A little rant?


I am so so soo happy that this semester is finally over. Don't ask me how my finals went. I even missed my French finals because I thought that there was no point going if I was going to get everything wrong. So yeap, that's a big fat 'F' for me.

This semester was hell for me. No, this whole year was hell. I just feel really really empty. I don't feel like I'm learning anything in college, it just feels like I'm wasting time. All people want is just to become Samsung and LG employees and they're all making me to believe that that's where you need to be after graduation. We learnt how to knock on the door at job interviews, how to sit in front of the interviewer, what to wear, how to bow, what to say and stuff. That was what my elective was all about this semester! And we are talking about what people call the best foreign studies (languages and area studies) institute in Korea.

Whenever I tell someone that I actually really enjoy what I study and that I want to continue my studies in graduate school, they just shake their heads and say "or maybe you're just running away".  I don't understand why so many people here think that going to a graduate school is like 'running away'. Even if you think of it as a plan E (Plan F is committing suicide and Plan G is being an unemployed), that's not what you say to someone who actually thinks of it as a plan A!

Deeeep sigh.

But you know what, this world isn't customized for me.

I think I spent more time hating school, hating people and hating myself during the exam period than I did on my studies.

I'm going to make sure that this post is going to be my last rant on this subject.

Speaking and thinking so negatively all the time is such a stupid thing to do.. Next year, I'll just find better electives, try different internships and see what I enjoy more and I'll stop hating everything!


And I'll also fix my French grades..


Why Korea is no longer a democratic country

Today,

Stuco photo shoot



So I dedicated this year (my sophomore year) to the student council, serving as the 10th vice-president of the department. I'll be honest and say that it wasn't the best experience (haha..). There was just so much work and I was so stressed - not because of the workload but because the job was really about being a good 'leader'. It was so difficult to find the right balance between being a friendly one (which would lead members to slack off) and being a strict one (which would make them hate me to death). Well, I know I can't complain because I was the one who put myself into this in the first place and also, my mate, the president, had even more work and more responsibilities! I can't imagine what it must have been like for him. 

It seems like just yesterday when we were campaigning for votes. We had no idea what we put ourselves into back then haha. We were just excited to have our own group and turn our little ideas into actual projects! We organized the freshmen camp, freshmen orientation, graduation ceremony, homecoming, semester parties, the festival, flea market, halloween party, field trip, snack stands and the list goes on... Ahh, we went through so much together! 

Our term was supposed to end last month but things happened (too long to explain) and now it's ending on the 31st! Seriously can't believe that it's going to end! 

Both of us really wanted a proper group photo of the entire student council and so we decided to take it at a studio. Someone from the representatives' council recommended us this studio called fotojobs near school and before even asking about the price or the quality or whatever, we canceled our next meeting and got all the members to come to the studio. Oh and the dress code! We just decided to go for white top and black bottoms but actually, I think jeans for bottoms would have been much better..


It was my first time taking a picture at a studio! I never expected it to be so...pretty and nice! There were all these outfits that you could borrow from the place, coffee and biscuits, a huge mirror, really nice interior and everything. All I expected was just an empty room with many lightings! 









Before the shoot. Waiting for others to arrive. 




Everyone getting ready.





Harry playing with the studio owner's puppy.










It's hugeeee!







 The boys looking awkward.










 And the final product! Eeeee, my awkward smile LOL.








And after the shoot!




We actually took 200+ pictures but we were only allowed to choose one to print. It took literally an hour for all of us to decide on that oneeeeee picture. And we had to pay extra money to get the rest (as jpeg files). 


So yeap, that was our photo shoot experience. Off to study for finals now, bye!







Christmas Plans

I said I'll be back with holiday plans but...I'm not done with them yet! BUT! I am done with my Christmas plans and I'm here to share them on my blog.


So we finally put up our Christmas tree! I love how we decorated it this year with those snowflakes and stuff!






That's how it looks like with lights turned off.





And this is how it looks like with lights turned on!




So Erris and I have come up with some plans. After my finals (ending on the 17th), we are going to go to the mall and buy some Christmassy jumpers. That's like the first thing on our list. Then on the day itself, we are going to do all of the below in our new christmas jumpers. :3


1. Bake Christmas cookies
Erris has the recipe, I'm horrible at baking so I'm guessing she'll be doing most of the stuff..!
2. Play Christmas carols 
3. Watch a Christmas movie 
We still haven't decided on which to watch! But we did agree on one thing - it will not be Home Alone!
4. Open Christmas presents
I still haven't bought presents for my family, oopsies.


