How does ethnnocentricity cause conflict?

Ethnocentricity causes conflict because the group of people only focus on their culture and judge other groups of people without understanding and accepting differences in their culture. In the movie, "The First Australians", British honored themselves as civilized settlers, while they described Aborginals as ferocious, barbarous savages because their skin was dark and they didn't wear clothes. Also, one of their reasons for taking over the land was since they were wild and clothless, the colonizers believed that the Aboriginals are animals and animals don't own land. The British puts their own culture in the center which leads the Aboriginals to be the abnormal ones. However the Aboriginals in this documentary were considered less ethnocentric because they didn't attempt to force the colonists to change their culture to the Aboriginal's. Also, In the book, "The Rabbits", the British polluted the land, the water and even stole the Aboriginal's children in order to make their future generation to have whiter skin. The Aboriginals fought back to keep their property, but the British used their advanced warfare skills and gained absolute control over the land. The British used the land for farming of their own crops and polluted the nature for their benefit. These impolite manners to Aboriginal's land was created by their ethnocentrism and not considering Aboriginal's life style in nature. This attitude of the colonists made the Aboriginals to think that the British people are dangerous and strange because they are not open and welcoming with new relationships for a long period of time. In the European culture at that time, colonization was common, however for the aboriginals, they were shocked with the British started taking over their land and transforming everything to their civilized culture. So, the difference in culture, also resulted conflicts. British colonists felt superior to the Aboriginals because they had the pride of civilized culture and started to over control Australia by force. If the British agreed to cooperate with the Aboriginals to understand their differences, the cultural settlement could have been less unfair.

Julius Caesar Duet

I will be preparing the play with Michelle Ahn, I will be playing Calpurnia and Michelle will be playing Caesar. We will perform: Act two, Scene two, Lines 1 to 56.

In this scene, Calpurnia tries to convince Caesar to not go to the Senate today because of her nightmare about Caesar. She believes that it's a foreshadowing of tragedy and begs Caesar to stay at home to prevent any danger.

This scene is significant because Calpurnia's dream is a foreshadowing of what is going to happen to Caesar which is an assassination from the conspirators. The way Caesar reacts to it showed his public self and his private self, at first he pretended as if he was not concerned by it because he says he is not afraid of anything and "Caesar shall go forth!". That is his public self because he presents himself as a mighty bold leader who would never be a coward who doesn't go forth because of a dream. Also, he says "Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come." shows that he is not afraid of death or anything that gets on his way. However, when Calpurnia kneels down to beg him to stay, he suddenly changes his decision and decides to stay at home. This shows his private self because although he says he is bold, mighty and won't change his decision, he got easily swayed just by Calpurnia kneeling down. However, he doesn't want to show it outside, therefore he says "And for thy humour I will stay at home." which is I'll stay at home to please you, not for himself but for her.

CAESAR

Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace to-night:
Thrice hath Calpurnia in her sleep cried out,
'Help, ho! they murder Caesar!' Who's within?

CALPURNIA

What mean you, Caesar? think you to walk forth?
You shall not stir out of your house to-day.

CAESAR

Caesar shall forth: the things that threaten'd me
Ne'er look'd but on my back; when they shall see
The face of Caesar, they are vanished.

CALPURNIA

Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies,
Yet now they fright me. There is one within,
Besides the things that we have heard and seen,
Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch.
A lioness hath whelped in the streets;
And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead;
Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,
In ranks and squadrons and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol;
The noise of battle hurtled in the air,
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan,
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets.
O Caesar! these things are beyond all use,
And I do fear them.

CAESAR

What can be avoided
Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods?
Yet Caesar shall go forth; for these predictions
Are to the world in general as to Caesar.

CALPURNIA

When beggars die, there are no comets seen;
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.

CAESAR

Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard.
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.

