Similar to that of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), this Korean movie called Secret Couple (7급공무원), is also a story on a spy couple. Su Jee, disguised as a travel agent, is really a government spy with six years experience. She cannot reveal her real job as a spy to her boyfriend Jae Joon, however. After hearing continuous and impossible lies from his girlfriend, Jae Joon breaks up with her and leaves Korea to go aboard and study in Russia. In Su Jee’s point of view, obviously, this was such a heartbreaking “moment”!! Nonetheless, three years later, Jae Joon and Su Jee run into each other. Jae Joon was now an internationally certified accountant (but in truth, he had also became a spy as well). They both soon begin to have doubts on each other…

(FROM HERE, THIS MIGHT BE A SPOILER!!)

Well….it’s a happy ending. Really, the basic storyline is quite similar to that of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). Both Su Jee and Jae Joon find out that his/her boyfriend/girlfriend was a spy. Feeling betrayed, their relationship becomes worse than ever. Nonetheless, their feelings toward each other do not stop, and in the end, they go out again, working on a “top-secret” case together as a team. The movie is different from that of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), in that the movie, itself, is made in a Korean-style, in terms of showing Korean history, playing Korean idioms, sayings, swears (ahem) and so on. Already 400 million people in Korea had watched the movie so far, and number still increases and will increase more in the future.

Director: Shin Tae Ra
Writer: Chun Sung Il
Cast(s): Kim Ha Neul, Kang Ji Hwan, Jang Yeong Nam, Ryoo Seung Yong, Kang Shin Il, Lee Yu Su

Release Date: April 22, 2009
Country: South Korea
Official Site: www.secretcouple.co.kr
Distributor: Harimao Pictures
Genre: Action, Comedy
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 112 mins

(Here’s an English version of the movie’s summary)

(And…here’s the official movie-not translated)

On June 1st, 2009, AF447 plane that was heading to France, had disappeared after 30 minutes of its departure from Brazil. The plane carried 216 passengers and 12 crew; 126 were men and 82 were women. Moreover, several children and babies were on board as well. Out of these 228 people, many were from Brazil and France. However, there were also 20 people from Germany, 12 people from China and 1 person from S.Korea. According to the Air France CEO Pierre-Henry Gourgeon, the plane just suddenly disappeared from the radar. Some believe that the cause of this disappearance was due to lightening, storm, or thunder. Some even think that the plane went off to somewhere, like the storyline of the American drama series, Lost. Nobody really know the reason, though.

A day or so passed, and the Brazilian Navy proposed about how the debris of the plane were found within the Atlantic Ocean. However, they corrected themselves, by saying that what were thought to be the debris of the plane, were just sea “trash”, probably from a ship.

Interesting thing about this news, is that after an hour, another plane departed from Brazil and nothing happened to that plane – it safely landed to its right destination. Why did this happen, we all do not know. It is a mystery. Similar incidents had happened in the past as well, and people still cannot solve and come up with the reason why these terrible incidents had happened either.

Hopeless, the relatives of the missing passengers and crews do not know what to do right now. According to Jean-Louis Borloo, France’s transport minister, the relatives and friends of the AF447 victims “will be allowed to fly over the crash zone in the Atlantic”. The Air France source quoted that there was really no hope of survivors…All we should do now, is to pray to Lord and hope that everybody is safe somewhere and alive after all…

On 23rd of May, 2009, the former president of S.Korea past away. In miseries, some cried, and some even tried to commit suicides. Holding on to our yellow balloons, we, Koreans, all expressed our sorries for him and his family. Everything he had done, and everything he had accomplished in our country will be always remembered…

I totally agree that he was not always right. He did make some mistakes – everyone can make mistakes! During these past few weeks, the hidden secret of how our former president received a great amount of money from Park Yun Cha – a business man – through a secretary in the Blue House. Apparently, most of the money was sent to former President Noh’s son, who was studying in America. All of this happened just before President Noh resigned from his position. The “excited” media soon began to make up stories, and news on this subject. They criticized, mocked and humiliated him and his family. From then on, everything changed for our president. The peace that he had, was now destroyed and flew away into ashes.

The former President Noh was then summoned to come up to the court for an investigation. Soon, his son, his wife – the first lady – and even his daughter were summoned to the court. The media, the government, the comments on the internet all made President Noh to feel more stressful everyday. Although he bowed and said his true sorries to his people, everybody ignored his apologies and still criticized him on and on. And when he thought he could not handle it anymore…..he committed suicide.

His sudden death surprised everyone in the nation. The media, which once criticized President Noh on and on, now talked about how they were sorry for him. People who felt disgusted with what he had done, and wrote awful comments on the internet, also soon felt sorry for him. Now….as a person who neither criticized nor hated President Noh, I felt DISGUSTED with these people and the media.

Was this even possible? In my opinion, the media was absolutely all messed up. Everything all started with the media. Now, I do not go against with what the media did. The country is, after all, a democratic nation. The media does not need to be controlled by the government, nor does it have to say what the government want to say. However…this does not mean the media can attack on one specific person and his family consistently, and all of sudden act nice to them again. It’s about having a “heart”.

