed's job?


5. Who are "The Liars"? And who are the littles?


Thinking Questions
1. Do you think Cadence and her parents love each other?

2. What do you think would happen between Cadence and Gat? If Gat was in higher class?

3. Do you think the grandparents know their daughters are lying?

The Mysterious Family

The book We were Liars is a modern novel which is about a loyal family named "Sinclair". Sinclair family is old-money family, has very complicated story, and moves in the Beechwood Island every summer which is their private island. The story and the mysteries are starting in there. This interesting book was written by E. Lockhart whose real name is Emily Jenkins. She is an American writer of young-adult novels and adult fiction. According to my self research of this book, this book is very popular, so it has its own website which is all about this book, and has been on a lot of articles about the bestseller. I've read up to chapter 5 which is around 15 pages. They are not many pages, but there was so much information and many characters and relations to get.
Sinclair family, who has blond, tall, athletic, and beautiful features in their genes, has grandfather Harris who has a large business which helped him to build up such a honorable family who has more than enough fortune and expectations to inherit, and grandmother Tipper who has very high family pride about their family because she didn't seem to like Ed due to his non-Sinclair looking. And there are their three daughters Penny, Carrie, and Bess. Penny has a child Cadence, Carrie has two children Johnny and Will, and Bess has four children Mirren, Taft, and the little twin Liberty and Bonnie. Cadence is the main narrator in this book. She is eighteen years old and used to be an authentic looking Sinclair family member. She is telling the story of her family by using flashback.   There is a group called as "The Liars". It has members who are Cadence, Mirren, Johnny, and Gat. Johnny is bounce, effort, and snark, and Mirren is sugar, curiosity, and rain. Sinclair family has high self-esteem and identity, so they hate people who don't meet up their inherent characteristics.
The setting of the book is in present time. Also all the things are happening in Beechwood Island. By reading only five of short chapters, I could get Cadence and Gat are falling in love, and that love is going to make some troubles or leading to something unpleasant situation. Sinclair family has their own strict rules; they have to always smile even if there is unfavorable situation, even if there is hard struggling going on. "No one is criminal. No one is an addict. No one is a failure. No on is needy. No one is wrong." They are saying as if they are truly perfect family. Maybe in my opinion, their statements would be revealed as a false just like the title We were Liars, and the competition between three greedy daughters to get more heritage from their parents would ruin their family. As all the things that I know are less than one-twentieth, I am looking forward to get to know the mysteries in that family and the progress of the story as well as the ending.

Reaction

I think the ending of this book is not bad, but personally I would prefer happy ending. I didn't expect the happy ending though because the main atmosphere of this book naturally led me to predict that it would be such a sad ending; maybe Olivia dies or whatever. However, honestly this ending is not bad, or it is good. As we were expecting Lorenzo's personal growth, this ending was perfect because he accomplished it. Also, it could be interpreted as many ways, which is open-ended. Someone mentioned the comparison between 'Pobby and Dingan' and this book, and because of the ending, these books could be similar. Both book's girls are died and boys learn something.

Summary of Chapter 8,9

In Chapter 8, Lorenzo goes to Grandma’s hospital trying not to get caught by nurses. In hospital, there are many different patients. Room 103, he finally meets his Grandma. He tells her a story about cleaning robot K19 as she asked for it. At the end of the story, he comes up with another ending. Grandma likes the story, and he runs away from there.

In Chapter 9, Lorenzo tries to get back to his cellar without getting caught by anyone especially Silver Monkey. He is swishing his broom. As other people ,such as Mr. Caccia and Nihal, start to come down and chat with him, Lorenzo gets the chance. Eventually when he gets back to his cellar, Olivia is lying on his bed. She is dead. Lorenzo is shocked, and suddenly can’t do anything normally. However, she moves her arm. Lorenzo shakes her and picks her up off the bed. She begins to speak. She is alive. 

Haiku Poems

Hungry

I was so hungry
I needed something to eat
You gave me your love

Someday

I always know that
Someday, again, we will meet
We have to just wait

3 Thinking Questions

Why does Lorenzo want to be looked as a tough boy?

What would you do if Olivia asked you to stay longer?

Are you going to take her to the hospital or not? 

