Who are you? No, I am not asking for your name. I asked who you are, not what your name is. Why are you here? Why are you born? Why are you sitting down in front of this computer looking at the screen displaying my post?

I bet that you couldn’t give a clear, true answer to these consecutive questions starting with a word which makes everything so complicated: why. Certain things have reasons for its existences. A clock is there to tell people time, a pencil is used to write things on papers; a phone, to communicate. However these are things that are made by people to perform specific roles. Clear reasons have not been defined for existence of things in nature: the sun, the earth, the animals, and humans. Scientists have been trying to determine how the whole universe is formed at the first place. Some people eased themselves from this problem by simply assuming that there is higher force above them: gods (wait, then, where did the gods come from?).

I have no idea about the whole universe, yet I thought of the one reason for the existence of human being. A human is born to find out why he or she is born. As the time flows, a person handles many different tasks with various goals. Equal chance of experimenting with ones own life is given out to everyone. Live your life considering it as an opportunity to realize why you are living.

With a romantic melody flowing, two half naked boys, full of passion, were holding each other. Sweat covered all of their bodies; gasping for breath, the two seemed inseparable. What are they doing? I asked myself, and the only answer I could think of was them making love. The very instant when I assumed them as homosexuals, a man who were watching the scene removed his headphone. The amorous song ended, and no more romance existed. Instead, loud cheers of a crowd filled up the speaker. An utterly different angle provided an unexpected image. No, they were not making love. They were two wrestlers struggling to defeat each other.
The situation was created by the company trying to sell their new mobile phone with an mp3 function. “Our company makes a cellular phone with great music which can change your way of viewing things” is the basic message that the advertisement delivers. Yet what penetrated my mind was not the fresh machine’s arrival. The advertisement itself with its astonishing way of destroying the viewers’ stereotyped image felt fresh. Breaking stubborn stereotypes hindering people from facing the truths that they are suppose to see—this is what I want to do. I want to become a thinker, speaker, writer, viewer who can remove colored glasses placed in front of eyes of people.
I want to be a person who is capable of showing the same image from an opposite angle and still convince the audience. The commercial with two naked boys which is supposed to be funny and humorous altered my life. Obtaining ultimate purpose of life from a laughable advertisement: isn’t this happening itself smashing the stereotype?

The car chooses its driver, and the story begins. The movie Transformer illustrates the visit of robots from outer space to our planet, earth. The robots are capable of “transforming” themselves into cars or other machineries. Throughout the plot, they not only transform their outer shape, yet also alter a boy’s life and destiny of humanity. Despite its wonderful imagination, breathtaking action scenes, and entertaining plot, the heaviest theme that the movie handles is the role of government and its current situation in the United States: how it has transformed itself compared to its beginning and how it should transform for the future.

Based on certain scenes, authorities in the movie often appear rather abusive toward citizens, the ordinary people. A police officer who captures the main character, Sam, in the beginning, does not even try to listen to the innocent boy’s explanation of what has actually taken place. The policeman presumes that Sam is on drugs due to his desperate descriptions about his new car transforming into a robot, then forces him to confess so. Policemen are the ones who should pay attention to the voice of citizens, protect them from any danger, and hold their hands when needed. They are the emblem of justice, yet their actions shown in the scene are absolutely unjust and unfair. This scene clearly points out the corruption existing in the present police force. It is true that the number of incidents where police officers misuse their power upon people.

Another negative aspect that the movie revealed about the current foreign policy of US is its warlike characteristic. Without any definite evidence, the Secretary of Defense assumes its opposing country, Russia or North Korea, as the attacker who has destroyed their army base at desert and as the penetrator into US supercomputer. This behavior of the United States expressed in the film directly censures its ongoing war with Iraq. George W. Bush had claimed that his reason of invading and sending young American soldiers to Iraq was to confiscate weapons of mass destruction possessed by Saddam Hussein. However the reality was different. Iraq had no such weapons that would threat the world. Moreover, the setting in desert presented in movie where the battle occurred tries to remind the audience of how their invaluable young generation is being lost.

