Differences between Korea and U.S.

1:In Korea, girls' marriage were decided by their parients.

In America, girls have freedom to choose their own boyfriend.

2. In Korea, youths should not let elders down. Their job were chosen by their parents.

In America, people can choose their job by their own.

3. In Korea, women serve food for men.

In America, both women and men cook.

4. In Korea, people refuse others by saying:" Yes, I don't."

In America, people refuse by saying:" No, I don't."

5. In Korea, people never got paid for watching neibors's children.

In America, people get paid for babysitting.

Vocabulary List 10/28/2015

Chapter 4:

melancholy

I felt melancholy after reading Mother's letter.

Adj. a feeling of thoughtful sadness

imposing

I knew how Mother hated imposing on her children.

adj used of a person's appearance or behavior; befitting an eminent person

Chapter 5:

stroll

I drew in a deep breath of the deliciously fragrant air, picturing my stroll along the stream with Sarah and Jimmy.

n a leisurely walk (usually in some public place)

transformed

"What a grand surprise to see our neglected greenhouse transformed into a lovely little garden.

adj.(past tense) given a completely different form or appearance.

greenhouse

I was in the greenhouse earlier, checking on my chrysanthemums.

N. a building with glass walls and roof; for the cultivation and exhibition of plants under controlled conditions

neglected

Inside, the plants seemed terribly neglected.

adj.(past tense)lacking a caretaker

Chapter 6:

mixer

All the other girls in the dorm were still fast asleep, recovering from the excitement of the mixer the night before.

n a party of people assembled to promote sociability and communal activity

invigorated

I was shocked to hear Marci say these things, but strangely invigorated.

adj (past tense)with restored energy

oddball

I feel like an oddball wherever I am.

n .a person with an unusual or odd personality

pretentious

She had once told me she thought the dress code and the formality were "ridiculously pretentious" and a waste of time.

adj intended to attract notice and impress others

Chapter 7:

fulfilling

Ever since I was little, she has told me that she wants me to work alongside her, and lead a worthy and fulfilling life as she does." I paused, remembering.

v meet the requirements or expectations of

rambled

It's so pretty," Ellen rambled, "and I want to show you off."

Adj.(past tense)move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment

frankly

I think it is because your culture encourages people to speak openly and frankly.

adv (used as intensives reflecting the speaker's attitude) it is sincerely the case that

Chapter 8:

horrified

I was horrified.

adj (past tense)stricken with horror

demerit

They gave you five demerits for disappearing from the meeting.

n a mark against a person for misconduct or failure; usually given in school or armed forces

humility

Here, they do not place so much emphasis on patience,humility, family harmony, and silence as we do in Korea.

N.a disposition to be humble; a lack of false pride

harmony

Here, they do not place so much emphasis on patience,humility, family harmony, and silence as we do in Korea.

n compatibility in opinion and action

 Chapter 9:

ambassador

You have become quite an excellent ambassador for your country, and have made lots of friends, I hear."

N.a diplomat of the highest rank; accredited as representative from one country to another

farmhouse

The next day, Ellen and I took the train to her parents' farmhouse in New Jersey.

n house for a farmer and family

acres

We have sixteen acres here.

n extensive landed property (especially in the country) retained by the owner for his own use

The second time to come to America

This is the second time for me to come to America. Last time I was 13years old, I came to America for traveling. But this time everything is different. I come here to study, not just for a few week, but for the next 10years.

Even though I have been to America before but this is the first time for me to stay abroad alone for such a long time. Before the moment I stepped on to the airplane, I was so excited and really wanted to leave my parents' control. But after I sit down in the airplane I started to worry. What if I can not get on well with my new roommate? What if people in the new school have racism?What If ...There were so many unknown questions in my mind. I started to think if I did not get offer, what would my life be like. I started to regret I didn't spend enough time with my family, I can never see there face everyday. 

There were so many Chinese overseas students on the airplane, every one seems peaceful, they were bantered with their friends and reading books. I started to imagine my life after 10years, started to think  if this is the last year of my life in America. What kind of person am I going to be? Which collage am I going to study in? As I was thinking about this questions I fall asleep.

It was a long sleep. When I wake up and checked the map in the small screen in front of me, I was still on the sea. It was such a long journey that all my skeleton was painful. 

Finally I arrived in America. I came a few days earlier before the registration day so I booked room in New York and used that time to reduce my jet leg. "This is the place I am gonna stay for the next 10years." I stood in terminal and said to my self. On that moment I felt so lonely, all my friends before will have a totally different life than me, everyone is leaving me. My new life just started.

Questions for C3&C4

1. Where did Sookan go instead of having lunch with Marci,why she need to go there?

2. Why Sookan take so many difficult classes?

3.What kind of person is Marci? And who is Marci?

