Kite Runner

The author titled the book as Kite Runner as everything in the book has changed since Hassan ran for loser’s kite after the tournament. When you think about the kite-flying, in order to fly a kite, there should be two people who are kite controller and kite runner. A kite controller is a main role who takes responsibilities for flying a kite as he controls and cut the others’ lines. Behind him, there is always a kite runner who holds the spool and supports the kite controller. With the combination of two of them, a kite-flying is processing properly. After the kite fighting, a kite runner runs toward a loser’s kite which is considered as a prize for a kite controller to gain pride of winner.

Based on this, a kite controller had been Amir and a kite runner had been Hassan. Amir and Hassan were together like brothers during their childhood. All the time, Hassan has been always behind him and supported him not only in kite-fighting but also in other ways. They used to spend most of time and read books. If Amir writes a story, it was Hassan who listens to it and boosters Amir. Amir could be described as a child who cannot do anything by himself and stand up for anything even for himself. He was just selfish which refers to a man who thinks of himself before others. On the other hand, Hassan is opposed to Amir as an adult who dedicated his life to Amir. Even though he was younger than Amir, Hassan was more mature than him.  

In this novel, the author put more than one implication into a kite. A Kite reveals both a situation in Kabul, Afghanistan and a relationship between Amir and Hassan. Since Afghanistan had been ruled by Russians and the Taliban, Amir and his dad had to flee from their own country. Since then, there were no more kite-fighting tournaments in Kabul as the Taliban banned children from flying kites. The tradition of Kabul is broken down, which implies that there is no freedom in Afghanistan.

A kite is also meant to be a relationship between Amir and Hassan. After the tournament, everything related to them started to fall down since Hassan got raped by other kids when he was trying to save a loser’s kite for Amir. After a break of their relationship, as a story goes in, Amir realized that Hassan always stood up for him and Amir, himself, couldn’t do anything during his childhood. As he heard Hassan’s story from his dad’s friend, he decided to give his rest of life to Sohrab, Hassan’s son as forgiveness. In the last scene, Amir suggested Sohrab fly a kite even though Sohrab refused to do, speak, and learn anything. Surprisingly, the first reaction from Sohrab was to follow Amir who was flying a kite. As Hssan used to be a kite runner for Amir, Amir eventually became a kite runner for Sohrab. That demonstrates Amir’s redemption and realization that he who used to be a child who thinks himself and stands up for nothing became a grown man and a kite runner who is in a second place.

In those ways, the author titled his book as a Kite Runner since he wants to lay more emphasis on Kite Runner than Kite Controller through Amir’s growth from a child to a grown man who eventually became a Kite Runner. 

How is lying justified?

Everyone tells a lie on occasion. As everyone knows, telling a lie is such a bad thing that people are not supposed to do. When is lying justified? How is lying justified? This could be a complicated question but a simple question as well. A wide array of people say that lying should be never done, but sometimes lying is acceptable when it is white lie.

A white lie makes life easier or more pleasant. The objective of lying is to save relationships and to prevent someone from hurting. Also lying is justified when people have a secret and try to keep that secret.

Lying is considered okay when people want to save relationships. For example, if someone asks, “how do I look with my new dress?”, then although you think it doesn’t fit well, you need to say, “Wow, you look just great in that dress.” In that way, your lying is acceptable since she would like your answer. If you tell what the truth actually is, she might not feel good about it. Telling a lie both makes her feel good and saves relationships.

There is another way of how lying is justified. That is when it is done to prevent someone from hurting people in physical and emotional ways. As everyone does, people get hurt emotionally when they hear something nasty from others. It particularly does when it is about appearances or one’s looks: they are ugly, not fashionable, and stinky. It is crystal clear that no one wants to hear it and there are no reasons for describing as them in that way. Since it is not a good situation to hurt someone else’s feelings, instead of saying a truth, people should tell a lie that makes everything nice. Moreover, in physical ways, they hurt themselves due to something someone says.

