Farewell :(

Dear Class of 2019,

1 year to 10 months and now to a few days till we graduate. I can’t even imagine how fast these years went by. Overall, this was the best of my 6 years at ICS and I’m so thankful for everyone who has made this year a special and memorable one.

Even though this year was stressful for majority of us as we had carnival, capstone, aps, college applications and more we all managed to survive 🙂 I personally was looking forward to make memories with all of you guys in the beginning of the year, and I’m so delighted that I got to create tons of memories with you guys that I will cherish all my life. In the beginning of the year, I wanted to attend as many school events as I can such as: eagles camp, mini retreat, back to school bash, all the plays, and many more. I’m happy that I attended these events and I have no regrets because I got to spend quality time with my friends and that’s all I wanted as I realized that I won’t get to see all of your faces everyday anymore.

I’m so glad I got to attend ICS because not only the teachers are so amazing, but the fact that we can just go to any teacher and ask for help. All the teachers are truly willing to help us no matter what. This is one of the best things I like about ICS. It’s not only the education we are getting, but also the genuine care from our beloved teachers which I’m really grateful for.

Now to my closest group of friends,

You guys are literally the most special people, and I will never forget all of your lame jokes, all the names you guys call me and all of your stupid faces.I will miss how we yell out our friend’s name if they are using their phone in class like“Jessica, why are you using your phone,” so the teacher would hear us. I will miss how we always love to steal and hide each others things. I will miss all of the times we have hung out together. And lastly, I will miss senior trip the most. We all are sadly going to be all over the world, but there’s something called social media that will keep us all connected hopefully. Thank You all for such amazing memories, and all the fun times I have had with you guys. Thank you for dealing with my annoyingness, but I don’t care I’m still going to be your most annoying friend for your entire life, BE AWARE. I know you guys know that I love you all so much, and I will miss all of you guys the most! You guys are the ones that made my high school life so much better and LIT.

Lastly Mr.Mark,

I will be honest with you, reading is really not my type of thing, and I was really worried how I would do in this class. But comparing my first essay and the most recent one I saw how much I have improved my “essay” writing skills, and I would like to thank you for that. I would also like to apologize for not printing and finishing our first essay on time because we thought it was due at the end of class. (XD) Thank you for everything once again and I really love how passionate you are toward this class.

 

Thank You, Class of 2019, you all are truly one of a kind and I will genuinely miss you guys 🙂

Damage and Healing

Sense of Morality and Poverty  were the damages I chose for the last project.

These damages were definitely healed through forgiveness especially in Book III. In Book III, James and Stephen forgave each other for the better of their country. I personally think that past is gone but we can still improve our future if we work together. Stephen Kumalo did realize that forgiving will be helpful, as they can then work together for the better of the country. Even though Stephen’s son killed Arthur, James still forgave him and helped Stephen’s community. Msimangu once mentioned that he doesn’t see power and money as a solution, but he thinks when black and white man think for the good of the country is what can heal the damages of the country.

One solution for poverty was when the boy came on the horse that Stephen recognized. He lived with James and he was interested in learning Zulu, and through this connection Stephen got milk from James. This was one of the solution and also James and Stephen forgiving each other for whatever happened. Stephen went against his customs to write a letter to James when his wife passed away. Because of this his community was being helped.

In our damaged world, forgiving might not always work because it depends on the situation. Some people tend to be more forgiving than others, but I feel like somewhere throughout our lives we are taught to be forgiving. As shown in the book, how forgiveness ended up being beneficial. I’m not sure how realistic the solution of forgiveness can be in the world today, as everyone has their own self- respect. I would encourage people to start forgiving each other. 🙂

Internal Damage

The sense of morality is an internal damage portrayed through the main character in the book, Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton.  Stephen Kumalo (protagonist) travelled to Johannesburg in search for Gertrude, his sister (who was ill), and Absalom, his son. Kumalo goes on this difficult journey just to find  his sister and his son. He finds his sister and later finds out that Absalom has murdered Arthur Jarvis. Knowing his son has killed an innocent person, Kumalo still finds Absalom a lawyer to defend his case. This is where Kumalo is morally damaged. Was defending his son for a crime the right thing to do or not?  No matter what Absalom did, Kumalo still loves him and he probably wouldn’t want to destroy his relationship with Absalom.

