A girl and her grandma at the airport

Two days ago, I went to the airport to pick foreign participants coming into the BroSis Project, a research camp program run by MIZY. When I was waiting for two German girls at the gate, I saw a teenage-looking girl get out and go hugging her seems-to-be sister with her cart pulled up somewhere. Her sister pointed to their grandmother who has also been waiting long to see her at the airport. As this girl who just arrived in Korea discovered her grandma, she approached and hugged her in a big, tight embrace. I was so touched by that scene of family reunion - especially because it's reunion of grandma and granddaughter, which urges me to dream of me doing a welcome hug with my late grandma. I almost burst into tears at the beautiful scene. 

But when this girl's done with a brief, strong hug, she just left the spot dragging her sister standing along with them to the other side of the gate area and talked to other people, leaving her grandma left behind right there where they had a moving reunion. While curiously staring at what's happening with them, I just assumed that she's gonna be back to her grandma and take care of her cart and other baggage stuff. But she spent quite a time greeting and having a conversation with some people she knew together with her sister - she didn't seem to remember her grandma was right there waiting for her to get back to her and leave the airport. The grandma, so touched and excited to see her granddaughter again - probably after a long time of no touch - even cried and tried to wipe her tears rolling on her cheeks with the top of her hands. And she was holding a firm grip of the handle of the airport cart her granddaughter has steered. Grandma was kept alone there for a while, just staring at her two granddaughters laughing with some unknown people. They even just went away to get out of the airport talking to each other, leaving the grandma behind who was carrying the cart alone. She seemed like a porter who was taken for granted to take that job as usual - but at this moment she was still crying.

The two granddaughters' attitude got me really angry about letting her grandma follow them behind just like a maid to do their errands. But at the same time that scene made me search out if there were ever such a moment like that in which I left someone such as my father or mother behind just using him or her as my maid and only caring about other less important people. Then it finally led me into thinking that I would never let my grandma, if she were alive now, completely ignored - only if she were alive now...

Shintaro Tsuji, a father of cuteness (Hello Kitty & Kawaii)

A president of the world prestigious, prosperous corportation is without doubt charismatic, talented, courteous, and inspiring. Although he was born in a rich family during the tough period of war, such an inborn high social status doesn't seem to play a big role in his success. He himself, as a person, is capable, intelligent, creative enough to set on a novel idea and lead it through the successful growth.

I have been considering working at an investment bank for years and I didn't doubt the chance/possibility of getting a job at one of the great firms or my aptitude/interest of the career until recently. There are so many other fields of careers that are socially necessary and productive and reach out to the realm of people, or members of this contemporary society in a creative and helpful way. If I pursue a job at an investment bank, I will also be able to help people make wiser decision on their finances and prevent the economic waste or misallocation of resources. I will definitely be able to get in touch with the persons who need my role in a society and grant valuable help to them. But I wonder why working in the firms that manage the flow of money should be the only way for me to help people out.

I am not saying that I want to especially work in a public education sector to improve the current mishap of education policies. It's just that there are so many diverse paths of life I can consider and choose after exploring and calculating which is the best match for me. For example, someone runs a blog named "Watashi to Tokyo" and is being so prolific and educative for people who are merely interested in knowing more about Japan or even who want to approach the Japanese culture from an academic angle. I don't think she blogs for her living. But still apart from her real job - no matter what it is - she does something productive. She communicates with people around the world and inspires them with the humdrum but intriguing fragments she feels, knows, and learns in her everyday life.



"Mr. Cute" in the article started his business using the ideas that have interested him the most since he was a little child. Even though he had to take care of himself left alone among the "bullying relatives" after his mother died early, he overcame the difficulties and rather turned them into a motive to build his business upon.

"He has constantly striven to make "communication" part of his business. Today, he believes, the culture of gift-giving and conveying nice feelings through goods has transcended national boundaries — noting that it has become a norm worldwide."