Lorenzo's sister

Olivia, Lorenzo's half-sister in this book, looks interesting character like Lorenzo. She has the same name as one of my classmates too. I think she is a strong-minded(?) and man-like(?) person. (I don't know there is specific word that can explain it.) She calls Lorenzo first without contacting him for several years which requires pretty much courage to do because they are not actual brother and sister but half-related. In addition, she comes into Lorenzo's place by unlocking the door all by herself. She, and then, asks for help, which sounds more like compelling and does swear. I can say she is pretty funny and impish because when she tries to convince Lorenzo to make him let her in, she is being childish and screaming loudly so that the whole apartment can listen.

Plot Twist in Chapter 5

It think the biggest event is happening in Chapter 5. A new character Olivia, Lorenzo's half-sister, appears. Early of the chapter, a phone call starts to ring, and Lorenzo thinks it is mom so he picks up the phone with anger. However it is actually Olivia, his half-sister. Lorenzo, again, thinks it is a trap set by his mom so he tries to keep his real information from her. Surprisingly, she asks him not to tell about the phone call with her. The big thing finally happens when Lorenzo takes a nap. Someone is fiddling with the lock on the door. And Lorenzo, with feared, hides. Someone comes in his cellar and he is found pretty easily by someone. The identity of someone is revealed as Olivia. She doesn't seem like caring much about why Lorenzo is staying here. She is here for the box which seems pretty important to her. After she finds the box, she gets out of the cellar. In the night, she comes back again asking can you do me a favor; let her stay for a while.

In-Class writing

The incident that Lorenzo and his mom underwent was pretty strange. They were driving with listening the music called "Ancora tu", which Lorenzo started to hate later. Suddenly, the yellow Smart car bumped into their BMW, and the guy came out from the yellow car started to cry with kneel down looking at the mirror on the ground. He didn't say any words but just cry. Lorenzo's mom, however, said honestly it was his fault to make an accident. All the people around them stopped to watch what was happening. Then the guy harshly said cursing words to Lorenzo's mom, and Lorenzo began to feel angry and very uncomfortable after he heard that words and every one was looking the accident. Also, the woman in the yellow car contributed to make Lorenzo angry by saying something that was blaming his mother. Nevertheless, an invisible power was holding Lorenzo to make him unable to move. He couldn't undo his seatbelt. Eventually, Lorenzo fainted. 

This incident truly shows Lorenzo has some problem with controlling his anger. I didn't mention it but there is a line "I had to kill him" said by Lorenzo. He got so much angry feeling from the owner of the yellow smart car, and the people around him made his feeling even worse and emotional. He felt like he was going to faint. In addition, I don't know why but he wasn't able to literally "move", which made him feel bad as well as can't breath, so it might show that his serious mental problem or trauma that he had. 

Therefore, the song "Ancora tu" is despised by Lorenzo because every time when Lorenzo listens to that song, it reminds him of the incident which he had a lot of painful moments. 

Summary chapter 3

His weekend in the cellar seems pretty fun to him. He read a book, played games, and slept a little. In the night, he got a phone call from his mom and he lied that he is at pizza place, and there is only he and friends, no parents. He was worried a little. 

Do you like Lorenzo as a character or not and why?

I pretty much like him as a character. His personality is not that likable, so personally I don't like him as a person, but in this book, he is fine and interesting character. He is a teenager boy who is going to high school. At that age, usually guys like to hang out with friends and make a trouble in school. That is pretty much normal at that age. However, Lorenzo doesn't. He puts himself in his own restriction and acts like an outsider. He thinks others are very childish and stupid in bad way. Also he sees them badly and he regards himself as a mature and very different person. Therefore, sadly he doesn't have friends. He sometimes afraid about it but most of the time, he doesn't care. However, his parents want him to make a friend like normal kid, so he does "camouflaging". When his classmates try to be a friend with him or talk to him, at first he seems okay because he pretends to be an ordinary boy in front of them, but sometimes he is frightening by doing strange and violant things such as throwing things and shouting, and I'm not sure but his mind is refusing to make friend maybe so he goes up to his grandmother's house when he has to be in his friend's house to play, and eventually he isolates himself from his friends, and try to stay alone at the basement in Chapter 1. 

