This was my first time to have my own blog. This was so much fun and it was actually really helpful for me to practice writing in English. :) I was surprised that I could update my own stories and share them with my classmates. I was a little bit ashamed because I thought that a lot of people might not be able to understand my English, but I guess my English is not too bad. hahah :).
The audience of my blog was my classmates and friends in Korea. I wanted to share my experience which I have been gone through here at BYU with them. Because I am international student, what I have been experienced would be looked different for my classmates. Also my new experience would be surprising and new for my friends in Korea. I hope they would enjoy reading my posts.
I was really happy for having this blog because I felt I was one of my class during blogging. I could read the stories of my classmates and get to know them better. Blogging made me feel I am not a outsider. In every class so far, I felt exhausted and sad because it was kind of hard to get involved in class. However, I didn't feel that in this writing class, especially through blogging.
Thank you My blog! :)
We got a Christmas tree in my home !! :)
This is what I and my roommates made last night!! :)
This was my first time to make a Christmas tree!! :) We also celebrate Christmas in Korea but my family did not have a Christmas tree at my home. I think I am having so much "first" experience after I entered BYU. hahah :) It was so much fun to decorate the tree with my roommates. I really missed Korea and my parents while decorating it. I hope my parent can have a great Christmas even though I can't be with them.
Love mom and dad! miss you guys so much..!! <3
Journalists have a Responsibility to Conscience!
In the book of my journalism class, The Elements of Journalism, I read about the responsibility of journalists.
Journalists have an obligation to exercise their personal conscience.
For journalists to be able to exercise their conscience, managers and owners have to create an open newsroom, an environment that is essential to fulfilling the principles of journalism. However, exercising conscience is not easy. Allowing individuals to voice their consciences in the newsroom makes running the newspaper more difficult. It makes the news more accurate. Journalism is a moral act and know that all of their background and values direct what reporters will do and not do in producing a newspaper.
Since the audiences are looking for information, but they are also looking for validation, for authority, for honesty, and for a sense that the journalists have their interests at heart, journalists need to be more impartial, neutral, and objective and also be more credible and reliable. Linda Foley, the president of the Newspaper Guild, told us, "it's credibility, more than objectivity, that's important for us in our industry.... there has to be a culture in newsrooms that allows a journalists to have a free and open discussion."
Thank you, Professor Olsen!
My professor of Korean Literature class is Leif Olsen. He is really nice and kind. He is a good teacher. I was really surprised at first because he knows very much things about Korean literature. Since I entered the middle school, I read and learned so many Korean literature works. However, he knows more Korean literature works than I know and he can translate all of Korean literature to English.
One of Korean literature works which I liked was 詠井中月 (The Moon in the Well). I translated this poem in my Korean literature class.
One of Korean literature works which I liked was 詠井中月 (The Moon in the Well). I translated this poem in my Korean literature class.
詠井中月
The Moon in the Well
山僧貪月色
A monk in a mountain covets the light of the moon
幷汲一甁中
He raises water from the well into a bottle
到寺方應覺
However, when he gets back to the temple, he will realize
甁傾月亦空
even though he tilts the bottle, the moon is not in the bottle
Plastic Surgery.. ? No, I am pretty enough..!!!
Recently, however, I was also considering plastic surgery because I wanted to be more pretty. I thought that my eyes were too small and I had a flat nose. I wanted to make them looking more great. hahah. Few days ago, I asked my mom to get plastic surgery when I get back to Korea. She was very very upset and said, "Hwajung, you are pretty enough! I am so sad for you to think you are not pretty...". When I listened to her, I was really sorry to her. Sorry Mom..!! Yes, I am pretty enough~:)!!
Christmas is coming!! :)
New experience!! American formal dinner!!
One of my classes which I am taking for this semester is on-campus internship. In this class, we can work for a company and have an internship experience. I am working for a Vineyard which is a LDS church company for translating the English Church manual to Korean.
