Before I came to USA, I wanted to know about USA such as history, culture, people and lifestyle and so on. So I thought of reading books, watching movies, research on Internet, but I couldn’t do it much because I had little time to do. Anyway I read a book written about America’s election, which is really different from Korean one. I read twice because I could hardly understand the voting system and the book said individual’s vote can’t be influential. Actually the reason why I wanted to know how to elect a president is that I knew there would be an election on November this year.
I am not really interested in politics as well as economy. Even in Korea, I was not interested in who was going to be a next president last year. I know our lives are related to politics. Politics influences many areas like economics, education and so on. But the reason why I am not interested in politics is that I am powerless. If the politician do something wrong, I can’t change anything. What I can do is just complaining about the politician or the policy and they make me feel like I vote for a wrong person.
I didn’t care if Barack Obama won the election or not. President in the States seems like a president of the world so the president of USA is a very powerful. Small country like Korea is really controlled under America. Even though great president is chosen in the US, he/she can’t be our enemy. As a Korean citizen, I just wanted someone to be chosen, who would not control Korea as he/she wanted. But as a person, I wanted Obama to win. My friend told me that Barack Obama or Hilary Clinton was not able to win, because Americans are still conservative and there exists discrimination over sex and race. Therefore John McCain would win no matter how popular Obama was. When I heard of this, I was really shocked and felt sad.
It seemed like whole world was Obama’s fan. I could really feel almost everyone here I live love Obama and support Obama. Even my friends who are not black and who are not Americans, are big fans of Obama’s, saying “he’s a great guy”. I was afraid. What if Obama couldn’t win? Then it is really evident that America is a hopeless country with full of racists and hypocrites who pretend they are not.
In the end, Obama won and he will become the first black president in the US. I really congratulate him and America at the bottom of my heart. While I have been staying here, what I have felt is America is not a melting pot. I don’t really think people are unified. But when it comes to Obama, people seem to be one. I hope he’ll be a great president, change America and make a better world. There should be no more Bush.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
What is my favorite climate to live in? Does climate affect the weather?
If you open Korean textbook of the 1st grader’s, in the 1st page, you can see this phrase: Korea is a good country. We have four seasons; spring, summer, fall and winter. I didn’t know what it meant when I was young. I couldn’t understand why Korea is a good country just because we have 4 seasons. It is because I took it for granted to have four seasons and thought people in the world live in the same climate. Now I know some countries have only winters or summers and some countries have spring or fall or both. First of all, I want to write how I think climate affects the way people live and then I will write about my favorite climate to live in.
Climate affects the lives of people. I can’t say that it is an absolute factor. But I believe that climate affect us considerably in various ways. For example Korea has a continental climate, which is characterized by winter temperatures cold enough to support a fixed period of snow cover each year, and relatively moderate precipitation occurring mostly in summer. These regions include some of the most productive farmlands in the world and have at least three months of temperatures in excess of 10℃ (50℉) and winters with at least one month below -3℃. Therefore we cultivate rice and eat rice every day. In some western countries cultivate wheat because they have a suitable climate for growing wheat and they eat bread. Even in Korea, food of the southern areas is saltier than this of the northern one. People wanted to keep food longer because it went bad easily in warm weather. We have a refrigerator now but still have salty southern food. The shape of the houses is different to protect the strong wind and snow. And the clothes people wear are different according to the climate. Not only food, clothes and housing but also nationality and culture are affected by climate too. People who live in the warm temperature are more positive and relaxed than those who live in the rainy and cold areas.
I like a temperate climate which is never extremely cold or hot. I like 4 seasons of Korea. In spring, it is warm so it is good to go out and do outdoor activities. In summer it is hot and humid. Actually I don’t really like humid weather. I hope summer is hot and dry. So if I found the shade, I would feel quite pleasant. But we need rain anyhow. I should accept that. In Korea, people say fall is the season for reading. In fall the temperature is good to cool your head and read books. Lastly, winter is a good season to enjoy winter sports like skating and skiing even though we can enjoy these in summer time too. However, I still think they are different. My favorite season is spring because it is not very hot or cold. I don’t like to sweat and I can’t endure coldness either. Therefore warm spring is the best for me. But I somewhat wait for these hot or cold seasons. Because I like short sleeves, sandals, gloves, boots and thick coat as much as seasonal activities.
Undoubtedly, I think climate and the way people live are related to each other in many ways such as food, clothes, housing, nationality, culture and so on. But these are not formed only due to the climate. Climate is an influential factor but not concrete one which can totally change the way of living. I do like a temperate climate which has 4 seasons. If I had only one season, it would be really boring to me. Now I need to prepare boots for winter and want to buy a big hat and tropical one-piece dresses for summer I can’t wait for.
Climate affects the lives of people. I can’t say that it is an absolute factor. But I believe that climate affect us considerably in various ways. For example Korea has a continental climate, which is characterized by winter temperatures cold enough to support a fixed period of snow cover each year, and relatively moderate precipitation occurring mostly in summer. These regions include some of the most productive farmlands in the world and have at least three months of temperatures in excess of 10℃ (50℉) and winters with at least one month below -3℃. Therefore we cultivate rice and eat rice every day. In some western countries cultivate wheat because they have a suitable climate for growing wheat and they eat bread. Even in Korea, food of the southern areas is saltier than this of the northern one. People wanted to keep food longer because it went bad easily in warm weather. We have a refrigerator now but still have salty southern food. The shape of the houses is different to protect the strong wind and snow. And the clothes people wear are different according to the climate. Not only food, clothes and housing but also nationality and culture are affected by climate too. People who live in the warm temperature are more positive and relaxed than those who live in the rainy and cold areas.
I like a temperate climate which is never extremely cold or hot. I like 4 seasons of Korea. In spring, it is warm so it is good to go out and do outdoor activities. In summer it is hot and humid. Actually I don’t really like humid weather. I hope summer is hot and dry. So if I found the shade, I would feel quite pleasant. But we need rain anyhow. I should accept that. In Korea, people say fall is the season for reading. In fall the temperature is good to cool your head and read books. Lastly, winter is a good season to enjoy winter sports like skating and skiing even though we can enjoy these in summer time too. However, I still think they are different. My favorite season is spring because it is not very hot or cold. I don’t like to sweat and I can’t endure coldness either. Therefore warm spring is the best for me. But I somewhat wait for these hot or cold seasons. Because I like short sleeves, sandals, gloves, boots and thick coat as much as seasonal activities.
Undoubtedly, I think climate and the way people live are related to each other in many ways such as food, clothes, housing, nationality, culture and so on. But these are not formed only due to the climate. Climate is an influential factor but not concrete one which can totally change the way of living. I do like a temperate climate which has 4 seasons. If I had only one season, it would be really boring to me. Now I need to prepare boots for winter and want to buy a big hat and tropical one-piece dresses for summer I can’t wait for.
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