A Mothers Inspiration

“These thoughts gave me strength whenever I face a challenge and whenever I feel weak.”

I have interviewed my mother, the most important person in my life who has always been by my side and the one I admire the most. She is 47 years old and her original name was Jung-Hee Yoo but she changed her name when she started studying abroad to Sena Yoo. She is currently a Mathematics coordinator teacher for a 1^st year classroom at Hyundai Foreign primary school and also a Cambridge YLE Oral examiner. She started teaching in 1985 at the age of 23 meaning that she spent nearly half of her life in teaching.

She said "well... I was a teacher for whole my life except those 3 years that I spent raising you two...(me and my little brother)". I asked, "What made you to become a teacher?" so she started explaining from her childhood. 

"My dad passed away when I was 10. That was very shocking to me at the time. My relatives used to tell me that if I do something wrong, then people would think that's because I don't have a dad and I would go wrong way. So I tried hard do be a good girl. I didn't like hearing from people that I was a bad girl due to my father's absence."

She told me that she started going church when she was 6 years old and that church was very close to her, so she spent most of her time growing up in church. She was a girl who prayed, sang hymns and tried everything what the bible, pastor and Sunday teacher said what she should do and don't. She was very quiet but very mature and serious.

She said "Well... simply I was very religious so I wanted to become a pastor. But, I failed to go to a theological university. Many people in the church said that I was very good with children and I should become a teacher. But since my father passed away, I grew in a very poor condition. None of my family or relatives thought I should go to university. 

Also I never thought that I was able to continue getting higher education. So I started as a Sunday school teacher when I became a high school student and that has pulled the trigger of me going to Pai-Chai University studying to become a teacher". 

After getting into the university and studying to become a teacher, that was not the final goal of her life. No way, that is not my mother. She dreamed of studying abroad becoming an international teacher but there was no chance since she got married. However for some reason she did not stop dreaming. She strongly believed that babies should be raised by their mother at least for the first couple of years as she learned from her childhood, she wanted to keep those important years. When I was 8 she started to enroll with her dream, she first went to Malaysia for a year and studied 3 years in total getting M/Ed. degree in England. After finishing her study she got a job at a primary school and started a new life in England. She always says to me "always pray to God, He is the life guider". 

There are few things that she emphasizes, first is live by God, second is be a human, third is to challenge yourself (don't just look tomorrow, see the future) and try not to hate anyone in your life.

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Jae-Chun Seo is currently a Woosong Student in the Globe Department 

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K-Pop Sucesses and Cultural Understanding: Moving Beyond the Old World for the Better

It surely is a belching of catchy melodies and moves on stages that enthrall countless Asian populations over the years. It has reached beyond the peninsula and has succeeded in augmenting the recognition of a country and is being carefully examined by potential new fans over in Europe. Popularity stemming from the efforts of the K-pop indusrty is surely a thing that cannot be overlooked and surely can be evaluated as a success in realizing how the industry, which  has grown so much. At least, it is impactful enough for my foreign friends to gather together in the morning to watch the popular show Dream Concert. 

Several efforts to prolong the renowned accomplishments of K-Pop are in progress. Just a few months ago, at the SolBridge International School of Business, students encountered a poster presenting a specialized Hallyu’course, offering lessons on the K-pop industry from a business perspective. Hallyu is a Korean terminology designating the ample effects of Korean cultural impact on foreign countries. In the same context, some entertainment corporations are establishing organization that are systematically growing K-pop musicians. Governmental efforts to aid such a flow are in progress as well. 

Negative attitudes by many journalists jotting very impulsive expressions in describing such success is surely a thing to be looked at while watching continued progress in K-pop. Rather than understanding in pertinent business point of view, how some of them using such terms like ‘dominance’ ‘rule’ ‘captivating’ explaining K-pop presented in Europe shows how much they lack suitable attitude in cultural diversity wise. Among several constituents that have driven the industry into the status is the successful timing and marketing strategies used at proper place. Collaboration of Western artists bearing insight on Westerners taste surely helped forming fandom. Systematic training of artists over long period of time also boosted long term success of industry. Production laid great product attracting consumers. It is not ‘reign’ or ‘dominance’ over the culture of foreign countries that represents success which can be very insulting to the public of other cultures. 

Such problematic interpretation stems at conventional perception of people understanding such nominating chance as a way to presenting patriotism. While recognition of the country can naturally be exuding to other culture afterwards of cultural experience, it is not a stage to discuss such effect. Again, it’s the considerate process that led the industry to meet the preference of the consumers rather than old school translation of such motivation as patriotism which is presented from the mind of such writers professing such terms. 

Depreciation of achievement in the industry can never be the case when empirical data clearly shows how it has been gaining great results. How the industry can further progress still needs careful scrutinizing on the potential. In understanding cultural diversity and respect towards foreign cultural atmosphere, not only people should deter using improper words but understand the situation in business view point rather than conventional interpretation which is aberration of nowadays state.

