At the Airport

    I went to the Incheon International Airport last Thursday to pick my father up. He took a flight from Ethiopia, Africa to Incheon. It was his second vacation to Korea after residing in Africa for about 3 years. He was very excited on the phone to come to Korea and talk with me about this and that. He was anticipating a reunion with my mother as well, since my mother also arrived from the States last week to see my father. 
   Anyhow, I departed from my home a little bit early and arrived at the airport to look around and have something to eat. The airport was quite sound and neat enough to give foreigners a good first impression. What I was really appalled at was the sight that many people were anxiously waiting to see their beloved ones. Some were holding placards and some were moving from place to place being afraid that they might have lost sight of the people coming out from the exit gate. 

   My mother and I had waited for about 2 hours to meet my father. He looked extremely tired but tried to keep a straight face to relieve us. He first gave my mother a big hug followed by a handshake with me. It was warm and hard. He will be staying for a week and off to Africa he will go after that. I just wish that he would make himself at home and have a splendid vacation of his life time. 

Listening Practice

    Today, I watched First Avenger on the movie channel OCN. I was kind of drowsy at 3 pm as I was immersed in studying intensely for the final exam. I was undergoing a mental breakdown trying to memorize and comprehend all the materials that need to addressed for the upcoming exams. As always, it doesn't turn out exactly the way I long it to do so. 
    I felt that I needed some time off to cool my head down. Hence, I turned on the TV to find the movie First Avenger on. I got pretty much intrigued in the movie since it was the origin of the Avengers that featured the Amazing Spider Man, Ironman, the Hulk, Hawkeye, and of course Captain America. To make things clear, First Avenger is indeed referred to as Captain America that is the starting member, or the founding member of the Avengers. 
    It took place in the 1940s in which World War II was all the matter. Captain America's arch enemy Hydra was trying to subvert other nations including Captain America. Captain America, who was transformed into a super human via performance enhancing program. He takes down Hydra's wrongdoings and misconduct by conquering and destructing the resistant enemy force, using his superpowers ubiquitously.  As for me, I got a lot of chance to practice my listening skills. The movie provided me with hope and facilitated linguistic input that was processed and internalized so that it finally became intake. A great movie to watch if you are a fan of Avengers or if you simply want to apprehend the schemata behind Avengers II which will hit the box office in 2014.

Running for Your Health

   Today, I jogged for about 30 minutes in Duksam. I saw a lot of people walking around and talking to their peers. It was just another normal, fine day on which people were doing what they usually do for their daily routine. As I ran down the track, I realized that I was not the man that I used to be. By that, I mean that I used to be more healthy and endure much more pain than I do now. I got tired as I ran for about 15 minutes or so. I stopped to take a deep breath, moaning and groaning. I talked to myself,"Hey, I could have run for one hour in the past and still feel energetic. What happened to me?" 

   It was a moment of epiphany. I had just figured out that I was older than myself two or three years ago. I learned back in high school that one's cells mature and age at the same time, facilitating the process of aging in living organisms. Since I am a living organism, I too will admittedly get older and weaker. I didn't like the idea of aging or getting weak. More exercise was essential and all I needed was the time to squeeze in exercising for my well-being. 

Writing the Cover Letter

   

    As the end of the semester is coming, another new task in upcoming: for me, the application to graduate schools due at the end of August. I am now preparing both for the graduate school and for the finals. This is my first time in 6 years to take 9 classes for 22 credits. 
    So, for the finals, I have to take 8 exams. I could say it is quite arduous and stressful with the weather not helping me at all. Anyhow, writing a cover letter for graduate schools was not easy. Rather, I found them to be quite daunting and frustrating. First of all, I did not know what to write, and if I did have something to write, I had a hard time putting the ideas into concrete writing. 
   Who said writing a cover letter was a breeze? Did he or she really mean it? I am starting to wonder if it is worth writing a cover letter. I found out via hearsay that most people who apply to graduate schools spend at least 5 months working on their letters. They write it like ten or twenty times before they finally decide to submit their letters to the schools they are applying to. Boy, that must have been a tough job, and I'm sitting here wining that even writing the rough draft is a pain in the ass. I'll come back with better news tomorrow. 

The Bird on the Rail

   

      Today, I observed the bird on a rail, or my balcony. Yes, I used the word "observe" since I took the time to contemplate on his gestures and movements. He seemed to be thinking about something for a long time since 2 hours passed since he first landed on my rail. I am well aware that a bird's intelligence is not high enough to undergo a cognitive process as similar as that of a human being. Despite the widely known fact, I got a feeling that a soul was inside of that living organism, trying to figure out what to do next in a broiling atmosphere nearing summer. 
   Then, I began to relate myself to the bird and decided on where to fly next. 
If I were a bird, I wanted to fly to somewhere pretty much cool compared to Korea in which the weather is too soggy and irritating, especially in the summer. I thought of California and 

Rio de Janeiro. Maybe at this time of the year, the weather would be cool and nice, just right

for tanning and bathing. I wanted to touch the thing to give the warmth that it longed for after a long and dreary trip. But I didn't. I just stood by, savoring the nature as it is. 

Interaction with Foreigners

   

    Yesterday, I happened to get in a quarrel with a foreigner. I live near the base camp of American soldiers that are deployed to Korea. As you know, there are some soldiers that are problematic with respect to violence and misdemeanor they commit here and there. It was not violence with my case. What actually happened was that a U.S. soldier, probably out on a vacation, parked his car where a lot of pedestrians were walking. So, I simply asked him to 
relocate his vehicle to somewhere that is legitimate since the area was for walking. 
   Without a moment of hesitation, he said, " What the FUxx do you care? Mind your own business!" I also confuted back at him, "I obviously live here, so I am going to have to ask you to move your car to somewhere safe, or I will call the cops". He grinned for a while, shaking his head side to side. Then, after staring at me for about a minute, he went inside his car and took off. 
   No offense to the U.S. soldiers who are doing a splendid job, protecting South Korea from the threat of the North, I just think that some American soldiers should sometimes think before they act. I mean, this is after all Korea and not the states. That means they are subject to Korean jurisdiction and Korean law. Ultimately, the car was moved and the neighbors felt secure anyhow. Boy, what an interaction!

Memorizing and more memorizing

     Now, we all know the pitfalls and demerits of rote learning which refers to memorizing chunks of knowledge and attending to mimicry. Maybe it is interwoven with the audio-lingual method that was in the mode in the 1950's and 60's. We also know that it had eventually died out owing to its side effects and proven inefficiency in the authentic world. What do you know? Theoretically, it vanished from the realm of this earth, but realistically, it still remains here with me and everyone else in the academic world. First of all, it does not virtually break down if the professors are keeping on giving out exams that are relevant to extensive memorizing. Second, it does not fade away if the educational curriculum itself pertains to copying and mimicking structures without referring to any meaning at all. I am also doing rote learning right now, memorizing this and that, preparing for the upcoming finals. Nonetheless, you can never underestimate the power of memorizing: It incites your brain to collect on more resources and facilitates concentration when doing something. I guess that there are two sides to everything. Good luck to other students and good luck to me as well for the finals. Peace.