The last reason is to keep a secret. There are two types of people who keeps a secret and who do not keep a secret. Since it is called a secret, there are only few people or only you who know about that secret. For example, there is a surprise birthday party for my friend, Jessica. As it is a surprise party, I need to keep a secret and should not tell that to Jessica or someone else. Then, if Jessica asks, “Can you come to my birthday party? I would like to invite you.” and I might say “Oh, I am so sorry. I have an appointment with my family so I can’t make it.” If I would tell a truth, it does mean any secrets no more and our plans are going to be ruined. Therefore, I am telling a lie since I promised to keep a secret and not let her know about it.

         As I mentioned above, these are three ways to justify lying. Even though I do not recommend lying, lying is sometimes inevitable in those three ways. It would be better to set lying as a last option as a right thing to do.

Three happiest moments of my life

Three happiest moments of my life would be the easy topic but for me it was kind of hard because I’ve never thought of those before. What is the happiest moment in my life? I am kind of easygoing and positive. So I never thought that I am unhappy or unlucky. It sounds like typical but I am just happy because I am healthy and my family and friends love me. I looked back my life and tried to choose three happiest moments of my life. They are when I went to an amusement park with my family, when I went to elementary school, and when I was in 9^th grade.

To begin with, I could literally remember the moment of that day when I went to an amusement park with my family. At that time, I was 11 years old. I think I desired earnestly for going to an amusement park called ‘Lotte World.’ Since it was children’s day which is on May 5^th, Lotte World would probably be packed with a lot of people. When I said my parents that I wanted to go there, they said you have to wake up earlier than before because we might have to leave home early in the morning. It was kind of hard to wake up at 6 in the morning for me who was 11 years old. Before I went to bed, I prayed and prayed. By a miracle, the time when my eyes were just opened 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. We took my dad’s car and as we expected, there were a lot of people at the amusement park. I bought a monkey toy that I could hang it around my shoulders. I just enjoyed all the stuff there with my family. Actually, I am really bad at memorizing my childhood. Till now I almost couldn’t remember my childhood. But that day is not forgettable ever since.

The second moment I was happy was when I was an elementary school students. Since my brother had studied abroad, I was always with my mom and dad. I have been really close to my brother since I was a baby. Sometimes we fight each other but it’s just it. It never lasts over one day even one hour. We just enjoy playing together and talking and joking. When my friends or other people see us, they say we look really close each other. But my brother was studying in Australia when I was in 7^th grade. So for me, the school life when I was in an elementary was normal but happy and great. I got up in the morning and walked to school with my brother. After school, when we came home, my mom greeted us and gave us snacks. We both studied and went to academies. In the evening we had dinner with my dad and enjoyed our rest of day. I just missed those days a lot because I am here and studying alone. This really reminded me of moments when I stayed with my family.

The last happiest moment of my life is when I was in 9^th grade. During spring semester, I was in Korea and the top grade of middle school. Since I had been a president of class every year, I almost know everyone at school and enjoyed my school life. I met the best homeroom teacher who brought me interests in science. He was nice and I still keep track of him. I was just happy everyday and after school, my mother picked me up and had some snacks together. Then I went to the academy. On October which is my favorite month, I had a great birthday party with my friends and I just enjoy every day. The day before I left, I knew that I would leave Korea and study in Saipan. It just happened for one day. Behind my happy life, I just tried to find my new life. And these all happened when I was in 9^th grade.

Still I am studying in Saipan and learning English. I miss my childhood and really would like to go back to middle school in Korea. But I am just trying to be satisfied with my life now because this is what I chose. I miss my family and friends and country but this is for my future. My mom said to me to be positive and think positively then you will be happy and appreciate for everything. So I smile and smile and I am happy that I am here now and thanks to my dad and mom. 

My favorite hobby

My favorite hobby is searching for blogs which include personal reviews of cooking or trips. This sounds like kind of unfamiliar but that is what I do when I get bored. The time I started to search for blogs and read the reviews is my first vacation on Saipan.

