My best holiday

Since there are many holidays all over the world, people might have their favorite holiday or unforgettable holiday they passed. I had the best holiday experience on Children’s day. I do not know whether Americans celebrate Children’s day or not, but in Korea we do. Children’s day is on May 5^th. As a holiday, students don’t go to school. The standard age of children might be the ones who are not in middle school. Young kids always hope that their parents would give presents such as toys, dolls, and going somewhere special for them. As the day says, it is the day for children. When I was young, I used to love that holiday and get excited when it came closer. However, now, I feel just thankful that it is a holiday. My best holiday, children’s day, took place when I was 11 years old.

Till now, I could literally remember the moment of that day when I went to an amusement park with my family. At that time, I was in 4^th grade. I think I desired earnestly for going to an amusement park called ‘Lotte World.’ Since it was children’s day, I kept asking my parents to go to Lotte World for children’s day. My parents said Lotte World would probably be packed with a lot of people since kids such as you would like to go there. When I kept coaxing my parent’s into going to Lotte World, they said you have to wake up earlier than before because we might have to leave home early in the morning. At that time, for me, it was really arduous to wake up early in the morning, especially 6. I was not sure if I could wake up. Since my desire to go to Lotte World was so strong, I made up my mind firmly. Before I went to bed, I prayed and prayed. By a miracle, the time when my eyes were just opened was 5:45. As I could not believe that my eyes were opened at 5:45, I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock again. It was 5:45. I was really happy to wake my family up. They were surprised that I woke up early and got ready for going there. On our way to Lotte World, in my dad’s car, I and my brother sang a song and got excited. As we expected, when we arrived there, there were a lot of people at the amusement park already. I and my brother had so much fun and rode many things. My dad bought me a monkey toy filled with air that I could hang it around my shoulders. I kept hanging it even when I was having lunch. We took a picture and I think I just enjoyed all the stuff there with my family.

In fact, I am really bad at memorizing my childhood. I cannot recall my childhood well but can specifically remember the particular scene in my childhood. But that day, children’s day when I was in 4^th grade is unforgettable ever since.

Mission statement

My job as a high school girl is to make myself in every aspect for younger girls to look up to, to make in every aspect of their lives too to become like me.  To accomplish this goal, I need to be the as good as my body and mind allows me to be.  It is definitely hard to maintain a good reputation.  Building up a reputation can take years but crumbling it down can take less than a minute.  My job is a hard one, but I will live to accomplish this for the little girls looking up to me.

             I have been in pre-job status from Pre-K to 8th grade.  Over these 10 years, I developed my brain and strengthened my body and heart to prepare myself for my years of high school, the years of my job.  I fell and got back up and repeated doing this multiple times to become as failure-proof as possible.  Despite the long years of developing, strengthening, failing, and fixing, I failed at my job.

             Freshmen year was great.  I was an exemplary scholar and a virtuous moralist.  I was expected to be smart and respectful and that’s what I was.  Teachers loved me and I learned to love them.  Among parents, I was a subject of high reverence and jealousy.  They wanted their daughters to become likes me.  Exactly my job description: to be a high school girl who, girls want to be and parents want their daughters to be like.  If my job was a job with commission, I would’ve been a millionaire.

             Everything was going so nicely and I should’ve been suspicious of upcoming bumps and ditches.  Sophomore year was a rough ride.  I told myself I would be great and be the best at my job, but that failed to happen.  My grades dropped and so did my reputation.  I don’t know what got into me that year, but I just didn’t want to study.  I never was in the mood.  All I thought about was playing with my friends and staying beautiful.  If there weren’t those little girls depending on my behavior, I wouldn’t feel bad about that year so much. I really did have fun that year, but that fun led to those girls losing their dreams and hopes.  Knowing this was a big punch to my stomach.  I wanted to hit myself and hide.  Instead, I got back up, like I learned in my 10 years of pre-job.

