About a month ago, an old student of mine sent me an unexpected e-mail. She reminded me that she took my course last winter, right before the COVID outbreak, and that the conversations we had in-between classes inspired her to achieve her goals: to be admitted into Law School. To share a bit more ab
How did you spend your winter break? I confess I spent a considerable amount of time on media content platforms watching TV shows, dramas, and movies. I assume many will empathize with me. With coronavirus confirmed cases spiking to more than 1,000 a day and the social distancing remaining at Level
Right after I graduated from high school, I was really looking forward to putting on makeup to be a ‘pretty’ university student. I watched a lot of videos of makeup artists on YouTube and learned how to do it. I was worried that I will be fat, and if I was not ‘pretty’. After I entered univer
When the world came face-to- face with the Covid19 crisis a year ago, we all had to quickly adjust to a “new normal” lifestyle. Among the many privileges that had to be placed on hold for the time being was the freedom to travel abroad. Many people enjoy traveling to a foreign country for dif
Scenario 1: Open an ice cream truck with siblingScenario 2: Found a cheese start-up with college roommatesScenario 3: Make and sell apple cider in the Korean countrysideScenario 4: Become a monkScenario 5: Get a more conventional office job Call it being dreamy, unrealistic or just plain naïve, but
Do you want to live a different life from the present in the future? Or, is there any part of you that you want to change? So, what kind of effort can you make for the future? Where does change begin? Where changes begin is your ‘PRESENT’.You must have certain patterns or habits that have formed in
The gravest threats facing most people in the world these days are not related to the danger of war, whether interstate or civil, but rather are linked to famine (hunger), pestilence (diseases and pandemics), disasters (both natural and manmade), and extreme poverty. These threats are also interrela
The year is coming to end as December is around the corner and carols are playing in cafes. It has been a hectic year with the novel coronavirus outbreak which completely changed the lives of people in the way one works and socializes. This brought a major social dilemma for college students, especi
Two Koreans have been chosen as TIME 100 most influential people of 2020. These were Jung Eunkyung, the “Virus hunter” who saved millions of Koreans from this unrealistic movielike-pandemic situation, and Bong Joon-ho, the filmmaker who always portraits the absurd reality in his films. Intere
Life is full of twists, turns, and traps. Navigating existence can be a frustrating endeavor. However, there is one way to ensure a smoother journey—it’s all about being specific! And here’s three scenarios where specificity can be your greatest ally.1. Get that JobYou’re interviewing for a r
Mask wearing during COVID-19 seems to have brought about a paradigm shift in makeup norms in Japan and Korea, the two leaders of the cosmetic industry. Whether or not people do makeup during this troubled time could unveil the motivations as well as rationale behind the application of makeup in the
We are suffering from a pandemic crisis. Like the name of the disease suggests, COVID-19 started last year. It will soon be a year since its outbreak. Every day, there are many new confirmed cases and the total number of reported infections rises continually all around the world. Unfortunatel
“Money can’t buy happiness.” This is a famous expression that we have always believed when growing up. We would have elders always reminding youngsters that there is a lot more to life than money. However, today, the world has become a place where humanity revolves around money.I agree that money do
I have a friend who works at a vegan restaurant as a chef. His restaurant sells Hawaiian pizza and mint chocolate icecream, all without the dairy and meat and whatever includes animal-derived ingredients. Frankly speaking, I’ve never been to his restaurant, but he tells me about incidents at
The first time I met my wife, I had just arrived as an exchange student from Germany at her university, UC San Diego. She asked what I studied, and when I replied her face took a slightly repulsed expression. As a physics major I had seen that look before and many times since. This response t
Sometimes, we become passionate for something in an unexpected way, just like the movie The Hobbit: An unexpected journey. This was exactly what happened to me during the long and stressful quarantine. It may seem paradoxical to get interested in something in such a difficult and hopeless time. But
I dont’t know how you remember 2016, but for me it was the year La La Land came out. This was back when Facebook was still in fashion – and my blue feed would fill up with friends posting their movie tickets and related merchandise. Some of the die-hard fans of American musical theater would go watc
Before I came to Seoul, my hometown was New York City, and I still pay attention to news from New York. These days the news makes me sad—not only is there the COVID-19 problem, but, also, New York seems to be experiencing an outbreak of gun murders and crime.This surprises me. Though New York, as Am
Waking up in the morning and checking the number of coronavirus cases in Korea and other countries has become part of one’s daily routine since the outbreak. Awaiting the regular 11 o’clock and 2 o’clock announcements by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hoping for new measures o
From stranger to savior. This is what philosophy is to me before and after the spring of 2020. The prejudice is that philosophy is an abstract farfletched topic. The prejudice is that philosophical pupils are those nested in their own cocoon, reading and thinking despite day or night. My personal jo