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Joo-Won Lee is currently a Woosong Student studying at the SolBridge International School of Business 

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We Are Dancing

The passion the Woosong University’s annual Fall festival has gradually gone away. But it is still a hot issue these days while we’re enjoying the short holiday as well as enduring the emptiness. 

While everybody in Woosong is talking about 2AM and Sistar, a small group of people are celebrating their victory. In their own eyes their performance at a recent night of the festival was legendary. They are dancers, coming from different countries. They belong to a small dancing club which is named PAcrew and they all believe that dancing colors one’s life.

They danced for 13 minutes, including Jazz, Popping, Hip and Breaking at the incredibly passionate night. They really prepared that for almost one month. They are all students, which means it is extremely difficult for them to gather together and practice. It only took 10mins to decide what would they dance, and what made that so easy is only one simple principle: Everyone should dance!

In fact, not anyone in this dancing club could dance well, more particularly, some of them are just novices. It would make them nervous to dance in public while everyone is hoping to see some kind of fabulous dancing which exactly Sistar can do. They knew how to cure it and the answer was nonstop practicing. Only in that way could they offer the spectators a decent job. But that’s not the point; the point is that a decent job for spectators is an excellent job for the dancers. They are not going to be some professional dancers who make a life by dancing; they see dancing as a way to relief stress and earn self-esteem. That’s enough for them.

The most easy and efficient way to do something well is repetition. No one can image how he or she can make it out even without a dancing room, which has a mirror. No one can image how he or she could make it out with so many difficulties just like sometimes being forbidden from using a classroom for dancing without a satisfying reason. But they made it by practicing over and over again. God knows how hard it was.

One period of work has been finished. But they are not stopping; they dance not for cheer but for their own lives.

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Ying Cheng Hao is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Railway Communication Engineering 

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Where is He? The Running Old Man?

I have not seen him for a while. Where is he?

I don't know his name; I don't know how old he is. Actually, the only thing I know about him is whenever I saw him he was always running around the yard, running around the Woosong area.

He was old, not very tall, in a black sports suit, ran slowly but nonstop.

After taking a nap, we got up with sleepiness, we went to school, and we saw him for the first time. I cannot remember what day that day was, I cannot remember how long it took me to realize such a crazy old man running around nonstop. Actually, the first utterance I mentioned out about him was "Hey, look, there is the crazy man AGAIN!"

What was his purpose? He was once an athlete and he just couldn't stop running? Given his unfathomable endurance, I can't doubt that. Or maybe he want to stay healthy and livelonger? Yes, everyone wants to and not everyone is able to be so persistent. Or as I said, he must be crazy. If I keep trying to figure this out, I'll go insane first.

But, he has gone now. I still cannot remember the last time I saw him. I didn't care before, but now I care. I want to solve this puzzle.

Why did he stop running around? Did he move away and begin to run in another place? Is he ill? It’s not strange for a running old man to get ill? He felt tired? He got more crazy? As I said before, he is a puzzle. I want to know, but it doesn't matter because some puzzles are meant to be left unsolved

He has his own special story. We’re strangers who watch him but we don't know who he is.

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Ying Cheng Hao is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Railway Communication Engineering 

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Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Fact or Fiction

It is a legendary film. Although my review is a little too late for those who want to watch it in the cinema. But if you really like science fictions, that’s the kind of feast you don’t want to miss.

It shares the similar premise with the old series of the Planet of the Apes. For those who have watched the old series before, I will say it isn’t remade directly and I reassure you that you will find everything is different now with similar themes.

Since I’m trying to persuade you to see this film so I won’t say much about the plot. But I do want to talk about what the movie suggests.

Maybe you are tired of supernatural stuff films? Without magic, without tremendous mechanical power, Rise of the Planet of the Apes will make you feel that “Oh, wow, this really might happen!” Try to image one day apes will rise and override humans to become slaves of another primate, which walk upright just like us.

They reproduce faster, they have more muscles, and they are smart. Maybe we are smart too, they are not smart enough, but the film tells you what will happen when they become smarter by a tiny mistake made by a naïve and intelligent scientist.

The point is that is that it is realistic to some extent! And that’s why science fictions are so fantastic!

And actually, not every result has a persuasive reason. The film does not depict how guilty humans are. The catastrophe was not determined, it was not destiny, we didn’t deserve it. But it happened. And again, that’s the reason why I like fictions, they expose you to some crazy ideas and they really force you to image and torture you day and night!

And probably, the sequels will come ... maybe not shortly, though. I’ll let you know.

But at least enjoy the beginning and get that mind of yours cranking.

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Ying Cheng Hao is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Railway Communication Engineering 

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