I made my Christmas plans sound like something big at the very beginning of this post but yeah actually that's all. Haha. I just realized how sad I made myself look hahaha. I should stop.

Okay this is getting slightly awkward.

I'm just gonna end this post with a fun fact.



FUN FACT:
In Korea, Christmas is for couples! If you spend it with family then you'll be getting lots of sympathy from your friends.



Christmas Plans


Awesome iPhone 6 cases

I finally bought the new iPhone a few weeks ago and I'm loving it so far! I do miss the smaller sized iPhones though... I was actually going to get the iPhone 6 plus, I watched many videos reviewing it and the size looked okay but when I saw it at the shop... it just looked like a smaller iPad mini.. it didn't look like a phone at all. LOL.

Now it's time to get a nice case for my phone! They actually gave me a free case but I don't really like it even though it's a hot pink case. I am so into patterns these days! I really want to get a nice pattern case for my iPhone.

I went on this website to buy some of the cases and there are so many pretty ones that I like!

These are some of my favourites:















Really like this one! Perfect for next three months!

And I thought I got over floral patterns...


Love this design so much!









I think I'm going to get this one :)







It's so hard to pick just one out of all these lovely designs. After comparing prices and looking at all these photos over and over again I decided to either go for the elephant pattern design or the very last one.. Maybe I should make my sister buy one of them and I'll buy the other. We can trade later when we get bored with our cases :3 That's actually a good idea...!





Update




I haven't blogged for so long! I'm finally done with the blog's layout (took me forever..). Not sure if I like it but I think I'm going to stick to this for now!

So a little update...

It's almost the end of second year for me and I've been busy with studies (mostly French), my Korean blog, internship applications and other boring stuff.

I seriously need a break! This semester has been really tough because of all the assignments and student council events. Basically, I've been doing quite poorly in all of my courses except just one and even for that one course, I'm not sure if I'll do well for the finals so can't expect a good score. So yeah, I've been lacking motivation and I was really down this semester. I'm saying 'was' because I'm trying to freshen up a bit and go back to being hardworking and optimistic!

I've been occupied in organizing the halloween party and the booth for months and they're finally over! Both of them were very successful and I'm really glad that a lot of people came and enjoyed what we prepared. My shoulders feel so much lighter! So sad that I didn't take any photos!

But now all of that is over, and my term was supposed to end this week but there has been a slight change and now it's ending on the 31st of December which means that I will still have to be present at the weekly meetings and help organize the freshmen camp which also means no break *smiles*

So yeah, I spent quite a lot of time on my internship applications but I don't think I will actually apply to any firm or organization for winter this year. I guess I'll just upgrade my essays and my CV and apply next year. Not too down about that.

I now have zero plans for this winter (except the student council bit)! I really want to party with my friends for Christmas but literally all of my friends have boyfriends to spend Christmas with. Forever alone.

I'll be back with good plans!

And I shall post here more frequently from now on. Especially since the layout is finally done with!


xx.

Machiavelli

"그러나 '인간이 어떻게 사는가'는 '인간이 어떻게 살아야 하는가'와는 너무나 다르기 때문에, 일반적으로 행해지는 바를 따르지 않고 마땅히 해야 하는 바를 고집하는 통치자는 권력을 유지하기보다는 잃기 십상이다."


For good lyrics





I’ve heard it said
That people come into our lives
For a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led to those
Who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
But I don’t know if I believe that’s true
But I know I’m who I am today
Because I knew you
Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a Sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?
But
Because I knew you
I have been changed for good


It well may be
That we may never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learn from you
You’ll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have rewritten mine
By being my friend
Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind of the sea
Like a seed dropped by a sky bird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?
But
Because I knew you

Because I knew you

I have been changed for good

And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I’ve done you’ve blamed me for

But then, I guess
We know there’s blame to share

And none of it seems to matter anymore

Like a comet pulled from orbit Like a ship blown from its mooring
As it passes a Sun By a wind of the sea
Like a stream that meets a boulder Like a seed dropped by a bird
Halfway through the wood In the wood

Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?
I do believe I have been changed for the better

And
Because I knew you

Because I knew you

Because I knew you
I have been changed
For good


Mid-terms






Midterms are almost over.


