7 Deadly Sins

                                                      7 Deadly Sins

Today’s blog is to talk about the seven deadly sins.  The seven deadly sins include Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, and Sloth.  Pride is excessive belief in one’s abilities, also known as vanity.  Envy is the desire for others’ traits, statuses, abilities, or situation.  Gluttony is the desire to consume more than that which one requires.  Lust is the cravings for the pleasures of the body.  Anger is wrath.  Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain.  Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.

             I think the guiltiest sin that applies to me is sloth or greed.  I am a lazy person.  Everyone is lazy.  I always look for shortcuts and an easier way out to do everything.  I hate when someone tell me to do something especially when I am all relaxed and comfy.  For example, if I am lying down on the couch watching TV and all relaxed and someone tells me to get something for them, it makes me feel like not getting up.  I’m not saying that I lay down in bed all day and all night and not move and inch.  I’m the kind of person that relaxes when I need to and works when I need to.  I like to go out and play with friends.  That’s the when the laziness comes in.  The laziness comes in when I am resting and relaxing but something I have to do appear.  Another example of laziness that I have is waking up in the morning.  I always tell myself,” 1 more minute, 2 more minutes” because I am lazy to wake up.  This continues on and on and ends up being late for school.  I also do my homework and studying at the last minute.  I always try to tell myself that its better to do it in advance but always end up procrastinating.  This procrastination takes up a lot of my sleep time and therefore makes me tired.

             My next sin is greediness.  Greediness, as stated above, is the desire for material wealth or gain.  The important part is that it is the desire for material wealth or gain, IGNORING THE REALM OF THE SPIRITUAL.  It ignores reality and just makes the desire to want something.  I personally believe that everyone has greed.  Even though it might not seem so, such as people who don’t care about money, but they all have some sort of greed in their own way.  For example, the people who don’t care about money might look as if they have no greed but actually they have greed on something else they want.  The reason I think that I have greediness is because when I see someone have something really nice, I start wanting it.  Another thing is, I like money.  I would never refuse if someone gives me money, even if it’s over the amount that I actually need.  I still don’t steal or anything, greed is just a feeling, not an action.

             I chose these two sins because I think they are the most common sins that I do.  To be honest, all those 7 deadly sins describe me.  Anyways, these are the reasons why I apply with the two sins I chose.  Wait up for my next blog!!

MY FAVORITE TRIP

                                              MY FAVORITE TRIP

My favorite trip was my most recent trip to Korea.  I went to Korea during this summer vacation and stayed in my cousin’s house.  The reason this trip to Korea was my favorite was because I had so many cousins to play with.  I went to almost every place that we can possibly go for fun.  For example, we went to the amusement park to ride big rollercoasters, went to Ocean World and Caribbean Bay to swim, watched all the movies that came out, played soccer, meet friends, play pool, and going to go dance.  My cousins and I had a lot of bonding this year that we couldn’t have due to our separated homes. 

I also went to meet all the family members that I missed for a long time.  Since I live on an island, I had a lot of family members that I couldn't meet for a long time.  This summer, I had a lot of time to spare and therefore went to visit almost all the family members I could think of. 

Something special about this year’s summer vacation compared to previous years is that since I am now a junior, I had to get ready to take the SAT.  While I was in Korea, I went to an academy that teaches students my age SAT.  This academy had a lot of students, my age, perfect for new friends.  While going to this academy, I made many new friends and went to fun places to play with them.  I got to visit new cities that I never visited before because my friends from the SAT academy lived in different cities.

Another thing that made it such a good summer trip was the food.  Since I live in Saipan, an island in the middle of the ocean, I am limited in eating foods that I like.

My most favorite day was when all my cousins and my friends went to the amusement park with me.  We went early in the morning because we knew there was going to be a long line, since it was a Saturday.  I rode almost all the roller-coasters that are available in the amusement park.  When we rode the biggest one, a lot of my girl cousins cried.  We played the whole day and had the time of a life time.  After that, we went to eat dinner and almost took up the whole restaurant.  We ate steak and ended up with a price of over $1000.  After that we were trying to go home but all the subways were closed because we were too late.  We called all our homes and told our parents that we couldn’t go home.  Of course, our parents got mad at us but there was no possible way all of us could get home with the money we had left.  We decided to spend a night at a sauna.  Although we thought that it would be dirty and uncomfortable to spend a whole night in a sauna, it was alright in my opinion.  There were lots of food that were available inside the sauna and the beds were pretty comfortable.  In the morning we all said good bye and rode the subway home.

Overall, this summer trip was the best trip I had.  I bonded a lot with my cousins and made a lot of new friends and went to many new places.

