Adele

Watching Adele’s interview was like watching a modern “Wonder Woman.” She has turned herself from a simple person to an inspiration to everyone, and she did in the unconventional way. When every aspiring singer wants to go mainstream through pop like Britney Spears or Miley Cyrus, but Adele never thought of that. She just wants to be as genuine as she can be and wants to sing songs coming from her heart. Adele is not only talented, but she is also brilliant. All the songs that became worldwide hits were all written by her and are based on her own experience. Meaning, people can relate to her songs since they are real. They are not as idealistic or impossible as the lyrics in other popular songs are. I also like how Adele is so real to herself. She even curses in front of the camera—she feels that it’s the real her, she does not have to pretend to anyone.

Just recently, Adele joined Beyonce on the pedestal of stars that has gotten six Grammies in one night. This is a feat that not even a handful of stars have done even in the past. This happened because of both Adele and her songs. Adele’s physical appearance is not the usual of those singers nowadays. She is as plain as anyone can get. This made people love and relate to Adele more. Furthermore, her songs sound so real that people feel it in their hearts. Personally, I like the song, “someone like you.” Even though it sounds like a song about a battered/ martyr woman, I feel differently. I feel that the woman is so courageous to admit to others that for her, no one can replace someone in her heart.

Adele’s interview may change how people think of show business. Nowadays, people think that they need to be good-looking before they can enter the business. However, Adele has shown everyone that one can succeed with pure talent.

Food Review

"Jjam Jja Myeon"

On February 11, 2012, I went to Chil Cheon Gak, located in Legarda road, Baguio City, to eat what we call "Jjam Jja Myeon." On the left side of the dish is what we called "Jja Jang Myeon" or black noodle; on the right side of the dish is called "Jjam Bbong" or spicy seafood noodle. And we call this dish as "Jjam Jja Myeon."

It took at least 15 minutes to go to Chil Cheon Gak from the city. When I arrived there, waiters were all welcoming me, and my friends. It was easy to get a table. The restaurant is somehow wide. There are more than 3 pages of menu. When I ordered Jjam Jja Myeon, it took more than 15~25 minutes to come out. While the cook was preparing my order, there were 3 side dishes that were served: Kimchi, Dan Moo Ji, and onions. I think everyone knows what is Kimchi. Dan Moo Ji is called pickled radish in English. I was really bored with waiting for my food to come out, so I was just eating the side dishes and I asked the waiters to refill my side dishes more than 6 times, but they didn't get irritated.

When the food was served, I can smell only the Jjam Bbong because it full of soup with spicy sauces. I first ate the black noodles because if I won't eat that first, the noodles won't taste as good as when I eat fresh noodles. When I tasted the black noodles, it had a savory flavor. And after eating black noodles, I started eating the spicy seafood noodles, but I was already full, so I just ate some, and I gave it to my friends. It's not really spicy for me, but for others who are trying this food first, they might feel it's spicy. The reason why I love this noodle is because once I eat the soup, it's like my stress goes away. I can promise that when you order this, you will be really satisfied.

The restaurant is clean, well-organized with pink tables. Waiters are kind and ready to serve whatever the customers need. Sometimes, they give services like soft drinks, and appetizers. But there are also some disadvantages too. The toilet is so small and stingy. The parking area is not wide as there restaurant, so I think they should do something with it. The most important problem is smoking area and non-smoking area is not divided. When smoker seats beside you, you have to suffer from the smokes.

Even though there are some disadvantages, I still would like to visit sometimes to eat that dish because it's my comfort food.

For Real or For Show?

I watched another video today, this time, from “Britain’s Got Talent.” The part I watched was the one with Susan Boyle on it. I had heard of her name before, so I was quite not that excited when I saw her performance.      Recently, I blogged about a performance by Choi Sung Bong auditioning for “Korea’s Got Talent,” and honestly, I thought, “Is this the trend on talent shows now?” I mean, it is totally the same—physically unappealing, you-would-not-expect-to-be-talented kind of performers. At first, you will think, “What is he/she doing there?” or “Another clown!,” but then an amazing voice will surprise you. Recently, this has been the fad for talent shows. I do not know if these people are planted there for audience appeal or to create a buzz for the show, but I swear, it kind of gets tiring sometimes. I know that Choi Sung Bong was genuine, but still, it is hard to think otherwise because Sung Bong and Susan even appeared in the same show franchise.

            Well, although I am skeptical, I will admit that they DO touch people’s hearts and get a lot of sympathy. I mean, they do get a lot of votes from the people! On the other hand, they also bring out the ugly side of humanity. In Susan Boyle’s case, while watching the video, the cameras really captured how the audience reacted when Boyle came out. You would feel them thinking badly about Susan—some people even cringed when she said she wanted to be the next Ellen Paige, an English singer and musical actress. However, when she started singing, everyone started clapping and gasping. This really shows how people think, and that how thy judge a person based on what they see. In Korea, specially, social status is very important. People do not usually mingle with people who have lower status. In everything, whether in getting a job, making friends, or even when just having fun, people are always judged based on how they look.

