Parents always have the best intention!! =D

I just had a little chat with my parents and I enjoyed it. =)
The problem with me is, after all the inspirations and better feelings that i get from advices and open-up conversations, i tend to forget the feeling after awhile and go back to my old self. However, I'm constantly trying to improve myself, so that i can be a better daughter and a better person as well.
I know my pros and cons. I'm not so good at understanding people or advicing but i'm good at being patient and compromising. My cons are usually related to confidence, that leads to charisma, ahving a stand, self-esteem, occasional negative thoughts and indecisiveness. ahaha..But i'm changing one step at a time.

My father told me that it was important to be humble. And i totally agree with that.
Nobody wants to talk with people who are arrogant because they know that they won't listen.
Thus, he told us to always remember that there are people out there who are smarter than us, better than us, and with this in thought, it will keep us humble.
When you know that there are people who are more successful, you would want to know how they think, and what can you learn from them. Therefore, you're opening up your learning scope.
If you're arrogant, you won't listen and this will cause you to lose the opportunity to learn more, in other words, you're limiting or missing your chance to learn.

Life is too short to make your own mistake and learn from it. It is better to learn from others mistake. Its like a shortcut to your goal. Only 1% of the population are successful and brilliant people. The remaining 99% are the average people. Thus, if you want to be that 1%, you have to think like a 1%. Their thinking pattern will definitaly be different and i think i'll be reading some biographies pretty soon. ahaha

So i have another new goal now which is:
- To strengthen our family bonding and understnading
- To strengthen my sisterhood with my sisters
- Operation family health

I love my family and i should start making it my priority! ^^

Reader's Digest Dec 2010 ^^

I've not been writing for so long that i've lost the flow in writing. But i'm going to keep practicing and i will get back the momentum! ^^
Anyway, I'M BACK!!!
My 1 year (actually 10 months) journey in Korea was wonderful! I did the things that i wanted. I've gained lots of new experience. I've learned a thing or two about myself. But i also feel like i've wasted some time there! I could have discovered more if i weren't getting lazier as time passed.
If "fear" and "lazy" do not exist in this world, everyone would be successful. ahaha
ooo..i think i found myself a new goal!
-To be fearless
-To be active at all times. Active in all the things i do. Active in studying. Active in having fun. Even being active in shopping.
^^
Because i do get lazy when it comes to shopping.

When i think back to the moment i saw my name in the "result email", I felt very uncomfortable.

I cried on the spot because I was happy that I'm finally getting the opportunity to study or to be in Korea for a year. I've always wanted to go overseas to study. To know how it feels like to be in a different environment. And even though i'm not there to study for my degree, i still felt like this dream came true.

I cried on the spot because I was sad that Grace wasn't going with me. In reality, I was afraid of going alone. I knew that i had to be independent and get out of my comfort zone. I didn't want to face those changes althoug I knew that we should embrace changes because that's what makes us grow. I didn't want to leave my friends and study my degree without them when i'm back. I got too comfortable in my foundation year that i hoped everything will stay the same for my degree. But the encouragement from my parents pushed me and I adapted really fast when i went to Korea. ahaha. My mindset changed as well. It was nice to make new friends because there's so many interesting people out there to meet. I know getting the right kind of friends may take awhile but I'm sure I'll be able to make good friends in my degree course. ^^

Ahaha.. I just realized that i used the word "dream". Such a simple thing can also be considered as a dream but i always have this perception that a dream should be something big. XD When someone asks me what is my dream, i do not know how to answer them. Without realizing, I also have all these small dreams that i want to achieve. =) Alrigt, let's continue.

Now, to the topic i want to share. =)

ARE YOU A CHEAPSKATE OR A THRIFTY PERSON?

ahaha..I think i'm a bit of a both. XD

"tightwads feel guilty spending money- frugal folk have fun saving"- From reader's digest dec 2010

I also like this sentence:

"we work for the future without ever being able to live for the day"- by Karl Rabeder, an Austrian Millionaire who unloaded all his worldly possessions to help others.

Well, that's all for now. Its time for me to start and finish my report..XD..

Reminds me of my high school!! XD

Hey people!! It's been ages since i last updated my blog..ahaha..sorry about that..

