Monthly TOEFL Essay #1: intimate affection among people - 'Jung'
In this fast-moving modern society, more
and more people are focusing on their own works, being indifferent to what
others do, and eventually, becoming individualistic. The measure of this
phenomenon has become so severe that it is even shown in terms of social
problems, such as NIMBY phenomenon, and influencing our society very
negatively. Concerning this current status quo, it is undeniable that there are
a number of distinct customs that represent Korea, I personally believe that
Korea’s ‘Jung’ custom, the intimate affection between people, is the one that
is worthy enough to be respected most, and most appropriate to introduce to
other countries. There are mainly two following ways that ‘Jung’ gives
advantages to our society: mutual help between people and solidarity.
.jpg)
To start with, ‘Jung’ custom, by which
people tend to help each other and be sympathetic to other people’s
difficulties, is truly advantages to our society. As a matter of fact, helping
others was conventional action that was frequently shown in our history.
Gyeongju Choi’s family is representative case that reveals how Koreans have
performed good deeds to others for a long time. Following the motto, ‘Concealed
properties always rot’, the family donated huge amount of foods and money that
they had whenever lives of the public became arduous, which helped a large
number of people to endure and sustain their lives. Even though long time has
passed after the family disappeared, the mercy and the good deeds that the family
showed are still respected nowadays, and regarded as the optimal model that the
rich should follow. Like this, Koreans traditionally kept ‘Jung’ custom by
helping each other and going altogether, which benefited overall society rather
than being partial.
.jpg)
In addition, ‘Jung’ custom usually leads to
unification among social members. Generally, when people stay on
individualistic attitude without caring others, they are subject to be
disintegrated and make discord even if they face urgent situations. On the
contrary, when respecting and understanding others become customary throughout
the society based on ‘Jung’ custom, there is much more high possibility that people
cooperate, and each member put lots of effort on finding rational solutions for
the total community. To be more illustrative, during 2002 Korea Japan World
Cup, Koreans showed dynamic cheering culture, which had not been emerged in
former World Cups. Thousands of Koreans gathered on squares in front of huge
screens broadcasting soccer matches, and they all shouted for team Korea’s
victory, calling themselves ‘Red Devils’. Thanks to the enthusiastic support of
people, team Korea was able to be placed on the fourth, first time ever among
Asian countries. From this example, I apparently learned that ‘Jung’ custom is
the fundamental factor for solidarity of the public, and it ultimately leads to
significant improvement of the society in long term.
As aforementioned, ‘Jung’ custom of Korea
contributes to not only close mutual interaction between people, but also to
unification of the society. In this society in which people are getting more
and more cynical and self-minded, I strongly insist that ‘Jung’ custom
definitely can be one of the most efficient methods to achieve better future.
Ice breaking - Who am I?
Hi everyone!!~ :)
My name is Kyungmin Kim (B) (There is one more Kyungmin in KMLA, so you need to check 'B' to be sure), or you can just call me Jim.
'Alea lacta est', spoken by Julius Caesar, is the quote that I was mostly impressed. This cliche can be translated into English as 'The dice of my life is cast.', which is often used to show the attitude to have when he or she deals with new things. Similarly, I found that this quote represents exactly same situation that I am currently facing in KMLA, unfamiliar, but extremely crucial, so I simply thought that it is most appropriate for the title of my blog.
Where should I start first........well........I am quite an optimistic and outgoing person who usually tries to deal with problems that I face positively as much as possible. It is true that nowadays these difficulties are getting harder and harder as I started my high school life in KMLA, but I hope that it will soon be better as time passes. I truly wish to build close relationships with all of you. :D
To introduce more about myself, I am into history and social studies. When I was young, I really loved drawing maps, especially subway maps, and spent most of my vacant time on getting information about other countries. Also, when I lived in China, my family traveled A LOT, usually to historical sites like the birthplace of the Confucianism or remains of city of Koguryo Dynasty, which made me automatically more interested in history. Not only this, these days, I am really attracted by society-related aspects such as the principle of the emergence of cities or interaction between distinct communities, so I am thinking of taking human geography class from next semester. As you can see, I do not have specific interest that I am solely amazed to yet, but I believe taking some time and undergoing lots of experience in KMLA would be better rather than being hasty.
So this was basically a brief introduction of myself, and if you have any more questions about me, please post comments and freely ask!! Again, as dice is cast, let us try hard and enjoy our frosh year in KMLA altogether~
.jpg)
