Baskin Robbins or shit-flavored ice cream?

Ever since I knew the existence of ice cream, Baskin Robbins has been my best friend. Its 31 flavors of ice cream have always enticed my tongue, and I used to feel ecstasy when I felt a soft, cool bunch of ice cream rolling into my tongue during a hot, dry summer time. Among the mighty 31 flavors of Baskin Robbins ice cream, I loved  'Shooting star' ice cream the most, since I loved the way it pops like popcorn inside my mouth. However, a video about 'shit-flavored' ice cream that I watched during Junior writing class changed my perspective towards Baskin Robbin's fantastic ice cream.
 'Shit-flavored' ice cream? If someone tries to shove such ice cream into my mouth and tries to violate the beauty of my tongue, I am ready to fight until death. However, despite my great antipathy towards the taste itself, 'shit-flavored' ice cream is definitely a creative idea. Today's ice cream mostly tastes like vanilla, chocolate or strawberry. Different types of berries or ingredient are often added, but the product is mostly another different combination of typical ingredients. In other words, ice cream today NEEDS CHANGE. Let's take a look at Baskin Robbin's 31 flavors. There are various types of ice cream with splendid names, such as 'My mom is an alien', but most of them are combinations of cherry, vanilla, chocolate, and cookies. They definitely taste great, but don't consumers also deserve something novel? I don't believe that 'shit-flavored' ice cream would taste better than my favorite 'Shooting star', but the former one is a type of unprecedented attempt in the ice cream industry! Setting the flavor aside, there should be more novel attempts in the ice cream industry, since consumers are only accustomed to limited variety of flavors. 'Shit-flavored' ice cream may be a failure of new attempts, but who knows? Such attempts may create ice cream that outweighs previous types of ice cream!
 Because the ice cream industry is also another aggregation of businesses that seek profits, risky attempts or trials can be difficult to be made. However, ice cream companies have to consider the possibility of targeting the 'Blue Ocean' and following financial profits it would beget. I would not urge Baskin Robbins to produce 'shit-flavored' ice cream, but I sincerely want a unprecedented flavor that will serve as a great breakthrough in the history of ice cream.

Jukai forest and suicide.

I was nervously walking under a grey sky, trying to pretend to be as casual as possible. But my legs were wobbling, and my heart was pumping as if it was about to face its demise. Yes, I was on my way to check my SAT biology score. I thought I would collapse on my way to Ms. Min’s office, who was my biology teacher, but somehow my legs managed to support my limbs. At last, the dramatic moment came upon me. I closely looked at the front of my exam paper, and when I checked my score written black on a grey sheet of paper, a Japanese suicide forest swept in my head like a panorama.  For a short moment, I was in the middle of the Japanese suicide forest where trees emit the scent of death and animals greet decaying human corpses. I escaped from my horrid delusion, but my miserable reality awaiting me in Ms. Min’s office was more horrible. Letting out a deep and sorrowful groan, I got out of Ms. Min’s office and dragged my legs towards my dormitory.

 Of course, I did not commit suicide. But that momentary dread and sorrow when I checked my score made me to ponder about a video of the Japanese suicide forest that I watched during Mr. Garrioch’ s class. I still vividly remember human corpses, traces of suicide, and rusty cars that lost their owners.  Not surprisingly, the video stated that more than one hundred people commit suicide in the Japanese suicide forest, or Jukai forest, annually, proving that Jukai forest is indeed a suicide forest.

 When I was imagining how I would feel like when I encounter rotten corpses right in front of my eyes in Jukai forest, one question popped into my mind: why do people commit suicide? How much misery did the corpses in Jukai forest had to suffer when they had their fleshes on? I can’t imagine. But I firmly believe that people commit suicide when their mind becomes irreparably diseased. Furthermore, a society’s negative view people who commit suicide would also play a major role. Instead of perceiving them as people who were in dire help, many people tend to scorn them for being weak and incapable of surviving in harsh reality. However, such view is a serious paradox. No one blames people whose bodies are sick or hurt. Then why do they blame those whose heart and soul are impaired? People who committed suicide should be also conceived as patients who need attention, affection, and hope to cure their chronic diseases. Furthermore, it is our society’s duty to be a doctor for them.