Last night, Vineyard invited us to have dinner for celebrating our works. Because it was my first time to have formal dinner in America, I was kind of nervous and excited. We went up to Salt Lake City and it was also my first time to visit a Temple Square. It was amazing, so beautiful!
When we started to have dinner, one of my group members told me that I need to use spoons from the very outside one. He said that we need to use different spoons when we eat different food. It was really surprising because we just use one spoon and one pair of chopsticks for while food except for a dessert.
It was my one more new culture experience. It was so much fun to learn new thing, and the food was really delicious! :) heheh
Last night, Vineyard invited us to have dinner for celebrating our works. Because it was my first time to have formal dinner in America, I was kind of nervous and excited. We went up to Salt Lake City and it was also my first time to visit a Temple Square. It was amazing, so beautiful!
When we started to have dinner, one of my group members told me that I need to use spoons from the very outside one. He said that we need to use different spoons when we eat different food. It was really surprising because we just use one spoon and one pair of chopsticks for while food except for a dessert.
It was my one more new culture experience. It was so much fun to learn new thing, and the food was really delicious! :) heheh
Final Personel Narritive
How Much Different We Are!
“Hwajung, you are so beautiful.” This was what Benjamin said when he held my hand. He was taking a Korean class after he got back from his mission in Korea and we were study buddies. When we met first, he asked me to be his study buddy, and I answered “yes, I will.”
Since it was my first month here at BYU, everything was new and fun for me, and I was glad to have a study buddy to learn how to speak English better. When we had our first study time, he kept saying that “you are so pretty” but I did not believe what he said because it sounded like he was just being nice.
“What are you doing tonight?” he asked me after our second study meeting was over.
“I will do my homework” I answered.
He asked me again, “where?”
I said “in the library.”
He smiled and said “then let’s study together. I want to see you again tonight.”
I was surprised when he said that, but I pretended to be nonchalant. We met again that night and studied together in the library until midnight. While studying together, he often stared at me, so I could not focus on my homework.
“Where do you live?” he questioned me after getting out of the library. I let him know where I lived. He said that he would take me home and I did not refuse his kindness.
It made my heart flutter to walk with him.
When we reached my place, he asked me again, “what is your plan for tomorrow?”
“I will go to my class and study as usual” I said. He laughed and said good night before he left.
The next day, he sent me a message asking where I was. I told him I was in the library. So, he came over and we studied together again. As I guessed, he took me home again, but it was kind of different from yesterday. While we were walking home, he wondered what I thought about getting married to American guys.
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about that before,” I replied.
There was a duck pond on our way home. He asked me to take a walk for a while over there. It made my heart beat to be with him. And all of a sudden, he held my hand and said “Hwajung, you are so beautiful.” It was sweet and I liked what he said. I was shy but I said thank you and we walked holding hands.
He took me home and gave me a big hug before I went to inside. After that, we often had dinner and watched movies together. We enjoyed taking a walk after studying together. Sometimes, we drove to Y Mountain, the representative place of BYU, to see the night view. The night view of Provo was amazing and romantic. I was happy being with him.
One day, one of my friends told me that she saw Benjamin having dinner with a girl. She said that it looked like a date. She thought that I should ask him about it. I hesitated for a few days because it could have been just a dinner with a friend, not a date. When we went to drive to the Y again, I could not resist the curiosity and questioned him about that dinner. He was kind of embarrassed about my questions and he said “I had dinner with her because I wanted to spend time with her. Is there any problem with that?”
I was really upset. “Are you cheating on me?” I asked.
“Hwajung, we are not boyfriend and girlfriend. We are just dating to get to know each other. I can date another girl while dating you.” he answered.
I was really shocked. I could not say anything at all.
Not understanding what he meant, I asked him, “but we already held hands and hugged, right? Doesn’t that mean we are boyfriend and girlfriend?”
Upon listening to what I said, he frowned and pondered, and he replied, “We can date several people at the same time before getting into a relationship. I thought you already knew that.”
