<Photo Essay>

Coming back to Korea from Japan

by Yebin Seo (Danielle)

Hello, my name is Yebin and today, I' going to blog y 'first' photo essay. Time flows like a river. Even when I'm writing this time is still going on and on. So, I captured one of my worst/best week in my life when I came back to Korea from Japan. I came to Korea on December 27th, 2011. It can be the worst week ever or might be the best week because the new life in Korea started.

December 24th, 2011

Farewell party

This picture is about me having a farewell party with my friends. Even though I look as though I'm laughing, actually I was crying. I think I dried all of my body-water on that day. We ate sukiyaki which was really delicious. The soup, the meat....Aw....But I was so sad at that time. I talked to my friends about school-life and about meeting plan for the future. I think that day was also the day that 'I' started packing my things.


December 26th, 2011

Ocean Palace

This place is in Nagasaki, Kin-kai. I stayed here the day before I left Japan. Actually this place is my father's working place. It's a golf resort. This place is called the 'Ocean Palace', because in front of this resort, there's an ocean and in the summer, I used to go there fishing. Oh..I miss the ocean so much. When I lived in Nagasaki, I could just take the ship which takes only about 15 minutes and then swim...


December 27th, 2011

Boeing 737

This is plane Boeing 737. I took this plane when I went back to Korea. At the airport, I was at mess. All of my friends came! I was shocked. I couldn't say anything because if I did, I would've burst into tears. We just hugged and said good-byes. The airport was noisy and my mind was also noisy by the sound of my voice shouting that 'I don't want to go back!'. But it was time for me to leave.


December 28th, 2011~

Grandmother's House

Source : http://yangchonmim.tistory.com/category/About%20%EC%96%91%EC%B2%9C/%EC%96%91%EC%B2%9C%EC%9D%98%EC%9C%A0%EB%9E%98

This town in called Yeoncheon-gu. My grandmother lives here. When I came back from Japan, my family didn't have house to live in. So we lived in my grandmother's house until we foun the house to live in. Now I think back, everyday we all were gloomy.



2012 January ~ February

Seaweed Roast

Source :
http://food.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/09/04/2012090401590.html

This was my favorite food back in my grandmother's house. My grandmother is a great cook, and this food is called 'Seaweed roast'. I ate this everyday with rice. I think that was one of the reason why I gained so much weight in Korea. ^^


2012~2014

Seoul National University Elementary School (SNUES)

This is my elementary school, Seoul National University Elementary School (SNUES).

The best thing about this school in my opinion is that it has artificial grass soccer field. When I played soccer with my friends, the way the wind touches my face is so good. Also, when I lie down on the field on sunny day, it just feels great and the ground smells like green apple. But I didn't spend a great time in this school. I missed my old school and friends. I still wanted to go back to Japan even though it was almost past two years.

2014~

Mullae middle school

This is the school that I currently go to. Mullae middle school. The school is okay and most of the people are nice. I can't say that I love this school but still, it's fairly nice. In this school, I finally got used to Korea. Of course, I still do miss Japan and my friends but I realized that Korea is also my home-country. And also on this summer vacation, my Japanese friends visited Korea! 


I've briefly talked about my journey from Japan to Korea. It wasn't easy. I cried for days and weeks. And even when I was in school, I would suddenly get sad and feel gloomy. But I made new friends in here. They helped me get through all this. Of course, I sometimes had hard time with them but eventually I got through those too. I just want to say this. I wouldn't have survived this without the help of many people. I work hard because I have people who trust me. Who believes in me. And I'm not going to stop get going. I will keep running. I want to say thank you to those who helped me and enabled me to end this journey. Parents, friends, teachers....Thank you



Thank you for reading!^^    
   
http://www.jongleurs.com/thank-you/                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Movie Review

Mao's Last Dancer

by Yebin Seo (Danielle)

This is the official trailer of the movie, Mao's Last Dancer.
Here's my review ;


'Mao's last dancer' is the movie made in 2009. It's based on a true story about the Chinese ballerina who went to the USA. Li was trained to be the ballerina for the Chinese revolution. However, Li didn't like ballet very much. Actually, he just wanted to go home and live with his family. One day, Li me Mr. Chen who had a very big influence on him. Mr. Chen inspired Li to 'like' ballet. In my opinion , Li is very lucky to meet that kind of teacher. Mr. Chen literally changed Li's life. If he hadn't met him, Li would have just stayed in China.

So I think it is important to meet at least one inspiring person in your life. To me, it's Ms. Hori. Ms. Hori was my homeroom teacher when I was in 4th grade. At the beginning of the lesson, she gave students some works to do, and the one who finished them could play. Before I met her, I wasn't actually good at studying. My grade was just an average or even below the average. But I changed. I became the Top-student. You know why? Because I wanted to play so much. Everyday, I worked really hard on assignments. Ms. Hori is the teacher who made the below-average student to the top student. There is one more thing that I respect about her. One day, she was away because she had some business going on. On her desk, there was this cute little notebook, so I peeked inside ^^;; Surprisingly, she rote everything down about every students! I was so shocked. From that day, I became a very good student.

I've talked about how Ms. Hori inspired me like Mr. Chen inspired Li. Li also became the ballet-lover and practised harder and harder after he met Mr. Chen. I was quite amazed by him. There's no wonder that he finally went to the USA. I was happy that one teacher could realise how hardworking and honest Li is.
Also scenes in which Li was confused by the difference between China and USA was so funny. He was like '???'. *^^* And when he danced, I felt like I was falling into ballet's charm. Every moves and steps were graceful and strong at the same time. However, those happy days soon come to an end. And there comes the day for the big decision that Li must make. Would he stay in the USA or go back to China. If he goes back to China, he'd be celebrated and can meet his family. But he would never be able to dance freely again. And if he stays in the USA, it's the opposite. When the Chinese governor mentioned his family, I thought Li would decide to go back to China. I was could taken aback and was also relieved when I knew that Li wasn't going back. I think he made a good choice. It's true that he could never see his family again. And who knows? They might die. But I would rather live my life then going back to China. Even if Li goes back to China, what can he do? He would dance like a paper-doll, and his life would be miserable. His family is also going to be sad because Li is not happy and depressed. So I think it was the best choice he could make. And fortunately, Li did get to see his family in China. I was happy for them. It was so heart-touching.

In this movie, there was a part, in which taught me a very important lesson. There was a scene, in which showed one teacher telling a story about a frog in a well to Li. It was when Li was still in China. I think the teacher meant to say 'This is not the whole world.' At the time, Li was a frog in the well. He was caged. He had to see the other parts too. So the lesson the story taught me is that the world you live in is not the whole world. I'm only seeing the small part of the world. I have to open my eyes and see the world. To me, it was a very helpful lesson.

After watching this movie, I cried. This movie was not typical sad movie because it did have a happy ending. If I am to rate this movie, I would give  8.5 stars out of 10 stars. The movie was well organised and also successfully carried its message. However, it didn't make a clear point about Li's first wife, Elizabeth. She just drove away. I'm not sure if I understand that part. Other than that, the movie was great. I would gladly recommend this movie. I hope other people would enjoy this movie, too!