The first time I came to Saipan is October. Since there was a problem with all the international students and visas, the governments decided not to let students who do not have permits go off Island. As a result, I had to spend my first winter vacation on Saipan. Honestly, there is no place to hang out on Saipan. What’s better for me was that there are more than 10 people at my homestay. So I could have fun at home with little kids. We played Nintendo, hide and seek, trampoline, cooked and baked. But since I slowly started to lose interests, I want to find something new. To spend time when I am alone, I used to search something in the internet and finally I am into reading some reviews that are written by bloggers after their use of new goods, trips to somewhere, and recipe. Especially, I like the site named Nate and it used to be called Cyworld. The manager of Nate looked for the top 30 or best blogs that include some information that is useful and helpful for lifetime. There are some categories such as beauty, trips, useful tips, and diet. The bloggers took the pictures and described the things.

My favorite category is trip. I feel like visiting to Japan so much when I looked at the reviews of trip to Japan. The professional bloggers use a special camera to take a picture and the qualities of photos are so good and clear that they really seem like real. As a result, the pictures of food look so delicious that I seriously want it. For real, I read the reviews of and tried to find that restaurant. I went there with my friend and tried what the blogger recommended. Of course, they tasted really good.

In the beauty section, the bloggers introduce the trend make-up skills and cosmetics that they wanted to recommend after they used them. Also for each season, they introduce the latest fashion and matching style. When I read the reviews of that section, I can know what the newest style is in this present day and age. I am pretty sure that more than half of girls who use Cyworld are getting information from that beauty section.

Another section that I like is cooking. It tells you how to cook, which food would be food for special days, cooking tips, or baking. Since I stay with Americans, I sometimes look for the recipes of some Korean foods that I really want. The recipes are written so neatly and specifically that everyone who is interested in cooking can try.

As I mentioned above, searching for blogs that are consisted of personal reviews is my favorite hobby. 

Something I wasn't looking for

I tend to find something I was not expected for when I organize messy things in my room or my cases. In that case, I find something that reminds me of my childhood. I like to collect things that are valuable for my memory such as letters since I was young and still now. But the problem is that I do not remember where I put them since I do not put an emphasis on the place. As a result, when I clean my room and organize my stuff, I usually find something I am not looking for. I can find not only some stuff I wasn’t looking for but I also can find myself I was not expected for.

A time when I came to Saipan and stayed with American Family is when I found something I was not looking for. When I was in Korea, I thought I like every kinds of culture all over the world including Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese, so on. However, I came to Saipan and realized that I do not like every kind of cultures and people. This is when I found myself that I was not looking for. Since I have stayed with American family for about 2 years, I felt something new about them and even about the natives on Saipan. Based on my experience, it can be said that I am kind of peaky about cleanliness and what kinds of people are they. I definitely am not blaming about what kinds of people they are but feeling that I miss my country and my people. I used to think that I am not peaky about people from other countries, but the fact is that I am. The culture how Americans live is so different that I feel uncomfortable. Also for the cleanliness, I usually wash the cups and plates again when I use it even if it is washed already. I think that’s from my mom. My mom is really peaky so she even does not eat food at the others’ houses. At the first time, it was kind of hard for me to live in that way. But now I am used to it. This is what I discovered even though I was not expected for it.

One day when I went to middle school in Korea is another example of thing I was not looking for. I was cleaning my room since I tend to organize my stuff if my room is so messy that I could not do anything. There is a box which is filled with a lot of letters from my friends or parents. When I clean under my desk, I discovered the notebook which seemed like a diary. I opened it and smiled as I saw what was inside. I had written a diary which is called exchanged diary with my friend when I was in 4^th grade. The cover of diary was pink and cute since pink was my favorite color. I used to exchange that diary with Ji-yeon who was my best-friend. Since I was in 9^th grade at that time, when I read it, the content of diary was childish and not important. Through that diary, I could recollect the memory of my 4^th grade when I was young and immature. I miss that time and my friend Ji-yeon who are not getting touch with me right now.

When someone finds something that he or she is not looking for, it might be come to his or her mind as positive or negative thing. But I think for me, most of them would be positive and something helpful for me. 

Go to movie with my b.f.

