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| May 9th, 2008; 8:40 PM EST I just wanted to take some time and put thoughts to words. I was just browsing through the internet and saw pictures of Russia celebrating Victory Day. Then I got bored and started looking at the current headlines on Yahoo News for interesting articles. A lot of domestic news dealt with the upcoming presidential election, which I'm not too interested in reading because I know the gist of the article by just reading the headlines and also I don't want to become biased (which I'm sure I already have become) by an article I read. Amongst my period of boredom, I started to think about the identity that people associate themselves with. This has been a subject of interest for me since I was young because I was never fully able to associate myself with one particular identity. The questions that arose in my mind are, "Why do Russians still associate themselves with Communist Soviet Union? How does someone know whether he/she is a Republican or a Democrat? What is an American identity?" Of these questions I got more intrigued with answering the last question, "What is an American identity?" so I googled it and came across a U.S. State Department website, discussing that same topic. http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itsv/1204/ijse/pachter.htm I haven't finished reading it yet, but once I'm done with putting my thoughts down I will. Understanding what it means to be of a particular identity has been a subject of interest ever since I was young, because I am a "hyphen", a Korean-American. That is a duality that I have to live with the rest of my life and I feel I can live the best way I can, if I know what it means to be a Korean-American. I feel I am comfortable with my knowledge of what it means to be a Korean with my formal education in Korean studies in college. I learned the history of the Korean peninsula, the literary culture of Korea and the Korean language. Slowly, I'm trying to formally teach myself what it means to be American. I think it is a little more difficult to learn what being American is while living in it, which is kind of a paradox, because you would think that you would be in a better position to learn about Americanism as a participant in the American society, but, in reality, how many times a day do you sit and ponder what it means to be an American. For example, if I go out on the street and ask a person what it means to be an American, I would get tons and tons of different answers. Also, studying it academically is also difficult because I am part of the constant dynamism that's changing what being American is on a daily basis. I mean, more than 100 years ago, there was nobody who would acknowledge himself/herself as a Korean-American, because none existed. Now, we even have terms such as 1.5 generational Korean-American and 2nd generation Korean-Americans. My Korean-ness has been based on my heritage, which is more historical, but my American-ness is based on who I am now, which is more modern, making a formal classroom education unfulfilling. My education has started and from now on it's about learning what it means to an American as an ethnic Korean and hopefully becoming part of what is great about America. | | |
| February 21st 2008; 12:50 AM EST How much money is enough to have a content household? During times when many of American families are going through foreclosures and economic hardships, I wonder how much money is needed for a family to be content with their lifestyle. An average American family will be considered to be wealthy in comparison to an average family in a Third World country, however, both seem to have anguish that they cannot escape from. We talk about relieving poverty, but I wonder if poverty is inevitable. Then the question is, is "poverty" a mindset or is it really a statistical number that you can calculate. In America, if you're below a certain threshold in terms of yearly family income, you are considered "poor". However, when compared to many of the families in a third world country, I'm assuming an American family below the "poverty line" has a higher yearly income than the average family in a third world country. I struggle with this concept because I feel I make decent money, but sometimes it just doesn't seem to be "enough". When will I ever find that balance where I can be content with what I make and the lifestyle I live, or will I always just live a little bit beyond my means. Will that make me "poor" no matter how much I make, or will I be content with my lifestyle because I have "enough". ---------------------------------------------------- What a coincidence...I just heard about this website on the radio. www.feedthepig.org People in America are struggling with their finances. | | |
| February 18, 2008; 10:43 EST Today, I woke up feeling really lazy. It seems as if I sleep for 9 hours or more during the weekends and sometimes that just feels like time just wasted away in my life. I love sleep, but at the same time I hate it. One of the best feelings in the world is going to sleep after a really looong day, but sleep keeps me from getting to work on time, having more time to do all the things I want to do and teasing me every morning with relaxation of sleep. Eh...It's time for me to go to bed. Good night everyone. | | |
| November 22nd, 2007; 11:26 PM Hello world, again. Wow! I haven't written anything for 8 months. I'm sure my readership has died down due to my inactivity, but I am writing here nonetheless. Today, as some of you Americans know (I know a couple of my readers are Canadians, ha!), is Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I was not able to celebrate it with my family back in California but I did celebrate it with a really good friend of mine in Maryland. I feel blessed to have friends who invite me to their home for Thanksgiving when I could not be with my family back home. Today's Thankgiving, so in the spirit of giving Thanks, I want to write what I am thankful for. -I am thankful to have a loving girlfriend, who put up with all my imperfections, but still continue to love me because she believes in me. -I am thankful for having a family who love me unconditionally and have sacrificed everything to allow me to have the life I have now. -I am thankful for friends, because without them my life would not be meaningful. -I am thankful for the job I have now because it allows me to grow as a professional and it allows me to hopefully make a difference in the world. -I am thankful for my new car because it cuts my commute to work by 3 hours everyday. That's 3 more hours I can sleep. -I am thankful to be living in America, because I still believe that America is the land of opportunity and it provides with freedoms that I enjoy on a daily basis. -I am thankful that I'm still alive. What are you thankful for? | | |
| I just thought this was really cool that I got a response from the actual columnist. Very AWESOME!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kyu,
Your note was fantastic. I'm going to print it up and pin it near my computer, for inspiration. Thanks much, really.
My best to you. And look for a new posting from me on the blog today. It covers some of what you wrote about.
Have a great holiday.
Kurt
Kurt Streeter
Los Angeles Times Reporter
323-828-5511
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Sent: Thu 11/22/2007 9:42 AM
Subject: Academic standards vs. Athletic performance
Dear Mr. Kurt Streeter:
I am a UCLA alumnus and an avid supporter of UCLA athletics as well as academics. I am in absolute agreement that we should have a balance of academic standards and athletic performance and that college athletics should not be solely based on wins and losses. Although winning will bring in revenues for an academic institution, I do not believe academic institutions have to sell college athletics for the all mighty dollar. This is one of the problems we face in this society and I am in full support of your fight to bring ACADEMIC standards to ACADEMIC institutions.
I really hope that UCLA can sell itself as an academic institution, first, which also has a quality Division I athletic program and not the other way around. I do not want UCLA to become an institution where the major source of its publicity comes from its athletic programs. That means an institution like a Cal, UCLA or a Stanford must have higher standards on their student-athletes and I am not only talking about on-the-field performance.
I'd rather UCLA produce individuals like a Jackie Robinson, a Arthur Ashe, a Kareem Abdul-Jabber, than a Michael Vick or a Barry Bond. Men and women of character, who uses their God-given talents as a tool to put them on stage to make a positive statement in society. If those are the individuals that UCLA is producing under coach Karl Dorrell, I am fully supportive of that effort. Because, as you and I know, it takes years to build a reputation of a school and an athletic program, but it takes only one scandal to ruin a reputation.
(On a side note, I do not advocate for a coach like a Nick Saban, who happens to be a great football coach but also compares college athletic catastrophes to historical tragedies.)
I really support your efforts to bring that to the forefront and I hope you can continue to write about such subjects with a passion. I really hope you can write about a student-athlete being a student first and an athlete second, and not an athlete first and who also happens to be a part-time student.
(Also, a side note, yes, I think the statistics on minority coaches in Division I must be addressed, because it seems like there is equality on the field--as in the proportion of black, hispanic and white athletes--but that has not been translated onto the management ranks of the coaches or athletic directorship.)
Respectfully,
Kyu Sin
UCLA alum '05
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