2011 Japan Earthquake

On March 11, 2011, Japan experienced massive earthquake and tsunami. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake killed thousands of people. The death toll is still growing everyday and currently it reached 2,414. Nonetheless, on March 12, the nuclear plant in Fukushima exploded and injured 15 workers. Moreover, on March 13, there was a volcanic eruption in Kyushu island.

When I heard about Japan's earthquake, I was on my way to school. I cannot explain how shocked I was. The first person I thought was my Japanese friend, Kazumi. Kazumi and I used to be best friends since 3rd grade but she moved back to Japan in 7th grade. Therefore, she's my biggest worry right now and there's no way to contact her. I wish I can call her, but since, nowadays, teenagers have Facebook, Kazumi and I forgot exchange our phone numbers. I believe that many people have their loved ones live in Japan and are waiting for their call. The only prayer I have is that those loved ones are safe.

Korean Cuisine

Today, I will share some Korean food that you might want to try in the future. In New York or California, Korean food is very well known. Many Americans began to try Korean Cuisine and popularized its taste. However, in many other places, not too many people tried the food. Therefore, through my blog post, my goal is to introduce the Korean cuisine to many people who are not aware of it and encourage them to try it someday. 

The very first food is Kimchi. This is the most widely known food that you would be also aware of. Kimchi is included as one of the side dishes for every meal. It's made with some fermented vegetables,(mainly cabbage) and special sauce. At this point, you might be astonished and asking, "fermented vegetables?" However, Kimchi is very effective for diet and strengthening immune system in preventing cancer. If you're interested, read more about Kimchi's effects in here →http://www.bukisa.com/articles/357411_kimchi-could-prevent-cancer

Another food that I would like to introduce is Bulgogi. It is known as Korean BBQ and it's most American's favorite Korean food. Bulgogi is served in many Korean restaurants as itself in grill or in hamburgers. It is made from thinly sliced sirloin or another prime cut of beef and it is usually marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, black pepper, garlic, onions, ginger, wine and sugar.   

Hair Style Trend in Korea (Female)

       Today, I felt like changing my hair style, so I looked up some hair styles in Korea. After awhile, I found it very difficult to choose, so I decided to post all of them up on my blog. In Korea, hair styles trend begins after popular entertainers. Therefore, as singers and actors change their hair styles, their fans are very likely to follow the trend.
       If you are planning to give some changes to your hair, don't hesitate and join the trend in Korea!

Shadow Perm

Short shaggy cut

Short cut with Volume perm 

Short cut with Mulgyul (river flow) perm

 Dang-go hair ( just simply tying hair high in a bun)

1st. Long hair with Mul-gyul perm 

2nd. Short cut with regular perm (w/ thick roll)

Lovely perm

Straight perm with Cherry-Red Dye



..........So... what do you think about hair styles in Korea? I personally really like Lovely perm. After I grow my hair longer, I might want to try it. What hair style is YOUR favorite..?   

What do Kids in Korea do during their free time?

In Korea, it's very easy to find street food carts, selling various popular foods, such as ddukbokkee (rice cakes and eggs with spicy sauce). Around the street carts, students gather around and pick whatever they wish to eat and save a lot of their money at the same time.       

In Korea, Karaoke has been very popular and became part of their culture. Especially, students love to go with their group of friends and spend 1 to 2 hours of singing. In past, Karaoke was a place just for singing, however, nowadays, it has been advanced and  there are more activities to do, such as taking sticker photos, which I will explain next.     

 

These are sticker photos that I took in Korea.  They are usually $7, and there are various machines with different qualities. After taking pictures, you can decorate and add many quatities as much as you want.   

Another thing that students in Korea love to do is going shopping. The picture on the left is Seoul downtown, Myungdong. It's the most crowded place in Seoul and where most students love to go to.

Teen Life in Korea

After pondering about what to talk about on my blog, I thought that it'd be interesting to share teen life in Korea. Last year, I visited Korea and stayed at my aunt's house. I was fully of excited about the thought that I could hang out with my cousins. However, we couldn't spend much time together, because they were always busy studying and preparing themselves for college. 

An Example of Korean Student's schedule:


6:30    

get up

exercise, including dancing, aerobics, and jogging

eat breakfast

typically rice, gimchi, soup, yogurt, apples

wash face and hands or take a shower

clean dorm room

take roll call

7:50    

school officially begins

free study at carrel in student study room, known as a yaja

9:20    

first of four classes, each between one hour to 90 minutes

1:10

lunch

typically rice, gimchi, soup, bibimbab, tomatoes

sometimes spaghetti with a topping of peas and/or fish

1:45

more classes

4:00

students clean the school with their team

4:20

one more class

6:00

dinner

7:00

roll call and free study at the yaja

often goes until 11:00 with a 30-minute break in the middle,

can go until 1:30 or later during examination periods.

As it is shown, Students in Korea spend most of their time studying. 

However, they aren't much different than American students. Korean students love to hang out, go shopping, and play video games as any other teenagers do. In the next blog post, I will share some activities Korean students like to do in their free time.       

Korean Traditional Dress: Hanbok

There are many beautiful Korean traditional dresses.

Every new year or Korean thanks giving, families dress up in their Hanbok. Sometimes it is wore for weddings also. The following pictures are Hanbok just for females. 

                                                                Regular Hanbok:

 

Hanbok for Royal family in old days:

 

Modern Hanbok:

    

Water

If I ask you a question, "what is water?", how would you answer?
If that same question was asked towards me, I'd say it can do many things, and it's required for every living things to survive. In place where we are living in, water is very easily found. However, in some countries, such as Africa, finds it very difficult to get a sip of water.
Currently Africa is facing a water crisis affecting 300 million people and this has been continuing for years.   The problem is, it isn't just about Africa. According to the recent WHO/UNICEF report, more than 2.6 billion people in the world do not have basic sanitation and more than one billion people still use unsafe drinking water.
Now... it's time to ACT
If you are interested, click http://thewaterproject.org/how-a-water-project-works.php