4. What job did Spokane get? Who gave her this job?

5. What kind of person Sookan's mother is? What did Sookan think after reading the letter from her mother?

Vocabulary 10/21/2015

1.My legs ached from sitting so long, and my head throbbed.

V.1 

My leg kept throb because I didn't drink milk this morning.

: to feel a pain that starts and stops quickly and repeatedly

2.I remembered how I had pestered our priest, Father Lee, to help me.

Young children always paster their parents.

V. : to annoy or bother (someone) in a repeated way

3. They bantered back and forth, sometimes bursting out laughing and slapping each other on the back.

All my friends were bantered except me because I don't think that joke is funny.

 V. : talk in which people make jokes about each other in a friendly way

4.The terminal was huge, and all the people were so big and tall.

There are three terminal in Beijing International Airport.

N. a building at an airport where people get on and off airplanes

5.I understood a few words here and there, but they spoke too quickly for me to comprehend what they were talking about. 

People who just learned a new language are hard to comprehend what other people said.

V. To understand

6.I anxiously looked right and left for a group of college students waving red hearts. 

I didn't prepare for the exam so I feel so anxious.

Adj. afraid or nervous especially about what may happen : feeling anxiety

7.We sped by rows and rows of New York City skyscrapers, but I felt too overwhelmed to appreciate anything so new and different.

I felt overwhelmed because of this city's beautiful night scene.

Adj. : to affect (someone) very strongly

8.I was grateful to Ellen and I admired her outgoing nature.

Everybody thinks he is outgoing because he is so friendly, talkative, and active.

Adj. [ used to describe someone who is friendly and likes being with and talking to other people

9.But as I silently tried to formulate these thoughts into coherent English sentences, I saw Ellen staring at me and knew I had to respond.

It's hard for me to speak in coherent English.

 Adj. logical and well-organized : easy to understand

10.I blushed and pretended to be absorbed in unpacking.

I was easily blushed when I was still a little girl.

V. To be embarrassed 

Sook Nyul Choi

She is an Korean-American author who was famous as a children's literature author.

Most of her book was based on her true life. She experienced Korean War and moved to America.

Her books can be used to teach about socio-geopolitical events and historical realities of Asian nations, including how big powers affect the fate of small nations.

She won many awards.

My Reading and Writing Experience

My Reading and Writing Experience

            Since I was young, I have been taught to be a girl who listens to my parents. Everything have both advantages and disadvantages. It was good to be a nice girl, but when I grow up, I feel like I have always been controlled by my parents. I listened to them and learned art as a major for so many years, but now I realize my dream is to become a biologist but not an artist. I want to invent tree houses and use environment to make a perpetual motion machine. It is hard to describe the machine but that is what I truly want to study. As many Chinese parents, they encouraged me reading more books. I did. But after I went to middle school, so much pressures and homework made me didn’t have enough time to read. So, most books in my shelfs are story books. Recently I am reading The Hunger Games and The Life of Pi. I watched these two movies first then started to read the books. The movies deeply attracted me and made me wanted to read the books.

            Writing is part of my life. I write diary every day but everything are in Chinese. English is still a second language for me. When I am reading there are always some nice sentences that make me want to collect them and write them down.

            I love reading. It makes me calm down when I have too many pressures also it is a good way to kill time. I borrowed The Hunger Games from library last week. Since I already watched the movies and finished reading this book in Chinese, the English one became easy to understand. I found it is a good way to watch the movie first and then read the book. Because when I meet some complex words, it would be moor easy to understand the meaning of it. Like “tribute” and “reaping day”. Tribute means those children who were chosen to join the hunger game and reaping day means the day to choose those children. If I have never watched the movie, I might think reaping day means the day when people get vegetables and fruits.

            Even though I love books but I don’t read a lot. I prefer to spend my free time on doing Yoga. I love adventure books because this kind of books’ plots are exciting and always tells people some truth. For example, The Life of Pie. Pie told everyone that he spent his journey with a tiger. The zebra and monkey was killed by a spotted hyena. However some readers found that actually the zebra was the Japanese mariner, he jumped into the lifeboat and broke his leg. Pi’s father who was the hyena tried to be alive and killed the mariner. His mom who was the monkey tried to against his father but was also killed by his father accidently. Pi could not stand what his father did so he killed his father. Then everything make sense. His father gave animals sleeping pills and all the mariners except the Japanese one ate the meat so they did not wake up when the storm came. Pi told the monkey that it’s children would be fine under the sea was because his brother died. He did not told other people the truth was because this disaster was related to his father. Even though no one knows what really happened except Pi but I still learned the evil of human nature.

            Station Eleven was the only book I have ever read in English for a class and I have to say I do not really like it. If Persepolis count as a book, I like it more. But World Cultures’ text book is more attractive. It always tells us the knowledge by telling a story. There are also people’s portrait and maps on the side of passage that help me to understand and remember it.

            Reading and writing change a person’s personality and make people’s knowledge become more plentiful.