Welcome to Rachel's page. :-*

2005-10-05T14:32:00.000-07:00

2005-09-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

Strasbourg

2005-06-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

freinds from Songtan

2005-06-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

with freinds in Korea

2005-06-29T23:58:00.000-07:00

My friend Young-nam

2005-06-15T15:08:00.000-07:00

GO HYUNDAI :-P

2005-06-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

At Frankfurt Worldcup Stadium.

My best friend Mikako

2005-05-26T05:48:00.000-07:00

I have a real close freind who is from Okinawa, Japan. I met her at Rhein Main AirBase. Her husband used to work here. She lived in our housing area, but I met her at work. When I saw her name on the schedule, I thought she was a girl I had met Darmstadt, a town a little ways away. But it was not the same girl. Mikako had a nice Japanese car, I saw her and her car the first time I thought she was a fancy girl. :-p We were just co-workers for a while until she called me for something. Some of our co-workers, one Korean and one Thai had some problems. The Korean lady couldn't speak English very well. Mikako didn't want the Korean lady to misunderstand because of the woman's poor understanding English. She explained what happend and I realized that she's very nice woman. After that we began to get closer, especailly because there were only a few Asians at work. Mikako has left Germany. She is in Turkey with her husband, but of course wer are still keeping in touch. She likes to cook, shop and exercise. She's a very nice house wife when I see way she treat her husband. :-) She's like my sister and supporter. Oh! I remember my last birthday. It was my fist surprise party. She prepared all the food for me and the decorations and everything. I wanna thank her again very much!!! Luckily she has a chance to visit here for a week next month. I can't wait to see her again. She's my best friend. :-)

2005-05-20T05:07:00.000-07:00

Washing windows

BYE. CESL

2005-05-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

Bye~ CESL

2005-05-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

Writing teacher Mr.Olive and us!!! EAP1

2005-05-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

Me, Joyce, Anny

Trip to St.Louis

2005-04-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

At St.Louis Stadium.

Fist time! I went to see the Major league Baseball game at St. louis.
It was so exciting. :-) but it was little bit cold to enjoy the game.
I had a great time with my husband and in-laws.
But I had to miss the classes for today.
I have to catch up now. :-p

My Best School Memory

2005-04-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

My University. Korean National Sports University

I have a lot of good memories when I was in school. But the best memory is the fact I could meet my coach whose name is Kim ki-hoon. He was on the national team as a javelin thrower and also the throwing team coach for over 10 years. But somehow he came to my high school as our new coach. I was so glad to see him and excited so much. I was on the track and field team, javelin thrower since I was 14years old. I knew him because he was my hero. After I trained with him for 1year I was always best in the competition. Finally I was able to enter a unniversity which is named the Korean National Sports University. I got approval from the university and while I was waiting to enter the school, I had another chance to compete in Thailand. I received a medal from the competition again. Everything that I've done is becasue of him. I had all the good opportunities through him. I want to thank him again and I think I would never have done these things without him. So I can say the fact that I met my highschool coach is my best school memory.

Reading Reation Journal #3

2005-04-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

Cheap air fare in Europe

Summary
This article gives us information about cheap fares in Europe. Once we get into any city in Europe, it's really cheap to fly city to city. You could have breakfast in city where you arrive and have lunch, dinner at other countries's famous cities. 2 representative airlines are Ireland's Ryan Air and Britain's easy Zet. And also other new airlines are getting start to have these kind system through Europe. The average fare on Ryanair is 42 euro which is only 55 in us dollar. If you book far advance you would find ticker for only $1. The strategy of these airline are fill all the seat by low fares, sale all items onboard (not free) and use small airport which is much cheaper than big, major airport. It's not very comfortable like first class, but most of time flying in Europe is quick. Also these airline have same quality of safety as other major airlines throughout the EU.

Reaction
This is amazing that we can travel through all Europe with only small amount of money. I think Europe is good place to have romantic vacation. Actually I flew with Ryanair couple times. It was not bad at all. Only problem was we had to drive to small airport about 1hour. But parking fee was not expensive either. For 5days about 20euro. So It was good that we travel a lot with Ryanair. I hope Korea and US have this kind of airline also. That will give me a chance to travel all over the world since I love to travel with Ryanair.

My second newstalk presentation

2005-04-27T19:47:00.000-07:00

Can she become famous again?

The title of my article is Can she become famous again? Martha Stewart's nickname was "queen of kitchen". She was really famous celebrity homemaker. But, she went to jail for 5 month in West virginia,because she was not honest. She convicted last year of lying to the goverment about a stock sale. But now she will get a new job with a radio program on Sirius.

I think it's hard to trust someone if that person was in prison.
What do you think about that?
Do you think that peopl still like her?? why or why not?