CAESAR

The gods do this in shame of cowardice:
Caesar should be a beast without a heart,
If he should stay at home to-day for fear.
No, Caesar shall not: danger knows full well
That Caesar is more dangerous than he:
We are two lions litter'd in one day,
And I the elder and more terrible:
And Caesar shall go forth.

CALPURNIA

Alas, my lord,
Your wisdom is consumed in confidence.
Do not go forth to-day: call it my fear
That keeps you in the house, and not your own.
We'll send Mark Antony to the senate-house:
And he shall say you are not well to-day:
Let me, upon my knee, prevail in this.

CAESAR

Mark Antony shall say I am not well,
And, for thy humour, I will stay at home.

Learning Profile

I'm a logical thinker with the profile C. In Profile C, I learn best by focusing on the auditory details. While I listen during classes, I learn through analysis, communication and taking notes. Also, I prefer structured learning and sequenced information. So, I learn better when the information comes in lists of bullet points or numbers. I love lists because I don't need to rewrite it so that it is all in order and are comfortable to my eyes. Also, I learn best when an example of the subject is given because I can come up with ideas that are related to example and think farther to make my idea unique, but it is hard for me to use my imagination to think of a complete different idea.

I need to always relax my eyes when I am under stress because my visual is limited under stressed and it's hard to see specific details in visual information. So, since my dominant eye is left eye, when my left eye is limited under stress, I have to close my eyes in order to hear better. I need to work on my gestalt side too, because since I'm a logical thinker, I normally don't think about the big picture and use my imagination. Therefore, I don't like to share my ideas in front of the class because I often can't think of any idea until someone comes up with one and then I can think related to that. So, I need to start participating more in class and reduce relying on other people's idea and create my own idea from my imagination.

The strategies that would help me in my learning is to use the lists of information to study and take notes down while I'm listening in order to remember something that the teachers says. Lists are so useful when I'm studying because then I don't need to organize it again so that it's all in sequence. Also, communication also helps me in learning because I can learn through different perspectives. Also, it helps me to sit in the back row because I can focus better when I can see the whole class and since I know that I am capable of controlling myself from distraction, the best seat for me is rows in the back or front corner.

I would like my teachers to know that I sometimes slap myself in order to focus in class. So, when I'm focused, I almost always remember all the information through visual and listening. I have noticed that I can't really work or read when I'm under stress, but I'm capable of solving math problems. It's hard for me to focus when the room is too noisy but when it's too quiet, I can get distracted or distract someone. Other than this occasions, I'm most likely be focused in class. Also, when it's a full class - work time, I like to move around after I finish a part it and continue on again because it helps me to focus again on the work. :)

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp is painted by a Renaissance artist, Rembrandt, in 1632. It was oil on canvas painting.

This painting shows a reflection of what was happening during the Renaissance, through the the facial expression and the experimental body in the painting. During the Renaissance, artists wanted to make their paintings realistic with more details. In order to do that, the keen observers looked that dissected bodies to observe the muscles and wrinkles. So, the body that is being dissected in the painting represents the realism that the artists started to paint with during the Renaissance. Also, the facial expressions in the painting shows that people during the Renaissance enjoyed gaining new knowledge. This is also related to secularism, people questioned the church, and started experimenting on their own. The dissection which is shown in this painting is one of the experiments. They were used for observing the body for details in painting but also for studying the body parts for cure for diseases. Therefore, this painting shows realism and gaining new knowledge during the Renaissance.

Driving Forces of Renaissance

I believe that trading and banking was the most important driving force of the Renaissance because of the money from trading and banking offered people in city states time to construct or renovate architectures and think about new ideas and knowledge.

Link to Image URL

What, is in a hug

Have you ever hugged somebody?

A hug means more than welcome. I wasn’t used to hugging people other than my family when I was young. It felt as if giving a hug was such a big thing to do. It was easy to wave hands and smile at them, but a hug? That was not my style of saying hi. Things changed when I came to a international school. A place where all people had their own beliefs and personalities, which gave me distance between them at first. What would show them that I really want to know them? What could possibly make them believe I understand them? No strong and powerful words can show such an understanding.

