Environmental Perspective:9/26/2012

Time: 9:30

Water temp:N/A

Air Temp:66.8 F

67% humidity

756.7 mm/mercury

Weather: Mostly Clear

General Experience: Change in Perspective…

Even though I have attended KIS for many many many years, this was my first time going down to the Tancheon river. Honestly speaking, I HATE getting wet. I feel like an outsider in nature and I always imagine the insects and scary animals when I think of nature.  However, it was not that bad today. I feel like I actually over came the HATE of rivers and waters today. There was something more to just stepping into the water and hating the feeling of my wet shoes. I actually thought the water was very clean and well preserved. In my neighborhood, I am  not able to find any decent river. The Han River is very close by, but they are dirty. Extremely dirty. From here, I built a stereotype that all rivers are dirty and that I should not go into them. However, Tancheon was different. It provided me a totally different experience. I was able to interact(?) in some way with the small fishes and I even tried to touch the leeches and insects I would normally never touch. The feeling of stepping into the water was refreshing. At first it was cold and awkward but as I walked towards the bridge with my partner, I had a lot of fun. Also, I think I was able to interact with my classmates much more easily. After today’s experience, I feel like I would embrace nature much more. Like Mr. Boyce said I am a “part of nature” and what I eat or use for granted mostly comes from our nature. Therefore, I should embrace my nature, interact with nature, and thank them for all the things they provide me. I am actually looking forward to our next perspective field trip.

Animals? Insects?Plants?

Green Green Green. When we walked down to the Tancheon River, I saw a lot of greens. Apart from all the grey, black, silver around us all the time, I was able to see a lot of greens. Fungus in the river, grass, plants, etc. It was amazing how this type of nature was preserved in the midst of this busy city. The biggest animals I saw was fish and pigeons. It was hard to believe that fish were actually living in that river! The leeches on the rocks were amazing as well. The leeches were small at one moment and long in the other. It was so cool! I have never seen a leech that would elongate and shorten its body constantly. It reminded me of the parasite in the Korean movie Enraged. It was scary but very cool. The slimy feeling of the leech was disgusting, but I think I overcame my fear of sliminess after I touched it. After all, I am the one that is bigger than them so I should not be scared of them.

As the year goes by I think I would really appreciate the environmental perspective sessions. People should not forget this:

NO FLIP FLOPS AND JEANS!:) YES Sneakers and Shorts!

ENERGY ENERGY ENERGY!

Through out the course of the semester, I encountered this term called

“forms of energy”

But there were so many different complexed explanations. Therefore I am going to sum this up in the simplest, more comprehendible way possible. There are many different “forms” of energy. In general forms of energy is defined by the number of different ways an object or something can receive energy.

In general there are two big forms of energy and under each of them there are different sub-categories of energy.

1) Potential: energy in a non-moving object or thing.

• chemical- energy in bonds of atoms and molecules (i.e. batteries)
• mechanical- energy stored in objects that contain tension (i.e. rubberbands)
• nuclear- energy in the nucleus of an atom (i.e fission and fusion)
• gravity- energy formed because of the height of an object (i.e. hydropower)

2) Kinetic: energy in a moving object or thing

• radiant- electromagnetic energy that travels in transverse waved (i.e. sunshine)
• thermal- vibration and movement of atom within a substance. HEAT (i.e. geothermal energy)
• motion- energy stored in a moving object (i.e. car crash)
• sound- movement of energy through longitudinal waves (i.e. music)
• electrical- tiny charged particles called electrons (i.e. lightning)

**Potential Energy and Kinetic energy have an inversely proportionate relationship. For example, when a skier is skiing downhill potential energy would be lost and kinetic energy would be gained. When the skier is skiing uphill, the potential energy would be gained and kinetic energy would be lost. A pendulum is also a great example. When the pendulum is at its highest point, the kinetic energy is zero and the potential energy is at its maximum. At the lowest point of the pendulum, the potential energy and kinetic energy is equal.

**How is Energy Transferred?

Energy is transferred in three different ways: Conduction, Convection, and Radiation.

1. Conduction is the transfer of energy by direct contact of two different objects. Good conductors tend to be metal and wood are bad conductors. Good conductors bring heat much more effectively than bad conductors. Insulators is the term for bad conductors.
2. Convection is the transfer of energy in solid and moving fluids. Convection currents of the Earth is a good example. Hot air rises and cold air falls. This process causes the convection currents in the Earth.
3. Radiation is the transfer of energy through the electromagnetic spectrum. Sunlight travels to the Earth by radiation.

Energy Transformations: 

A certain form of energy can be transformed into another form of energy. Potential energy to kinetic energy is one example. During explosions, kinetic energy tend to turn into thermal energy as well. Without us really seeing this transformation, these changes are constantly being made.