I thought that we were a couple because Korean people never hold hands or hug if they are not in a relationship. Holding hands, hugging, and kissing apply to only couples in Korea. Thus, I considered our relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend naturally.
I was embarrassed and was surprised by what he said but I could not blame him. It was not my fault or his fault. It was just differences between what we knew.
That night, we talked about cultural differences between Korea and America for a long time. He tried to enlighten me about American dating style and I tried to understand it. It was hard to understand because it was my first culture shock after I came here to BYU. However, I needed to understand and accept this new culture to live here and get used to this new culture.
“I don’t want to lose you. I want to keep dating you and get to know you better. Do you understand what I am saying?” he asked me with his soft voice.
I could not fully understand why we were not in a relationship but I just accepted the fact that we were not a couple.
“I got it. I also don’t want to lose you. Let’s keep dating and getting to know each other.”
From then on, we got over cultural differences between Korea and America. I could get accustomed to American culture about a lot of the other things as well as dating.
We are still good friends, and he often tells me “sometimes you look more like “Heather” than you do “Hwajung.”
Thanksgiving ? Turkey ?
Love you Mom!!
Every mornings, my mom and I skype. I always started a day with my mom. Talking with my mom in every mornings is always sweet and make me happy. Since I was young, my mom has taught me how I can be diligent, how I can be kind and nice, and how I can be passionate on studying. My mom was the best mentor of me and I could grow up as a good person because of my mom's great teaching. I have never doubted what my mom says and I have never disobeyed my mom's teaching. Although my mom and I are not in the same place now, we are always together. We are a good friends and she is the best teacher in my life. Love mom!! <3
Personal Narrative Draft
“Hwajung, you are so beautiful.” This is was what Benjamin said when he held my hand. He was taking a Korean class after he got back from his mission in Korea and we were a study buddy. When we met first, he asked me to be his study buddy, and I answered “yes, I will.” Since it was my first month here at BYU, everything was new and fun for me, and I was glad to have a study buddy to learn how to speak in English better. When we had our first study time, he kept saying that “you are so pretty” and I did not believe what he said because it sounded as a matter of courtesy.
“What are you doing tonight?” he asked me after our second study meeting was over. “I will do my homework” I answered, and he asked me again, “where?” I said “in the library.” He smiled and said that “then let’s study together. I want to see you again tonight.” I was surprised when he said that, but I pretended to be nonchalant. We met again at that night and study together in the library until midnight. While studying together, he often stared at me but I tried to do not care about him. “Where do you live?” he questioned me after getting out of the library and I let him know where I lived. He said that he would take me home and I did not refuse his kindness. Walking with him to my home made my heart flutter. When we reached my place, he asked me again, “what is your plan for tomorrow?” “I will go to my class and study as usual” I said. He laughed and said “good night” before he left.
Next day, He sent me a message to ask where I was, and we studied together in the library again. As I guessed, he took me home again, but it was kind of different from yesterday. While we waking to home, he wondered that what I think about getting married American guys. “I don’t know. I haven’t thought about that before.” I replied. On our way home, there was a duck pond where a lot of ducks live, and he asked me take a walk for a while over there. Being with him made my heart beating. And all of a sudden, he held my hand and said that “Hwajung, you are so beautiful.” It was sweet and I liked what he said. I was shy but I said “thank you” and we walked with holding hands. He took me home still with holding hands and gave me a big hug before I got into home. After that night, we often had dinner and watched movie together. We enjoyed taking a walk after studying together. Sometimes, we drove to Y Mountain which is the representative place of BYU to see the night view. The night view of Provo was amazing and romantic. I was happy for being with him.
One day, one of my friends told me that she saw Benjamin having dinner with a girl. She said that it looked like a date. She recommended me to ask him about it. I hesitated for few days because it could be just a dinner with a friend, not a date. When we went to drive to Y again, I could not resist the curiosity and questioned him about that dinner. He was kind of embarrassed about my questions and he said “Hwajung, we are not a boyfriend and girlfriend, and we are just dating to get to know each other.” This was a huge shock to me because Korean people never hold hands or hug if they are not in a relationship. Holding hands, hug, and kiss apply to only couples. Thus, I considered our relationship as a boyfriend and girlfriend naturally. I was really shocked and embarrassed but I could not berate anyone. It was just a cultural difference between two different countries.