Me and You

I started reading Me and You, and I think it is okay in terms of fun. Chapter 1 was about a cute defiance of the young main character Lorenzo. He lied to his mom that he is going to skiing for a weekend but actually had another secret plan. Well, it might be not cute at some point. Anyway I think this book is fine so far.

My Top 3 Choices

1. We were liars
2. If I stay
3. Fault in our stars

The Funniest Spelling Bee Ever!

3 months of long journey has been done by today, 28 February. Preparation time was extremely long and intense that we almost had at least 3 hours a day and 8 hours at maximum during the weekends. As the winter afternoon activity, for some reason, I chose drama (musical). At first, I felt so awkward because everything was really strange and unfamiliar. However, as all the members were practicing together for a long time and getting to know each other, I felt much more comfortable at myself as well as musical. Especially, the harmony that we made together and cooperation with pit band and dancers were truly amazing experience. Even I, who have never done any sort of acting or drama program, had really fun. Everything was new to me and I gained a lot. I might do drama again if I have a chance to do. Although I worked as a part of the production, I think this show was awesome in perspective of an audience. The six spellers, two announcers, audience volunteers, and other casts made me laugh so much. Unexpected situations were exciting always! I made crack sound which I never made during rehearsal. I heard that all the pit band member giggled when they heard my mistake. It was embarrassing but funny at the same time.
My funniest experience during the show was Mr. Porter's laughing. He literary laughed all the time loudly and that made me laugh along him although I was in the show as an actor. After the act 1, everybody talked about Mr. Porter's laughing. It was really funny that makes me still smile when I think about it.

My favorite character of this show is "Vice Principal" Panch from Lake Hemingway-Dos Passos Junior High. Even his school name is so funny; it is really long. His lines are truly the funniest thing in this show and one of the biggest reasons why you have to watch this show. To excerpt some of his lines, "Mexican, A resident of Mexico. Or an American slang term for anybody from Puerto Rico, The Dominican Republic, South America or Spain. Potato Chips: The Mexican lettuce." and "Vice Principal Panch! Vice Principal! They won't let me be principal!!!" These lines are not enough to entirely explain how much he is funny in this show but s
till they makes me laugh a lot.
I had two roles. One was Leaf's dad who is just sitting on the chair for the whole act 1 and speaks nothing. And the other was Olive's dad. I had to sing one family song. I've never sung with girls seriously before so it was really awesome and honorable haha. The song is called "The I love you song" which has indian kind melody but has beautiful harmony parts, so it was many people's favorite song. I got a lot of compliments with that song too. Winter Drama was nice and cool experience to me and helped a lot in terms of my musical career and life. Thank You!

5 Books

The Road - The profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.

We were liars - 

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.
 
We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author, National Book Award finalist, and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart. 
Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Divergent - One choice can transform you. Beatrice Prior's society is divided into five factions—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Beatrice must choose between staying with her Abnegation family and transferring factions. Her choice will shock her community and herself. But the newly christened Tris also has a secret, one she's determined to keep hidden, because in this world, what makes you different makes you dangerous.

All the lights we cannot see - Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

If I stay - In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Research!

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a comedy musical written by Rebecca Feldman and music by William Finn. This show is based on the American academic competition "Spelling Bee". It  is a competition in which contestants are asked to spell a broad selection of words, usually with the varying degree of difficulty. In this show, the words that the spellers have to spell are extremely hard, even harder than the SAT words, which makes this show really funny. Spellers may ask a definition of the word or use in a sentence or the origin of the word. 
The main characters are Olive, Marcy, Leaf, William, Logainne, Chip as the spellers. And for the announcers and adult characters, there are Rona, Panch, Mitch (Mitch is played as Mitchell in Cheshire Academy production, as our school has a lot of women players). Every character has distinct characteristic; such as, Olive is very shy and doesn't speak out loud her voice, Marcy is smart and looks like "all business", Leaf is very loud, funny and active, William has Mucous membrane disorder and allergic to peanut so he can't go near the peanuts, Logainne has really passionate fathers and has a tongue problem(?) that makes him cannot speak "s" pronunciation, and Chip is very confident and active boy who was the winner of the last year. Each of them makes the audiences laugh in different ways. 
The big part of this show is the interaction with the audiences. They nominate several audiences to the stage and make them spell the word. Announcers in the show observe that audiences and make a joke or improvise a hilarious line. 
This show was on the Broadway which is the center of the musical place. Also, it won a lot of awards and is nominated to remarkable musical awards in this world. 