2005-04-27T19:11:00.000-07:00

I had a good time at Giant city park. :-)

2005-04-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

Giant city pak

Nonverbal lanuguage

2005-04-27T18:50:00.000-07:00

The world is formed of vivid gestures- traffic police, street vendors, expressway drivers, teachers, children on playgrounds, athletes with their exuberant hugging, clenched fists and "high fives". People all over the world use their hands, heads, and bodies to communicate expressively. Without gestures, our world would be static and colorless. According to our text book 60 percent of all our communication is nonverbal. If this is the case, it is impossible to communicate with one another without gestures. Gestures and body language communicate as effectively as words- maybe even more effectively. We use gestures daily, almost instinctively, from beckoning to a waiter, or punctuating a business presentation with visual signals to airport ground attendants guiding an airline pilot into the jet way. Gestures are a necessity of our social lives, but they can also be dangerous-as some gestures have different meanings between different cultures.

Korea and the U.S. have some different gestures. For example, holding hands with close friends is not a big deal in Korea. It doesn’t matter that we are of the same sex or not, it’s natural to hold hands and walk on the street with a close friend. It actually shows how close they are to one another. But, in the U.S. this can mean they are gay or lesbian. So people may look at you strangely. Even close friends don’t hold hands with each other in the U.S. Another difference in gestures are manners at the table. In Korea, it is uncommon to talk a lot and to talk loud while we are eating. And, it is very rude to blow our nose at the table. People don’t usually do this while we are eating. But, I know many Americans talk a lot and talk loudly when they have dinner or any kind of meal. It’s seen as being friendly and shows their interest in others. Another difference in gestures is the way we call to each other with our hands. When Koreans call dogs, we use our finger with the palm of our hand showing. This is a sign for someone to “come on” in the U.S. But, in Korea this gesture is only for dogs or sometimes for little boys and girls. It is rude to call some one with this gesture in Korea.

On the other hand, there are many similar gestures in both countries. Politicians usually shake hands when they first meet. It shows respects and creates a first impression. We can see this when we are watching TV. Many politicians, including presidents, perform handshakes for the media at summits or other meetings with people from other countries. It’s the same with a thumbs up or clapping to represent good, nice or excellent. Many people do these actions in Korea when someone performs well or when they suggest good idea. For example, if someone scores a hole in one, people clap and show their thumbs up both in the U.S. and in Korea. On other example is when people are lying they usually avoid eye contact. In both countries, we often find out whether or not people are lying by their actions.

We use body language everyday to communicate with others. I didn’t even realize that I was using body language most of time. Many gestures we use are universal. As I mentioned before, many of the gestures are alike, while others have totally different meanings. But, I think we have a lot of common gestures that we can communicate with body language. Imagine if you were in Africa and you don’t know how to speak their language, but you can communicate with them by body language and gestures to show them you are hungry or happy and sad. But, it is really amazing that even a blind child can create an expression with their face to show their feelings, like happiness, sadness and anger. According to our text book our body language skills are innate. But, I also believe that our body language skills are built within our environment.

by Rachel

Reading Reation Journal #4

2005-04-27T18:47:00.000-07:00

Reaction

This article talks about forecasting investments in Asian countries, especially Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. These countries offer strong growth potential since the U.S. dollar has weakened the past two years. This might tempt many investors to purchase mutual funds or exchange-traded funds in Asian countries, although they might not get high returns. However, according to many portfolio managers Asian markets are an appealing place to invest for reasons beyond just currency strength. Asian economies have good basic fundamentals with strong balance of payments and current account surpluses. But, this investment strategy would not work for some countries such as Korea or Japan. The weak dollar especially hurts South Korea, 40% of whose economy is connected to exports, since it reduces the competitive edge of such huge exporters such as Hyundai Motor and Samsung Electronics. A major component of the currency concern in Asia involves China. It’s economy has been stable and growing since it became connected to the dollar back in 1994. The Chinese yuan is about 40% undervalued relative to the U.S. dollar. Also, smaller countries in Southeast Asia have outstanding growth prospects, such as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. They have stable politic situations, strong domestic economies and growing domestic demand. If you are investing in Asia for the long-term, you are investing in the entire set, the companies, their fundamentals and local currencies. However, investors still should be careful of investing in a single-country or single-region, because of the associated risks.

Response

I had a hard time understanding this article. It was too hard for me. When I found this article, I saw the name of the article and summary first. The outline was interesting. I am interested in the Asian economies but, I don‘t have any basic knowledge about them. Now, I know a little bit more from reading this article, but they are still difficult to understand. It took me too long to figure out. Actually, I’m still not sure that I understood everything correctly. It’s interesting that Asia has good prospects for investing, especially those countries who aren’t connected with U.S. dollar. But, it’s kind of bad that Korea doesn’t have a good economy now because of the weak dollar. I need to study more about Asian economies and how they are related to world investments, to fully understand this article.

by Rachel

Interview and response for race relations

2005-04-27T18:45:00.000-07:00

Interviewee's position: African-American Student

I interviewed an African-American man at the recreation center. He thinks that race relations at SIU are just a smaller example of the race problems in Southern Illinois. He thinks people in this area need to be more understanding of people from different races. But, unfortunately he doesn't have any close friends who are of a different race. However, he thinks that all races are the same and that no race is more special than another. So, he doesn't mind getting married to someone of a different race, - he's looking for someone who has the right attitude and personality, not necessarily of the same race. When he sees discrimination which is in favor of his race, it doesn't bother very much. He said his race has been discriminated against for too many years and now they are trying to catch up. But, when he sees discrimination which is against his race, it makes him angry. Lastly, I asked him about a solution for these problems. He thinks we won't find a solution to the problems unless we all want to change. People have to want to change.