It can be difficult to understand what’s right or wrong sometimes.  Many times in my  life I don’t know what is the right thing to do and what is not! I have made a lot of mistakes throughout my whole life, and so have all of you. We aren’t made to be perfect. To me, one thing that means a lot to me are friendships/relationships. I don’t like to break my friendship with anyone easily, it’s really hard for me to just turn against someone who I have known for majority of my life. I would have definitely did what Kumalo did for his son. I can’t just leave someone hanging on their own when they really need me.

Personal Story: One of my friends from my former school  was really close to me, he would share everything with me and I would too. It was just like we instantly clicked and we both have pretty similar personalities as well. Few years later, when I had to move back to Bangkok, I was not ready to leave my best friend because he meant so much to me, but harsh reality I had to move back. I then thought he would never talk to me, but surprisingly we still kept in touch. Later, I found out that he had a crush on one of our classmate and he told me about it. I was like go ahead and express your feelings. He did, and they dated for about 4 months, when I found out he just played with that girl’s feelings (don’t want to be specific). I was so heartbroken to hear my best friend played with this girl’s feelings. I was shocked and didn’t talk to him for sometime, but he kept texting me over and over. I couldn’t keep myself from talking to him and I just supported him even though he was completely wrong on his part. I didn’t know what to do because I can’t just leave him all on his own. I knew he needed someone to support him and I was his only support. This was one of the time I felt like I couldn’t help, but support my friend even though his actions were completely wrong.

My story relates to Kumalo’s story because we both didn’t know what to do and we ended up supporting someone who was wrong. Kumalo seemed to care about his relationship with Absalom. Similarly, I didn’t want to break my bond with my best friend. I wouldn’t say what Kumalo and I did was wrong, I know we chose to support someone who has done a “crime”, but it’s better than just leaving them on their own.

Future Goals !

My dream is to be a CEO of a company (not sure of what exactly), I’m also going to be majoring in international business. Becoming a CEO, I will get the chance to create new, unique products and maybe solutions to problems people commonly face. Finding solutions to  problems will help the society as I will be looking after the well-being of my customers. Customer’s happiness will be my priority as a CEO. Also, as I will be running a company I will need numerous employees to help for the success of my company. Giving job opportunities is another way I will be contributing to society’s economy.  As we know, the world’s population is increasing at an incredible rate. Many people need jobs to earn money and feed their family. My company will definitely have job opportunities for any type of people.

I will be creating products that will make everyone’s life easier and that will help with the world’s environment as well. For example, aluminum straws instead of a plastic straw (I know these exist, but this is an example). Through my company I want to encourage people to help our environment.

Tourism 101!

Traveling is an exceptional way to experience cultural diversity, try new cuisines, and enjoy great adventures. Not only that, you get to spend some quality time with your family or friends. I think traveling is really important, it helps us see how unique cultures are around the world. Also, you get to experience something completely new.

When traveling we all should be “responsible tourist” and respect each country’s culture and follow their laws. For example, here in Thailand people literally cross roads even if the traffic light for pedestrians is red. On the other hand in Dubai, even if there are no cars but the pedestrian light is red you aren’t allowed to cross. I would say before even going to the country, researching a bit about their laws should help. I also think we shouldn’t litter, I think littering on the road is very rude. Even though, people in my own home country just throw trash on the road, I wouldn’t do that anywhere else.

I felt like an “irresponsible” tourist when I accidentally wore shorts to a Mosque in Dubai and I had to buy a new pair of jeans, so that was a lesson I learnt from our trip to Dubai. Apart from that I think I was a “responsible” tourist. 🙂

Lastly, I would say we should just enjoy the beauty and uniqueness of the country because we might not get any other chance to visit that country again.