I started to break my boundaries and get to know others. I’m a sensitive person towards feelings, so I was really careful with the people when I started meeting them. It took me a long time, but I had to know answers to my questions and what creates connection between people. When I came to middle school, my life became so much more enjoyable. I’ve made a lot of friends from around the world and now have deep connections with them. Then I thought, hey! Now I know what created this connection and understanding between people. There was one thing that I did a lot more nowadays than before. Hugs, giving hugs.

Every morning, I started my school day off with a big smile and tight hug. Every break, I cheered my friends going for a test, with a gentle hug. At the end of school, I gave all my friends an enormous hug saying: "see you tomorrow!". Whenever someone felt sad, I gave him or her, a hug. They knew I understood them. If they hugged me, I would feel comfortable and loved. Hugs create this strong web between everyone. This web will defend itself from any misunderstandings. Even if it gets tangled or cut, I know and we ALL accept that hugs can quickly connect the web again. This, I truly believe :)

Picture source: http://www.boomspeed.com/1631951/hugs05.jpg

The Game of Battle of Hastings, 1066

The online game of battle of Hastings is mainly about using different strategies. You can play this game in Harold G's point of view or William's point of view. When the battle starts, some options of plans are given, you need to think and choose which strategy fits each occasion. In order to win this game, you need to choose correct strategy every time. What I enjoyed about this game was the different strategies that Normans and the English used. They were very brutal and tricky. However, since we studied what happened in Battle of Hastings in class, I was able to reach the victory. Also, I learned new strategies used in the battle of Hastings and if they were success or not. During The Battle of Hastings the English or the Saxons made a shield wall to protect themselves from Normans. Later on, the Normans were able to break the shield wall and retreat because Normans thought William (their leader) has died, and the Saxons broke the shield wall and chased the Normans to see if the death of William was fake or not. In fact, William was still alive! Eventually the Normans turned around, attacked the English and killed Harold G. William was won the battle of Hastings. I think this type of game is a valuable learning experience because we can learn what happened in battle of Hastings and the strategies that Normans and English used.

Catherine called Birdy

The historical fiction novel “The Catherine Called Birdy” by Karen Cushman is a hard journey of a teenage girl during medieval times. The novel contains three themes of power of church, gender equality and freedom from family restrictions. Catherine’s everyday is controlled by the power of church, each day in her diary is a different Saint Day. Also, the novel represents people as religious community in the medieval times, the Catherine’s visit church often and also for religious days such as Lent and Easter. The novel contains variety of events and stories related to religion, for instance heaven, God and angel. Another theme in this historical fiction novel is gender equality. Girls are treated worse than boys in the medieval times. In the beginning of the novel, Birdy complains about why she has to behave like a lady and why she can’t be a monk or a crusader. Birdy listened to a lot of lady lessons from mom, but she is an adventurous girl. However, she is forbidden to be a monk or a crusader or be active because she is a girl. Since Birdy is a girl, it’s tough for her to have freedom from family restrictions. She can’t marry who she loves, her father has to choose her husband and Birdy was forced to marry Fat Shaggy Beard by her father. All in all, life in medieval era was challenging particularly for a noble girl like Catherine.

image source: http://www.frontiernet.net/~mblow/images/Birdy%20images/birdy%20book%20cover.jpg

Does The Boy In The Striped Pajamas deal with the sensitive subject of the Holocuas in an appropriate way?

