I believe in....

I believe that if I have a confidence to do something or take a risk and try my best, I will succeed in that particular thing. This belief started when I was learning ice- skating. When I was young, I… was really bad at sports. I learnt swimming and I kept repeating the same mistake even though the coach corrected me few times.

When I was young, probably like since 1^st grade, I had nose-bleeding a lot. My parents thought it was because my body was weak. They wanted to find solutions. My cousin was good at Ice- skating and he was an ice-skating player. My parents found out that by learning and doing Ice- skating, it helps my body to get stronger and it’s better for nose-bleeding.

Since the starting of 3^rd grade, I started learning ice- skating even though my parents knew that I was not good at sports because they wanted to my health to get better not the skills. At that time, I decided to try my best to put effort in it and make my parents happy. As I learnt ice-skating, my nose-bleeding stopped like a miracle because I thought it would never stop. I also improved my ice-skating skills. As I improved much better, I went to the competition where all the skaters from the country were gathered. I competed with others that have similar skills as me.

On my first competition, I won the gold medal because the track was pretty short. I had another 2 competitions which took place in winter some other parts of Korea. This competition made me a little bit nervous because it was a cold day and I had to run twice as more than the last time. Unfortunately, by too much of nerve – breaking, I fell down once on the cornering and made the same mistake twice on the other one too. When I fell down, my coach was shouting at me a lot. “Hey, why did you fall down?! You could have won this competition!!!!” I saw my parents disappointing a little too. I tried my best however failed. From that mistake, I learnt that I should not get nervous of what place I will be in because I tried my best and put my best effort in it.

" I believe that trying and taking a risk makes you a beautiful and a successful person. "

Image Source: http://danlacher.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/confidence-coaching-pic.jpg

Battle of The Hastings

The Battle of the hastings was a huge war fought between three kingdoms(Normandy-Duke William, English- Harold G, Vikings- Harald H.) I played a game called 1066 which the game title means that the war was on 1066.

You choose one of the kingdom and the kingdom you want to fight with. Then place the archers, knights, soldiers where you want to place and begin battle. You can choose to taunt, fire for the archers, or charging to the enemy and fortify. I really liked this game because this game tells you how people in the middle ages fought and before you begin the game, it briefly tells you who fought the Battle of the Hastings and why they wanted the England. While I was playing the game, I learnt that it was very easy to lose people and you had to use a smart strategy to win the game because you are fighting face to face.

The battle of the hastings was started because they wanted the English throne. King Edward had no heir. He announced people in England to Viking that he would help Vikings to become the king. However later, he said to Harold Hardrada that he should be the king but the conversation was only between them and Harold was very wealthy. Duke William or Normandy was very close with popes and if he becomes the king without a battle he told popes that he will give some of his land. In Middle Ages, Pope had the power too like King so they could not say Duke William should not be the kind. People said that because he’s not English, he could not be the king and there, the battle of the Hastings started. Duke William's Norman army fake retreated which was going up the hill and making the English follow them. From nowhere, Norman army came out from the bushes, behind the trees and killed all the English army. The King Harold G was shot by an arrow in the eye and fought until his life was gone. Because Duke William used a smart strategy, he won the great and huge battle that took months to end. Another thing I learnt was that this battle was the longest battle in Middle Ages.

I think learning through this kind or game is valuable of learning because kids like to play games and by playing this game, they will learn more of the history and help their learning too.

Matilda Bone The Bonesetter

The book ‘Matilda Bone’ by Karen Cushman is a historical fiction noble. Matilda Bone describes the theme of lack of hygiene, basic medical knowledge and religion values. Matilda goes on a personal journey and spiritual which she meets new people around her and realizes that she is useful to other people not useless. This book took place in Middle Ages. Matilda was desperate and sad however later, she turns into a happy and joyful girl. In the Middle Ages, there was lack of hygiene. The lack of hygiene made one third of people died in England. They usually got diseases for not cleaning themselves and not cleaning the floors. The author Karen Cushman described the hygiene as natural sources such as cow dung or drinking yurin and mixing with the grass using as medication. This tells us that they were far behind the medical knowledge too. By having less medical knowledge, there were many sick people in middle ages.