  “Is it better to use your own knowledge and experience to solve your problems rather than asking someone for help and advice?

            The topic for today’s blog is the question, “Is it better to use your own knowledge and experience to solve your problems rather than asking someone for help and advice?”  In my opinion, it is better to ask for help.  Sometimes it is good to decide what to do by yourself but it never hurts to ask for help.  Today’s blog is going to talk about what I think are the pros and cons to this question.

            The main reason why it is better to ask questions is because no matter how smart you are, there is not a single human being that knows everything that goes on in the world.  Knowledge is something that nobody can completely master.  The point in this is that everyone has a different range in their knowledge.  For example, a particular person might have good knowledge in Biology, and another person might have a good knowledge in Math.  If the person who knows a lot about biology and only about biology has to do some math, he will run into problems.  This is when he has to ask for help.  People can and should fill each other’s weaknesses and therefore, ask questions if run into difficulties.

            My second reason for thinking this is that if one doesn’t ask questions and tries to figure it out all by himself, he will struggle and gain a lot of stress.  A perfect example of this is that teachers always tell students to ask questions in school because if they do it by themselves, they might not fully understand the material or panic about the things they don’t completely understand.  Although some people who are lucky or have a particular ability in that subject can fully understand the material by themselves, it never hurts to ask a question. This is not saying that trying to do something on your own is always bad.  In Korea, it is considered better to do something by yourself than to do something with the help of others.  Also, people that have experienced what life is can tell people who didn’t what it is like and make a difference.  For example, if someone lost a family member for the first time, it will be very tough.  Someone with experience of a family member dying can help this person by telling him about what he felt and what he did to overcome that sadness.

            My last reason is that if everyone thought for themselves and lived in their “individual” world, there will be not one truth but a lot of truths, which will lead to problems.  For example, there are a surplus amount of facts that have been found due to asking people about their thoughts and knowledge and combining what they found out.  If everyone has different opinions about everything, it is certain there will be problems.

            These are the main reasons why I think that asking questions is better than figuring out everything by oneself. THANK YOU~~

            

Love Metaphor

Love Metaphor

                 A metaphor is like a symbol, it compares the similarities between two things.  It is different from a simile because it doesn't use the word like or as.

                My favorite metaphor for love is that love is a story book.  I particularly favor this metaphor because it doesn't just show the good things of love but also the bad things. 

           Love is a story book because story books are have their own particular story that is different from any other book.  Books all have a different theme and a lesson.  All books have main characters and their particular characteristic along with the other characters and their characteristics.  There is not a single book that is identical.  Even a parody of a book is not identical.  This is same as love.  Love is interesting because every love is different and have their own special story.  For example, for a particular couple, they might have a couple ring that means something special to them and some other couple might have a book that they made themselves with pictures of their treasured memories.  All these are different and mean different things for a particular couple.  There is no identical love, which makes them more special.

                Love is a story book because it has a setting.  Story books have to have a setting, where the story begins, where the story takes place, where it ends.  This is same as love.  Love always has a setting, the place where someone fell in love at first sight, the place where memories are made, and also the place where love ends. For example, if you saw a girl in a movie theater and fell in love at first sight, that movie theater is the setting of where your love for that girl began.

                Love is a story book because it stays in our memories.  For example, everyone remembers the story book of Snow White.  It just stays in our memories similar to love.  Everyone remembers their love stories, even though not clearly, it is somewhere in their memories.  A good example of this might be my cousin who got married last year.  He married this girl he dated for a long time and they both loved each other, but he told me that his wife still remembers her first love.  She remembered her first love’s name and almost every detail about it.  She even remembered the fights she had with her first love and what the results were.   It might be a good memory or a bad memory but it is still a memory.

                Love is a story book because it has its ups and downs.  A good story book always has a villain or whatever becomes a threat to the story.  Due to this villain, the bright and happy story book might change into a sad one.  On the other hand, the story might get better and end in a happy ending.  Love is the same, it has its ups and downs.  For example, the “ups” part might be when a couple has a party celebrating a special occasion and have the greatest time of their lives.  The “downs” part might be when a couple gets into a fight and don’t talk to each other for a long time. 

                Love is something that can’t be explained all in one blog.  These are some of the things that make me think love is a special thing.  There are of course much more reasons why love is special, but I listed my main reasons for thinking that.  

SELF DESCRIPTION

ABOUT MYSELF!

This is my second post and its about myself.  My name is Brian Lee and I am 16 years old.  I was born in Seoul, Korea but moved to an island called Saipan.  Saipan is a beautiful little island that is famous for its beaches.  I came to Saipan to learn english and is planning on staying here until i graduate high school which is in 2015.

