A Korean American

I came to the United States when I was 9 years old. Leaving all my friends back home in Korea and coming to a new place with a new school, new surroundings, and new people; I was lost. Because the school I started in was situated in a relatively a “white” neighborhood, I felt alone. Perhaps it was because I was young, but within a year, I found myself adjusting relatively well. I met new friends and began to enjoy this place. This place was now home for me. Yet, I always had to ask myself many times; am I Korean or American? My friends around me had blue eyes and blonde hair, but I had brown eyes and black hair. Their eyes were big but mine were stretched. I spoke English as a second language; English is what they spoke since birth. At home I spoke Korean and ate Korean food, but outside I spoke English and ate hotdogs and pizza. Identity was not clear and I didn’t know who I was. Slowly, I felt as if I was pushed out to a place of no belonging. I was too Korean outside of my home, and in my home, I was too American. My English was too broken to be called American, and what I enjoyed to eat was too American for me to be Korean.

It was a few years later that I found my identity. Another Korean student had moved out to our school. He was straight from Korea and was lost just as I was when I first came. When the teachers reached out to him and was rejected by the language barrier, they called me over to help assimilate this poor child into the American society. We began to talk in Korea and he dearly held on to me until he became comfortable with his new home. I then realized how versatile and hybrid I was as a Korean American. I was blessed with two homes, two languages and two cultures, and I was ready to grab a hold of gifts both societies had to offer. I was able to reach out to both societies and offer them a hand. Knowing two much-different cultures allowed me to become a better person. To see in two different perspectives allowed me to develop into a character that TWO cultures can appreciate. I embrace both cultures and I thank God for allowing me to become a Korean American.

Loneliness

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a well known theory of basic needs for a human being. The philosopher lists the needs in order from greatest to the least, starting from the need of food, breathe, and sleep, to confidence and respect by others. Because we are living to survive, the first needs that a human seeks for is what keeps them alive. Basic needs such as food, sleep, breathing and shelter are first sought after. As soon as those needs are met, Maslow tells us that humans seek for Belonging and Friendship. When we are situated and secured, we have a need to share that with someone that we care for. When those needs are not met, people were seen getting sick; physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

In our society here in the United States, we are given plenty of room to express our identity and our character. Yet, being accepted for what you express is a whole different matter. There is a cultural trend that the majority of the people of society follow, and if someone does not go along with that, they are outcast and ostracized. That person is left out and forced to deal with loneliness by themselves just because they are different. Looking back into the Columbine incident and the Virginia Tech incident, it is sad and disappointing to see how this individualist discrimination caused such a horrible event to occur. Both events involved lack of friendship and belonging; a common need of a human being. Perhaps this world can take a different direction if this is just recognized. There is no need to love and suck up to everyone; people can have their differences. But, only when we can accept others despite differences…

Don't just talk, but walk...

A Column Regarding Christianity in America

As a Christian, one of the responsibilities given to us is to evangelize and let people know about God. Out of the many that we talk with, there are those that do not believe in anything at all; they are referred to as aetheists. They believe that there was no God, and they felt that no higher being is ever there. When they were asked why they did not believe, or want to believe, their responses were ironically similar. One of the common answers was that the churchgoers now, do not seem any different from anyone else. In fact, many people thought that Christians seemed to be people of worse quality (character and personality), people who suffer more (materialistically as well as in general), and people of extreme hypocricy. When I heard this response, immediately I was overwhelmed with guilt. I fit into that exact description of "Christian". There are many ways attempted to deliver a message of God: mass media like radio broadcasting, speaking out on the streets, attempting miracles on TV shows... But I realized, all that is meaningless when a person calling themselves Christians, when I, do not walk what we preach. If we don't live by what we say, who's going to believe that there's any good in that? First thing that came to my mind when hearing that response is, "I need to go to English class! Just because I'm tired is not an excuse to miss class!!" Walking what we're talking is what I need to do.

Absolut Impotence

The first thing that came to my mind is Absolut comic. The ad cleverly uses a quote from Shakespeare of how “Drink provokes the desire but takes away the performance.” The crumpled bottle relating to impotence allows the viewer to not understand the spoof ad mentally, but visually as well. It applies many rhetoric strategies to not only show negatives to drinking to the viewer, but does it in a manner where the viewer will remember. One, the ad uses strategies that implies persuasion in a ‘logos’ logical fashion. Drinking surely does create less performance when consumed, but no one take it to heart. When we are able to visually see a crumpled bottle, we are able to understand on a visual note. We are also able to see the ad speaking to us on an emotional ‘ethos’ note as well. We are all familiar with the advertisement showing the Absolut Vodka bottle. Majority of the commercials for this product features scenes and images of enjoyment and excitement. The irony in this parody creates an emotional touch that is so contradictory to the original, that it creates a humorous note. This laughter influences and persuades us on an emotional note. While the ad seems merely humorous, the message within seems to have a harder punch. Drinking is always what our society considers a good social event. Yet, hidden within, are possible outcomes of many negatives. We know that drinking can lead to addiction, abuse, death (drinking and driving) and impotence as well. Yet, the way these negatives are delivered never sticks to us; it’s always on a long boring column, or never emphasized too well. Yet, this ad that we are so familiar to was twisted in a contradicting way, and it reaches to us the way that the original ad reached to us. The influence of this new ad seems more influential than any other way it was proposed before.