             This year, things are going as my job status requires.  There have been a few hard moments, but I got over it and am back on track.  I can’t be sure of what all the people say about me.  I know some people are still not thinking very highly of me, but I feel people slowly warming up to me.  Sometimes I just want to give up because I feel like nothing works out for me, but then I get reminded of those little girls looking up to me and put on a smile.  I think I’m doing okay.  Payment wise, I’m getting a regular salary.  The cherry on top is my mom.  Because of me being good, people always share how they’re so jealous of my mom and she gets so happy.  I don’t tell her, but I’m happy that I can do something to make her happy.

             I really hope I’m doing something beneficial to those girls.  I’m giving up some of the fun things for their future, so I pray that they won’t end up being nobodies that people don’t care about or love.  I hope that by me being good will help these girls to become the best they can be.

An occasion in which I took a risk and found it to be a good choice later

One of my slogans is that life is one shot. Since I am the one who do not hold a grudge and just take everything flowing away naturally, I do not care about risks. It I stand firm in my resolution, I just do it without hesitation. As a result, I have no regrets about what I’ve done. However, as human is willing to take a risk, I would encounter with an occasion in which I have to take a risk.  Among the risks I took ever since, the event that happened these days is coming to Saipan.  

Since I was a kid, I am really interested in language, especially English. When I was in 6^th grade, my brother had studied abroad in Australia. At the age of 6^th grade, I did not have any desires to go to other countries to study English. However, since I am getting mature and older, I used to dream of studying in the United States to study English directly. Even though I had learned English for 8 years in Korea, I would like to go to other countries which are traditional English so that I can experience directly. When I was in 9^th grade in Korea, I was ready for my mid-term exam. At that time, the flu was widespread so our school had a one-week break. In the first morning of break week, I had a morning call from my mom. She informed me that I need to go to Saipan the very next day so get ready. I was quite at loss what to do. Since I have only one day to get ready, I did not know what I was doing at that time but just arranged and bought some stuff. I called my friends and teacher at the day when I was planning to leave. I just knew that I will go to Saipan one day before. Even though I had a right to say no, I hoped I would study abroad. As a result, I took a risk and just left in one day. I cried a lot at the airport. I couldn’t make up my mind and put my thoughts in order. Fortunately, my older brother was in Saipan at that time. He also just knew that I am going to Saipan when I called him at the airport. He sounded like in blank dismay. That was my first time to take a flight and go to other countries. I went through all the procedures by myself. In the airplane, I cried a lot and made a firm determination and strengthened my mind. I decided to take a risk and was confident that it would be a good choice. Right now, it is already the end of 2011. I have been on Saipan for 2 years. Time goes so fast. I think coming to Saipan was a good choice. Since I hate regrets, I do not regret at all. If I do, I will try to make my minds set up again and make attempts to accomplish my goals. 

If I could travel back in time,

If I could travel back in time, I would like to go back the time when I was in 8th grade. Even if I have a chance to go back in time when it’s late 19th centuries or before, I just would like to go back to my childhood, especially 8th grade. There is a reason why I want to go back to middle school.

To begin with, my 8th grade is the time when everything started to change. To be honest, I am such an excellent and outstanding student in my middle school. I went to Seon-Hak elementary school located in Seon-Hak dong, near my house. However, I used to go to Yeon-Sung middle school which is located in Dong-Chung dong, where I need to take a taxi, bus or a car. I chose to go there since Yeon-Sung middle school is well-known for good education. My mother usually used to pick up and drop me off and sometimes I used to go to school by a bus. When I first entered into a middle school, I only knew 20 of all the students in middle school since 21 students including me got into that middle school. I was designated as 9th classroom. In my classroom, I knew no one at the first time. All my classmates were from different schools unlike me. Even though they knew one another well and I didn’t, I tried to get along with them and be close. Since I love to be a class leader or social things, I nominated as a class leader and selected. I had been a class leader for 7 years which means I was selected every year. My school year was just perfect to me. However, when I was in 8^th grade, I reached the age of puberty. I took a defiant attitude towards everything that bothered me at that time. I even used to ignore my parents and teachers’ advices or decorum. I did not study as hard as I did before and just hung out with my friends. People who read my essay may say that students or girls at puberty are just like that or they are all the same. However, I was different. I never worried my parents or bothered them at all. I studied and did my best all the time. That girl who was exemplary started to change and turned into disobedience. I skipped the academies and told some lies. Now, I regret all of things I did when I was at puberty. The time I realized my wrong behavior was the end of 8^th grade. But as things happened and passed, I am doing my best in the place where I am supposed to be right now. I feel really sorry for my parents every time whenever I think of that time.