Haiku Quiz

1. Total of 3 lines and 5,7,5 syllables in each line

2. Japan

3.            Sweet scented ______blossom________

Confetti __sent___________ from heaven

With a ____gentle_______ breeze

               Spring ____turns____ winter’s tide

Nature comes ___quickly_______ alive

Bees ____buzz______, hope for brides

4. Bright sunshine comes down

    Tulip blossoms with pleasant

    Season has arrived

    No more cloudy fields

    Let there be only cool feels

    Lighthearted fellows

    

    

5. Rhyme

If you want to get some pearls...

Have you ever been challenging yourself? Put yourself in a tough environment, and try to deal with everything by yourself? Here is the story about a girl who did exactly same things to herself. Gathering of Pearls, written by Korean author Sook Nyul Choi, is the last part of the trilogy novel that is about a girl who came to America to study in America college. Her name is Sookan which is quite similar with author’s name, and it provides evidence that this book is probably based on its author’s experience, as both of them have similar background: both of them are girl, Korean, came to US to study.

On the cover of this book, a girl who is sitting on the ground seeming like a little bit uncomfortably is picking up some pearls. As soon as you start reading this book, you would easily figure out the girl was Sookan, so the only inquiry that is not yet solved is what are those pearls meaning. And the answer of that inquiry would be in your mind if you read through the whole book. Pearls, the valuable and admirable gem that Sookan tries to gather and not lose on the cover, represent her valuable achievements in America and her relationships with her family and friends after having some tough times just like a reward of a difficult mission. Also, the blossomed flower around the main picture of her means indirectly that Sookan would blossom like a flower.

In this book, Sookan struggles between being a follower of her sister which is going back to Korea as soon as possible and becoming nun to help her sister, and being Sookan herself which is to keep staying in America and studying. The main reason of her struggling is because she is the only international student as well as the only little sister. She can’t say "yes" because she has sort of responsibility of being the only Korean in her school, and she, as the only little sister of her older sister, she shouldn't disappoint her sister by not doing elder's favor, for in that time period, it was considered as disrespectful and impolite to do so, just like her line in the book “How could I be a good person when I had disappointed my own sister?” (Choi, 53). She eventually chooses to follow her own mind, yet the process is full of pain and hard times. Sometimes she is worried about it all by herself, and sometimes she relies on her friends with receiving some advice. Finally her effort to try not to lose a good relationship with her sister works and she gathers “pearls” as she handles it by herself.

After Sookan comes to US, she experiences a lot of new things which she seldom or never did in Korea. She goes to the party, drinks alcohol, faints, cooks Korean food all by herself, etc… However most of all, in perspective of scholar, she learns a lot such as knowledge, and  about “herself”. She finds her identity. She likes to take a picture and draw, she also finds it is fun to teach children. According to Sookan's mother's line, "Tough times are the times when one gathers one’s pearls” (Choi, 163). Her school life is really challenging because not only she challengs herself by choosing intense courses but also it is her first time in America, so she has been struggling to adjust herself to the unfamiliar circumstances. However, she doesn’t give up and tolerates all the things. When she is tired, she finds someone else to help her, and when she gets stuck, she tries to find breakthrough. After she overcomes all the obstacles and hardships, she is changed completely; she becomes a new person. She is not conforming to others opinion anymore and being subjective to her life.

As Sookan got more pearls, the more she grew up in this book. She found her identity by experiencing and trying a lot. In addtion, she developed relationships between her and people around her after she came to America. All of those experiences made Sookan blossom like a flower in spring. Therefore, if you haven't been challenging yourself, or you think you are living in such boring life that is full of comfort, why don't you try gathering some pearls? That will motivate you to go forward. Don’t worry about the risk you will take and disadvantage you will get. Whatever the result is, and whatever you think, you will get much more valuable things.

Citation:

Choi, Sook Nyul., and Sook Nyul. Choi. Gathering of Pearls. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. Print.

