My Speech About Jamaica - "Yamma, Yamma!!"

Last Saturday, we had a speech contest. I participated in the speech contest and my speech was about what I have learned and experienced in Jamaica. I was very nervous until I finished my speech. It's a relief that I didn't forget anything during my speech. The first word that I said in my speech was " Yamma, Yamma" and I think this was very memorable for everyone who listened to my speech because almost everyone, even teachers especially Mr. Crawford, says "Yamma, Yamma" whenever they see me. The following behind is my speech script!

"Yam ma, Yam ma." You guys probably think it is Korean, but no. This is a Jamaican word that I always say whenever my little brother spills water on my desk, whenever my homework files are gone, and whenever I go to Jamaica.

From traveling many different countries, I learned much about other countries and their cultures especially about Jamaica which affected me positively. After going to Jamaica I became optimistic. Whenever a bad situation happens, I repeat "Yam ma, Yam ma" which means no problem in Jamaican. The influence and information we get while traveling is why it is think this is very meaningful and important for everyone.

Does everyone know when Jamaica gained independence? It was August 6th, 1962. It was quite late, and Jamaica is still known as a poor country.  When it comes to wealth, Jamaica is a land of extremes. It's hard to believe, but on the northern coast, which is the home to tourism, and in the suburbs of Kingston, wealthy Jamaicans live in first-rate housing, visit shopping centers featuring the best imported goods, and enjoy an elevated standard of living. Yet, not far from these wealthy places a significant number of poor Jamaicans live in squalor, with poor housing, limited food supply, and inadequate access to clean water. People in living in different parts of Jamaica have a totally contrasting life.

What would be the major factors that led Jamaica to poverty? They are slavery and colonization. Jamaica was once a colony of the United Kingdom. Most countries, even Korea depended on religions to overcome the difficulties in the past. Religion takes a big role and whenever we go up to some mountains in Korea and look down, churches are one of the prominent sights visible from there. Most people believe that Korea has the most churches due to these common appearances of churches, but that is not the truth. Jamaica is where there are the most churches in the whole world. The religion Jamaica used to overcome difficulties is Christianity. The Christian faith gained credibility as time passed by and now it is the largest religion practiced in Jamaica. As a result, there are over 1,600 churches all over Jamaica and that number is growing. It's even recorded in Guinness Book of World Records.

In addition, Jamaica needed a railway to deliver lots of resources to the United Kingdom. Jamaica was the first country in the Western world to construct a railway, even before the United States! I was very surprised by this fact.

Does everyone know what GDP is? It means Gross Domestic Product. By just comparing the GDP of Jamaica and Korea, we can noticeably see that Jamaica is much poorer than Korea.

But which country do you think is wealthier in mind? Jamaica is suffering poverty, while Korea is developing and becoming one of the technologically strongest countries in the whole world. Some people might think development and technology is the major factor that decides the happiness of people, but that is not true. People in Korea compete with each other and get stress from all the work they have to do. However, despite their poor environment, Jamaican people are the wealthiest in mind. They always say "Yam ma, Yam ma", no problem, even to tourists from other places of the world. Once in Jamaica, a waitress spilt root bear on my shirt. I was very unpleasant about it, for one of my dislikes is root bear. Although I was kind of angry, I tried to smile but then the waitress irritated me more. She was repeating some kind of word in a language that I couldn't even understand!! Later on, she told me that it meant no problem in Jamaican. Jamaica is etched in my memory as a pleasant place, due to its optimistic people.

As you can see, traveling helped me learn more about Jamaica and be influenced positively, becoming more optimistic. I personally think this is the reason why traveling is so important. I hope everyone gains many things from traveling and also, I hope the many teachers in KMLA gain a lot from staying in Korea. Thank you for listening to my speech.

THB Juveniles Who Commit Serious Crimes Should Be Tried As Adults

THB Juveniles Who Commit Serious Crimes Should Be Tried As Adults


I strongly believe that juveniles who commit serious crimnes should be tried as adults. There are several reasons why.


First of all, juvenile crimes are serious and so they need adult punishment. The rate of murders by kids has indeed been skyrocketing across the country. According to the National Crime Analysis Project of Northeastern University in Massachusetts, the number of 17-year-olds arrested for murder climbed 121 per cent in the latter half of the '80s; the number of 16-year-olds by 158 per cent; and the number of 15-year-olds by 217 per cent." Juvenile courts do not have the strong systems that are appropriate for the juveniles who commit serious crimes. The primary purpose of a justice is the prevention of crime and the protection of the innocent. It is to achieve these purposes that children should not be entitled to lenient punishment. The purposes of punishment are proportional retribution, deterrence and prevention of crime. Rehabilitation should at best be a secondary aim.