Despite its corruption, the government in the movie brings itself a huge change when the safety of its citizens is threatened under attacks of the Decepticons. The high officials start to listen to the voice of the young boy. They cooperate with the Autobots admitting their previous mistakes and successfully defeat their common enemy. Through their actions, the movie directly suggests that a hope still exists for American government. The ultimate peace will arise on the surface if only the government plays its true role taking care of each member of their community and merging with other cultures, represented by the Authobots in the movie.

Even though Transformer is supposed to be entertaining, it certainly depicts deeper theme beyond being just a fun movie to watch over the summer. The United States began its history under a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Unfortunately its dignity recently has been transformed; and it needs to be transformed again into a different, hopefully a finer, form.

The origin of ones life itself has no cause, I believe. What I mean by a “cause” is an actual cause of life, not a cause of pregnancy (which is a simple mating).
No one earned their life. An opportunity to see the light of this universe is not a granted matter that a person deserves; it is something that is already given to a person without his or her will. Whether the one desired for it or not, he or she still has to pay the cost of receiving the chance by living given life. As humans carry on their burden of existence, they eventually face absurdity of life and realize lightness of their subsistence.
Why was I born? What am I breathing for? Although no one can answer them, by nature, to bear the lightness of ones being, humans unceasingly struggle to place themselves in a position where they can defend reasons for their existences. I, as a member of the species, constantly try to justify that I am worthy living. Yet life provides no ceiling to touch. We push ourselves up the endless stairs called greed toward the terminus named final achievement of aim, when actually no terminus point exists in life. Study to get all A’s, go to Harvard, graduate with GPA of 4.0, struggle and compete with others to get a job you want, work hard for higher annual income, work harder and harder, then maybe after 10 extra years of working, try asking yourself a question: “Wait, so why am I working so hard?”
Why do you study, work, and live? If my heartbeat stops right now, nothing actually changes. Yes, my mom will cry and my class will have one student missing in the room. But so what? My death won’t even tickle the universe. The earth will still rotate, the sun will still rise, and others will still continue breathing. How light and trivial I am.
Seeking for a meaning and loading weight on what I consider important in life neither offer a reason of my life nor cancel the encounter with the unbearable lightness of being. Instead, too much burden on shoulders would suppress me down, placing my soul in the bottom floor of the stairs and making myself suffer bitter reality of emptiness.
Despite its lightness and absurdity, my life is full of meaning. Being able to breathe in this universe itself is a privilege; being no other one on earth, but being me who is unique from all the others is a special gift. The opportunity of being able to continue the heartbeats constantly transmit unlimited chances to struggle to find meaning in my life. Living in this universe is a worthwhile attempt.

Walking down the hallway, laughing out loud with my friends, I suddenly stopped my steps after a glance at an object hanging down from the ceiling: a candid camera. With its one eye, it was facing directly at me and my friends. Perceiving my actions, reading my lips–these were what the camera was doing. With a strong, abrupt uncomfortable feeling, I refused to act as myself. Yes, I stopped being Dabin, yet started to act as a machine that performs restricted actions forced by school.

In one science fiction movie (with a title that I cannot remember), one of the main character reveals top government secret?the satellites will be soon used by the government to observe actions of each citizen. When I heard it, I gave a snort of laughter. Invasion of privacy, I would call it. Yet with candid cameras watching over me, my friends, everyone in school, I started to think of it as a quite reasonable theory. If international schools where the authorities claim to respect their students start to invade their privacy, it only proves that the authorities suppose human nature as evil and unworthy of trust.

Although the original purpose and intention of the cameras are to prevent certain misbehaviors of students, it still feels like being a prisoner in panopticon?a specially designed prison where everything can be seen by observers.