 No one deserves to be lonely, and no one deserves to be sad. Jukai forest should not be merely considered as an eerie spot that often serves a small issue among media, but a symbol of deep sadness and desperation that our society yet refuses to expose.  

50 years later after writing that arrogant letter to Brad

I stopped writing a letter of resignation and put my pen down on a polished oak desk with deep brown color. Looking out the window, I stared at a large green field embellished with various flowers emitting their beauty under golden sunshine and deep blue sky. On a shelf next to me, there were numerous awards with the effulgence of my past golden time. Everything looked so beautiful and grand, evoking a sense of reminiscence that my desperate struggle for accomplishment once demolished. I closed my eyes and prepared myself to start introspection to see what I had lost and what I had gained during past years as a mathematician. Just before I was about to plunge into a deep swirl of memory, someone knocked on my door. It was Brad, my old friend.  Holding a loaf of butter bread in his right hand and a piece of stained paper in his left hand, Brad was smiling at me at the door. But that smile was a mask that belied his sadness.

“Hey Justin, this one is for you, your favorite butter bread. Think of it as a small gift to celebrate your honorable retirement, my friend.”

I gratefully received his present and welcomed him into my office. Brad quietly sat on my old sofa, one of few things that had been with me ever since my debut in the society of mathematicians. Brad and I looked at each other quietly, but no words were necessary in front of 45 years of friendship to convey our feelings each other. Our eyes were all that we needed. I felt my eyes becoming watery. To break overly sentimental atmosphere, Brad opened his mouth first.

“I coincidentally found out a letter that you sent me 50 years ago. I guess this letter is the only one that shows our naive and immature past days.”

Brad laughed softly and handed me a stained piece of paper that he was holding in his left hand.

 ‘Hi, I bet you still remember me. It has been nearly 5 years since I threw your golden math trophy to a passing truck. I still remember the lucid dismay and antipathy on your face. Your eyes were red with tears and anger, and my eyes were filled with happiness after my successful achievement of retribution. Do I fill guilty today? No. In fact, I am writing this letter not to apologize, but to remind you the miserable past trophy-incident to make you humble, since I heard you are participating in IMO...’

‘….I can take you as my 'apprentice mathematician' if you are willing to buy and deliver me bread every lunch time. I will give you three hundred won. With it, buy one of each bread in the bread store next door and bring the remainder of money you have left which should be one thousand won, every day….’

Too much stain made rest of the part illegible, but it certainly reminded me of the past days when Brad and I loathed each other.

“Brad, why did we used to hate each other so much? I can’t remember.”

Brad smiled and said,

“What I want to show you with this old letter is not the cause of antipathy towards each other in the past. Look at the bottom of the letter.”

I looked at the bottom that I missed, and I had to laugh at what I wrote.

‘This is the perfect chance! You and me together, we will be Newton of 21st century. So please do consider my proposal-live as a failure or a revolutionary figure.’

Looking at my smiling face, Brad firmly grabbed my shoulder and said,

“Are you really going to leave? I was actually very mad when I first read your arrogant letter 50 years ago. But after 5 years of contemplation, I decided to accept your suggestion, and somehow have been working with you for 45 years. We were enemies at first, but hard time we weathered through together made each other best friend and best companion. The reason I showed you this letter is to persuade you not to retire. I wanted you to revive your initial passion after reading this letter and continue to remain as my best companion.”

