Tuesday, June 29, 2004

A Designed Baby

I don't agree with changing a child's genes. I cannot say it is right or wrong, but personally, I don't suggest parents change their babies' genes. We should not custom design our children. If we do, the world will be full of confusion. There will be no low class workers. If people change their genes or their babies' genes to save their lives, that is good. However, if they change their genes to make sure they succeed in life, that is not a right decision.

Sunday, June 20, 2004

People's opinions about the death penalty

Although I don't agree with the death penalty, other people might think differently. So, I interviewed two people who are attending the university. Both of these people said that they strongly agreed with the death penalty. Their reasons were very similar. They said murderers might kill again and again if they don't get the death penalty. They also said they should realize that if they kill someone, they also will die. That's the only way to stop issues like murder.

The Death Penalty

The death penalty is not justified. Even though it is legal, taking a human life is a kind of murder. There are other penalties instead of the death penalty. Putting a murderer in jail for life is the best way to punish him. Also, we should give the murderer an opportunity to realize that what he did was wrong or right before he dies. For these reasons, I believe that the death penalty is not a wise way to solve this problem.

Friday, June 11, 2004

Korean Folk Tale - A Lazy Boy Who Becomes a Cow

This folk tale is a Korean traditional old story that was re-written by Kyoungbok Lee and Ilsoo Yoon.
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A long time ago, there was a lazy boy who really hated to work. He just wanted to sleep all day long without working. That’s why the people in his village called him “Lazy” instead of using his real name.

One day, his mother was really sick. She couldn’t even stand up, so she asked her son ‘Lazy’ to bring her a glass of water. “Lazy, Can you bring a glass of water?” Of course, the son who really didn’t like to move refused to get the glass of water for her. ‘Lazy’ started to get annoyed at his mother who was always trying to make him move. Eventually, he thought “Being a sleepy cow will be much better than being a hard-working human”, so he decided to run away from home.

The lazy boy started to walk without any destination. When he was walking alone crossed a path, met an old man who had a cow shaped mask in his hand. ‘Lazy’ started to tell his story. After the boy finished his story, the old man said, “Don’t you really want to work? If so, put on this mask. When you put this on, you can be a cow.” The boy was fearful, but he put it on his face because the old man said that he could become a cow if he put it on. Right after the boy put on the mask; he became a real cow and discovered that he could only make ‘moo’ sound. The old man took the boy, now is a cow, to a market, and sold him to a farmer with saying, “Do not give him turnips, If you give him turnips, he will be died.”

After the boy was sold, he had to work really hard because the farmer whipped him if he didn’t. Lazy thought “I’m not a cow, I’m a human. If he can go back home, I will work really hard, but if I can’t, it will be better to die than to live like this.”

Suddenly, the boy remembered the talk between the old man and the farmer. He started to look for turnips so he could eat them and to die, but he couldn’t find any. A few days later, he found a cart filled with turnips. Seeing the turnips, ‘Lazy’ ran toward the cart and ate them. “Mother, I’m so sorry, I was wrong.”

The moment he swallowed the turnips, he felt something hit him. It was a dream! When he woke up, he realized the he had had a dream when he took a nap. ‘Lazy’ started to cry because felt so relieved. The boy promised himself to work hard from then on.

From that day on, ‘Lazy’ became a completely different person. He started to work harder than anyone else in the village, and people called him “Hard Worker” instead of his first nickname, “Lazy.” Finally, when he went out to work, he said, “I’m going to work hard.”

Saturday, June 05, 2004

Influenced Korean language

The Korean language has been influenced by other languages, especially in the field of technology. We use many English high tech words; for example, we use the words, ‘computer’, ‘e-mail’, and ‘Internet’. Koreans use these words instead of changing them into Korean. The reason is these words were created only a few years ago. Now that the world is being globalized, people accept the foreign words for these things.

Wednesday, June 02, 2004

A day in my globalized life

I'm living in Michigan, United States. When I woke up, I turned on a TV made in Japan, and checked my e-mail with my computer, made in the U.S. Then I listened to Korean pop music. While I was going to school, I saw many people from many different countries. When my class began, I studied with an American teacher. After I finished my classes, I watched an American channel, a Spanish channel, and a Chinese channel on TV. At night, I talked on the phone with my friends on my telephone made in Mexico.