I believe The Boy In The Striped Pajamas deals with the sensitive subject of the Holocaust in an appropriate way. The author, John Boyne wrote the book in a child's eye view, use of words to explain 'the other side of fence' and he also showed what people were seeing by thinking, not inferring information to represent the confusion of people. The book is in Bruno's point of view, a child's point of view. This boy portrays the German people or any other people who didn't know so well about the Holocaust. John Boyne did a fantastic job to explain those brain-washed people. There were a lot of explanations about 'the other side of fence'. Those skinny, bony people with old and disgusting pajamas were crowded in a small place. By using the window in Bruno's room and also the place with Shmuel, the horror/gory was deeply explain. Also this historical fiction has a lot of foreshadowing in the character's view or thought, it's never told what's going to happen, but it is referred to the following chapters which leads to 'the final solution'. As Bruno said in the novel, they were in the other side of fence but we weren't so different.

Picture source: http://isurvived.org/Pictures_iSurvived-4/auschwitz-fence2.GIF

Holocaust Museum

Go to http://www.ushmm.org/
Click on education for student
Then click on Holocaust a learning site for students
Or just go straight to http://www.ushmm.org.outreach/en/

From there, click on the Final Solution
Read the article

1. What are the stages before the final solution?
2. Look at the picture of people separated by a fence
   What do you see in this picture? How do you feel when you are looking at this?

Go back to Holocaust a learning site for students
Click life in ghettos

3. How and why were Jews treated this way?
4. Look at the map
Why are most of the concentration camps in eastern Europe?

Go back to Holocaust a learning site for students
Click at the killing center

5. Why did the Nazis use the Zyklon B to Jews? Why would they want to use it to Jews for that reason?
6. Look at the photos with Jews' clothes which were stuffed in the warehouse
How do you feel when you see this picture? What do those clothes represent?

Go back to Holocaust a learning site for students
Click at Auschwitz

7. About how many people died in Auschwitz?
8. Why would they use Jews who are humans for medical experiment? What do you think about this? Do you think a normal, alive person can be used for medical experiment?
9. Click on the second photo (the photo with Jews working in camp)
What does this look similar to? What does this picture symbolize? Describe the people in the photo (clothes, faces, etc…)

10. Do you think that this disaster will happen again? Are we still having problems with Jews nowadays somewhere in the world? Why do you think Jews were discriminated around the world? Explain.

ISKL statement - Power of Void

The International School of Kuala Lumpur provides an exceptional education that challenges each student to develop the attitudes, skills, knowledge and understanding to become a (silence) highly successful, spirited, socially responsible global citizen.

Between these words in ISKL statement, I put the word 'silence' to create tension and curiosity for listener. The listener is very interested in the future of the students in ISKL, and if we pause where the word silence is, the listener will be curious and anxious at the same time. When the curiosity is formed, people will ask questions. The word 'silence' forms tension because there is no answer.

Part Two

Composers can create tension and release in their music by putting a pause, a rest or a surprise silence in their music. When there is a pause, the tension is created and makes people curious about the answer and reasons to this silence. They think what is going to happen after this silence. The silence will be few seconds but for the listeners, it will feel like more than 5 minutes. The void is created when the elements of music is taken away. Then the release of the silence (when the elements of music returns) will give the answer to the listeners.

The Black Spot

I would call this story "The Black Box" because the black box is the main subject of this story and it also creates tension and curiosity on what is in the black box. In the story, there were a lot of foreshadowing that helped me predict what was going to happen. When Mrs.Hutchinson shouted "It wasn't fair!", I noticed that she wasn't happy at all when her family was selected in the lottery. This infers that the lottery in the story is not same as the lottery nowadays. The people don't want to be chosen for the lottery. Also from this text "it was no longer completely black but splintered baldy along on side to show original wood color.", I realised that the black box was antique and I knew that the lottery was a ritual from a long time ago.

These foreshadowing and questions that are popping in my head pulled me into the story. I couldn't wait to read the last paragraph. Instead of lines and words in the last paragraph, I saw a BLANK space. As a result, more questions appeared and created great tension. The second when Ms.P ripped the paper that had the end of story, The power of the void exploded and I thought I was going to die! There were so many clues in the story about the black box but there weren't any accurate answer. Then A paper that said "Do not open until 5pm and follow the instructions" Some papers had a black dot on it but mine didn't. I was kind of disappointed because people around me had the black dot and I thought something more special was on the paper.I did follow the instructions, I opened the paper at exactly 5pm because I was very curious about this mysterious paper and there was a SURPRISE! There was the ENDING OF STORY and some questions to answer for this blog. Obviously I did follow the instruction by writing this blog post.