Furthermore, adult crimial system can help protecting the society. Adult criminal system helps protect the society from dangerous delinquents, because it keeps them locked up in prisons for a longer period of time, thus increasing the chance of their reformation. These systems work, same for the juveniles who commit serious crimes. Concern is growing as juveniles are becoming more violent and delinquent in their actions. Our motion, which is juveniles who commit serious crimes. They need harsh punishment, and we have to keep them in prison, giving them opportunities to reformate and rehabilitate. The adult criminal systems not only provide appropriate systems for juveniles but also provides protection of the society.


Finally, juveniles are punished too mildly in juvenile courts. Two years in prison for murder are ridiculous, not to mention that young criminals do not even get a criminal record. Crime is always a crime, consequences are always the same. No matter the exact age of the criminal, certain damage cannot be undone. Victims and their families do carry the consequences, therefore is just that the offender gets punished appropriately, based not on age, but the severity of the crime.


For these reasons, I strongly believe that juveniles who commit serious crimes should be tried as adults.

January 18th, 2011

I think I am doing so much writing today. I wrote flow charts in debate class, analysis of characters in history class, essays and short stories in writing class, letters to the teachers in our school, and many more. Ah, I have so many things to do! I didn't even finish my history presentation even though it's due until Thursday. I have to focus on my history presentation, for my grades went really down compared to my first presentation grade. Also, I am very worried with my speech. I included many new facts and information. I worked with Julie and Jooyoung at the cafeteria for about 30 minutes and revised my speech. I feel like I'm getting further and further as I get suggestions and revise my speech. At first, I started with experience in France, Switzerland and Jamaica, after, only about Jamaica, and then suddenly about churches and railways, the optimistic people in Jamaica, and now I am talking about the poverty of Jamaica. I have to link it to my topic which is 'experience in Jamaica.' I also have to send a letter to my homeroom teacher and it was lucky for me that he is an English teacher. I hope the letter disappears.

January 14th, 2011

Today we went to Mr.Ganse's house. We made pasta, salad, ice-cream and pound cake. Mr.Ganse has his own unique personal taste. It's unique and good. It was a satisfying meal and I was too full to eat lunch. The salad was composed of spinach, meat, walnut, peach and vinegar. Ice cream was delicious!! It's not because it's something that we didn't make.. Mr.Ganse poured some liquid, my classmates say it's wine, and it was very delicious. There was also melted bananas as a side dish. The poundcake was really great. I made it together with Sunwoo and Jooyoung. Making it was fun, eating was much more fun. It was a great experience, chemical experience, I think Mr.Ganse has said.

First person narrative - "The Torture"

Now that I have finished writing on the second and third person perspective, I would like to try writing in a first person perspective. This short story is about the torture that I get during winter vacation and obviously, it is written in a first person perspective.
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      I was in my room reading a totally boring book that my mom forced me to read. I was about to fall in sleep and my mom suddenly came into my room.
"Don't sleep!!!" Mom screamed loudly. There was no way I would be able to sleep in that loud noise.
"Concentrate on the book. I prepared a quiz about that book." She said, opening the window.
"It's freezing! Close the window." I said, staring at my mom. Mom just ignored me and went out of my room. I wanted to close the window, but I was too lazy to get up from my sweet bed and close it. I threw the book away, putting my earphones into my ears. The only thing I wanted to hear was the new song that TVXQ sang. I turned up the volume to 20 and closed my eyes. Oh, mom, mom, mom. She won't let me have some free time, even in winter vacation!! This is ridiculous. Why do I have to read that boring book? No way, I'm not reading that. As time flowed, I fell into sleep. I noticed that I am dreaming, for I am suddenly in school and the teacher is scolding me for doing my homework. This dream is totally nonsense. And somebody is calling me.. Who is it?
"Julie, Julie!!!" a voice shouted. I could hear someone calling for me but I couldn't know who was calling me.
"Julie!!! If you don't wake up.." the voice warned me. Wake up? If I don't wake up..
"Ouch!!" I screamed, opening my eyes. I was awake, not dreaming that weird dream.

"I told you to focus on the book, Julie. I warned you ten minutes ago and you are sleeping?! You are in big trouble, young lady." My mom said angrily. When my mom gets angry, she is terrifying. She must be the scariest mother in the whole world. Nobody else can be more terrifying than my mother. That day, I was forced to read that boring book that is just expensive with no reason and take three tests that my mother made. It was such a torture, and my little brother made fun of me while watching cartoons on television. I'm going to torture him next time, forcing him to read this book. I'm planning to make much harder tests for him.