In the book, there were many patients who were sick, had eye problems and other many illness. That describes how bad the hygiene was and the basic medical knowledge in the Middle Ages. The man who had eye problem was because probably he had not eaten healthy food like carrots that helps eye better. I think the eye problem was caused because of the environment and they probably didn’t know that what food helped eyes to improve. They usually got diseases and got sick because they didn’t know what to do. If they don’t know what to eat or when they hurt somewhere, they would just leave it because there wasn’t anyone who knew the answer. When you read the book, Matilda runs over and over to the wise man and asks question so she gets the answer and tells what the patient should eat. Hopelessly, that didn’t help any better. That kept the same and the medication that the wise man told was yucky so the patient could not eat properly. One thing that kept them clean was soap. The soap was invented during the Middle Ages and it kept them safe later on.

During the Middle Ages, religion was very important and valued to them. Matilda kept going to the church and believed in Saints and God. She kept praying and praying for help and to help people. Even socially, she showed people that she is religious and value her religion as she puts what the saint said to her or what she believes in. When unlucky things happened to her or her friends, she asked Saints and God for help until her help became in real.

In conclusion, we can see that the biggest problem in Middle Ages that caused people die and become sick was the lack of hygiene and the basic medical knowledge. We can also know that they valued religion highly and very religious even the peasants and very low-classed people worship God highly.

Does The Boy in the Striped Pajamas deal with the sensitive subject of the holocaust in an appropriate way?

Yes, I think that this historical fiction novel by John Boyne does deal with the sensitive subject matter of the holocaust appropriately, because he didn't write how gross the soldier and how bad the camp was and what was a holocaust.

John Boyne gave the readers some clues about holocaust but he didn't tell the readers about the exact meaning of Haolocaust. I think the part where John Boyne didn't describe the camp was appropriate because if he did, it would affect the children's mind about Germany. Some part where he described Shmuel experiencing the Holocaust was not a good idea. Instead of writing Shmuel experiencing the Holocaust, he could have written in other ways.

He also made the readers thinking when he was describing the fence that was between the house and the camp. He made the readers left thinking what was on the other side of the camp. It made the readers curious and make them read more.

In conclusion, I think human evil really effects the other people. Like Holocaust. Holocaust is a dangerous thing which was caused by human evil. Once, human evil starts, I think it's rarely impossible to stop. I also think human evil is still going on somewhere around the world and we should stop it before it happens. Overall, I learnt that human evil impact is huge and dangerous.

Holocaust Web 10 Qs'

Here are the 10 questions that I made from the Holoquast Website with instructions.

To go to the website, click here: href="http://www.ushmm.org/">

1.Find ‘education’ section and click ‘for students’. Click on ‘Ghettos’.
Read the first two paragraphs. How did Ghettos isolate?

2.(same instruction) Find ‘education’ section and click ‘for students’.
Click on ‘Death Marches’ . Look at the picture.
Why do you think that they are moving away and to where?

3. Go to the ‘Genocide’ section on the top and click on ‘what is Genocide’?
Read the explanations and write the meaning of Genocide in you own words.
Hint: Think of the word carefully and the book ‘boy in the striped pajamas’.
Think about the Auschwitz.

4. Find ‘search’ and type Auschwitz. Look at the picture that’s on the top.
What do you feel from it? If you were there, with the people in the striped
pajamas, what would you feel?

5. Go to the ‘for students’ again please. Then find ‘Concentration Camps.
Go down to the article and find one of the map which it says ‘Nazi Concentration
Camps’ underneath. Look at the map. What do the black squares represent?

