Obsession of Names in Korea

I guess this is the trend.
Looking at my friends' blogs, I realized that I was the only one not talking about college. And here I am again, pressured or influenced by others, to write about college preparation.

I never felt the pressure of going to college. I am quite a laid back person and a person who is a little relaxed about everything. I wouldn't worry too much about a test or a project, wouldn't worry too much about my future, but just simply await...await my destined college. However, Koreans including my friends (most of them), seem to care too much about where they go to. All obsessed about the name of the college. The college must have a name that people all know. Why? Why can't we just go to a college and study hard and become successful? Does the famous name of the college change your life? Change your future that significantly? Does the famous name give you happiness? It might give you a leeway to success, but it does not necessarily mean you will have a promising future. I believe that Korea is just too obsessed with the names.

Living in Korea did change my mindset a bit. But I really want to stick to my own belief and thoughts.

Just chill.
Pursuit of happiness does not correlate with the college you go to.
Just chill.
Once you let yourself loose, you won't have to live such a stressful life.
Just chill.
Chill my friends.

photo: http://www.jeffclemens.com/images/Obsession-Cover-for-web.gif

Flashing Back to the Good Old Day

Two years ago, 30 of us from Habitat for Humanity were prancing scarily along Dhaka’s freeway, which is pot-holed, shared by buses, motorcycle taxis, lorries, and thousands of bicycles. After four hours of bone rattling travel, we arrived to our guesthouse, where we would spend seven days building houses in a community. During the rocky drive, I thought a lot about this, my first, Habitat trip, and the big picture of Habitat for Humanity, which brings people from the developed countries at a great expense to poor countries to help people to get out of unsanitary and insecure conditions. However, I couldn’t help thinking about the expenses for the flight, food and accommodation: why not just simply donate this to the community? Wouldn’t the cash donation outweigh the benefits of this trip? I do confess, I was not quite certain about the purpose or the morals of this program that we were about to engage into. With such pessimistic thoughts about the benefits, I showed up--ready to carry bricks. On our fourth day, we had the foundation filled and the dirt packed. The children jumped with elation and we had our first party with the inhabitants, and that is when I came to sort out my skepticism deeming the benefits of Habitat for Humanity. I realized that this program not only supports the poor by building houses but also allows us to build benevolence and empathy. Building something with our own bare hands to better other people’s lives, I came to appreciate this great opportunity, which allowed all of us to become more humane. The trip to Bangladesh was a transformational week for everyone and I hope to lead another one soon.


Picture credits to...http://search.creativecommons.org/?q=habitat+for+humanity&sourceid=Mozilla-search#