The black box, the black spot and the blank paper...The black box is somehow the main object of this story and this caused the most tension for me. What was this box? What is in there? What makes people so curious about this box? Why do they want to change this box but they never do? These countless questions were suffering in my head until I received the rest of the story. The black spot is the climax of the story. Whoever gets the black spot is chosen. One thing that made me so anxious is that people didn't want to be the chosen one. I thought people want to be chosen for something good like the lottery. The blank paper is something that made people feel comfortable and happy. The people didn't want to be chosen. The blank paper was more like a winner in the lottery. more than 300 winners and 1 loser.

4:58pm, COME ON! (Peeking into the paper) For me, it felt like more than an hour passed to reach 4:59pm. Any faster? The second when the the big needle pointed at 12 and small needle turned to 5, I ripped two staplers on the paper and read "THE ENDING OF STORY" I knew it! Somehow I knew that I will find out the ending of the story. If there wasn't the ending of story, I would still go and ask teachers for the ending. I wasn't really focusing on the "assignment part", I could still make questions and predictions in the end of story. The time when the answer was given, I felt as if i was in heaven where I saw and knew everything. My prediction was the chosen one was going to be killed. It was kind of right because they threw stones at Tessie which is basically killing her. If I related more clues and forshadow in the story to make predictions, I'm sure I could make a better one. The auther left these voids in the story because the readers want to think and make predictions and questions. Also, it's boring when the author gives away every details.

No title, The title is suppose to give ideas to readers about the story. My first huge tension was created when I saw blank space in the title page. No ending, It's good to think and make predictions but there was nothing! Though people enjoy predicting, they still want to know the answer. Text clues, they were my heroes, they gave me ideas about this story and led me into the rest of the story. Mystery paper and delayed ending, The silence for 3 hours, I wasn't suppose to open this paper. What is this? The silence, the time when question ghosts flies in my head and the power of void ruled the entire band class students. From this short story, I realised that void can be created from anywhere, and wherever it happens, the power of void will rule the entire space...

"The most seemingly mundane activities can be inspirational when you look beneath the surface." Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry, a tremendous photographer, was born in Philadelphia in 1950, he worked at the newspaper for two years and traveled to India for freelance. He started his career as a photographer when he crossed the Pakistan border into rebel-controlled Afghanistan just before the Russian invasion. When he sewn films and photos into his clothes when he emerged from Afghanistan. He won countless awards of photography. McCurry explores themes of humanity in difficult circumstances, the human spirit, hope, poverty, determination, love of parent and child and war. Steve McCurry’s photos focus on people’s eyes and those eyes tell the story of the person. "If you wait, people will forget your camera and the soul will drift up into view."

As I was looking through Steve McCurry’s photos in his website, this photo of a child holding a gun with unsoiled eyes captured my eyes. His clothes are cluttered, brown and dirty. His skin is faded dark brown and it’s not emphasized in this photo, it’s slightly fainting. It’s not noticed at first when a person looks at this photo. His clothes and skin symbolize the weakness of this little boy. Although he has a gun, he has not enough power, he still has fear as a young child. Most of people will think that this boy is strong and he has gone through all the dangerous occasions that he is not afraid of anything anymore. If I just look at his face, his eyes and the gun which are positioned in the center, I can never guess what he is terrified. There is a huge contrast of colors between the eyes and his skin. He represents the children who live in a war place or danger zone.