6. Go to ‘for students’. Then find ‘rescue’ . Read the article. Who helped the Jews rescuing and how was the effort?

7. Go to the map in the article ‘rescue’. Start the map slides and read the
information that’s appearing. Who was a Fry? What did he do?

8. Go to the map in the article ‘rescue’. Start the map slides and read the information that’s appearing. You can also read the bottom. It’s the same information on the slides. How did Roman Catholic Karski know that the murder was going to happen and what year was that?

9. Click on the map ‘Escapes routes from Norway’ on the left side of the bar.
What does the map tells you?

10. Go to ‘Genocide’ section and click on the ‘Who is at risk?’ You’ll see many different pictures and the explanation. Go to the bottom and find ‘Burundi’. Read the information a bit and look at the picture. What does this tell about Burundi?

"But what matters most is that each picture stands on its own, with its own place and feeling.” – Steve McCurry

Steve Mc. Curry’s Bio

Steve Mc Curry was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 24th 1950. He is a famous photographer who takes picture of humanities, loss and joy. He mostly took pictures about war, freedom and independence. He took people who were hurt in war, children soldiers, children playing around the war machines and people working when they don’t know whether they are taken photos of them.

Steve McCurry started to get interested in taking photographs when he was working in Penn State newspaper called ‘The Daily Collegian’. Steve Mc Curry graduated Cum Laude and he started his career in India as a photographer journalist. He learned many things watching people on the street in India and around the world. He disguised in native garb as he crossed the Pakistan border. When he crossed the border, he saw the things he never saw in his life. He realized something. He then decided to be a photograph journalist through his entire life.

“What is important to my work is the individual picture. I photograph stories on assignment, and of course they have to be put together coherently. But what matters most is that each picture stands on its own, with its own place and feeling.” – Steve Mc Curry Steve McCurry said about his work taking photos around the world. I’ve seen most of the photographs of Steve McCurry and they are really focused on person’s face, looking at the camera directly. His one of the famous photograph is an “Afghan Girl.” Afghan girl is his famous photo of all because her red scarf, the sea-green eyes stood out of the photograph and her staring at the camera made an outstanding picture. The photo was very attracting people because of her eyes. This photo also became the symbol of American refugee because the girl in the photo was sent to Nasir Bagh refugee camp during the Soviet Union’s bombing of Afghanistan and her parents were killed by the Soviet. Out of all the great photos, I chose my favorite photo which is about a child soldier.

The boy in the picture looks about 8 or 9 and he is holding a normal black gun that is for shooting at people, put on a beige scarf on his head and wore a yellow jacket that’s dirtied. When I first saw this photo, I was worried whether about his education. But I guessed he hasn’t been educated because he was so young and he is holding a gun. Look at his face and his body. He looks like he didn’t wash for 3 days or so. The gun that’s in his hand should be disappeared. Learning to kill people is not a good thing especially the children. They should be playing out in the field, learning at school. Killing people at the boy’s age is a dangerous thing. I wonder who, in the government, told the soldiers to train children. Who in the world send the children to a war to fight? What if the boy dies in a war? How would their parents feel if they know that their child died? There are too many issues about training children as soldiers. If the children learn to kill people and when they grow up, or what would they be? I think what Steve McCurry was trying to emphasize in this photo was the eyes in the boy’s face and the gun. I think the eyes in the photo make a great photo because his eyes staring at the camera is very powerful. Steve McCurry took this photo by focusing into boy’s eyes and the gun that he is holding.