"Since I lost my parents early on, all I could turn to was my friends. I hate being lonely. So I've wanted to live amicably with everyone around me — and especially my employees. How do you make employees happy? You give them money by dividing the profits (laughs). We once decided on the amount of bonuses by rolling dice. ... To me, making everybody live amicably, and everyone being friendly to each other, is more important than making profits."

Like the blogger who runs "Watashi to Tokyo" or Shitaro Tsuji, "the founder, the owner and wanman," I want to do something productive, something that will inspire people including myself, beyond the challenges coming from the barrier of language, educational opportunity, background, or financial ability. It will be me in 30 years who becomes the subject of one blogger's post about the inspiration conveyed to him or her.

Yoshitomo Nara: The "cuteness" can never hurt you!

The "cuteness" can never hurt you!

I love illustrations of Yoshitomo Nara. I've loved his works for years since my friend showed them to me during high school. The evil-looking but still cute expression on a character's face seems to point out that people carry out criminal minds in their normal, pure hearts.  

Cute-wannabes is different from all kinds of wannabes such as sexy- or pretty-wannabes in that cuteness could be a universal characteristic for any women, or men too, in any age range to hope for. "Cute mode" is connected to not only a childish manner but also a nostalgic retro to childhood full of hazy, good memories. 

I say...His illustrations carry me back to childhood when malevolent thoughts and actions were anyhow forgiven under the cover of purity or innocence of a child. I didn't do many bad things that much, though! 

>This one is more like a standard one of his main character, who is always a young girl.  

 >Yoshitomo Nara, 'The Little Star Dweller' (2006). This one above rather reminds me of an angel-like innocent kid than an evil-looking rascal. 

*Sources from Google images 

**Alert!

Cute could mean a lot of different things, though. In Korea, if you say to a girl (especially in case you're a guy) that she's so cute, then you might imply she's anything but pretty, just a lip-service compliment when you have nothing to compliment on.

Pop-up: Publish a dictionary of school/class system (학교 교육 시스템 사전)

When I was home on break in Korea, I watched a TV documentary about a special educational system implemented in Ireland which showed a rapid and significant economic, and national, growth. This documentary, 15-year-old's Class of Your Dream, aired on MBC is designed to be trilogy which deals with topics of eduction: the first is "Just play one year of K-12 (1년쯤 놀아도 괜찮아)," the second "Just at the bottom of class (꼴찌라도 괜찮아)," and the third "Just imagine weird ideas (엉뚱한 상상도 괜찮아)." While just half-mindedly watching the program for a moment, it occurred to me that I publish a dictionary of different types of school/class systems to which any faculty staff as well as students of all grades can refer.

My idea is that the government builds several types of schools which implement different school systems that lots of people are already informed of and that they would like to attend. Then students will pick out one theme school themselves after consulting this dictionary/school guidebooks I will publish. In actuality, I need to publish both dictionary and school guidebook. Dictionary is necessary for educators and government officials to find out how various yet innovative school systems there can be worldwide and sort out a few of them that are most appropriate and appealing to the people of the country. School guidebook is for students and parents to look up which choices they have when they get to decide which school to go in the next level--just like a college guide published by Kaplan or Princeton Review.

To realize my idea, I will need to research as many different schools as possible around the world and classify the themes/systems. For example, in Japan and Korea, as far as I know, they have standardized educational systems that almost all schools in those nations must follow. There are some countries like those two having nationalized systems while there are countries like the United States that do not have a particularly standardized system but varied program according to each state. So it is apparently an indefinite amount of work but still seems to be able to be accomplished.

So I will describe each different system - I'm not decided about whether to enumerate it alphabetically or in some other clustered way - in terms of special, novel aspects of the system. As if I advertise each educational system, I'll just show the special things at first: e.g., having one year a break period from academics without any exam in freshman year/4th grade in junior-high school (Irish educational system has a six-year junior-high school after elementary school.). After shedding a light on an outstanding feature of a system, I will describe how it is feasible and actually being carried out by illustrating a real model school. I will pronounce what this system is exactly and what a model school is doing in detail continued from the special feature at the first. I will also tell drawbacks concretely as well. Then I will include comments and reviews from actual teachers and students at the model school and invite education experts to evaluate/comment on it. At the end of each system description, I will put contact information of a model school so that anyone interested can ask and get answered from promptly.