The cloth that he is wearing on his head looks like a tent or a cave. A tent or a cave has defensible walls. However inside of the cave, there is nothing but dimness, gloomy breeze wondering around, rushing as fast as it can to get out of the walls. The focal point of this photo is the eyes. The eyes are the cleanest part in the photo. If I stare at those eyes, I might fall into that. I might be able to feel the spirit, and know the stories behind him. I could communicate with his eyes and his dried tears, the tears make his skin look pale brown, becoming weaker and losing the meaning of life. Steve McCurry positioned this boy in a plain background but showed the boy’s skin. I think he used the skin as a background. The mixture of foreground which is eyes and gun and the background, the skin introduces to the viewer to imagine a story about this boy and think deeper.


Steve McCurry captures the spirit of the person. He wants the viewer to read and analyze the photo: to feel the soul and be able to communicate with the focus point. His photos have more ideas then just spirit and emotion. When the viewers stare at the photo, they can hear the voices, smell what’s around them, see what’s next to them, feel the danger and taste the word of a fear that pops up their mouth. I learnt that to analyze a photo, I have to look at foreground and background, color contrast, size and position. Also, I need to be able to make inference about the photo. The photo will look more realistic if I infer some ideas in the photo. The photos inspire people to look back or look around to see what actually is happening in this world. There are gazillions of people who are in the same difficult circumstance as the people in the photos. Since the photos makes the viewers to actually think and be part of the scene, the viewers will understand more about them and stand up and act for the people in difficult circumstances. I believe that McCurry’s photos will endure forever. The viewers will never forget the eyes in the photo. The eyes will grab on to the viewer's heart. A great photo has a focus point that symbolizes the main idea. McCurry’s photos tells us journey of the people in the photo. From a scene, the viewers can notice the whole journey. Not just the scene but the whole story will last forever in our hearts.

couldn't upload the photo

Steve McCurry's website-galleries-child soldiers-8

Jason As Known As The Hero

Journeys of heroes in the myths usually fits the cycle of the hero. This cycle that is developed by Joseph Campbell is similar to the circle of life and these are the reasons.

Birth/Home: He was born as a son of a king, Ioclus. Later on, Jason’s uncle, Pelias, stole the authority from Ioclus, and ruled the kingdom and trapped the king in to a prison. Pelias thought that it's better to kill Jason now. So, Jason’s mother had to hide Jason from Pelias. If Pelias found where Jason was, he would definitely send someone to kill him.

Call to Adventure: Jason had angers for Pelias from his childhood. When he grew older, he asked for his throne back. Pelias ordered Jason to bring him the Golden Fleece, then the kingdom would be his.

Elixir: In order to get his throne back, he had to get The Golden Fleece, which was Jason’s elixir. The Golden Fleece was what he was reaching for, it was his goal, and he remembered that during his journey.

Helpers: The helpers of Jason were the Argonauts in the myth. The Argonauts were a group of heroes, even Hercules and Atalanta were one of them. It would have been impossible for Jason to accomplish his quest of getting The Golden Fleece without them.

Crossing the Threshold: To accomplish his quest and get The Golden Fleece, Jason and his helpers, the Argonauts had to pass the ocean. Then, they landed on the kingdom of King Aeetes. It was a harsh sailing in the ocean, they struggled with the waves. Also they had to go through the large rocks that stopped the sailing.

Helpers/amulet: Chiron and Jason's sword was Jason's helpers and amulets. Chiron and the sword made Jason strong and gave Jason hope to accomplish the quest.

Tests: Jason and the helpers/Argonauts went through plenty of tests. For examples, the harsh sailing with waves and rocks in the ocean, the fire breathing bulls which were on his way, and the dragon who were guarding the Golden Fleece. After each test, it made Jason and the Argonauts stronger and led to the accomplishment of getting to Golden Fleece.

Climax/Final Battle: The climax was during Jason’s final battle on the quest when the Argonauts went almost into the underworld, and also he fought with Medea. He used Chiron’s sword, and took over Medea. The Argonauts managed to get out of the underworld and Jason could accomplish his quest and get the Golden Fleece.