I know I cannot go back or travel back in time. Even if I have a change to go back in time, I would like to change all the things and make my behavior perfect. But I know it would never happen and I will never let it happen again. I am and will be just satisfied with my life and what I am doing. 

When I open the door,

The doors could be considered as two sides when I get out of my room or get into my room.

Firstly, when I get out of my room and open the door, I see the vacant space in the house. There’s such a short aisle and Mike’s room. Between our room, there’ are a bathroom and three steps of stairs. In the evening, when I open the door and go down the stairs, there’s no one in the kitchen or living room. Since I stay with family who are not my own, it is somewhat empty and silent. After school, when I come home, Dan who is my host welcomes me with 7 dogs and 3 cats. We usually spend time individually but when I am free from my school works, every time I try to talk to him and communicate with him. However, in the evening, only radio in the kitchen is playing all day long and I barely meet someone in the kitchen or living room. Dan and Phyllis who live with me as guardians stay in upstairs. It is hard to meet them every evening since they remain in their rooms. They do not have their own children so at my house we are lack of communications. I think they don’t know how to get along with children or not used to spend time with them since they had lived without children but with just both of them for more than 10 years. Even in the dinner time when we only could see and talk we just dip and grab some food, thus going in to each own room to have dinner. Just in the room, each has dinner by himself. Consequently, we do not have a dining table which is thought to be useless at our house. To me, at the first time, it was hard to eat alone in the room without chatting or conversations since I used to eat dinner with my family and always have a conversation as I like to talk. However, I am getting used to it so it doesn’t really matter these days.

When I open the door to go inside my room, only things I can see are living things such as beds, desks, closets and books. My room is cramped but just fits for one person to stay. What I just want to change is the arrangements of my bed and desk in my room. It seems somewhat messy and stuffy. Since my room is cramped, I have a difficulty in arranging the things and making them neat. These days I am thinking of new ideas how to arrange them since I am depending on arrangements in a large way. I sometimes feel lonely as I spend my almost time by myself in my room except the time when I go to school or hang out with my friends.

As seen in two cases of opening the doors, I come up with an idea that I want to change. There should be a communication at my house. Even though each might be busy or tired after they come home and has a desire to take some rest, he or she should concern each other and makes attempts to speak at least. That way might be able to help make house more lively and harmonic. Not only I but also the others at my house may feel as I do since people are the same. Someday if I open the door, my house should be full of communications and laughter. 

My last thanksgiving

I have celebrated Thanksgiving Day for 3 years on Saipan. The first time I celebrated was one month passed from the day when I came to Saipan at the first time. Since I have stayed with American Family, celebrating Thanksgiving Day is different from the way I used to do it in Korea. I was expected to celebrate it because the culture is totally different and I have never heard or seen before. Last year, I stayed there with one Korean girl, So-Yeong. She was my roommate so we shared all the things each other since we know each other when we were in first grade. That year was my second time to celebrate Thanksgiving. So-Yeong was looking forward to celebrate it as well.