Brad looked at me with sorrowful eyes. But I had to leave. I had to persuade him. I solemnly looked at him and said,

“Brad, take a closer look at the last sentence of my letter. Can you believe it? I, a mathematician, a person with rationality sharp as a dagger and cold as ice, was once emotional and careless enough to burst out such grandiose words! Brad, I had passion when I was young. Yes, the passion that you want me to revive. In the past, it was heart that moved me, and it has been my heart that has kept us robust despite numerous harsh competitions and hardships we had to endure. With my pure passion and energy, I endeavored to make further progressions in mathematics. But harsh society and endless competitions have eroded my initial resolution and passion. I no longer have enthusiasm in mathematics to attempt new tasks, and my rationality keeps preventing myself from seeking new challenges in fear of potential risks as I age. Rationality is an essential value, but I am starting to think that it is now causing ennui in my life and devastating my soul, since brain without heart is merely being a machine. Then, I reached a conclusion: I need to retire. I need to retire to revive my passion! But Brad, the passion I am talking about right now is not passion for mathematics anymore, but passion for my own life and happiness. I wish I could smile like the moment when I snatched your math trophy and ran away when we were in an elementary school. Brad, I want to be ebullient again as I did when I was a teenager. I have had enough glory in mathematics. It is time to pass my throne to others.”

Brad sighed, but he did not make further attempts to persuade me. Then he smiled again. The next word he spoke still rings in my ear.

“Ok, fine. You have made enough discoveries in mathematics and have endeavored enough to seek truth in mathematics. Now, it is time to seek truth in yourself and in your life.”

Brad stood up, and shook my hands with affectionate look on his face. Then, he gave me one thousand won. Looking at my flustered face, Brad said

“One thousand won, don’t you remember?”

We both laughed, and Brad left my office.

Sun was still brightly shining in a deep blue sky, and the flowers on the green field were waving for me, saying goodbye. 

Should the U.S take stronger actions against N.K to stop its nuclear tests?

After the Cheonan submarine sank deep into the ocean in 2010 March 26, my ethics teacher’s face was red with resentment. Standing on the podium, the teacher ardently criticized South Korean politicians for blaming North Korea with no specific evidence in the Cheonan issue. She merely viewed the issue as political artifice by the South Korean government in order to distract citizens’ attention away from domestic politics. Despite two hours of debate, the ethics teacher, a former North Korean refugee, was firm on her stance that most reported North Korean threats were flawed and did not exist. Though she might have said this in such way due to her love towards her hometown, it is incontrovertible that threats from North Korea do, in fact, exist. With Kim Jeong-Un clutching a switch for a nuclear missile launcher, feeling relief in the Korean Peninsula is premature. For the sake of peace and safety for all, the U.S, a country that can wield the strongest international power, should tighten its grip on Kim Jeong Un. North Korea has refused denuclearization suggestions by other nations, and their nuclear weaponization technology has progressed enough to manufacture more destructive weapons.

North Korea has refused to compromise with numerous diplomatic negotiations in order to continue its nuclear tests. The current dictator of North Korea, Kim Jeong Un, has chosen an extremely illogical diplomatic stance in order to pursue further development in nuclear technology. For instance, North Korea has abandoned multi-national food aids provided by the U.S and South Korea in order to maintain its nuclear facilities. I once saw several photos of dead bodies of North Koreans lying on unpaved roads in rural regions. Extremely feeble limbs and swelled abdomens of the dead bodies lucidly suggested that they died due to malnutrition. Why can’t Kim Jeong Un feel such anguish of North Koreans? Is nuclear technology worthy enough to abandon thousands of people whose lives are being eaten away by poverty and famine? Instead of compromising with other nations to aid innocent lives, North Korea conducted the additional underground nuclear explosion experiment on February 12^th 2013. To make a weapon that can destruct 40% of the western continent of the U.S, North Korea is killing thousands people annually with its merciless exploitation . When there are no restrictions on North Korea, no one can guarantee the future of North Korean citizens and other countries. North Koreans will be ceased by poverty, and the world will be ceased by a nuclear war. Therefore, the U.S should perform stronger actions to sanction North Korea’s nuclear tests to ensure North Koreans’ welfare and world peace.