I totally agree with what he said. Discrimination is not a small thing, not something one person or only a few can fix. We all need to try to change this problem. But, I also think it's natural to hang around with people of the same race, because we have the same cultures and often the same mother language, so we understand each other. So, I think we just need to not prejudge people based on their race.

by Rachel

Race Relations on campus

2005-04-22T12:25:00.000-07:00

My article is about discriminatory harassment at Emory University in Atlanta. The university responed to an isolated incident by mandating diversity training within the anthropology department and distributing a discriminatory harassment policy to the entire campus. A professor of anthropology has recevied sanctions for speaking the phrase "six niggers in a woodpile" in her class. She declined to comment for this article.

I didn't know that racial discrimination was a current issue until I started this project. To me it is not a big deal. I've never had this kind of experience even though I'm a Korean living within the U.S. But, I found a lot of current articles about racial discrimination, especailly involving African-Americans. I feel sorry for them. We are all people of the earth. I have no idea why some races think they are better than other races.

by Rachel

Summary of Giftedness

2005-04-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

There are many ways in which a person can be gifted. According to a United States Office of Education report, B. Seal (1997), defined six types of giftedness. Psychomotor ability is outstanding agility of the body. Visual and performing arts is an unusual talent for art, music, drama or writing. Leadership ability and creative or productive thinking are valued in most societies and these skills tend to be intellectually or academically above average. Specific academic aptitude is a special ability in a particular subject, such as math, history or science. Lastly, intellectually gifted is based on IQ test scores. Furthermore author mentions about longitudinal study based on IQ test.

In order to define intellectual gifted, L. M. Terman who was professor at Stanford University began to study intellectually gifted, one of the six types of giftedness, in the early 1920s. His study has distinct disadvantages because it shows only one part of intelligence. However, he revised Binet’s IQ test in 1916 and supervised testing of more than 250,000 children in the early 1920s. He focused on children who had IQ score above 135. Terman died in 1956, but psychologists from Stanford have continued his studies. They’ve researched and polled children with high IQs for more than 60 years. The results show that stereotypes of bright kids are not always true. On average they are taller, faster, better coordinated and have fewer emotional problems than kids with lower scores. The study also reports that although many of the high-IQ kids grow up to be rich, famous happy, not all follow this path.

Reference

Seal, B. (1997). Giftedness. In Academic Encounter: Human Behavior. (107-8). New York, Cambridge. University Press.

Response

When someone said about intelligence, I automatically thought about IQ test. I remember that I took IQ test when I was in high school and accidentally I saw my score. After that happened, I lost interest in study. Because the score was just average which was only 100. I thought I was not smart to enough to become success person. So I was into sports, which I thought it’s different than intelligence. Finally I became best Javelin thrower in Korea. Now I know that I was one of gifted child. I agree that most of kids who have higher score became success person. But it’s only one part of giftedness hence I hope teachers don’t judge students only based on IQ test.

Summary of Nature VS Nurture

2005-04-21T14:46:00.000-07:00

B, Seal (1999) mentioned influences from nature and nurture on intelligence. This is the oldest and most lasting study in all of psychology. There are some evidences that show innate affects to intellectual, cognitive functioning as well as environmental affects. Even though this is a longitude study, it’s still hard to find a straight answer to which one affects our intelligence more and why it does so.

When we think about the root of intelligence, there are two major problems. First, it’s difficult to find a definition of intelligence within everyone’s satisfaction and it’s also hard to define equity of intelligence. We usually measure our intelligence with IQ tests, which provide operational measures of intelligence; but there are disputes about the quality and fairness of intelligence tests. The second problem is the limitations of a research plan. In theory, a couple of approaches come to mind. We could raise identical twins in different environments or raise individuals with totally different genetics in exactly the same environment. Either situation would be very helpful for the study. But, it’s not possible with human subjects. We can’t guarantee that two persons were raised in an identical environment and there are not many identical twins to study. Furthermore, we can’t just take children away from their homes for the sake of experimentation.

I totally agree with what the author says. We cannot use humans for the study. It will break our ethics. As the author says, we could use identical twins to find out about the intelligence influence from nature or nurture. But, what kind of parents will not mind giving away one of their kids to another family. Even though we could raise different babies from clearly different genetic backgrounds in the same environment, it°Øs impossible to make an identical environment unless we treat those babies like animals or objects. My opinion is that we will never prove which influence, nature or nurture, affects intelligence the most.

Reference

Seal, B. (1997). Nature versus nurture. In Academic Encounter: Human Behavior. (123-4). New York, Cambridge University Press.

First Day!!!

2005-04-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

let's study hard. hahahah :-P