내 일 수 업 있 어 요!!!

Translation : There's class tomorrow!

I dread going to class. I want more holiday! 2 weeks break was just not enough!

The shortest post.

Wanna read some book now.

Bye,

Kyle (will be posting some pics of my 압 산 hike soon...)

압 산 means "front" mountain, 압 is "front" while 산 is "mountain" in Korean

Dear Myself

Dear myself (and some people who is in front of the monitor right now - YOU!),

Hmmn... I wonder why sometimes my dreams are so far out of reach. The days when I can easily not think about tomorrow is just no more, gone years ago. Those days were fun, no competitions, no troubles, no worries... What a day it seemed to be. Those were the days where life was just like eating lollipops, no exact ways of really eating it, you can bite it off or you can even lick it till it's no more, sometimes even wrap it back then pass it to unsuspecting friend as a gift, "friendship gift". (LOL)

I am always curious about what will ever happened if I continued my studies in TAR College to be an accountant, which I did not (I quit after 3 months but luckily I was on full scholarship) and decided to continue with Form 6. Good. I took Form 6 and completed it, but somehow I had a lil' tinge of regret because I did not get the four flats that I am always "hoping" to get. I have dreams, everyone has dreams. So gone are my childhood dream. So, I obtained another scholarship. Fair enough. This time an overseas one. But somehow, I never felt anything special.

Sometimes, I believe opportunity does not come knocking on your door twice. You have to grasp it before it's gone. At times, I felt lonely, making decisions that will shape my future. I am afraid of my future because I do not want to make stupid mistakes like some people do - regret what they are doing after graduating. Some friends of mine wanted to be farmer. Wasted time, wasted dreams. I am not saying that being a farmer is bad. He wanted to be a plain old fashion farmer. God bless him. Hopefully, I wouldn't be seeing him on newspaper. I have no knowledge about farming or cow-herding but my intuition tells me that people with few cows/goats will never start a business or even call himself as farmer. How lame is his mindset. Hurray to another stupid-PFS-produced student.

Today is my second month overseas, I'm getting use to it already. But still I do feel a little homesick (Hopefully it's normal - or is it not?) usually at the end of month. In Korea, I am now able to converse on the phone (YAY! - finally!) with some strangers calling the wrong number. It's very simple actually. When this stranger called me, he/she will say "yo bo se yo (hello)" then continued with "Kim blah blah ee soh yo? (is Kim blah blah around?)" my reply, "ah-ne-yo (no) sil reh ji man nu ku ee seh yo? (excuse me but who are you?)" He/she replied "oh dee eh yo (where is him?)" then my reply is "Kim blah blah ob soh yo (he is not around)" If He/she is so busybody asking me this and that, at this stage, usually I'll get kinda pissed off. He/she (Talk-not-enough people) will ask "Where yo (Why?)" I will just switched to talking in English/영 어 (pronounced as yhong orh)... then he/she will definately stop calling or talking to me.

These days, I really so uncertain about myself in Korea. Part of me is hoping to get IPTA courses in Malaysia while another part of me wanted to continue studying here. Here in my dormitory, I have to say it's more comfortable compare to in Malaysia. I am in a twin-sharing room, air-conditioned (unlike Malaysia's university dorm), cosy and the washing machine is free to use (unlike in Malaysian dorm where you have to pay to use it) And most importantly, my allowance is also kinda enough (JPA sponsored students look at us with envy - our allowance is actually much more than them, HAHA) and I really do not even require a single sen from my parents back home. Nice. The other part of me feels that continuing my studies locally will be much better because I miss so many things back home (Not going to talk on this... :D). And I really hope to be back...

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

The Road Not Taken (by Robert Frost)

Hope to be back one day... Somehow, I don't think that if I continue my studies here, I will be able to go back this year (scholarship requirement-my ass) or even next year. Not very sure about anything now but what I am very sure is that I do take the route few people had taken. Which is sad actually. Being emo-ing today. Sorry. Have a nice day.


Best Regards,


카 일 (Kyle)

Vote for MU not MORE Elections

Malaysia from other people's views were downright unfavourable. Really. What appears on foreign newspaper(s) were all about negative things about our country.

Even the advertisment (tour package, etc) on newspaper doesnt include Malaysia. Mostly our northern and southern neighbours (Okay la, there's one, but only Johor Bahru!)

Sad.

The government seems to be more interested in getting more power and making news abroad (that potrays our country "nicely", I'm sarcastic here)

While the oppositions wanted more and more by-elections rather that get work done. Stupid. So ladies and gentlemen, next election... do vote for...







MU 2 - Barcelona 1 (really looking forward for the match, the finale)


p.s been really busy/lazy to blog these days.

Korean Language Exam

My Korean Language Level Exam was over today. Basically, this exam comprises listening skill, reading, writing, speaking and grammer.

And today, i am kinda disappointed. It seems (again) that my efforts to get good results in it doesn't pays off. It's like even though you have put so much effort in learning it, there are always someone that is better than you. Very disappointed actually.

My result were nothing to be boasted, i scored 19 over 25 in reading, others were a lil' more than half of the given percentage, lets say 27.5 over 40, some were 2/3 of the total marks but for writing paper, i have yet to know my result. However, this is not what that makes me *uhhm*. What makes me so upset is my speaking skill part. only a miserable 9 out of 30! Wow... what a record.