Advancement in North Korean nuclear technology is enabling  more destructive weapons. Instead of investing financial aids from the Sun-Shine policy of South Korea in feeding impoverished North Koreans, Kim Jeong Il covertly accumulated such aids to propel his ambitious nuclear plan. Today, his successor, Kim Jeong Un, is arduously carrying out his father’s grandiose plan by increasing the frequency of the nuclear tests and fatality of potential nuclear missiles. As an example, the Korean Central News Agency recently reported that North Korea has begun to use plutonium in manufacturing miniature nuclear devices. Such devices can be attached on Unha-3, a long-range missile, which North Korea painstakingly manufactured and succeeded in launching on December 2012. Furthermore,Kim Jeong Un had already conducted two long-range missile attacks and one nuclear test during the 2 years of his reign . My science teacher in elementary school said that a war between South and North Korea in the future would end with a push of a missile switch. Such moment seems to be coming earlier than I have expected. Today, all Kim Jeong Un has to do is to push a button to destruct everything that my ancestors have yielded for the past 5000 years. Only ashes and remnants of human civilizations would be left on the Korean Peninsula after a war, and my science teacher’s prediction would turn out to be true. In other words, the U.S should not hesitate to impose stronger regulations on North Korea before its military power begets irreversible chaos.

To sum up, the U.S should strengthen its restrictions against nuclear-fanatic North Korea, since Kim Jeong Un has revealed no signs of denuclearization in order to fulfill his nuclear plans, and improved nuclear technology of North Korea is now in the realm that can impose serious global threats. I and most of my fellow South Koreans are living in modern society that has a weak personal connection to North Korea other than being South Koreans. However, detrimental impacts that Kim Jeong Un can inflict to South Korea do have powerful connections with our lives. The destiny of people I love and everything I possess depends on a capricious dictator living in the North. Truly, this is an inconvenient truth. Persuading obstinate Kim Jeong Un is incontrovertibly a challenging task. But we cannot allow a single dictator to destroy our land and civilizations that our ancestors have established through innumerable historical turmoil and immense sacrifice. With the help of U.S, South Koreans have to struggle to weather through this diplomatic tension that is swaying the destiny of our nation. 

Hi, I'm Roger

     ‘What should I choose for my new English name? Which name has enough significance to overpower my original name?’ I pondered in front of a tiny sheet of paper that I had to write my new English name on. Suddenly, the name ‘Roger’ popped into my consciousness, and my right hand immediately began to scribble it as if it had been waiting for such name. Yes, my new name is Roger, a typical first name in English usage. However, being typical doesn’t degrade the significance of my dear name ‘Roger’, since the name reminds me of a pleasant reminiscence of the past and has linguistic and historical significance.                                               

     ‘Roger’ is the name that connects me to the memory of the past. From the fifth grade in my elementary school to second grade in my middle school, the word ‘Roger’ was one of my favorite vocabularies due to its frequent usage in a online FPS game, ‘Sudden Attack’, that I was once immersed in. Masculine soldiers in the online game shooting fancy guns and throwing grenades at the opponent’s headquarter enthralled my once immature spirit, imbuing me full of admiration towards my imaginary soldiers. Among splendid weaponries, strong muscles, and several other military-related factors that those online soldiers demonstrated, their military-style conversation captivated me the most. To elaborate, to increase the reality of the game, the virtual characters within ‘Sudden Attack’ communicated each other by using military jargons, such as ‘fire in the hall.’ The word ‘Roger’, which meant ‘I have received all the messages’, was the most representative and frequently used jargon in the game; therefore, the word ‘Roger’ gradually infiltrated into my everyday dictions after my long exposure to ‘Sudden attack’. Until I realized that using such words could make others perceive me as a military fanatic, I had continuously utilized the word ‘Roger’ in my daily life. When I hear or use the word ‘Roger’ today, the image of me smiling happily in front of a computer monitor flashes in my brain as a pleasant reminiscence, a great refreshment for my present life that has no joy. In other words, the name ‘Roger’ symbolizes my past day’s happiness when I could be infatuated with what I truly desired to do.  