First, I want to write about my school life.  I am a junior at Saipan International School.  I am really worried about this year because I know it's going to be difficult with two AP courses while also studying for the SAT test.  I had one AP course last year and I found out how difficult and confusing it is.  I know that I have to put in a lot more time than it seems.  I still enjoy my school life because it isn't like what it is in Korea where they spend ALL their time studying.  When I think that my school work is too stressful for me, I just think of what it will be like in Korea.

Secondly, my hobby is to watch movies.  I also enjoy watching movies, especially horror movies.  Since I lived on the island of Saipan for a long time, I've tried out all the fun activities on Saipan.  Since there aren't anything new and fun to do anymore, I watched movies.  After watching a lot of movies and learning what the lesson of the movie is, I started to enjoy watching movies and became my hobby.  The reason I really enjoy watching movies is that all the movies have their own character and color.  I chose horror movies as my favorite movies because I enjoy the thrill that they give.


I don't really like sports except for soccer.  I enjoy playing soccer and watching soccer.  When it is time for the World Cup, I get really excited and watch every match.  I also got to like diving and snorkeling because Saipan has many beautiful corals and fishes.  I didn't really like the water before but living in Saipan made me to like it.  It showed me a whole new underwater world.  When compared to Korean oceans, Saipan wins by a long shot.



Since I wrote about my hobby, now I'm going to write about what I hate, my fears.

What I really hate most in the world is frogs.  It already disgusts me by just talking about it.  I didn't always hate frogs.  When I was seven years old, I accidentally stepped on a frog and it died.  It didn't just die, it POPPED.  After seeing the frog that I stepped on pop and struggle and die, I started to hate frogs.  That trauma is still with me today, nine years after that happened.  I also hate everything that is related to the frog. For example, the color that I hate most is green and I hate movie characters and dolls that are frogs (even though they are supposed to be cute).

Another thing I really don't like is shopping.  I don't mind just going to the market and getting things that we need (although even that is kind of boring).  What I hate is when we go around the whole department store looking at things that all look the same.  Going to see a dress here, then going there to see another dress, then coming back to compare, and so on.

Nobody can describe anyone including oneself perfectly.  These are some of my main characteristics. So hope you get to understand my hobbies and my fears.

NEW YEARS RESOLUTION

                                                

                        New Years Resolution

   

   A resolution is a firm decision to do something, a goal that a person wants to achieve. Setting a resolution to oneself is a great way to accomplish things over a particular time period.  This year I gave myself three goals for myself to accomplish.

   My first goal of 2013 is to pass my driver's license exam.  This year I am turning sixteen and is allowed to test for a license.  In the driver's license test, there is a written test, a vision test, and a the actual driving test.  Written test asks about the rules of the road and what to do in certain situations.  The visual test checks your eyesight to see if your eyesight is qualified for driving on public roads.  Finally, the driving test is the part where you actually drive a car with a person that scores you on how you are driving.  I've always wanted to have my own private car and drive around places that I needed to go without the help of my parents.  Since I really want a driver's license, I promised myself to study hard for the exam and pass in one shot.

     My second goal is to learn yoga.  Yoga is basically a term for the physical, mental, and spiritual practices that is done to achieve a state of peace.  Yoga is seen to many people as just stretching but is actually a very difficult activity that involves many things.  It can actually alleviate health problems, especially problems that involve the spine.  Apart from that, it reduces stress, which is the main reason that I want to learn it.  Since I am in the eleventh grade, I will get a lot of stress.  If that stress never gets relieved and just keeps getting bigger, it can have a big effect on my physical body and my school grades.  Yoga is so effective at reducing stress that it is actually used as a therapy.  This goal is perfect for this year because we get to take a yoga class in school this year.  Our whole class follows the teacher doing yoga and tries to forget about the stress we get from school and relax.  I figured that if I learned yoga, it would be useful in my future days, for example, my college days.  College is a very stressful time of the life due to the nonstop work given by professors.  It is so stressful that a lot of students in college commit suicide.  If I teach myself yoga this year, I could relieve my stress in college or wherever I want to.

     My last goal is to pass my Advanced Placement classes.  This year is my junior year in high school and is taking two AP courses.  AP courses are college leveled classes for high school students.  This year I am taking two AP courses, Statistics and English. In order to achieve this goal, I learned from last year that a lot of study time is required.  Due to this reason I'm going to make a time schedule on when to study AP.  Since I took one AP course last year as a sophomore, I know how hard AP courses are and got more motivation.  I am aiming for at least a 4 on the scale of 5 for my May exams.

     These goals are not easy to achieve and will have problems achieving them, but since I made the promise to myself to successfully achieve them, I will try my best.  If one has no goal and nothing to work towards, there is no meaning of life.