Return/Flight: Jason and the Argonauts returned back to kingdom, waiting for the moment when he takes back the throne from Pelias.

There are countless versions of the myth of Jason and The Argonauts. For instance, in one of the versions of myth, it said that Medea was a witch who fell in love with Jason and followed him during his journey. In another version, Aphrodite appears in the myth puts a spell on Medea, and she falls in love with Jason and follows him and helps him accomplish the quest. Also, I saw the cartoons. In that, Medea is vicious, she uses bad magic to stop Jason from accomplishing his quest. In some myth Jason was quite weak, and he got helped mainly from the Argonauts. In the cartoon, Jason is a strong hero who has courage. He acts conversely different in these two versions of the myth. I don't think there is a right version of the myth. The storytellers like to change the myth, and I think comparing different versions of the myth is an interesting thing to do.

Some people believe that the myth of Jason and the Argonauts was true. There is a lot of evidence supporting that belief. However we can't be sure if the Gods exist, it could be just a boy on a journey. These are the evidences that are from the movie on Jason during class.

• Mt. Pelion exists, it's where Jason went on his journey


• This myth took place during Trojan war, which really happened.


• Bronze Age Palace of Jason


• Artifacts found


• Making boats in ancient techniques, Jason's boat could have been made that way


• Island of Lemnos, Greece, place of the first quest


• Jason and Argonauts wanted to go to the Black Sea


• They went to Istanbul


• Scared cave-drawings of Jason


• Georgia means 'Land of the Golden Fleece'

The myth of Jason and the Argonauts is about a mighty hero, Jason, who reached for his goals and did things that were impossible for us. There is countless versions of the myth and evidences saying that the myth is true. It could be possible that the myth is true. The myth comes from ages ago, we never know the real answer.

Image URL: http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/223292/1/Jason-And-The-Argonauts-1925.jpg

Compliment Guys

This is a journey because it’s a mission to the compliment guys. Missions are journeys because there are steps for the accomplishments and there are always obstacles in missions and journeys.

These guys are heroes because one simple compliments that they say to people can change the person’s mood for the day. I think that a compliment for 2 second everyday is worth more than getting a car.I am sure that compliment guys think the same way as me and that’s why they do it. I find this surprising because one small thing can change a lot. These heroes do small things but they change a lot of people’s days.

At first, Some people thought that they were not sincere because they thought that the compliment guys were teasing people and not being honest and maybe making the people’s days worse. However, as the compliment guys kept doing it for a while. The people figured out that they were sure about the compliments and the compliments made their days start or end better and happier.

This says that small things such as simple, continuous compliments can change the human nature. When humans get a big present, they can feel the happiness for a short amount of time. Though, a continuous, small happiness will last for a long time.

I think that we need more people like these to make out daily journey more rewarding. As I said before, these compliment guys creates happiness, a slight grin or a laughter. Surprisingly, this starts or ends our day(daily journey) happier and this gives energy for the day.

These guys are actually improving people’s health. According to the article of Benefits of Laughter, laughter can reduce food cravings to increase one’s start of the pain. Laughter help people heal more quickly than other things.
Since, compliments make people happy and make them laugh, the people’s health is really improving.

This picture makes me smile because, the unicorns are cute and they are all smiling. For me, when something/someone laughs or smiles, I feel like laughing too. Some people might think that that is a stupid thing to do, but it’s human nature that is what everyone does. Laughter can spread around everywhere to everyone.

The best compliment that anyone has ever given to me was “I like your smile.” This was powerful compliment to me because it kept making me smile. I want to smile because everyone likes my smile. A smile starts my day happier. Who would want to see everyone depressed in the beginning of the day? A slight grin can make things happier for everyone.