In life, there are certain questions that are just not allowed to ask. Several of the questions that are prohibited in my house are about church, the Bible, and the God. I would first like to assure that my parents are the most wonderful human beings on this planet, and I sincerely respect and love them. Yet my parents and I have different beliefs, although my mom and dad have never allowed me to have those.
Every Sunday morning that I went through in my life was spent in the church. I had thought that I believed in the words of the Bible. I had considered myself as a Christian. I have used past perfect tenses (obviously), which indicates that I changed. Oh, yes I did. Apparently, I began to think with my own brain instead of admitting beliefs that are force by others to trust. Additionally, I began to develop ability to question.
Every Sunday afternoon, my family spends time together (with some forceful compulsions) reading the Bible. I was in Japan this Sunday; but no exception was allowed. We still had to read the “Holy Book”. I wanted to waste some time and give my eyes a short break from reading off of such tiny fonts.
“Can Science and Christianity co-exist?” I asked. I bit the forbidden fruit.
My father—after staring at me for a moment—gave a negative answer, saying “No, they cannot co-exist.” Then, I asked him another question, whether he goes to hospital or depends on medicine when he’s sick, with additional comments that they are also part of science and Christians including you (father) do accept those things. He slowed to speak a word out. However, he didn’t stop. He said, “Believers and devotees do not accept certain logics and concepts of science, and that’s why there are high controversies emerging constantly between religion and science.”
“What do you mean by ‘certain logics and concepts of science’?” I asked, and another hesitation occurred. After few seconds of hesitation, “Big Bang theory and idea of evolution are some examples of scientific beliefs that Christians do not agree with,” he said. “Dad, then why do you accept medical treatments? Isn’t the God the one who decides one’s health? Shouldn’t he be the one who release a person from pain of disease? What is a standard for us to decide what to accept and not?” My father told me that we should look at the Bible, yet it didn’t really make sense to me. The Bible is an old book. We have completely different society with new technology that the Bible cannot give specific example to look at.
My father couldn’t give me a clear answer that released me from an endless and heavy doubtful point. Nor the Bible could help me. I don’t think my preacher can help me out. I think no one can. Then what about you, God? Can you give me an answer to my questions? If you can, please “ning” me.

When ume blossoms fall, Cornus officinalis come into bloom. By the time Cornus officinalis scatter, the buds of cherry blossoms develop into flowers. At this point of a year, the riverside of Sum-jin River becomes full of flower blossoms. The winding river reflects the images full of flowers on its surface.

             “Follow Sum-jin River and watch,

             Several men may try to bail out water,

             But the river will never be dried.”  (Yong Taek Kim’s poem)

As Yong Taek Kim sang in his poem, Sum-jin River gets wider and deeper as it goes nearer to its riverbank. The river, with its special power, makes the minds of travelers, following the river path, comfortable and broad. Everywhere is filled with flowers, lighting the mountain and the river.

Sum-jin River is the first place where the spring visits on the Korean Peninsula. Some people even say that it can’t be said that a real spring arrive unless the fire of flower flares near the river. The wind of spring comes across the ocean, kindles up the flame of flowers, and spreads all over the peninsula. Around this time of the year, blossoms of ume flowers reach their peak. Sum-jin village of Kwang-yang is invaded by the waves of red and white ume flowers. There are several color variations: white, blue-green, and pink. The ume flowers are beautiful when they begin to bloom, yet the scenery of their fall is way more attractive. 

Near the riverbank, when the ume flowers fall, cornus officinalis dye the land with the color, yellow. Cornus officinalis’s colony is composed of 50 villages around Jiri Mountain. Among all the villages, the one located on the top of the mountain has largest population of the plant; therefore many refer the village as Cornus Officinalis Town. In general, cornus officinalis matures in mid October. The opened seeds even function as oriental medicine. However, the process of opening seeds requires a person to use one’s mouth and crack them. In the past, many young girls of the village were married with their teeth dyed in red—the color of the seeds.

In the past, corbicula catching provided housewives of Sum-jin region source of income. However, nowadays, influx of Chinese corbicula and raised corbicula threatens their income. Increasing number of restaurants in the downtown of Hadong uses cheap Chinese corbicula. The sea itself has changed over time. Electronic power plants and iron foundries have been established; such changes caused decreased production of seaweed. Although oyster and fry production continues until today, the sea is no way similar to that of the old days.

Despite the changes, Sum-jin River remained unchanged. It constantly provides fresh water to the ocean, embracing the variations. Its designation as the mother river originates from such characteristic. The river continues to flow into the sea even today.