Cultural differences and culture shocks exist in every country when anyone visits a different country.
According to all of countries’ different history, environment, and education, their table manners, greeting
manners, and lifestyles are different. Although it is always hard to accept different culture as I also
experienced when I came to the America first, people can get used to experiencing different cultures and
understanding the differences by accepting them with open mind. People should accept the differences as
cultural differences, not discriminations
Being faithful..!
Today, I also went to church and stand in the sacrament meeting, but did not listen testimonies at all. After the special musical had been done, one of girls in my ward bared her testimony. She said that she works at MTC . One day, she was too cold to walk to home form her work. She hoped somebody could pick her up and get home safe. And all of a sudden, one car pulled over on the side of her and it was one of our ward's guy. Thanks to him, she could get home warm and safe. She said that she felt love of the Lord at that time. Her testimony suddenly woke me up. I noticed that the Lord always loves me even though I wander in His gospel.... Thank you so much and love you God! :)
Am I doing Okay..?
I know I ask this question by myself every semester, but whenever I ask, I couldn't say "definitely yes!" Especially, I couldn't be sure about my English all the time. By losing the confidence about my English, I keep thinking whether it is okay to study Journalism here at BYU. I will need to write everything in English and I may not be able to get revised on my paper. It means my writing could be hard to read or understand for my readers. I will be very very sad if they feel awkward when they read my writing or they don't want to read it anymore.
So, I am considering changing my major. Some people said that a major doesn't affect my career in the future a lot, but I want to learn what I will use in the future. It will take some more time to choose what I will do in my college life and in my future career, but it is too much painful to stand here and find it.... :(
So, I am considering changing my major. Some people said that a major doesn't affect my career in the future a lot, but I want to learn what I will use in the future. It will take some more time to choose what I will do in my college life and in my future career, but it is too much painful to stand here and find it.... :(
Topic for research paper !!
My journalism class makes me keep thinking about the life of journalists. The class book was really interesting. I knew that government sometimes controlled the media but didn't know any case about it. Through that book, I could see the example how the government regulates the media and also how people try to reveal the real truth. I was really curious some more examples and events about those, so I want to cover about this in my research paper.
My mom is mad at new technology!!
But, actually, she went through all these process when she got her last phone. :) She needed to ask me every function of her cell phone or computer when she accept them for the first time. I still don't know why it takes so long time for the older generation, like my mother, to get used to use new technology, but it is pretty sure that it is very hard for them.
I was so sorry because I couldn't help to get accustomed her new phone this time because I am here, in Utah, but it will be a good practice to get familiar with using new technology without me.
Like as my mom's case, almost every older people don't be happy with living in new technology (especially in Korea as my experience, haha) but some of them are interested in new technology and try to be familiar with it. For example, my grandfather really enjoys getting new information about the world by surfing the Internet. He and I talk on the Internet messenger and he sometimes visit my mini homepage to see my pictures and comment on those.
Anyways, I hope that my mom can be familiar with her new cell phone, so that we can text through Kakaotalk(Korean free messenger via cell phone) soon! :)
Oh.. just really miss my family tonight.. !!
Sometimes it's just too much hard for me to be apart from my family and stay here alone. I know studying abroad, especially at BYU, is the greatest opportunity in my life and I should grateful for this opportunity.. but I am so lonely and miss my parents too much sometimes... This feelings are just .. hard to stand... I don't know what to do to escape from sad feelings. Tonight, I really miss my mom and dad....
General Conference - Elaine S, Dalton's talk
Elaine S. Dalton, who is the thirteenth president of the Young Women Organization of The LDS Church, talked about how our fathers do for their daughters.