Law of Conservation of Mass: energy can be created or transformed but never be destroyed.

We are able to conclude that energy is NEVER destroyed completely. It would alter into another form of energy.

 

Environmental Perspective: 9/4/2012

“Live simply, so others may simply live.” – Ghandi

What do I want? What do I need? I feel that people around us feel that they “need” a lot of things when we really can live with out it. What we essentially really need is water, food, and some oxygen just to survive. There are so many people out there who can’t simply stay alive because they don’t have food and water. We have a lot of “wants”. We want something every day, I think. When we take things we have for granted, I think, we start to want something that we really do not need. For those people out there who are hungry, what we want right now might not even be an option. They would just want to survive one more day. If I was to live simply as possible, one or even two more people some where on this globe would live one more day as well. Living simply for us can start from the most basic areas. Maybe we can try to cut down on the amount of meat we eat every week. Instead of eating meat every single day, by decreasing a little bit we can help a lot. Rather than getting too much food on your plate and throwing them away, we could get small portions and not throw away the left over food. Small contributions like this can really help other people around the world. Maybe we would all feel full of joy one day because every one in this world would be happy. For us, who are very lucky, should not take things for granted and give thanks for things we have by helping others. Baby steps mean big steps. 🙂

Environmental Perspective: Day 1 (8/17/2012)

Temperature:26.7 C

Cloudy

80% humidity

1013hPa Pressure

I usually hate going into the woods, but I used to love it back in the states. I do not know why I started to hate the environment. Maybe it was because I stopped doing it and it feels weird to go up there now. We discuseed issues on human impact on the environment. At first only the obvious ideas came to mind. Construction, pollution, and etc. At the end of my thought I found out something very ironic. Hundreds of years ago my house, school, and everything else should have been a part of nature. However, people started to build “stuff” by destroying nature for a better life. They built houses for safer shelters, barns for better livestock and much more. But now, we are endangering ourselves because this development has gone too far. People now take for granted all the things our nature gives us. Humans unconsciously are abusing themselves by abusing nature. When I went up there, even though I got a lot of bug bites I felt the need to preserve our nature. By preserving the nature that is left on this Earth we are helping ourselves as well. After all, we come from nature and because the nature gives us so much we should do them a favor as well. 🙂

STAY HOT: CLASS OF 2013

School year 2010-11 is finally close to coming to an end. I still have a lot of tests to take before I finish this year but I am still very glad to be done with this year! I would rate this year as one of the best school years I have ever spend in my life! It was by far the AWESOME year. Now I can not believe that I am going to be a junior and also one step closer to graduating high school. This is unbelievable. I am writing this blog post just amazed that we are almost close to an end. I will miss so many things that I had this year and I believe that a year like this would never come back. This year was just a box to goodies for me. Full of joy and love with my peers because I shared so many memories with them, met great people, and learned a lot of new things. Things may include lessons that would help me soar through out my life. I would miss this group of people so much through summer (even though summer is MEGA short). I am planning to visit Hong Kong this year for the second time and I am  not sure if any of my peers are going to hop on the plane for a little rest. I hope you all take a rest and go on a vacation with your family and not just stay at home and study for your SAT’s (not saying this is not important). A little vacation may actually boost your energy up when you are studying! I am giving you all a KUDOS for ending this year and I hope to see you next year all nice and ready for junior year. CIAO!!

Hello Denim?

It is time to say hello to Denim. Denim, according to dictionary definition, is a sturdy cotton twill fabric used for jeans. Jeans are always around. Every season at least one person in my school classroom is wearing jeans. They are obviously one of the long lasting fashion trends alive. However, the blue denims do not always come back every season. This spring summer season blue denim is the “it” item. Overalls, shirts, dresses, accessories, and etc there are so many items that are made out of jeans. And of course many celebrities top their look with denims. You know us teenagers always copy the “looks” celebrities wear. A lot of people consider jeans at casual or sometimes uncomfortable. However, the denims out this season show so many different styles. They can be feminine, cute, casual, and even tom boy like. With a few cute accessories you would be able to find perfection in your summer looks this season.

Alexa’s denim playsuit look is my favorite so far. I love the way she matched this playsuit with the simplest accessories possible. And once again I feel denim looks best with white shirts or t-shirts.

This look is an example of a bad denim look. Jessica Simpson’s clog with denim look was perfect until she matched a yellow shirt underneath her denim shirt. The look does not compliment the denim but emphasizes her yellow shirt. She could have matched a black t-shirt inside instead.

Tips to TOP your Denim look

1) match is with a white shirt or white t-shirt

2) sneakers

3) bold accessories

Likfe Alexa and Jessica there are ways you can top your denim look and fail your denim look. I hope all you readers can be the ones who can top your denim look on the street!