My Poem

The girl walks around
Then she meets a handsome man
They both fall in love

I have a large head

I will keep going ahead 

I'm all-state singer

I hate to study 

I would like to be steady 

With my bae, Julie 

Examples of Haiku Poems

The sky is so blue. 
The sun is so warm up high.
I love the summer.

I really like toast.
It is yummy when it's hot.
I like it best cold.

Beans are kind to hearts.
I like to eat them daily. 

And then do big farts!

Draft

Gathering of Pearls, written by Korean author Sook Nyul Choi, is the last part of the trilogy novel that is about a girl who came to America to study in college. Her name is Sookan which is quite similar with author’s name, and it provides evidence that this book is probably based on its author’s experience, as both of them have similar background.

On the cover of this book, a girl who is sitting on ground kinda uncomfortably is picking up some pearls. As soon as you start reading this book, you would easily figure out the girl was Sookan, so the only inquiry that is not yet solved is what are those pearls meaning. And the answer of that inquiry would be in your mind if you read through the whole book. Pearl, the valuable gem that Sookan tries to gather and not lose on the cover, represents her valuable experiences in America, her relationship with family and friends.

In this book, Sookan has struggling between being follower of her sister which is going back to Korea as soon as possible and becoming nun, and being Sookan herself which keeps staying in America and studying. The main reason of her struggling is because she is the only international student as well as the only little sister. She couldn’t quit her

In this book, Sister Reed gave Sookan the pearl necklace which was very precious and valuable to her. I don’t know how much value a pearl has now; however, I think it has really high value at the time period in this book. Anyway pearl is really valuable thing, and Sookan is gathering it. What I thought is pearl is representing Sookan’s valuable experiences and people. From the time when she came first to America to the end of her freshman year (in this book), she gathered knowledge (learning), gathered friends, teachers, and people (meeting) and became a new person. And according to Sookan’s mother’s words, “Tough times are the times when one gathers one’s pearls”, the pearls are not only just an experience but it is the achievement after putting a lot of effort and struggling. All the pain and sorrow she had taken turned into a great motivation and encouragement to her. 

Epilogue: 5 years after she was gathering her pearls

     Five years later, she is eventually dating with Tom. At first, Sookan was kinda feeling awkward that she is dating with western person, but Tom, who understands Sookan as not only a woman but also Korean, led her well not to be feeling in that way. Furthermore, because Princeton University acknowledged Sookan's academic potential and hard working personality, they accepted her as a honorable full tuition scholarship student. So she decided to go to the graduate school with Tom who also decided to study in Princeton University graduate school. As her mother's expectation, she accepted a new culture and her sister as a person. Her sister let her keep working on her academic achievements and supported life in United States. And her major is art education which is fully based on her interest and passion not the challenging thing that she had hard time to deal with when she was in undergraduate school. She is studying hard to be an elementary school teacher and work at Mr. Bennett's children's school. 
     She is working as a part time job in Princeton University Art Center and earning some pocket money. Well, actually it is much larger amount than pocket money, maybe basket money. Also because she gets a full tuition as a scholarship, she could afford the plane ticket to Korea and visit there at least twice in a year. She meets her longing old friends from high school and college. She does volunteer activity for her sister too. She comforts people who need help because of mental illness or disorder, and she teaches English for children too. Her sister is very happy that she is coming back for a break and does her favor while she is staying. 
      Ellen got married to Kyle and got one year old baby. He is a boy and looks more like Ellen. Although she became a mother relatively young age, which could be bothering and restricting her behavior, but she loves herself as a mother and is proud of it. They and Sookan's couple usually hang out together and have a meal with talking about lots of memories. They can meet up easily, for they are living near to each other; Ellen and Kyle live in Trenton, and Ellen and Tom live in Princeton. 
       Marci had a really big argument with her parents a year ago right after she graduated the college; she graduated with chemistry scholar degree very unwillingly because of her parents strict forcing. However she convinced her parents that she wanted to major literature. After a long and long process, she is working on her master's degree as a English literature in Amherst University. Marci and Sookan apart far away from each other they send a letter to keep in touch, and they promised to travel together to Greece during the spring break. 
       Sookan and people around her live very well. All of them are doing what they want and working best as they can. Her life in America seems to last forever I guess.
     