Ode to Banana

Dear banana,


O, banana you are so shiny and sweet
how you melt softly in my mouth
Whenever I see you in the cafeteria
I cannot stop my hands from reaching you


O, banana you are so soft and nice
whenever I eat you
you make me feel like I'm in heaven
you give me energy in my gloomy life
nothing else can make me feel so wonderful


O, banana you are so long and skinny
I feel envious when I peel you
I wish my legs were that long and skinny just like you
it's possible for you to try being a fashion model


O, banana you are so handsome
how your lovely yellow coat shines in the sunlight
As I said, you will be a fantastic fashion model
with your lovely yellow coat


O, banana you are so wealthy
the numerous vitamins you contain
how people have desire to obtain those vitamins


O, banana you are so kind
sacrificing yourself for the pleasure of people
that's not an easy thing to do
oh, how kind of you to sacrifice for us

With love,

Julie.

Compare and Contrast Essay - "Out My Window"

      From the website, Highrise, I watched three short videos about Benoit, who is living in Montreal, Canada. Benoit is a man who is working as a pastry chef at a place named Cremino. After watching these videos, I realized some things that was different or same from the life I am having. I would like to compare and contrast the life of Benoit with mine.
      Benoit is a man working at a pastry shop, living in Montreal. He enjoyed cooking since he was young. The opportunity for him to work at Cremino came when he came out for dessert at Cremino and asked the manager, "I am an intern in pastry making. Do you have any space for me?" The manager accepted him and he have worked there since then. Something that interests him is that he learns a lot. He doesn't necessarily do the same things, because what he learned is French pastry. There are small differences because the others are Lebanese.
      The area is mostly Lebanese and he is a Quebecer and he doesn't speak Arabic so that was
one of the hard things when he was young. It's both a good and a bad thing because it makes
him open-minded, because he has many cultures around. His best friends are all from different backgrounds. That's something really special. He doesn't know if it helped him with languages, but in Arabic, he does know some basic words so he can get by in a conversation with some basic words. Kids that speak the same languages make a group together and then since you don't speak that same language...He even tried. He wanted to learn Arabic in middle school, but they didn't want him to. They were saying he was too far behind. He guess they thought it was too complicated for a child.
      The major thing that he sees out of his window is a highway. What he see the most is Highway 15 North, a highway that people who finish work and go back home use frequently. But his wife does not need to use it because she use public transit such as the bus, train and metro. This way, they can meet their neighbours and get to talk a little more. Also, there are penthouses on the top floor of a building, not too big, but perfect for them. From there, they can see a buliding across the highway that had been recognized as being the nicest in Ville St Laurent. They "were" the nicest. Having outdoor pools, indoor parking. But that building deteriorated over the years; not sure if it was sold to different companies. One promoter decided to buy, and the city also got involved because rats(kind of like a swindler) got in. They couldn't be renovated; they had to be demolished. It's lucky that there is a highway that separates them. It's just enough so the "rats" didn't come on their side! The highway did a meaningful thing, blocking the "rats" coming over to their side and that is the major thing they see out of their window.
      Benoit, who liked cooking has a very different but kind of similar characteristics from me. First, about cooking. As I already mentioned, Benoit liked cooking since he was young and he is working as a pastry chef. However, I really do not enjoy cooking. I am not that skilled in it and I especially dislike the whole mess that I have to clean up after cooking. I would never have a job that relates to cooking. Even though I do not enjoy cooking, I do like tasting new foods. It would be a good team, me and Benoit, one cooking delightfully and one enjoying the tasty meals.
      Also, Benoit realizes and feels some differences from himself and the environment he is living in. The area is mostly Lebanese while he is a Quebecer. He feels that differences from pastry and the languages that others are using. Differences from pastry was okay, but language made him to have a hard time.He tried to learn Arabic, but the school denied. They thought that he was far behind. On the other hand, I do not feel any differences from the environment that I am living in. Everyone around my hometown is speaking in Korean, and even if it is English, everyone will be able to communicate for English became an important language that requires people to get a basic education about it. Also, I do not feel any cultural differences. We are all Koreans. No Arabic, no quebecers, just Koreans and most of them have spent their life only in Seoul, which is my hometown. There are some differences in characteristics, but no other differences.
      Benoit sees highways out of his window, while I see the gardens, playgrounds, supermarkets and many other things of our apartment. It is impossible for me to see highways from my window. I can see a lot of people walking around, chatting, playing baseball, and enjoying their quality time rather than cars heading for their homes. I personally think that watching people is much more interesting that watching cars. And most importantly, I can keep an eye on my little brother whenever he goes out to play.
      By watching these videos of Benoit, I was able to compare and contrast Benoit and me. There was some things in common, but mostly, Benoit and me are different in many ways. It was interesting to know how other people are living in a totally different place, doing a different things, and seeing totally contrasting sights from me.