Overall, most of the Steve McCurry’s photos are based on humilities, looseness and joyfulness. I learned that photograph teaches people about the other side of the people who are in the other world. Like rich and poor people, when you see the photograph, it shows you the people you didn’t see and realize. I think photograph brings a change about the people’s life because some people might look at Steve McCurry’s photograph and help that country, or might even visit and see the reality how bad the environment is or the people’s suffering from illness. In my opinion, a great photo becomes from the people’s eyes, gestures, working, their loss and joy. Even if it is a photo that looks really boring, that can even attract people’s attention. No matter what the photo is, if they have the power in the photo, I think they can even make great photos. When I look at a photo, I first look at the thing that’s mostly focusing, then the color, and the background. Later then I observed more about the picture. His work is mostly like a journey because he travels around the countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan and other many poor countries) and takes photos that impress people; make people realize what different things are in other parts of the countries. His work is amazing as he said this “What is important to my work is the individual picture. I photograph stories on assignment, and of course they have to be put together coherently. But what matters most is that each picture stands on its own, with its own place and feeling.” – Steve Mc Curry

And also a perfect photographer, he will always be in people’s heads and be remembered. Like a photographer of an Afghan Girl.

Jason and the Quest for the Golden Fleece

Jason and the Argonauts.. Is it a true story or just a myth? Is there a proof? Yes there is a proof that Jason and the Argonauts were existed. First, let me tell you who is Jason.

Jason was a son of the King Aeson who was generous and rightful. Unfortunately, Jason’s father the rightful king had to give away his throne to Pelias Jason’s wicked uncle. At the time, Jason was stillborn and his name was Diomedes. Pelias was intended to kill Diomedes but Aeson begged. Diomedes’s mom faked a burial and smuggled a baby to Mount Pelion. Since then, Diomedes name changed to Jason and was kept as a secret. Jason was rised by centaur Chiron.

As Jason grew older, stronger, he prepared to face with Pelias and take his throne. Jason went to the palace where Pelias is and commanded Pelias him to give away his throne as it’s not Pelias’s. As Pelias knew that Jason would not give up the throne, Pelias gave Jason a quest which was giving Pelias the Golden Fleece. Pelias promised Jason that if Jason completes his quest he would give Jason the throne.

Now, Jason’s goal was the Golden Fleece. He would always have to remember the Golden Fleece that it became his accomplishments.

Jason also had few helpers and without them, he wouldn’t have accomplished his goal. The helpers were the Argonauts who were Herclues, Odysseus and many other heros but Jason was still the leader. Also many other gods helped him on his way and his lover Medea too.

During the adventure, there were many tests too. Such as clashing rocks, fire-breathing bulls, and the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece were on his adventure and Pelias knew those tests and sent Jason to a dangerous quest. All the tests proved that Jason, Argonauts and other helpers were how much furious they were.

After a long journey, Jason and the Argonauts return to the palace of lolcus to give the Golden Fleece to Pelias to prove that he can be a king.

I've seen or read two different types of videos like cartoon and the film on the youtube and the cartoon is about the Medea betraying Jason and intended to kill him.However, Jason believed in his sword and killed Medea. So Jason got the Golden Fleece and returned. In the real film they describe that Jason and Medea fall in love and Medea helps Jason to suceed the quest of Golden Fleece then later Medea becomes an magician and curse Jason for betraying her. I saw that there is a great difference between the film and the cartoon. There are also some facts in the film.

Facts:

* Mt. Pelion where Jason lived

* Mt. Pelion exist still now

* Medicines and Herbs in Mt. Pelion (maybe they used medicines and herbs to recover their scars during the Jason and the Argonauts)

* Bronze-aged Palace exists (destroyed)

* Bronze-aged palace -historically exist through 12000 B.C.

* Now adays, people can recounstruct the ship Argo

* Jason and the Argonauts are the most famous crew

* 1st test was in Island of Lemnos - well civilized
- clothes trading

* The cliff exists

* Jason- first person to pass the black sea

* Cave paintings? maybe they painted?

* Bull festival -related to Jason (maybe it represents Jason that he was powerful)
- maybe minotaur from Labyrinth

* Korkus Mountain

* Land of Golden Fleece is in Georgia

* The sea where Jason traveled is weird -waters going into two directions

By seeing these facts, I believe that Jason and the Argonauts could have possibly existed. But in other thoughts, people might have created them and thought as heroes. I am not sure whether ther is a truth or not.