Tuesday

Ecology

Ahh honestly don't know if I did well or bad. But I don't think I failed so.. just going to be satisfied with it.

Political Research Methods

It was too easy that I think I failed the test. Hahaha.




Shall stop procrastinating from now on.
 I will try my best to ace the final exams... Hope they make up for my so-so midterm results.












A few weeks ago I started working at this cyber cafe super near my house. I enjoy work, it's simple and it's not that tiring compared to all the previous part time jobs I had. All my work mates are complaining about how stressful the job is and they're all planni

ㅈㅇㅈㅇ





Mid terms are here.


Mishy sent me old piccies









vp


The 10th MSIS Student Council. 

When my office term started, I was so excited to make positive changes to both the student council and our division. But I was also very unsure of what exactly I was supposed to do. 

I went to school at least two days a week during the winter holiday. I was given a lot of work to do, I felt exhausted and started mumbling things like 'this is such a waste of time'. Even when I was done with all my work, I felt like I STILL had some work left. 

There is nothing that I get in return for being the VP of the student council. It's not like the experience makes my CV good or anything. I don't get money from doing all this work. I only did it because I wanted to do something good for my school and my division. 

For the past few months, I have been slightly regretting that I jumped into this. But very recently, I realised that working in the student council has made me become a better person. I've become a better leader, I have become much more understanding, I appreciate others more than I did before and I have become a more responsible person.

I feel like I'm going to miss my VP days a lot when it's all over. 



학생회를 하면서 정말 많은걸 배운다. 특히 조직생활에 어떻게 잘 적응하고 그 생활을 어떻게 잘할수있는지를 많이 배우고 있다. 이게 여자인 나에게 얼마나 좋은 기회인지 이제서야 깨달았다. 











hey now hey now



Is it real love?


Is it real love?
Is it real love?
oh 이젠 나 겁이나
상처 받을까 봐
Baby is it real love?
Is it real love?
너도 똑같잖아
마음을 열 수가 없어 난

나의 마지막이 되어줘
조금만 더 천천히 걸어줘
다시 사랑을 믿을 수 있게
서롤 위해 노력하기로 해줘
Hello stranger
Is it real love?
약속해줘
I'm the only one for you

*
우린 불안해하고 있어
사랑을 의심만 하고 있어
언제나 남자는 이런 식
언제나 여자는 저런 식
진심을 다해서 한 말이
너에겐 나쁜 남자의 멘트로 들리겠지
또 규칙을 정해 우린 이러지 말자고
알아갈 시간도 주지 않은 채 벽을 쌓고
성급해 우리가 하고 있는 질문들
또 벌써 나를 평가한 니 친구들
더 천천히 걸어가면 안 될까?
우리의 관계 말고 너의 관심사를 말해봐
난 사랑이란 것보단 니가 간절해
그리고 니가 내 사랑이기를 매일 기도해
사랑보단 난 니가 간절해
그리고 니가 내 사랑이기를 매일 기도해

{*}
Is it real love?
Is it real love?
oh 이젠 나 겁이나
상처 받을까 봐
Baby is it real love?
Is it real love?
너도 똑같잖아
마음을 열 수가 없어 난

나의 마지막이 되어줘
조금만 더 천천히 걸어줘
다시 사랑을 믿을 수 있게
서롤 위해 노력하기로 해줘
Hello stranger
Is it real love?
약속해줘
I'm the only one for you

**
그래 난 불안해하고 있어
사랑을 의심만 하고 있어
널 좋아할수록 겁이나
갑자기 변해버릴까 봐
마음을 전부 열지 않았어
영원한 건 없어 알잖아
니가 내 운명이라 해도
믿음이 내겐 필요해

I never say goodbye
I never say goodbye
I never say goodbye
니가 말하기 전엔

You never say goodbye
You never say goodbye
You never say goodbye
이젠

{*}
Is it real love?
Is it real love?
oh 이젠 나 겁이나
상처 받을까 봐
Baby is it real love?
Is it real love?
너도 똑같잖아
마음을 열 수가 없어 난

나의 마지막이 되어줘
조금만 더 천천히 걸어줘
다시 사랑을 믿을 수 있게
서롤 위해 노력하기로 해줘
Hello stranger
Is it real love?
약속해줘
I'm the only one for you

Melancholy / Depression


Young?






