Monday, December 2, 2013

yeonsoo seo/ improved sample/ tues 1pm

my father
 
I always knew my Father’s childhood was not as easy as mine, but as I spoke with him I was shocked to learn about the difficulties he overcame. As he sat down with me, he seemed pleased at my interest and eager to tell his story. 

My father was born in a small suburb of Sun-Cheon. He is the eighth of nine children in his family, with six sisters and two brothers. His parents sustained a living by growing rice and sometimes selling pigs or cows. Though the childhood he spoke of sounded so difficult to me, he shared his story with a wide, nostalgic smile.

“When I was a kid, I used to walk walking and running to school for one or two hours every day. I packed books in a cloth, not a bag,” he said. He paused for a moment, and chuckled dryly. “There was no bus because many roads were unpaved. When buses started to run, I couldn’t use it because I couldn’t afford it.”

His voice became very calm, and he closed his eyes gently for a moment recalling his childhood. In that time, flush toilets did not exist in Korea. When my dad was young, the bathroom that was outside of the house and a little bit far away from his room. He had to bring flashlight at night and an umbrella when it rained. I was so shocked at his childhood because he was living a life that my generation can’t think of and probably couldn’t survive.

Despite his hard circumstances, he enjoyed reading books and studying since he met one teacher when he was ten years old. The teacher inspired him to be interested in learning new things. After that, my dad really enjoyed studying, unlike the typical students these days that study only for a good grade.

“I was just so happy to learn new things through books. I often had to help my parent’s farming after school. One day, when I was reading a book while feeding a cow, I was so focused on a book that I fell over a stone and slipped on cowpat,” He said chuckling again at this memory for a minute.

My father went on to participate in ROTC at his university and later entered the military as a platoon leader. He was assigned to the demilitarized zone as a platoon leader. When sharing his experiences with me about his service, his expression diminished into a slight grimace. It seemed that he was staring at something far away. He explained that the DMZ line is very dangerous because of the mines place haphazardly around the premises.  Some of the soldiers he had met died from accidentally stepping on mines. He commanded and guided his subordinate soldiers very well during his military life so that none of them were injured or killed. Still, I was amazed at how stone-serious his face had become while talking with me. This military experience developed in him the qualities to become a leader.

His interest in studying and experience leading soldiers in the military led him to be a teacher, ultimately. He started to teach ethics in middle school after college and his military service.

“Why did you decide to teach ethics?” I asked.

 

“I wanted to talk about life itself with students. Human duty and smooth relationships with others are very important in life. I wanted to tell them how to live from my own experience overcoming all those hard times.” He sounded very confident and lively at this time, with enthusiasm in his eyes. The corners of his eyes folded into long lines that showed both his age and the joy that he still has despite of it. 

He sincerely enjoys every single hour of talking about how human beings should behave or how to live well with his students.

“I really like my job because it is rewarding to guide students who have infinite potentials.”

I especially respect his positive attitude and challenge spirit towards potential dreams. He wanted to become a principal someday when he started his career, so he prepared little by little what he had to do to be qualified to become a principal. He accomplished his goal by making efforts with a positive mind and a hardworking attitude. Lastly my dad told me, “I was not afraid of failure because I did my best every moment in my life. People often say something is hard without even trying. You will never regret if you exert your utmost.” Those words linger in my mind. 

 

Simmy(Su Xiao) / Improved language sample/ Tue 1pm

1. One of my Korean friends has lived in Argentina for a long time, so
I'm curious that whether women's social position in Korea is different
from Argentina or not.
〉My Korean friend Rita has lived in Argentina for a long time, as
women's social position is being widely discussed nowadays, I'm also
curious that whether women's social position in Korea is different
from Argentina or not. So I seized the chance to interview Rita.

2. We met in a cafe and I asked her opinion about the women's social
position in both countries.
〉We pleasantly met in a cafe and at first we just got into chatter.
Rita is a lovely girl with a round face and curly black hair. Her long
eyelashes frequently danced nimbly with her eyes opened and closed.
She enjoyed laughing out loud with her lips widely open as if to show
off her extremely white teeth. She is a "sunshine girl" who always
lives positively.
Then I began to interview her.

3. Ignoring the noise around us, my friend was lost in thought.
〉Ignoring the noise around us, Rita closed her eyes and was lost in
thought, trying to pick up as much as useful information from her
memory. After one minute or so, she opened her eyes with a gentle
smile and I knew that she had come up with the idea.

4."Ah, there's one point I'd like to mention about…"
〉I interrupted:" So you mean that women in Argentina take freedom in
an important position?" Rita laughed, with her amazingly white teeth
exposed:" Yeah, definitely. Ah, there's one point I'd like to mention
about…"

5. She answered:" Actually it's not that serious in Argentina."
〉She curled up her lips, cupped her chin with a little hesitation and
then looked straight into my eyes:" Actually it's not that serious in
Argentina."
1. One of my Korean friends has lived in Argentina for a long time, so
I'm curious that whether women's social position in Korea is different
from Argentina or not.
〉My Korean friend Rita has lived in Argentina for a long time, as
women's social position is being widely discussed nowadays, I'm also
curious that whether women's social position in Korea is different
from Argentina or not. So I seized the chance to interview Rita.

2. We met in a cafe and I asked her opinion about the women's social
position in both countries.
〉We pleasantly met in a cafe and at first we just got into chatter.
Rita is a lovely girl with a round face and curly black hair. Her long
eyelashes frequently danced nimbly with her eyes opened and closed.
She enjoyed laughing out loud with her lips widely open as if to show
off her extremely white teeth. She is a "sunshine girl" who always
lives positively.
Then I began to interview her.

3. Ignoring the noise around us, my friend was lost in thought.
〉Ignoring the noise around us, Rita closed her eyes and was lost in
thought, trying to pick up as much as useful information from her
memory. After one minute or so, she opened her eyes with a gentle
smile and I knew that she had come up with the idea.

4."Ah, there's one point I'd like to mention about…"
〉I interrupted:" So you mean that women in Argentina take freedom in
an important position?" Rita laughed, with her amazingly white teeth
exposed:" Yeah, definitely. Ah, there's one point I'd like to mention
about…"

5. She answered:" Actually it's not that serious in Argentina."
〉She curled up her lips, cupped her chin with a little hesitation and
then looked straight into my eyes:" Actually it's not that serious in
Argentina."

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Lee Jungha/improved language samples/Tue 1pm

1) Students carved their favorite member's name on their wooden desks and elaborately decorated their school supplies with the bands' pictures.

> Students carved their favorite member's name on their wooden desks with a cutter and elaborately decorated their school supplies like pens, textbooks, and pencil case with the bands' pictures.

2) We met at a cafe near the Konkuk University.

> Cafe was small and well decorated with flower pattern on the wall. There was few people because it was weekday's afternoon and it was located on narrow alley. Just calm music flew out from speakers.

3) (Add) She's been wearing glasses from childhood and she has a short hair. On the day we met, she wore a green cardigan with white T-shirt inside and jeans. Also she wore light makeup.

4) (Add) The band name is Guckkasten which means 'a Chinese kaleidoscope' in German.

5) According to her, that band is having trouble with their agency.

> According to her, that band is having trouble with their agency. She said the agency is suffering from financial problem and moreover the representative committed suicide several month ago.