Only 10 Days Left!!!!

"10 days left" means that my birthday is coming in 10 days from now (Dec 5)

The reason why I'm so excited about my birthday is that I'm turing to 18 in this year!!

Although today is not my birthday yet, I have many thoughts in my head - what I have to do at age of 18 and which things I have to repair myself as becoming an adult...

The other reason why I feel exciting is that I didn't care about my birthday last year ( I even didn't tell to anyone about my birthday because I was afraid of failing English at secondary school)

Anyway, I hope to spend my birthday meaningfully this year~~!

Cultural Mysteries in Canada

Now, I have been in Canada for over two and a half years. As I spent two and a half years of my life in Canada, I found some interesting cultural mysteries that I did not have in Korea.

First, when I went shopping first time in Canada, I was so suprised about a variety of clothing sizes. Before I came to Canada, it was really hard to find right clothings for me because most clothings were smaller than what I usually wore. As a result, I had to spend my precious money on clothings that I did not like that much! This was why I impressed that I could buy clothings that I really wanted to purchase.

Second, I noticed in Canada that almost all Canadians say "excuse me" or "sorry" whenever they could collide against other people while walking. In Korea, no one really cared about crashing into someone else, so I thought that this would be similar in Canada. Although I needed some times to be familiar with Canadians' "excuse me" and "sorry" phrases, I would like to use these phrases in Korea some time^.

These cultural mysteries are the major ones that I experienced in Canada. There will be lots of other kinds of cultural mysteries that I cannot realize until now. I hope to know other cultural mysteries that people coming from foreign countries may have.

Hyde Creek Salmon Festival

On this Sunday, Nov. 14, I went to Hyde Creek Salmon Festivalwith my homestay family.

I've taken some pictures of salmon swimming to where they were born.

This stream is the way salmons keep swimming forwardly

The Effect Coming to Canada Had on Me

I came to Canada when I was 15 years old, which was the age right after my middle-school graduation. Because I was supposed to survive by myself at Canadian secondary school, I had a hard time with loneliness, English, studying, and Canadian culture. While I was dealing with these difficulties, I realized that my life was not the one that I had in Korea. Although I couldn't make a decision myself easily in Korea, it became better. For instance, when I was in grade 11 & 12, I planned a whole school schedule and which post-secondary institution I had to apply by myself. In Korea, the job I had done in secondary school would be impossible. Also, as I stayed in Canada for two and a half years, I became familiar of how to manage money I got from my parents. Before I came to Canada, I spent my money to buy whatever I wanted to get. However, in Canada, I couldn't spend money freely because I had to think of my parents who have paid my tuition fees, academy fees, and all other living costs. Overall, these two effects of coming to Canada are the most influenced things that affected my life in Canada.

Need to Be Changed.

As I'm becoming 18 in a month, sometimes I think that I want to be looking mature.

Today, I made an effort to be looking different than the past.

These are the photos taken before I made an effort to it.



Grade 11 Yearbook Photo



Douglas Student ID ( I hate this photo..)





The effort that I tried was makeup, which is the one that I haven't done many times.

After I put makeup on my face, I could see this difference.



No Makeup (which is familiar for everyone^)




After Makeup (I tried my best to take a self-picture but I think I failed to do it)



This was the effort that I could do for my future goall, looking different (mature).

I hope I will be better at this job^^

Schools in Canada and Korea

As I have a life in Canada for two and a half years, sometimes I compare my life in here with my life in Korea. In particular, 'school' is the most interesting thing to compare. When I was a secondary school student, I noticed this - Canadian secondary school students have a more flexible school schedule than students in Korean high school. Although Canadian students only have four courses per semester, Korean high school students have more than 10 courses per semester. In addition, Korean students have to study themselves until 10p.m. after the each school session,  while Canadian students go home after 3 p.m. Also, basic schooling systems in Canada and Korea are totally different. Even though Canadians can choose  electives that they want to take, Koreans have no choice; their electives are selected from their school. Lastly, the most interesting thing that I realized was thought towards the purposes of going to school. In Canada, Canadian students seem to enjoy what they are doing at school because they can make a schedule that fits best for them. However, Korean high school students seem opposite because they have a pretty tough school schedule, and sometimes they get a pressure from their parents and teachers. These are the major things that I can compare schools in Canada and Korea. I hope people who had a high school life in Korea sympathize with my comaprison towards schools in Korea and Canada.

The Difficulty I Still Have in Canada.

       Although I've been in Canada for two and a half years, I still have several difficulties for a life in Canada. The most important difficulty, which doesn't get better quickly, for me is English. I would like to share one real story of mine with you.

      As I came to Canada, I was enrolled at secondary school in Coquitlam. Then, because of my low English skills, I had to get in to the lowest ESL class. While I was taking this ESL course, I had to take three elective courses like cooking, PE and art, which didn't require a higher English skill. Even though I had a pretty flexible schedule at secondary school, I had serious language difficulties. For instance, I couldn't get a good mark on a group project because I didn't know how to communicate well with native English speakers. Also, I made a lot of silly mistakes in simple English grammar so that some classmates thought me as a dumb. After that, I tried to learn English effectively since I was in the lowest ESL class at secondary school, and I would still have to deal with English till I finally leave Canada.

       Even though my English skills have been improved much than before I was enrolled at Douglas College, I still feel some difficulties of English because this language is not my first language. As a result of this reason, I always make a mind myself that I have to learn English to have a better life in Canada. 

Friends?

       Unfortunately, I don't have many friends around me because of my serious difficulty in getting friendly with others. Although I have this kind of handicap, I can still think of some general types of friends that I had in Korea and Canada. Before I actually start writing, I would like to get an excuse of not posting a real picture of my friends. ( The sad thing is that I cannot find any friends' pictures on my digical camera, I feel very sorry about that)

       The first type I would like to talk about is the friends who always talk a lot. I don't feel boring when this kind of friends keeps talking about funny things, such as comedy shows or funny human episodes. However, when these friends want to talk about something that none of the other friends is not interested in, I even want to sleep while hearing of them. The reason why I pick this type of my friends is that I have learned how to get friendly with many differeny kinds of people effectively; it was getting close to new people and talk to them with a common interest. This is why I love this kind of my friends.

       The second type is the friends who cannot wait for others. These friends usually finish everything pretty quickly then other friends, like eating meals fast, walking fast, or even shopping in a short time. Because of these unique kinds of characteristics, my friends in this type tend to make me finish something fast; I mostly do something in a slow pace so that it sometimes annoy me. On the other hand, from these friends, I can get a chance to change my bad habit to be better. As a reault, though this kind of friends doesn't look like good friends, they are really good friends who can make me realize my bad habit.

       The last type of friends I want to finish with is the friends who always have a dissatisfaction. There is no clear reason why these friends have displeasant faces every single day. Every time when I search for the reason, I realize that I don't need to do this. The reason for that is pretty nonsense - not wearing the clothes they want, not having their favourite meals, etc. Nevertheless, the weird thing is that I learn something importnat one from this kind of my friends. It is that I should have a pleasure on my face everytime I meet people, especially new people.

References:

"Blah Blah." The latest mom Myspace Graphics. Web. 4 Nov 2010. http://www.tovx.com/Misc-graphics.htm.  

FICTIONATORS. Web. 4 Nov 2010. http://www.fictionators.com/.

Kamil, Darius. "DISSATISFACTION." dadardadar. 23 June 2010. Web. 4 Nov 2010. http://dadardadar.blogspot.com/.