It was the craziest birthday I ever had. I spent the morning helping the freshmen with their class registration and after that stuco wished me happy birthday with a surprise cake! I felt so blessed. They're such nice people. Then I went to my 외대집 to install wifi and omg it was so much work. My roommate and I went almost crazy trying to figure the thing out. But we succeeded! After feeling super accomplished, I went to 압구정 with doodoo and met up with two gentlemen, we bowled and we ate good food and played darts as well! I think Doo doo and I went back to my place at around 3AM. We had so much fun. 

Goodness, I'm really old now.

Nana



I couldn't believe it when my mum told me about grandma's alzheimer's. But when I saw her, it really hit me and I was very very upset. And when we decided to have her stay with us, I was worried about mum because I knew that having grandma around would make her depressed. But to my surprise, grandma has made us all very happy. 

She is still herself. She may be confused about who we are but she's still grandma. She talks as if she's like 20 something year old and she doesn't know where she is but she's happy. And she makes us all laugh. 

I'm glad that mum's enjoying her chats with grandma. It's good to see them chatting away.

Dokdo



A little biased, but writing this helped me summarize this land dispute. During the research for this short writing, I was glad that many scholars found Dokdo as being part of the Korean territory.





The South Korean men’s soccer team won Bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics but one player was not seen at the medal ceremony. He was banned by the IOC from participating the event and his medal was withheld by the committee. The reason being that he ran over the field waving a banner which said ‘Dokdo is our land’.


South Korea and Japan have long been disputing over this chain of small islands, Dokdo, located in the East Sea. This dispute is also one of the reasons to why there is intense anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea. The football player's action proves how much of a big deal this dispute is in the country. There are countless songs, paintings and poems that try to support Korea's authority over Dokdo and many celebrities have also risked their fame in Japan by holding events to claim that Dokdo belongs to Korea.


Japan's biggest claim to the islands is based on agreements with the Korean government during its colonisation of the Korean peninsula. In September 1905, Japan, after attaining its victory in the Russo-Japanese war, wanted to strengthen its empire's influence and power by occupying a weak country in Northeastern Asia, Korea. Through the Taft-Katsura Agreement, Japan expressed reasons for the occupation of Korea to the United States, who agreed not to interfere. In November, Ito Hirobumi, the prime minister of Japan, arrived at the Korean imperial palace with the Japan-Korea Protectorate Treaty in his hand and threatened the Korean emperor to sign the treaty. Japanese troops were also ordered to march around the palace in order to strengthen this threat. The Korean emperor, Gojong and the Korean officials had no choice but to sign the treaty which made Korea a protectorate of Japan. The treaty also made it easy for Japan to seize all Korean territories. After just four months, Japan announced its incorporation of Dokdo which they referred to as Takeshima.

Japan believes that the treaty was a peaceful negotiation between the two countries and that this is the reason why Japan is the rightful owner of Dokdo. However, as stated earlier, Korean officials were under a huge threat during the time of the signing of the treaty. This shows that they were not intending to give up their authority and pass the ownership to the Japanese, making Japan's occupation of Korea completely illegal. In addition to this, when the Korean Minister of Home Affairs heard about the incorporation of the islands, he responded by saying, "It is totally groundless for the Japanese to lay claim to Dokdo and I am shocked at the report". This statement also supports the idea that Korea's giving up of the title to Dokdo was forced by Japan. Moreover, Japan's claim to the sovereignty over the islands based on such incorporation agreements in fact makes the country admit that Korea was the first rightful owner of Dokdo. Therefore, this only weakens Japan's other arguments of it being the initial owner of the islands.

Even if the treaties that were signed during the annexation of Korea officially made Dokdo a part of Japanese territory, Korea gained independence from Japan in August 15, 1945. Thus, Korea has the right to regain all its territories that were taken by Japan during the colonial rule including Dokdo. As mentioned earlier, because Japan has almost admitted that the initial owner of Dokdo was Korea through its treaties and incorporation agreements, Korea can voice their desire to have Dokdo returned strongly.