Should I gather some pearls?

Gathering of Pearls is interesting book at least to me. It was written by Korean author Sook Nyul Choi who came to US to study in college and then immigrated to US. It talks about the story of a girl who decided to leave Korea and study in US. Her name is Sookan which is pretty similar with its author's name. I could reckon from it that this book was written based on the author herself's american life and experiences. And with it, she wanted to share what she thinks about it with her american friends or whoever interests in. According to the site that our instructor posted on her blog, this book Gathering of Pearls is the last novel in Sook Nyul Choi's trilogy of a Korean girl. I was surprised that there are two more books that are talking about earlier life of Sookan, so I thought if I have chance next time, I might try to read those books too. Even though we have done with half of this book, I can say this book was the only book that I was willing to read among the books that our class have read so far.

This book has a lot of points that I could empathize on. That is the biggest and the most important reason that made me keep reading this book. It is always interesting and it kinda makes me laugh when I see someone is doing or having exactly same as what I did or had. And while I was reading this book I felt that feeling. Sookan's experiences as an international student in american school are pretty much same as what I am experiencing now. Her fist step on this continent reminded me of the first time I came to this unfamiliar country, and her hardships and confusions especially with language and culture also reminded me of my hardships. And the fact that she was from Korea just like me reinforced those feelings. I was into this book, which I haven't felt for a long time. To be more specific with some examples, when she got a letter from her mother and her sister, I became kinda melancholy and sentimental because I started to think about the letters from my friends before and after I came to this place. I still have those in my room because those are one of the most important and precious things throughout my whole life. Also about her challenging courses, her principle was kinda similar with me so I was nodding my head while reading this book.

At the beginning of this post, I said "this book is interesting book at least to me." But I am pretty sure it will be interesting for all the international students. Once you start to read it, this book turn into an interesting book at least to them. They would be able to fully empathize on the book, connect with their experiences, and get some advices from it. Therefore I would like to recommend this book.

Study Guide 6-12

Gathering of Pearls Study Guide: Chapters 6-12

Chapter 6
1. Reflect on the letter that Sookan receives from her sister. Describe the conflict between the two women. Also discuss the internal conflict (with herself) that Sookan has. Why is this important to the novel and to Sookan’s identity?
Sookan has her own busy schedule but her sister wants she to write her a journal about her life in America which takes pretty much time to do. Because of this Sookan had inner conflict that was between as a student and a sister. This is kinda showing culture in Korea so it is important in this book.

Chapter 7
1. What does Ellen think is important in college (and in life)?

She thinks enjoying life is important.
2. How does her friendship with Ellen make Sookan reconsider her future?

Ellen tells her own perspective about life which is pretty convincing and Sookan is kinda affected at it and she starts thinking about her future.

3. Do you think that Sookan is right to listen to Ellen or should she follow the model of her sister instead?
In my opinion, she should listen to Ellen. I think it is important too. And as Ellen said, she can do everything she wants after she gets married.

Chapter 8
1. Why does Sookan get in trouble and receive demerits in Ch. 8?

Because she missed afternoon attendance.
2. Do you think she made the right decision in sneaking out?

I think she made the right decision. Keeping touch with family is necessary.

3. What is the letter that she writes about?

It was about the things that she was amazed about after she came over to US.

4. How do you think her sister will react to this letter?

Probably her sister will be satisfied with it. She wanted to know about how Sookan is living, and Sookan gave her what she wanted to know.

Chapter 9
1. Thanksgiving with Ellen’s family is both good and bad for Sookan. Why? Give at least two reasons for each.

She had fun time with Ellen’s family and by putting hanbok on to Ellen, she could show what’s Korean traditional clothes. Also she got the nice and thoughtful present from Mrs. Lloyd. On the other hand, she started to worry about her sister because Sookan thought she disappointed her sister. She also was embarrassed because she made Mrs. Lloyd worried about her.

Chapter 10
1. What is Sookan’s secret study spot?
Bathtub in the corner of the shower room that is at the end of the hallway and the lights were kept on all night.

2. What happened to her while she was studying for her final exam?
She fainted because of exhaustion.

3. What are Sister Reed’s instructions for Sookan over winter break?
Sister Reed let Sookan leave to Marci's house for winter vacation and maybe Ellen, Marci, and Sookan could get together under one condition which was not to take any book with her and when she returns, discuss about her schedule.