Sex Appeal: The ups and downs

Sex appeal is one of the best tools when it comes to marketing. Not only does it capture attention, it fools the viewer to think that they want to buy the product. When in reality, the feeling of need comes from the sexual arousal, rather than the actual product. Many products are marketed in this fashion, especially clothing apparel and outer garnishments. One of the companies that use this method is Calvin Klein. Often, their models are shown advertising their body more than the actual product, yet the effectiveness of the commercials is unrivaled by any other way to show off their product. For example, the model shown within this writing is Christy Turlington. Many of her pictures are nothing but black and whites of her in a sexy undergarment. Yet, when you see her shoots, you automatically can think CK. Even without the text, you are able to see a picture and think CK. Even for those who do not know of CK, the ad using sex appeal captures their attention, and makes sure that they’ll remember their company. As far as the effectiveness goes for this style of ad, it is more than good. However, this ad is questionable when it comes to the matter of appropriateness. This advertisement is seen by viewers of all ages; from the responsible adult, to the growing up pre-teen. When such material is shown, it may give a “negative” influence to a young adult. Identity is an issue being developed for a teen. If an ad such as this becomes the ideal model of beauty, this concept can lead the teen into a wrong direction. Although there isn’t much ‘pathos’ in the actual picture, the effect it may have on its viewers can surely be emotional. Perhaps too emotional…

Analysis of the Picture: Emptiness

The picture is well taken despite bad lighting and stale background. The picture was taken within a fog, which would create stale and bland coloring of the picture. The photographer actually used that as a theme of the picture, creating a sense of being lost visually as well as rhetorically. The focus of the picture, the woman, stands out well with her black dressing manner. Against the pale background and stale grass, she makes the viewers focus on her, making it obvious she is the focus. The proportion of the woman versus the background is also very good. It is close enough for the viewer to observe some type of emotion from the facial expression, but far enough to create a sense of void within the picture. We are able to tell that she is looking and calling out for something (most likely a dog, looking at the leash in her hand), and the spacing with the woman and everything else is very well proportioned. Also, making the woman placed at the far right of the picture makes the background seem much wider. As far as the message goes, the picture speaks in regards to wanting to find something. Whether it’s a dog or a meaningful relationship, the focus of the picture is definitely searching out for something in desperation. No time in our lives are we able to think that we are complete. We always seem to lack something, and it creates emptiness inside. This picture persuades us to reflect on ourselves once again; to once again evaluate what we have and do not have.

Reflecting on the picture

A dog is a man’s best friend. This is a saying we know too well. There has been countless stories of the loyalty these animals possess. From saving their owner from a burning house, to risking their lives to protect their human friends, dogs have been the loyal companion of mankind far back into the history books. This picture shows a woman holding a leash, looking for her pet in desperation. It makes one question, “why did she lose her dog?” As a dog owner, you give your dog some freedom, and it may run off; yet, you should have no need to call for it desperately. Calling for it once should retrieve the dog without too much trouble. Although no judgment can be made by simple visuals, the fact that this lady made this dog run away makes me question her character and personality. Also, the weather seems horrible; if the picture was taken at a park, we should have been able to observe others present within this picture. Yet, she seems to be the only one out there. Looking into her dressing style, the weather also seems chilly. Why is she out there? Of course, if the dog needs a walk, it’s understandable, but if she’s a type of owner where the dog would run away from her, most probably she made no consideration of that sort. The lady simply looks as if she needs more help than retrieving her dog. Maybe she needs psychological treatment.

Observing of the picture

Within a fog, we are able to see a woman in her thirties crying out into the mist. Holding a leash in her hand, it appears that she has lost perhaps a dog. Dressed in black pants overlapped with a black overcoat, she appears very warm. Although she is dressed for the cold, looking at the grass (which appears still fairly green) we are able to assume the time of the year is still summer, if not fall. It is too foggy to determine the time of day because of the fog, but we are able to assume that it is still daylight because the picture was captured with decent lighting. In the background of this picture, we see faintly some trees and bushes. The trees still have their leaves and green color. Although the grass is too well-groomed to look like in the wilderness, nowhere in this picture are we able to see a bench, a sidewalk, nor any other people; it appears that this photo was either not taken at a park, or with excellent timing, made the viewer assume it was out somewhere in the wilderness. A detail that strongly convinces a reader to believe this WAS at a park, is the fact that to the left of the woman in the picture, there are marks of some sort on the grass. Although very faint, the grass is shown with marks from a wheel of some sort. The marks are too thin and faint to be any large vehicle; it seems to belong to maybe a bicycle or a lawn mower.