Fortunately for Korea, the international community also believed that all Korean territories that were occupied illegally by Japan were to be returned. There are numerous international declarations and treaties which support that Japan was to lose its ownership of Dokdo. One of them is the Cairo declaration. When the victors of the World War II met at Cairo in November 1943, they not only decided to liberate Korea and make it an independent nation but also made talks about other territories invaded by Japan. After long talks, the Cairo declaration finally stated that "Japan will be expelled from all territories which she has taken by violence and greed". Dokdo perfectly fits as one of the "territories" mentioned in this statement because of the way Japan occupied the islands in 1906. Many historical documents also proved that Korean officials were strongly refusing against this occupation at the time. After the official victory of the Allies in 1945, the Potsdam declaration was issued. One of the terms was for Japan to accept the discussions made at the Cairo declaration and because the Japanese emperor did accept both his surrender and the Potsdam declaration, Dokdo was to return to Korea. In the following year, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) issued SCAPIN no. 677 which stated that "Japan is defined to include the four main islands of Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku) and the approximately 1,000 smaller adjacent islands, including the Tsushima Islands…and excluding Utsuryo (Ullung) Island, Liancourt Rocks [Dokdo] (Take Island) and Quelpart (Saishu or Cheju) Island…". This article actually names the islands that Japan should lose ownership of.  It clearly excludes Dokdo from being a part of Japan's territory.

On 24th of August 2012, Yoshihiko Noda, a former Japanese Prime minister, used the San Francisco treaty as one of the reasons to why Japan holds the ownership of Dokdo. He claimed, “The US Department of State turned down Korea’s request to include Dokdo within the Treaty articles relating to Korea’s territorial sovereignty when the San Francisco Peace Treaty was being drafted in July 19, 1951.  Korea nevertheless declared the Seungman Rhee Line (Peace line) and has been illegally occupying Dokdo to this day”. This statement is true but it was Japan’s lobbying tactics that led to a change in U.S stance. Japan proposed to the United States through William J. Sebald, a pro-Japanese political advisor of General McArthur, to let U.S install weather and radar bases on Dokdo if it recognised the land as a Japanese territory. Therefore, decisions made by the U.S was based on military reasons rather than true evidence supporting Japan’s claim. Moreover, other Allied nations objected to this and viewed Dokdo as part of Korean territories. The U.S failed to convince these states which left the final draft of the treaty mark Dokdo neither as being part of Japanese territory nor as a Korean territory.

One of the possible solutions that have come up during the dispute was taking the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Japan has actually proposed to do this several times but the offers were rejected by the South Korean government expressing that Dokdo is not a disputed land because it rightfully belongs to South Korea. The islets are currently administered by South Korea and 2,051 people have Dokdo as their permanent addresses. Taking the case to the ICJ would be admitting the territorial dispute of Dokdo when it has been governed by the South Korean government for years. Moreover, the nature of the ruling is disadvantageous to South Korea. The Minquiers and the Ecrehos case between Britain and France was dealt unfairly by the Court which supported the imperialist power, Britain, because of the reason that there was lack of protest from the French when the incorporation agreement was made (ICJ). The ICJ chose to ignore the historical evidences that supported the French and relied on the treaties, ruling in favour of the British. Thus, the South Korean government has a chance of losing the case to Japan because the ICJ clearly does not understand the concept of imperialism. Also, the ICJ is often criticised because of its lack of binding force. It is possible for the Security council to always veto the enforcement through resolutions and countries can simply ignore the decisions made by the ICJ. Therefore, even if the Court sees Dokdo as a South Korean territory, Japan can still deny this and there is still a chance of the dispute being continued.

Another solution that came up among the South Korean community was to increase the military forces in Dokdo. This will show South Korea’s strong will to protect the islets from being ‘taken away’ but this is a very sensitive case to both countries and increasing armed forces may result in a serious conflict between the countries. Japan has previously responded to the Korean Airlines’ decision to fly its A380 jet above the islets by forbidding all its foreign ministry staff members from using the airlines for a whole month. Thus, it is predictable that Japan will strongly respond to an increase in the armed forces of the South Korean military and this will further problematize the dispute.

The dispute is extremely difficult to solve and for Japan to stop its arguments based on distorted evidence South Korea needs to co-operate with other countries, especially Russia and China who are having similar territorial disputes with Japan. South Korea needs to increase its influence in the international community and through co-operating with other nations, it needs to fix the history that Japan has distorted. Only then, they will be able to successfully condemn the Japanese to drop their claim.

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