Chapter 11
1. Compare the two letters from home: how is the one from her mother different from the one from her sister? What does this show about these two women and their different viewpoints about life and about Sookan?

The letter from her mother was worried and caring about Sookan. Her mother was missing her and gave Sookan some news of family. However her sister’s letter had strict and strong message and advice. Her sister focused on being the only Korean in school and Sookan’s life.

Chapter 12
1. What food does Sookan prepare for her guests?
She made bulgogi, salad, and white rice which are typical Korean food.

2. What do Marci and Ellen add to the celebration?
Marci helped Sookan to prepare for dinner and made the brownies. And Ellen brought the Christmas butter cookies and set the table.

3. Who joins them?
Marci, Ellen, Kyle, Sister Casey, Sister Reed, and Bennett's family joined.

4. Why do you think this gathering is so important to Sookan?

That was the great opportunity to thank them for being a good people around her.

Questions

1. How do you think about her refusion at class officer election?

2. Does she have to be that hardworking student? 

Letter to Sister

Dear my sister

Hello my sister, this is Sookan.
I want to say sorry first about the journal you asked for me.
And I know you are little bit dissapointed with me.
However, I've been really busy these days so I had no chance to start it yet.
Of course, I will write and sent it to you when my schedule gets looser.
I want to join in your rewarding and worthy work.
I hope you to understand me.

Love you always,
Sookan

There Is Always Exception

There were so many Korean movies that I wanted to watch, however because I stayed in New York, I had no chance to watch those. Instead, I watched really interesting non-Korean movies. And I'm going to write a brief review about one of them.

The movie that is chosen to be written called "Minority Report" directed by Steven Spielberg who is super famous movie director and producer of a lot of blockbuster movies. Among his pieces, this movie is SF movie which is his best part and that is why I watched this movie. I am not a big fan of SF movie but actually this movie was really interesting and fun to watch. It is not only technically well made that has a lot of things to watch but also quite instructive.

The story occurs in such a far future from now, 2054 in Washington DC. At that time, there is the system called "Pre-Crime" which is used for foreseeing a future homicide so that they can prevent it before it happens. Thanks to that system, Washington DC gets zero percent on crime rate. And the protagonist whose name is John (Tom Cruise), is working as a cop who is in charge of arresting criminal based on the fact from pre-crime system. One day, John's name is predicted as a criminal, and he becomes a fugitive. While he tries to run away, he finds some outrageous facts. 


Visually, handsome actor Tom Cruise is a featured actor in this movie, and that makes us feel refreshed. However, the most interesting fact is, although this movie was released in 2002, it shows very refined and polished scene style. The computer graphic of this movie is perfect. For example, there are flying cars and laser computer that is hard to give body  with the technique on 2002, but it is almost like real that even made me check again when did this movie come out. Also throughout the whole movie, the screen is whitish, and little bit unclearly bright. It is hard to explain, but because of those  characteristics, the overall atmosphere of the movie is somewhat depressed and down. You can definitely feel it if you watch that movie. I thought it was a problem on my computer at first. 

Usually many other SF movies are focusing on showing a developed technique so they fail to convey important message, but this movie was different. In this movie, there is a line "You can choose". The characters in this movie already know the future, thus they can change their future if they want. Life is full of choices, even now, I could have not done this review and had fun with my friends or myself. Like this, my life is made by me and it is all up to me. Whether the choice is right or wrong, I have to take charge of it and be responsible. It may sound cruel, but I have to. At this point, I want to say one thing to myself. "Don't make any regret."

This movie was really interesting to me. It didn't feel like old movie that was released more than 10 years ago and also brought me huge lesson. Therefore I want to recommend this movie to others. Except for someone who is not patient because this movie is about 150 minutes long.  

Facts About Sook Nyul Choi

She was born in North Korea in 1937 and moved to South Korea in 1947.
She studied English in Ewha Woman's University and moved to U.S and went to Manhattanville.
And she became a teacher, then moved to Massachusettes and became a writer.
Her books are about the culture in Korea.
Her daughter is pretty famous in Korea.