Maybe, I’m the only one who is thinking in this way, or maybe not. I truly feel sorry for what had happened to our former President Noh. He was truly a good president in my heart…

PROCRASTINATION – Spongebob Squarepants <3<3 (CLICK to WATCH!)

Yes,yes,yes…I’m procrastinating. Everybody, at least once, do procrastinate…right? According to dictionary.com, the word “procrastination” is about “delay or postpone action; put off doing something” and all that. Procrastinating can become a habit, and once it really does become a habit, life would get more tiring!! Today, instead of writing in 800 words on the topic “procrastination”, I just wanted to introduce my best friend, Spongebob and his “procrastinating” life, to you all. ENJOY!!!

Busy with APs, SATs, GPAs, finals, community services…I really needed to have a break. Well, just then, I heard about how my favorite Korean singer – Lee Seung Gi – was acting in this Korean drama, named “Brilliant Legacy”. To tell you the truth, my sole reason of watching this drama, at first, was because of Lee Seung Gi. However, as I watched the epsiodes one by one, I became to realize…that this drama was AWESOMEE!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, the storyline is this. Basically, it’s about 20 year old generation’s love and trials. Go Eun Sung, the female main character, has a similar life to that of Cinderella’s. After her father’s death, her step-mother kicks her out and literally takes away all of Eun Sung’s assets. This mean step-mother also secretly sends Eun Sung’s younger brother, Eun Woo, into an orphanage far away from the city, and does not tell about it to Eun Sung. Shocked, wretched and poor, Eun Sung works really hard to earn money and later, to become the owner of a Jin-Sung food enterprise. Sun Woo Hwan, the grandson of this company, soon falls in love with her.

This drama did not end yet. It is still playing on Saturday and Sunday at 10:00 pm, in S.Korea. I really recommend this drama to everyone! Although we kind of already know that it’s probably going to be a happy-ending, I think this drama is, for me at least, a show that is stress-relieving and fun at the same time!! XD

(Credits to Beatrice)

Recently, I watched a school play called “The Children’s Hour”. Since the title had the word “children”, I thought this

play was something that was got to do with children. Many children crowd marching in the street, fighting for something was just what I thought before I watched the play. HOWEVER, it was completely different that what I had expected. Yes, there were children, and the play’s setting was in a village-school. Still, the play was not about children, but rather more “mature” topic. Well, the play dealt with the plot about two young women who were accused of being “lesbians”. WOW. That was completely different. It was just, ABSOLUTELY unexpected topic!

Maybe that was why I was not sleeping unlike some people (ahem). When I realized what this play was getting to, I was just completely shocked that I seriously had “no time” to sleep or even blink my eyes. The play was fantastic with great actors. After the play, I went home and researched on it on the internet.

Well, here’s what I have found…

• The original version of the play was written in 1934 by Lillian Hellman.
• According to some resources, the play – due to the subject it was dealing with – was “banned” in Chicago, Boston, and London. Luckily, it was allowed in France with the new title – The Innocents.
• There are 2 movies based on this play: These Three (1936) and The Children’s Hour (1961). Both of them were directed by William Wyler. Actually, according to Wikipedia, the movie These Three (1936) was, due to the Production Code, the story was changed into a heterosexual love triangle.

I think, of all the school plays I watched so far, this one was the BEST!!! I hope to see more great plays in the future

Trailer for These Three (1936)

Trailer for The Children’s Hour (1961)

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children%27s_Hour_(play)#cite_note-eNotes-1

http://www.nyu.edu/classes/jeffreys/gaybway/gayhollywood/ChildrensHour.htm

“Gahh~~” Everybody shouted, screamed and were busy running away from these little, hardened balls that contained color paints. Yes, it is paintballing. Also known as “survival game”, this paintballing game is about shooting paintballs with some specialized guns. All individuals were dressed up in “safety” jackets, helmets, and hempen hoods. During the game, it somehow simulated the feeling of being at a “war”, for I felt this “fear” for a short time, when the members from other team hold guns toward me and coming closer and closer, before I was surrounded by bunch of boys threatening me to go “out”, or run away and get shoot. I chose the safer path; get out. I really had to do what they told me to do, for I was extremely appalled and feared for my dearrrr liffee!!! (Well, at least during “that” time.) Although there were some bruises, and scratches, everybody had a great time during our little “paintballing” party.

Yesterday, we had our 1st school festival – named, KISTIVAL!!!! Well, first of all, our school is called “Korea International School”, and that’s why it’s called “KISTIVAL”. The festival, supported by our school’s NHS and student council group, was a success!

Well, there were booths, talent shows, and fashion show. Everybody just had a great time! There were food  booths, “pop-the-balloon” booth, face-painting booth, “K-1″ and “electronic-guitar” game booth, casino booth, fundraiser booths, and “catch-the-mole” booth (where moles were actually some students)!!