Anyway, I have something interesting that i want to share today! ^^
Well, my friends and I joined this CCAP program (Cross-culture Awareness program).
Its purpose is to broaden Korean student's mindset about other cultures.
For me, I joined for the experience! ahaha..because how often do you get a chance to go to a Korean school and teach?!
So, I've decided to do the class together with my friend (Yan Yee) and we were given High School students for our first CCAP class.
ahaha..We worked our butt off in preparing for the class; practicing and asking lots of opinions from our friends.
Okay, i'll just skip the process part..ahaha..

D-DAY!! ^^
We arrived the school earlier than we thought so we went to find somewhere to sit down and enjoy our Kimbab.

 The High School

Ahaha..We were early so we sat somewhere across the school.
I felt like a stalker!! niceee..XD

So when it was time, we went to the school, meet up with the teacher, meet the school's principal and then went to the teacher's office.

The teachers were friendly. ahaha.. One of the teacher told us in advance that the students were troublemakers. They might not listen to you. O.O.. ahaha

This is the teacher that helped us a lot. Sohn seonsaengnim. =)
He is very friendly and polite.

The school's building from another angle.

The school's entrance

The soccer field

The corridor of the school. The floor is a kind of
plastic wood carpet?..XD..So the students would
take off their shoes and wear the clean slippers. I
guess that is why they are allowed to wear different
kind of shoes to school.

The teacher's office.

Another view of the teachers office.

So we went in the class and executed our plan.

Ahahaha...OMG!! I was thinking may be we could rearrange the chairs in the class to a U-shape but we ended up rearranging the tables as well. I could see the teacher anxiously helping us. I felt soooo bad at that moment. Shouldn't have rearranged the seats! ahahah

Okay, when that was settled, the students were already in the class. However, Yan Yee and I needed to empty the classroom for awhile to hide 3 things (Ketupat, money, batik) for the Ice-breaking session we prepared. The teacher told the students to wait outside for awhile and some of the students were like "okay then, we'll go out and won't come back"...>.<..So bad!! The teacher had to scold them but i don't think it's consider scolding because he was speaking in a very patient way?..XD

After that, the students came in and we introduced ourselves. ahahaha..total SILENCE!!
Luckily Yan Yee interacted with the students by asking "밥 먹었어?" (Have you eaten your lunch?)
And they responded "네" (Yes).. =)

1st- I presented on where is Malaysia? ahaha..Yan Yee and i put this cute animation of me moving from Korea to Seoul and i think they responded a bit to that. And then i told them the country that looks like a
"고구마" (sweet potato) and "강아지" (dog) is Malaysia.
Then i ask them what is Malaysia's capital city. Showed them KLCC and told them that it looks like ice cream or chopsticks. Had a bit of reaction at that statement too. =)

The cute animation picture. ^^

2nd- Yan Yee presented on Malaysian flag and flower. Our national flower is the same as Korea which is the Hibiscus but theirs is purple. They reacted to the flower part which is good. The next questions was "What is the national language of Malaysia?"
For this question, they were actually guessing in a whisper. Then, Yan Yee told them the answer and also said that other language are spoken as well.
ahaha..Now my favourite part!! She told them that she can speak Malay, Chinese, English, Korean and she told them i could speak Malay, Chinese, English, Korean and Japanese!!! AHAHAHA...
They were like "OHHH!! WAHHH!"... muahahaha..well, the Japanese one was a bit of a lie cause I'm still learning the basics..XD..And she thought of that at the spur of the moment. We didn't practice that.
Okay, then it was time to learn a few Malaysian language. It was quite okay when they actually repeat after you but when it was time to have volunteers, nobody wanted to come out. >.<
Ahaha.. i think i forced one boy to come out (now i feel bad for forcing him)..XD..and when i wanted to pull the girls, they were all looking down. I even said "이렇게 하지마" (Don't be like this).. OMG!! ahaha..i shouldn't have said that ahhhhh!! I should have been stricter!!

3rd- I presented on the general informations of Malaysia like population, currency, time and weather. For the currency, i actually put a really funny photo of my friend holding the Malaysian money but nobody laugh. ahaha..and i actually wanted to ask "잘 생있죠?" (Handsome right?) but i forgotten to say that..XD

ahaha..this was the photo i put in my slide! XD
Isn't it funny?