Usually, i speak only to the locals but mostly it's like "Ol ma ip ni ka? (how much is it)", "Yolk chon won... wah... bi sah yo... (6000 Won... wah, so expensive!)" and also my famous sentence starter "Ke ro mion (in that case)" but i never realise that the speaking part in exam included "Ji man (sentence connector)" "ji man" means "but". and i never use "but" when i speak with Koreans.

It was and still is tough learning Korean, really, everyone learn it in 2 months while us, the scholarship recipients learn it in only a month. Korean language is tough because there is so many rules when learning it, when we speak to old people, we use "jo nen (i)" but when we speak to friends, we have to use "nah nen (i)". It gets harder and harder as we progress.

Comparing with other languages, in the speaking part, i would say korean is tough. But in the complexity of the characters, chinese (mandarin) characters are complicated. And, korean "word" has so many meanings, example, "Jom" can mean " a little" and also "please".

Couldn't type in korean as i am using my laptop without any pre-installed korean language typing software, yet. Very sleepy too...

Lost in Jeonju/Seoul?

Seoul Subway.

View of Seoul from top.

Most beautiful place so far, Jeonju.

Jeonju from the top of hill.

Korean Government Scholars at KNU.

Though i went to Jeonju two weeks ago, i would say it was one of the most beautiful place in Korea other than busy Seoul so far. I had visited/travelled to Kyongju, Jeonju, Seoul, Daegu (my city... lol) and next on my list will be Busan and Jeju Island. Hopefully, i will be visiting Busan before next year.

But Jeju Island, it costs hell lots of money, so i am trying to "save" little by little.

Here are some pics of Jeonju and Seoul. Couldn't post many due to my urge to sleep (and it seems that i can only upload 5 photos in this post!), i studied from 8 pm till 2 am yesterday (or should i say today) Korean language was a tough nut to crack!

Have a nice day =)

Love, Friendship & Sacrifice

Language are meant to be used rather than be kept and used only in times of need. Since, there's nobody to speak to in english back here in Korea, i would say that my english proficiency has started to deteriorate. (Ahhh!!!)

From writing articles, stories, poems for my school magazine (PFS Mag Year 2004, 2008), back here, i do not have much opportunities to use it, but the best part is i can speak another foreign language (Korean) and this adds to my 5th languages (and dialect) that i can converse in (English, Malay, Chinese, Hokkien) but sometimes one could add another, Indo language as it's extremely similar to our Malaysian language.

Maybe i can also learn another foreign language here... Russian... lots of ready made "teachers"... lol...

This is my movie review for issue no 333, my review is Pearl Harbor, honestly, it was a very very touching movie, i would rate this movie as my 4th best after Dark Knight, Forest Gump and Titanic. For those people who are curious about "how on earth can i rate a movie as each and every person have their own preference and taste?" I would say, dear critics, my answer goes like this, "Yes, we have our own preference when watching a movie, maybe some likes action-packed or even romance type movies. But i believe, the best movies are movies that can touch you, touch you deeply and at the same time brings out the best of these actors/actresses.

Here's my review...

"Nobody would ever believe me (until they have seen it) that the greatest movie of all times is Pearl Harbor. It was a 2001 film yet it brought much values needed in a cinematography, a movie that tells us about the history and reminds us about the weaknesses of humans. True enough to the title of the movie, the story begins and ends with Pearl Harbor.

It’s a tale that centers two young boy and their phases to adulthood. Naive as they were, they have an enormous curiosity and interest in aviation. Their common interest in planes were seen when Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) and Danny Walker (Josh Harnett), both the main characters and childhood friends in the film, accidentally started a crop dusting plane and nearly killed themselves by doing so.

Then, fast forward, they were now adults and Rafe decided to do what that is best for his career – flying. He volunteered to fight the Nazis on the Western front under the Royal Air Force pretext because at that time America was still in peace time. But before he left for England, he had to undergo a check-up but his eyesight was not perfect enough to be accepted as a pilot. So he begged Evelyn Johnson (Kate Beckinsale), a nurse to allow him to pass the test so that he would be able to fulfil his dream of becoming a pilot.

Luckily for him, the nurse sympathised him and passed his check-up. Coincidences as it may seems, he met the nurse again and this was where they fell for each other. However, he was shot down in combat and was presumed to be killed-in-action only to return to find that his lover had fallen for another guy, his childhood friend, Danny.

The movie also briefly tells us a true aspect of what had happened before the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, the ignorance of defence preparation before the imminent strike by the Japanese. Race does not matter when defending the motherland, the blacks (which at that time were relegated to cooking jobs) courageously assisted in eliminating the enemies. At the same time, both Rafe and Danny after reconciling, they put their aviation training to good use by downing enemy’s planes.

Both of them show important values, they are willing to sacrifice their lives for the country and they are always there for one another when the going gets tougher. However, the movie is not a fairy tale as one of them gave his life to save another. This movie may or may not touch your heart but for me, it has imparted me with many values and offers a whole range of moral education, history and entertainment.


Kyle Tan Jin Soon (Department of Korean Language, Kyungpook National University)"

Spring in Korea (PART I)

This pic was taken last month, at the start of spring in Korea