Also, the best of all, we had a booth where we could throw water balloons at our teachers It was

ALL about “expressing our ‘LOVE’ for our teachers”, just like what our school director, Mr.Boerner, had mentioned that day! XD

We also had our mascot, Philbert, there as well! Isn’t he just so CUUUTTEEE!!!!! >0< LOL

(Thanks to Grace and Jina, for the photos!! ^^)

“You have about a month….” is what AP teachers are telling us these days. Now, when you think about it, a month is really not a “long” time. Really, this is getting on my nerves…Well, although I only have one AP this year, I am like…freaking out! Then, how would I “feel”, when I become a Junior, and take 2 AP courses as well as SAT I and SAT II?? OH NO NO NO NO…This is SOOO not happening to me. Well, I “trust” myself that I’m going to be fine, but there is just something in my head that keeps bugging me to get all anxious and make me difficult to concentrate on any of my studies. Moreover, the “high expectations” from my parents further make me to feel really “heavy”. Maybe this is just a “short-time” thing that happens to everybody, since AP exam is now getting closer. Well, I hope this feeling is going to “disappear” soon enough, so that I can actually concentrate and at least “relax” for a bit!!!

So…..I HEARD that chocolates are just GREAT for relieving your stress!! Thus, I’m actually going to make chocolates!!!! But first, I need the recipe…don’t you think so too? +0+

Chocolaty Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients:

–20 oz milk chocolate bars
–1 cup butter (not margarine)
–1 12 oz pack of semi-sweet chocolate chips
–4 cups sugar
–1 and 2/3 cup evaporated milk
–2 and ½ cups mini marshmallows
–2 tsp vanilla

Bring the sugar, milk, and marshmallows to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly (don’t scrap the sides of the pot). Boil for seven minutes. Meanwhile, combine the chocolate and butter in a bowl. When ready, pour the melted sugar mixture over the chocolate and stir.

Add the vanilla, then pour the fudge into two greased 9X13 inch pans. If you like, you can add extras at this stage: chocolate chips, nuts, toffee chunks, etc.

Source: (http://www.extremechocolate.com/absolutely-delicious-chocolate-fudge-recipes.html)

OR……you know what?? There’s another way to make chocolate fudges much more EASIER AND FASTER!! “It only requires 3 ingredients + a microwave, plus it can be thrown together in less than 5 minutes!” is what this guy in the video says!!! XP

check this out~

I felt and realized about many things by reading my friend Nathan’s blog. (http://nathancho11.edublogs.org/) In his blog, there was this short film called “Signs”, which was about a man’s life. In this short film, the man, named Jason, was just bored with his life. He did not know “why” or “what” was the purpose of him living in this world, for he just had enough with his continuous, on-going, repetitive daily cycle of waking up, eating, working, and sleeping. Furthermore, in his company, everyone was busy working. They were just working and working and working with their “stoned” faces. Everything seemed lame and just sad. However, things began to change in Jason’s life, when he met this random girl from other company through a “window”. He totally fell in love with her, and began to change; for example, he was “active” than before, and was now more “willing” to go to his work. At the near end of the film, there was this part where he wanted to “congratulate” the girl he loved, who was now promoted to a higher position in her job.

Here are some factors that seem important in this video…

1) The part where everything in life, is just repetitive and same.

2) The part where everyone in Jason’s company, is just so into his/her work; concentrating on only his/her life; don’t care about the others at all.

3) The part where Jason wanted to congratulate the girl, because she was now promoted in her job.

After reading Nathan’s blog, as well as the video, what I realized was that because of my on-going, and repetitive school life that is “the same” all the time, I forgot about my true characteristics and values. Everyday, I feel like I am helplessly swimming in a swamp of “exams”, “projects”, and “quizzes”. Moreover, because our school is so competitive, everyone is working their butts off (excuse my language) to get higher grades than others and go to good colleges. Because of this, when our friends seem to be getting better G.P.As and grades, we find ourselves becoming really jealous or reluctant about the fact that they are “better” than us. Thus, rather than “truly” congratulating them, we are just faking ourselves by smiling to them on the “outside” and frowning and being angry on the “inside”.

Due to the “intense” education environment that I am living in, I believe that I became one of those people who are just so blinded by their grades and all. I admit that I was jealous and such, when my friends got better grades than me and so on. This shows how much I forgot about my inner characteristics/morals of truly congratulating them, when they got awesome test scores and all.

I believe that there are more valuable things in our lives, other than our grades, GPAs, and test scores. The part of “enjoying” our school lives, is what everyone forgot about. Although it might seem really hard to actually “enjoy” ourselves, when we have exams, tests, projects, pop quizzes and all sorts everyday, we should at least “try”. Also, I believe that it’s not the end of the world, when we fail our tests, or get a bad grade on something. There’s ALWAYS next time to improve, so just please ENJOY and let’s have FUN with our highschool lives!! Now, this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try our best in everything though. We should ALWAYS try our best, but seriously, we shouldn’t get upset about getting bad scores/grades. We tried our best, right? Then, that’s enough. We shouldn’t regret about them. That’s all.

P.S. I LOVED this short film!! It was FANTABULOUS!!! To tell you the truth, this is WAY better than some HOLLYWOOD movies… -_-