She said that fathers need to love and honor their wives to become good examples for their daughters. Being a good example of fathers has a huge effect on their daughters' decision of spouses and their marriage lives. Also, fathers need to be guardians of virtue by doing the temple work together with your daughters and keeping the commandments.
She evoked the pathos of the audiences with her own experience with her father. Especially her voice was really warm and sweet when she talked about her memories with her father, so it was enough to make the audiences remind their own memories with their fathers and sympathize that warm feelings. Furthermore, she used some scriptures to explain why and how fathers need to keep the commandments, be guardians of virtue and do the temple work with their daughters.
It was a really great speech. I kept thinking about my father. I couldn't wait to call him to talk about her talk with him. When I talked on the phone with him, I felt the huge love of my father. Love you, Dad!
She said that fathers need to love and honor their wives to become good examples for their daughters. Being a good example of fathers has a huge effect on their daughters' decision of spouses and their marriage lives. Also, fathers need to be guardians of virtue by doing the temple work together with your daughters and keeping the commandments.
She evoked the pathos of the audiences with her own experience with her father. Especially her voice was really warm and sweet when she talked about her memories with her father, so it was enough to make the audiences remind their own memories with their fathers and sympathize that warm feelings. Furthermore, she used some scriptures to explain why and how fathers need to keep the commandments, be guardians of virtue and do the temple work with their daughters.
It was a really great speech. I kept thinking about my father. I couldn't wait to call him to talk about her talk with him. When I talked on the phone with him, I felt the huge love of my father. Love you, Dad!
General Relief Society Meeting: President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
I didn't attend this General Relief Society Meeting, and actually I am not a person who enjoys attending conferences regularly. (haha I know this is not good..) Last week was the worst for me and I couldn't even handle my trouble. I didn't know what to do. I just needed to undergo all things and feel bad.. This was so frustrated. I just wanted to go back to Korea. That was what I thought every time.
I was thinking about my family and trying to focus on study again at that time. Suddenly, Maggie, my roommate, knocked the door and came in. She just asked me how i was doing and I.... cried. I don't know why I cried at that time but I just cried. She hugged me and allowed me to share my problem with her, and she let me know what President Uchtdorf said.
His speech has these five main concepts.
- forget not to be patient with yourself
- forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice
- forget not to be happy now
- forget not the 'why' of the gospel
- forget not that the Lord loves you
It made my heart being warm. I felt so sweet and it was sweet. I had felt that I was always alone and no one would listen my worries or my troubles. However, I should have remembered that the Heavenly Father loves me all the time. He is always with me and he always care about me. I can be happy with this only one reason. I really appreciated my roommates comfort, I really loved President Uchtdorf's speech and I Love our Heavenly Father.
Happy Happy School Life
Studying business during last one year was terrible. I didn't even know what I was studying. Just keep following the syllabus and fixed schedule... It was so frustrating. I still do not realize why I couldn't quit studying business and being in a business major. I though that I just needed to.
Journalism is amazing. The whole world is where I learn and the things that happen all over the world is news for me. I am curious about everything and I want to make this world better. People has a right to know, and I can become one of those who let people know about what happens in the world.
Recently, I am so happy for studying journalism. I am happy whenever going to "Principle of Journalism" class. I learn the area of journalism and broadcasting and these are amazing. This class encourages me to become a Journalist. I am so happy!
"A Child of God" by Elder Eyring
I don't really enjoy reading the LDS church articles a lot, but this Elder Eyring's talk is worthy to keep and read whenever we, college students, are frustrated or tired. He suggests five characteristics of great learners.
- Great learners are welcome correction
- Great learners keep the commiments
- Great learners work hard
- Great learners help other people
- Great learners expect resistance and overcome it.
Especially for me, expecting resistance is the most unfamiliar suggestion because I have never anticipated any resistance before and even I have wished that I would never experienced any difficulty or fail. However, I realized that I need to undergo many difficulties and have a power to deal with any resistances.
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