     The name ‘Roger’ is a linguistically and historically interesting name. When I google my current English name, ‘Justin’, only Justin Bieber pops up, indicating that it has not much in-depth meaning. Nevertheless, the name ‘Roger’ indicates a diversity of meanings in different countries and survived over centuries.  For instance, ‘Roger’ in Germany means ‘famous with the spear’, and Normans interpret the name as ‘renown for his sword’. In addition, ‘Roger’ is often referred to as a black flag of pirates with white skulls embedded, a type of meaning that many boys would favor. Furthermore, ‘Roger’ is the name that has some degree of historical significance. As an example, ‘Roger’ was first introduced in England after Norman conquest, implying that it is a historical name that has endured a long period of threats of extinction. Therefore, ‘Roger’ is not a name that should not be underestimated even if it is a prevalent name in today’s society.

     In conclusion, the name ‘Roger’ is a significant name for me, since it refreshes my spirit with pleasant memories it revokes. Furthermore, its various intriguing meanings and  long history  make the name meaningful. Name is not merely a tag. It is an eternal badge of humans that has  a unique meaning  and story. When you are stressed out and need some refreshment, how about searching and thinking about what your name attempts to deliver? I can definitely assure you that you will find your name more astonishing than you have previously thought. 

Debunking myth: Is physical attractiveness related to happiness?

Let's debunk myth!!!

How did I get caught?

The weather was abnormally hot, and the ground under my feet soon became a pool of sweat. My head was dizzy, a signal of impending heatstroke. However, I had to force my legs to move, since I was fully aware of unbearable consequences I would have to bear after being caught. With a shiny trophy inscribed with the name "Brad" clutched in my slippery right hand, I forced myself forward. Believe it or not, I was trying to take away a math olympiad trophy that my haughty Australian friend, Brad, received for achieving the 1st place in the math competition. 

The weather when I first met Brad was stormy and cold, and Brad was standing among windblown leaves with his gruesome braces emitting eerie light despite absence of sunlight. Such atmosphere and ominous braces seemed to imply an inauspicious relationship between me and Brad, who occasionally boasted his mathematic skills and taunted others for being inferior to him in the field. Since I perceived numbers and "x and y" as meaningless pictures that had no relevance with my life, Brad's acrid remarks regarding my pathetic skills in performing simple algebra did not incite any antipathy towards him. One day, however, Brad came to me and began to flaunt his mathematic skills by shoving shiny golden math olympiad trophy right in front of my nose. Such boasting was Brad's everyday repertoire, and paying no attention to his pompous behaviors was my usual reaction towards his math-related invective. But one word aggravated that day: "Stupid Asian."

He chose the wrong diction, and he certainly chose a wrong enemy. 

To repay all the humiliation that Brad kindly gave to me, I decided to steal his trophy and run away. 

 One sunny, humid afternoon, I was standing in front of Brad's desk, staring at Brad's golden trophy, his only pride. I might have pondered on 'To steal, or not to steal, that is the question.' in front of Brad's desk if my heart was weak, but my firm decision and strong will to torment our young mathematician made me resolved to steal his golden trophy. I decided to steal it and throw it away into a place that a math genius like Brad could never find until he became too aged and feeble to hold a pencil. I grabbed the trophy and ran away from the classroom with unimaginable speed. Unfortunately, Brad and his parents, who were discussing Brad’s academic achievements with a headmaster, spotted a dark- faced Asian boy fleeting with a gleaming trophy clutched in his right hand. They immediately chased after me, and I ran for my life. I ran across a vast, green football field, sprinting as fast as possible so that old grumpy Brad’s parents and arrogant Brad could not catch up to me. However, their aspiration for getting that trophy was stronger than my antipathy towards Brad, and I was just about an inch away from them at a side walk in front of the school’s dunny. Suddenly, my right hand became loose due to vigorous chasing, and a golden trophy flew towards the path of a passing truck. “Crack!” The trophy broke into two, and I exclaimed “Yes!” for achieving my grand goal. Of course, I got caught immediately after the death of the trophy.

I had to spend all day in my headmaster’s office with my parents, enduring shouts and cries that were incontrovertibly louder than a sonic boom. Brad continued to stare at me, eyes full of detest and misery. In contrast, I stared at him with a benign, pleased look, an arrogant composure that a winner exhibits to a looser. Today, when I solve complicated math problems, Brad’s dismayed face and his golden trophy broken into bits often appear as fond reminiscence in front of my eyes.  It was a pleasing experience