Two years ago, the theme of Thanksgiving in my house was traditional American style. We had turkey, fruit punches, jellies, and their traditional dishes. Last year, the theme was Thai style since Mrs. Villegas loves Thai food. As I and So-Yeong had never tried of Thai food, we agreed with that idea. On Thanksgiving, everyone in the house got up earlier than before and helped one another. Some arranged the dishes and table set and some cook with the help of a lady who is from Thailand. Mrs. Villegas used to go to Mai Thai restaurant so she bought some sauces from there. The smells of food were so good that I could not concentrate on setting the tables. With the continuous music, everyone was in a good mood. A big table which has a capacity for 15 people is decorated with a red tablecloth and candles. Chairs were covered with black clothes. The plates, forks, and cups were arranged. I was really hungry since the food was not ready on time. The kids were so excited that kept singing and played a Nintendo while we were waiting for our food. Eventually, the plates of food are all set on the table so that we can sit and dip what and how much each wants. After sitting on the chairs, we took a family picture. Mr. Villegas grabbed one article of today’s newspaper and read it which is about a Thanksgiving, thus appreciating something to whomever you feel valuable. Consequently, one by one, we said something that we are thankful to. After we prayed, we started to eat. There are cashew chickens, lumpia, pai-tai, Thai fried rice and fruit punches. Since it’s my first time to try Thai food, I just loved it, especially cashew chicken. After we enjoyed the meals, we helped out clean and played games.

This is what I did on my last Thanksgiving. Since I have stayed with Americans, this comes to new to me and became such a great experience. However, since I move to another American family, I am really looking forward to celebrate this coming Thanksgiving. 

The Incredibles

My childhood superhero is the incredible family. The time when I watched a movie named the Incredible at the first time is in 2004 when I was in 4^th grade. I had watched it more than 4 times. I am into the Incredible since I enjoyed a movie.

The family members of the Incredible are Bob (Mr. Incredible), Helen (Mrs. Incredible), Dash, Violet and toddler, Jack-Jack. Bob and Helen who are humans gifted with superpowers have married and raised three children, Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack. Bob is so strong that he used to use his power in order to save the world. Helen is so flexible and extensive that her whole body is able to lengthen and stretch. Since she used to save the world as well, she and Bob could meet and get married each other. At first, their children did not recognize that they have inner powers which are innate. After their marriage, Bob quitted saving the world and has worked as a normal man. However, since Bob loses his temper at work, he suddenly reveals his super strength and loses a job. At that time, Bob receives a message from others and decided to leave as a secret to Helen. Bob pretends working at work and he goes to the robot world. While he is fighting with a robot, he knows that the creator is Syndrome who wanted to be a superhero like Mr. Incredible. Syndrome plans everything in order to take revenge for Bob. Later since Helen is suspicious of Bob’s work and the special designer who designs superhero customs, she detects that her husband is in danger therefore she needs to help him. She wears a superhero customs which are appropriate for their super powers. The family recognizes that the children have super powers as well and they also follow Helen in order to rescue their dad, Bob. The superpower of Dash is fast-running that no one can follow him. The daughter, Violet, became my favorite because it looks cool when she uses her superpower which is able to create a force shield. Consequently, the incredible family cooperate one another and boost their abilities to collapse the power of Syndrome. They overcome the difficulties and escape from the robot world. However, there is another problem which was a baby, Jack-jack. Since Jack-jack is a toddler, they left him at home and a neighbor is babysitting him. Since Syndrome recognizes that the incredible family escapes, he heads to their house to attack and kidnap Jack-jack who has superpower. When the incredible family goes back to human world, Syndrome brings a strong robot which can destroy the whole world. To prevent people who fear about a robot from ruling by the evils, the incredible family gathers all superpowers together and succeeds to save the world. I still can’t forget the feeling when they defeat the enemy. Since they are worried about a toddler, they run to their house but find out that Syndrome already takes a baby. As Bob and Helen launch a rescue attempt, Jack-Jack reveals his powers of transformation, forcing Syndrome to drop him into Helen's waiting arms. Syndrome tries to escape but his cape is caught in the suction of his aircraft's engine, killing Syndrome. It is so cool when the baby reveals his power. All after, the incredible family goes back to their normal life and lives happily.

As all things considered, the incredible family is my superhero since I was young. I’ve watched it for 4 times and still I would like to watch it again. Whenever I think of my superhero, I wish I could have the superpower to save the world.