TrendyExercise:Biking

These days I see a lot of people in the city riding bikes around. My mom is one of them. She is the type of woman who just can not stay still. She always has to do something to keep herself fit. These days it seems like she is into riding her bicycle! I’ve seen a lot of paparazzi cuts on stars out on a bike ride and I just thought that was possible because they were in the states and not in Korea. However, I noticed that Korea is providing people a lot more places to cycle unlike my expectations. They have divided the pedestrian streets into two making a biking lane and also the Han River has constructed beautiful corses along the river where we can bike! This is really awesome. Korea is actually becoming greener as biking is becoming a boom. I noticed that biking is environmentally friendly but also it helps you keep your body fit as well. A lot of Korean celebrities say that they keep themselves fit by riding their bike where ever they go. I personally was also amazed by how fashionable you can be while riding a bike. I personally love people who wear a white t shirt with jean shorts. This is a very easy every day wear but you can look natural and chic.

I absolutely was amazed my Olivia Palermo’s fashion on her bike. She was stunning. She matched a simple black shirt with black shorts. This simple fashion is natural, feminine, and chic. Plus thay Birkin bag added another boost to her look. Like Olivia, there are so many ways to top you biking look. But don’t forget sunglasses are a must item for biking!:) Hope you guys would enjoy biking this summer! Ciao!

Botox and Eight

What do you think of when you hear the word “botox” and the number “eight”? These two words are very hard to be paired up. However, I was very shocked to see a news on my iphone this morning. There was an article about a mother giving her 8-year old daughter botox shots. I’ve heard a lot of adults who get botox and say that botox is very effective in making them look younger or prettier. I believe that people who try their best to make themselves look better is a good thing. On the other hand I believe that having botox shots in a very young age would be bad for you and is not really recommended because faces grow as people grow up too. Having botox shots would not be good for growth. It is known that the mother has lost custody of her daughter recently. I personally believe that this is a good decision because if I had a mother who injected botox to me I would be scared. And it is maltreatment. What do you guys think? Would you be happy if you had a mother you injected botox for you? I think I would grow up to either become a beauty obsessed individual or a person who has fear towards making themselves beautiful. Either one of them are too extreme. I would like to become a person who can balance natural beauty and artificial beauty. Is the mother giving her daughter botox because she wants to pressure her daughter to become prettier? She believes her daughter is not pretty enough? How is that a mother? All the mothers around me believe that their daughter is pretty the way they are because they look at their daughter’s inner beauty. I believe that this mother should learn that physical beauty is not everything from this experience. This is too harsh for her. I think all those so called “pageant moms” are insane. I hope they consider their health as much as they care about the “lines on their face”.

YOUR CONCEPT?

Are you one of those people who love to spray perfume and feel confident when you spray perfume? I am one of the perfume maniacs. This week I was surfing on the web and I found this awesome website. It is a website called “blood concept”, originated in Italy. This perfume company’s theme are blood types. There are four main blood types we know: A, AB,B,O. Each of the four blood types have their own scent. The design of the perfume bottles are very unique. Unlike other perfume bottles that are often made of glass and have pretty designs on it this perfume has a very simple box and is just indicated with the type of blood type. Aromatic, Woody, Mineral, and Leather scented according to A, AB,B,O blood types. The website indicates what scent is added to the formula so it is very easy to assume what type of smell your perfume would be.  This perfume is only 40mL. It is not as big as other perfumes. I bet this perfume has the most unique scent and no one around you would have this scent. The price of this perfume is not exactly stated on the website and yet I did not find any shops that sell this. For further details please visit bloodconcept.com

WHOA!

Critically that girl over there looks pretty flattering. She is stylish. BUT honestly, please. Do you like those pants? I mean when I first saw those pair of wide pants I was surprised. I am personally not a big fan of wide pants. I remember myself refusing to wear flared jeans when it was the biggest trend a few years ago. I don’t really understand myself because I am usually a person who dies to be in trend and follow the most “it” way to dress. This made me think why I don’t like wide trouser pants… First of all, they are trouser pants. The word trouser makes me feel uncomfortable with it. Too formal for me. Second of all, unless you are skinny wide pants do not look good for you. At least thats what I think about wide pants. If your thighs are about of burst out of your pants and your calves are so lose, it looks too awkward. So let’s say you bought the pants few sizes bigger than your original size, then imagine how your waist would not fit. These pair of wide pants are hypocritically made for skinny girls around the world. Maybe those skinny girls out their deserve to have their own customized pants that only flatters their type of body. This was why I think wide trouser pants suck for me. Since they are back in trend this season, I guess I would have to be the untrendy one because I can not bare myself wearing those pair of pants. Do you guys want to try? or do any of you agree with me?