*Pictures from iMBC

Almost there/압구정 학원 강사로 일한다는 것...

What have I earned or realized after working at a private institute as an English teacher for four months?

Interesting students with whom I had a fun time teaching, a real social atmosphere at the work field, workplace politics along with ways to survive the office-politics, or epiphany that studying the easiest of all jobs in the world?

1) Interesting, fun students

I had this one friendly, cute-looking students, Jason, 12, who called me a "baby." He responded to my nagging and scolding almost all the time with "Sorry, babe" and "Yep, babe," which not only annoyed but also stunned me into silence because he was too cute for me to punish for such a nasty calling. His little brother, Justin, was impressive as well. They both had been in California for a year and returned to Korea several months ago, so they are fairly fluent in English. Justin, whom I happened to teach English speaking once as a substitute teacher, was adorable: when I had a chance to take a look at his writing paper in another class, I could see his answer to a question, "What will you be in 20 years?" He wrote, "I will become a Samsung boss.... [and] the world will be upgraded...." I couldn't help but laughing at his witty, but weighty response because I just had an instant feeling that he might become "a Samsung boss" or someone comparable to such a successful person in the future. This 10-year-old boy is thinking so highly of himself and making an exceedingly huge aspiration for his future. Then, why don't I? As I age older, I get to meet a lot more preeminent people in each field and confront a gorgeous, never-imagined, high-class life. But my dream was just as small as before: "I want to become an diplomat," "I'll become a CEO," "I seriously want to become a hotelier," and now "I want to be a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs." I need to seriously think about what I deserve to be and what I can do in the future.

2) Having a job and working

When grown-ups used to grumble over how hard it is working at a company or in any field, I just didn't make a big deal about it. Everyone gets a job at some point and labors until he or she retires, which is one of natural cycles. But once I've got a real job at a company with other co-workers and a boss, I found it so stressful working at a job. One day, I was so sick in the morning and vomitted a couple of times feeling dizzy all the morning that I called the boss and said I was not feeling well so I had to take a day off. But her response was immediately "Send someone else to replace you or we have no room or free time to make up your classes." What on earth is she? Is she a callous monster? Would she have been so picky and impassive and told me I should work if I were her daughter and excused that I couldn't make it today because I was so ill? She didn't even wonder, not to mention get worried, how seriously I was ill. She could have called someone else she knows or asked for other teachers to substitute me for just one day because I know there ARE teachers who don't have class, so can make up for me. What's more, she didn't look sympathetic and concerned about my health until I got to work and said I was okay and would work that day. Such a hypocrite!

3) Workplace politics

I always have to be careful about reading my boss's face and not to make a mistake about the stuff I've been assigned or making fuss about the working conditions. In addition, I can't believe any of my peer workers: People smile at me and pay me encouragement, but they defame me behind my back. Maybe the best way to get through this harsh jungle-like environment is just to pretend that I think they are all pleasant and know nothing about rumors going in and out. Besides, what's more irritating is that I have to do all the task assigned from my senior co-workers obediently, including annoying manual labor like cleaning the shelves or typing, even if I know that she herself is supposed to do that.

4) Epiphany

So, the last but not least I've gain from this four-month working experience is epiphany that studying is the easiest job of all kinds. I can study whenever I want and not study whenever I don't want without pressure that I have to study Monday through Friday from one to seven p.m.. I can skip just one day when I'm sick. I don't have to care about how to please my boss all the more.

Teaching at a private institute doesn't feel that much fruitful considering my time and efforts consumed here because I didn't get well-paid. But perhaps, on the contrary, I think I've matured and learned a bit about life and work even before I am supposed to know about those. I learned how to control my temper, be an efficient worker, and read other peers' or boss's face. I also faced a lot of different people, whether students or peer workers, and had enough time to think and fret about not only Korean education but also seriously my future and relationships with people.

I'm almost there.

This four-month experience did, does and will pay off in my life. And that's the last word I hope to say in the end.