If I go to movies, I would like to watch action movies with my boy friend. Since I do not have a boyfriend, it is kind of hard to think of what kind of movies I would like to watch with him. Even though my favorite genre of movie is action movie, especially, the pirates of Caribbean, I am not sure whether my boy friend likes that kind of movie or not. I imagined the movie date with my boyfriend.

It would be sunny or rainy day since I prefer rainy day over sunshine. My boy friend would come to my house to pick me up and we would head to the movie theater. After we buy the tickets for movies, we would spend time together while we are waiting for the movie time. Almost everyone often eats something such as popcorns, hotdogs, or chips while they are watching movies. As I, however, do not eat anything during movie time, I think I don’t need to spend time to buy food. Instead of that, I would like to go to game room which is usually located on the same floor of Movie Theater. There are some different games such as shooting game, sports game, fighting game and music game. I hope that I would play the driving game with my boyfriend, competing for buying drinks to winner. If we have some time after we enjoy games, we would go to café since I love going to café.

When it’s time to watch movie, I would go inside the theater, find the seat and enjoy my movie time with my boy friend. There is no such special reason for choosing action movies if I go out movie date with my boyfriend. Not specifically, I would rather go to watch movies which are released lately so I can watch them with my boyfriend when we are having a date.

On the other hand, I do not like comedies for it looks kind of silly when it makes attempts to make people laugh by doing something funny on purpose. I hate that acting which gives no lesson to people who watch the movie. In my opinion, movies should teach a lesson for people by not only acting but also entertaining them. People should learn something from it even if they spend time on watching movies. The action movies often give me a lesson which is that the good always wins the evil. When the actors shoot guns and fight, that makes me interesting and nervous since someone would lose or die. When the evil is destroyed, that makes me have a smile and feel so proud of the actors whose roles are protecting the people or the valuable things that they want to save. Also in the action movies, they use high-quality technologies to produce movies and spectacle visuals. But since I am not interested in fantasy and unreal story, the action movies should not be about fictional stories.

After I watch action movie with my boyfriend, I might be happy about the fact that the good save the world and people. Since I am satisfied with my movie, I would have dinner with my boyfriend happily. 

Description of a picture

     Generally, the picture I posted above seems peaceful. By looking at this, I can see that the place of this picture is a park. Since there are some people at the park, it would be Sunday afternoon when everyone spends free time. On the right side, there are one gentleman and one lady who seemed like a married couple. The lady is holding a small black parasol to protect her from the sunshine. It would be probably sunny outside there. On her left hand, she is holding one pink dog and one brown cat which are playing each other. A big flower is attached at her hat and she has a wide-hip. Right next to her, her husband is standing; they both are looking at something. They might come to a park to take a walk on Sunday afternoon there. On the left side of the picture, there is one man who seems like a labor since he is having a cigarette on his hand and he is lying down with his frowned face. He is taking some rest after work. Next to him, a lady with such a big hat is knitting without saying. The man and the lady don’t know each other. Behind them, a black dog which would be probably hungry is looking for food. On her right side, a gentleman with a hat and walking stick is sitting down and enjoying his afternoon. He looks lonely since he doesn’t have anyone to talk with him. Behind them, there are two ladies who seem like mom and daughter. While they are sitting, a mother is holding a small blue parasol and her daughter is looking at flowers that she picked up. A daughter looks really quite and womanly. Right in front of them, another mother and daughter are walking by them. The mother is holding a red parasol and her kid which put on all white dress and hat is hold her hand when she is walking. On the left back side, there is a group whose members are two women and one kid. One woman is about to hug a kid who might be her daughter. Near them, there is one kid who wears pink dress running around. I can say her as another woman’s child. In the picture, there are some trees and a lake. On the lake, few boats are floating and five people are riding a canoe-looking boat. Back there, two couples are walking. The appearance of one couple from behind is kind of old. A lady is kissing his husband. Another couple’s appearance from behind is walking in peace. Near the lake, there are few people who are looking at the view of lake. Almost ladies in the picture are holding the small parasols since it is sunny afternoon. Also they put on their hats and women wear dresses or long skirts. When I look at this picture, I feel tranquil and serene and it is peaceful Sunday afternoon when people can take some rest.