Heroes and their journeys teach us about human nature. From their mistakes of acting and thinking, we can learn what we shouldn't do (being too greedy, not thinking about others) and what we should do (think deeper, make others happy (smile or laugh)!).

picture URL: http://www.maniacworld.com/Charlie-The-Unicorn.jpg

Orphan Boy & Pandora

The African myth, Orphan boy and Greek myth, Pandora demonstrate to us that curiosity can lead change that is either good or bad. In Orphan Boy, the old man couldn't resist the curiosity, so he stalked the Orphan Boy and lost his trust and the world received punishment. Also in Pandora, when she accidentally opened the box, all the evilness comes out of the box and the world gets in danger. Though, there is something else that came out of Pandora's box,Hope. Hope made the world better, it gave people happiness. Also, if there was no curiosity, there wouldn't be any inventions in the past and there would be no development. Therefor, curiosity can sometimes be good and bad.

My Name

It’s simple, easy to pronounce, adorable but humorous. So a lot of girls and even boys have my name in Korea. However, the meanings are all different because it can be written in variety of Chinese letters. To figure out the meanings of Korean letters, you have to write them in Chinese letters. My name means wealthy, beautiful pearls. I’ve never thought that I am rich (lack of allowance) or pretty yet. It’s probably my parents’ the high expectations on me of perfection.

Although, my name doesn’t sound so unique or rare, there is something special about my name. It perfectly matches my characteristics. I am more of a ‘Thinking of you’ person than ‘Think of me”. I am not self-centered, I concern about other’s feelings. If I had to be a self centered person, I should have a super vision to identify other’s thinking and feelings. In my opinion, that’s why I think I was named You Jin.

My parents gave me the name, You Jin, because my mom personally liked ‘Jin’. In Korea, a lot of brothers and sisters have similar names. So, my sister was named Ye Jin, that’s why I had to be named You Jin.

For me, I personally like name that is strange, like Joviwa or Zeseta. Well, I was born in Korea, so there is not even a single chance that I could be named Joviwa or Zeseta. Though, my name sounds so vivid, hygienic and clear like a pearl, but Joviwa or Zeseta sounds like a mixture of something. My everlasting name is jammed on to me, and I should blissfully walk ahead with it, slowly.

Pic URL: http://tropic-island.net/polynesia-tahiti-moorea/images/black-pearls-tahiti-tortle.jpg

Common Elements in Creation Myth

“The roots that clutch” T.S. Elliot. Themes of supreme creators, explanations of natural phenomena and the separation of world parents are at the center of many creation myths, which is amazing because the creation myths are from different parts of the world. “All men have need of the Gods” Homer. In the creation myths of China and Maya, there are supreme creators/Gods named Phan Ku and Tepeu who created every feature on the earth. This is strange because Maya (Central America) and China are in the different side of the world but have similar elements in their creation myths. In the myth of the Maori and the Chinese and also a lot of other creation myths have explanations of natural phenomena. For example, Phanku sacrificed himself to make natural landscape in Chinese myth. Another example is that the separation of the sky and earth god created natural phenomena in the Maori myth. This is unusual because China and New Zealand couldn't assemble in the past but they share the same themes in the creation myth. The myth of the Maori and Africa share the common theme of the separation of the world’s parents. In these creation myths, the sky god and earth god are separated to complete the earth. There is no possibility that Africans and New Zealanders have met in the past but they include a common topic, which is surprising. The creation myths from different countries have endured over time and have unexpected common themes. Creation myths will last so on through time and be part of the religions or the future. “Myth is, after all, the never ending story” Joan D. Vinge.

Pic URL: http://mythprojects.wikispaces.com/file/view/yggdrasil.jpg

Picture and Quote of Journeys

I chose this picture and this quote for representing the journeys because they perfectly match the meaning of the journey. In the picture, there is a door inside a door and it seems like there is no end. However, the quote says, “Joy is found in doing “. A lot of people find that the track is more absorbing than the end in most of the journeys. This quote and the pictures give us the true meaning of journey: the path of the journey is more valuable than the destination of it.