Then i talked about the weather, that is it hotter than Busan and where do you go during the summer in Busan? Haeundae Beach! So in Malaysia, we can go to... Pulau Tioman, Pulau Redang...etc.

ahaha..they were like "wahh" when they saw this picture. ^^

4th- Who are Malaysians?..Yan Yee presented on this.

5th- I presented on What do Malaysians wear? It was okayyy but when there was a Sarong trying on time, nobody wanted to come up and try. So the teacher came up and we showed them how and when do we wear the sarong. A bit of reaction since they were seeing their teacher in a sarong.

6th- Yan Yee presented on national religion. First asking them what do they think and then explaining. When she say Muslim cannot eat pork and no alcohol, no reaction. Then when she add Soju cannot, 돼지고기도 안되 (pork meat also cannot), 삼걉살도 안되 (Korean BBQ pork also cannot) then only they got responds. But of course she added that if you come to Malaysia, you still can eat all those. =)

And then festivals, not much reaction. We just keep comparing. Korean New Year and Chinese New Year is the same day. What do you eat during Korean New Year? We eat "Yee Sang" during Chinese New Year and stuff like that.

7th- My turn to present on school life.

ahaha..I took Melissa's class picture for this slide. XD
Anyway, i told them about the class time, the rules, attire and exams.
The rules in Korea are different. The students can let down their hair, bring cellphones to school and they put their shoes in the shoe box provided.
And for the exam part, i told them about SPM and we compared it with 수능 (Korean SAT). Their big major exam only last for one day while ours last for a month. ahaha.. big difference..

8th- Yan yee presented on Malaysia food and then Teh Tarik making session. ^^
The response was quite okay for the Teh Tarik, some liked it and some didn't. But when we were practicing in the dormitory, most of our korean friends liked it, especially Dong Jin. ahaha.. After that, we gave them the coconut and durian candy that we got from Asian mart then end of class. I wanted to take a group picture but the students left so fast. =( At least 1 students came to us and bow, another student didn't come and say thank you but he hesitated. =)

Oh ya, even though the high school we went to was co-ed, the students are still separated according to the classes. An all-girl class and all-boy class. The reason? ahaha..My korean friend say its to prevent too many coupling in school. XD
Anyway, this was definitely a good experience for me!!!! ^^ I've always wanted to go to a Japanese school or a Korean school to see what its like. =) I've also learned a few things. ahaha..Do not be too soft or kind when you're teaching or else the student will step all over you. XD.. Shine say we should observe the crowd and find those students who are interested to volunteer if there's any volunteering required. Izzat's method of making the students participate is by making it a game: boy vs. girl. I think i'll try that for the next class. =)

Ahaha..Now when i think back to my high school days, i was the same. XD
I won't volunteer most of the time and when a class ends, we'll say thank you and just walk out.
ahahaha.. Very different from who i am now, in a good way. =) If there's anything that i want to do, i'll volunteer. If there's anything that i don't know or want to ask, i'll ask. Well, 80% of the time. XD.. Yayyyy!! I've improved or grown up a bit..ahaha

Gym...

Hello people!!!

It's been 3months since i last updated my blog. Sorry for the procrastination. =)

Anyway, this post is just for me to express my feelings on the Japan issue.

I was running on the treadmill in the gym just now and i turned on to CNN.

Well, it was saddening to see the houses and trees being swept away by the tsunami,

but it was even more saddening when i saw an old Japanese man on the hospital bed with just a few coins, 

ONE money note and a few other papers as his only assets left.

But NONE of that matters anymore.

I couldn't hear what he said but he was crying.

Thinking that he has lost his home, or farm, or even family members broke my heart. 

I pray that the country will be able to recover soon,

may the people find their love ones safe and sound,

will the heartless people stop criticizing them because they do not deserve this,

and last of all, may everyone around the world do something to help,

not only to help Japan but also to help save our earth because i believe that natural disasters are a sign to tell us that mother nature is not happy.

Well, i love Japan! Partly because i like to watch japanese animations and the japanese people are very polite, kind and the stuffs there are super cute!

And i also love my country and the earth because i have my love ones there.

My family. My relatives. My friends.

So, spontaneously, at this very moment, 11.17pm March 15, 2011.

I've decided to do at least one good deed a day.

Like helping someone or recycling or just anything! ^^

I must and WILL stick to that motto!!

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

By Theodore Roosevelt