            I think that Susan can inspire some women out there. However, in this day and age, it is really hard to look up to Susan Boyle as an inspiration. I mean, in the first place, the reason why people misjudged her was because of how she looked. I am not saying it is her fault that she looked like that, but isn’t it a given to go to a salon first to have yourself made up before going to an audition? Isn’t it our responsibility to look our best when aiming for something? A trip to the salon does not cost that much anyway, and it does wonders for a woman’s look. When I was watching the video, I thought that she really opted to look like that for showmanship or to get that surprise factor in her performance. Well, I do not really know her, so I can’t say. My point is that Susan Boyle should be an inspiration for people who want to be singers: she has an incredible voice, but for modern women, I think they’ll think the same way as I did. It is a given that people judge others based on the way they look, so it is our responsibility to look as presentable as possible when going in front of a lot of people. In that aspect, Susan failed. 

An ardent desire

Recently, our schoolteacher made the whole class watch a Youtube video of a Korea’s Got Talent contestant named Choi Sung Bong. He is a 22- year- old Korean guy. He is an orphan and has lived his life through selling gums and energy drinks on the street. In the contest, he appeared as someone who is not talented at all! He had a bowl cut for his hair and was just wearing a plaid shirt. He was interviewed about his life that got the judges’ sympathy in the beginning. But his life story isn’t what made the judges impressed—it’s his voice! As soon as Sung Bong opened his mouth to sing, the audience was just left speechless. Behind his shabby appearance is a glittering tenor voice! It was not perfect, but his sing was really heartfelt. Sung Bong didn’t win the contest: he placed second, but he became really popular in Korea and in the world.

I think that his life story inspired a lot of people not just in Korea but also all over the world. Not everyone who has experienced Sung Bong’s life can bounce back as he did. Through his life story, people could know that no matter how bad your life is, there is always hope. That if you want something strong enough, and you act on it, then you would definitely get it in time.

Personally, I see him as a role model. I thought that I am not as unfortunate as him, but I complain about my life almost everyday. I realized that I am very lucky that I have parents that can provide me with everything I need, and that compared to him, I have more resources to use in order to follow my dreams. Through Choi Sung Bong, I learned that any dream is possible only if you exert enough effort to get it. 

Opposite

Ellen Gustafon, an activist for both decreasing world hunger and improving the global food system, had a talk on how messed up the food system in the world has become. She started talking about hunger being the source of much worldwide insecurity, but then she pointed out one fact. She stated that the number of hungry people in the world is one billion, and then continued to say that the number of obese people is the same. This is such surprising information. It means that while a billion of the population is getting hungry, another billion is going the other extreme. I thought, “For sure, there is a connection between these two somewhere!” And I was not wrong. Ms. Gustafon pointed out that the problem is the global food system.

The food system in America has developed and grown for the past 30 years, she said. This has resulted to significant changes in the way Americans eat. She pointed out to processed food and how big the farmers and the farms in the United States have become. However, on the other side of the world, in Africa, the agricultural system has been left alone. Farmers are skinny because they are hungry. Ellen said that the farmers grow the food that people eat, so it is very important to look at them when addressing this worldwide issue. She said that the large consolidated farming in America has led to more food choices, less hungry in the US, but also more obese people. She said that in the same way that people are going hungry because there is a lack of food supply, the mismanagement of food supply also causes obesity. According to Ellen, the only way to solve this is through a better global food system. I agree with Ellen here. In my country Korea, people invest much in agriculture. The Korean people are very conscious about their health, so eating organic is very common. As a result, South Korea has the lowest obesity rate in Asia.

While advocating for less hunger, Ellen stumbled upon a simple but effective solution—feed bags! She, together with another advocate, started a social company that sells feedbags to people. Feed bags cost only 20 to 60 dollars a bag, but each bag can feed a child for a whole year. So far, Ellen’s company has served more than 50 million free meals to hungry children all over the world. But then, a long-term solution has to be made according to Ellen. As a result, Ellen started another project, the 30 project, which aims to improve the worldwide food system and combat both hunger and obesity. This project’s main goal is to make fresh fruits and vegetables easily accessible to every child, make the production of meat and fish better and sustainable, and have processed food taxed for their negative externalities.

Ellen Gustafon’s talk was really inspiring. It has showed how a little amount of money can go a long way into alleviating the hunger of people all over the world. It has also opened my eyes that hunger is a real problem. I never really thought about it since I do not really experience real hunger. However, listening to her talk, I realized that its not just about me—its about other people as well. Soon, I’ll have to do my CAS projects, which will allow me to do community services. For sure, one of my projects will be to feed the hunger too! Now that my eyes have been opened to what the real situation is, I know I have to do something about it. No matter how small, I still want to help.

2012

The year of 2012 came, the year of black dragon. Even though 2012 came one month ago, I will make New Year’s resolutions. My New Year’s resolutions are getting a higher grade and being more patient. In prompt to achieve these goals, I need to plan my New Year’s resolutions more properly.

First, to get a higher grade in my school subjects, of course I need to study harder than last semester. I should concentrate during my study time and to concentrate, I should not convince to destructive things such as cellphone, laptop and other things. I realize that I’m not a careless person unlike other people. I should be more careful in answering my quizzes and homework to get a high score.

Second, my close friends are telling me that I’m not really a patient person. I easily get angry to other people and because of that, other people who don’t know about me think that I’m a rude person. To improve my personality, I have to fix what I am lacking than others. I need to listen carefully to what others are saying; while they are talking I should listen to them rather than interrupting their sayings.

            In conclusion, by accomplishing these resolutions, I will be more successful this 2012. I will try my best to get higher grades than before and by changing my bad behaviors I will have successful school life also. By having my New Year’s resolution, I learned how it is necessary to change and upgrade to have a successful year.