 

 

 

 

 

The Many Sides of Jaipur!

India, the second most populated country in the world with a population of 1.3 billion. Jaipur, the largest city and capital of the North Indian State of Rajasthan, also known as the Pink City. Rich heritage and numerous palaces makes this city worth a visit. Hawa Mahal (the Palace of Winds), one of the most famous attractions in Jaipur, is built using pink and red sandstone with 900 small windows with a very detailed design. Other famous forts include: Amber Fort, Nahargarh Fort, and Jal Mahal. These beautiful architectures are made fairly long ago, but yet they are worth visiting. Back then rulers of Jaipur invited skilled artists from India and abroad to make sculptures, stone carving, jewelry etc. Stone carvings can be seen in majority of the temples today.

Noisy roads, pink walls, and variety of animals can be observed as you travel around Jaipur. Not only that, there are 3 consecutive, enormous gates that are 500 meters apart  you can see as you are passing by the city side. Driving through the Bazaars with so much noise pollution and cows, dogs, horses passing by can be scary sometimes. Driving in Jaipur is very challenging, after 10 p.m no one follows the traffic light, and people are very impatient. After 11 p.m., roads are usually very quiet, and all you can hear is the sound of the wind blowing especially in winters.

The whole city becomes a lot more colorful and lively during main festivals. Kite flying is one of the most compelling festivals celebrated in Jaipur. Kite festival is when everyone in your family gathers, fly kites, eats traditional food, wears traditional clothes, dance, and enjoy each others company. Diwali, holi are other very lively, colorful, bright festivals celebrated in Jaipur. Traditions and culture from the past are still followed today. Festivals, traditional food and clothes are still the same as they were years ago.

Jaipur has developed a lot these past few years and continues to develop further. Even though the city has developed with variety of shopping malls and such, architecture and culture from the past are still represented throughout the city.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts…

After all the presentations and discussions the problem I found very complex is poverty and struggles of the people facing poverty. In both the books, poverty was a common theme and the struggles were clearly shown. I was just thinking how can we even solve such problem and I realized it’s just the way our society is made. I feel like even if we want to try to solve the problem of poverty, it’s almost impossible to find a long-term solution to this complex issue. To me, poverty is really important because almost half of Earth’s population is facing poverty today. Not only that, poverty can also cause prostitution, separation from family, no job, no good education etc.

Society should definitely change the way they address the problem of poverty because poverty today is increasing. If a problem is increasing it means we aren’t taking the right steps we should be taking. In a world of selfish people this problem seems impossible to fix, but talking and discussing about it definitely made me think of the struggles faced by people who don’t have opportunities like we do. Also, in our discussion we discussed about how the rich takes advantage of the poor knowingly. They know it will be really hard for the poor person and yet they still cheat them just for their benefits. This really upsets me because we know there are people who take advantage of the poor knowing that they don’t have any other option.

This has really inspired me to change the way I think about our society. People are really selfish and they can go to any extent for their own benefits. I’m more aware of the struggles people in poverty face.

The Power of HOPE

Novel

In the novel, Nectar in a Sieve, hope was one of the main focus throughout the novel. Throughout the novel hope was seen variety of times especially through Rukmani and Nathan. Rukmani has always had hope in harvesting, she sold vegetables so that her family could fulfill their daily necessities. Rukmani was all for her family, she wanted her daughter to get married and her sons to help her with harvest. Rukmani only wants her family happy in the future, and this was most important for Rukmani. But life isn’t really that easy, everyone faces struggles in their lives. Rukmani’s struggle arose when she didn’t have money to pay for the  rent, she convinced the owner and tried to do whatever she could. She sold almost everything at her home and used that money to pay for half of the rent. At least she had hope and didn’t give up. Her main hope was that the harvest will help save money that they can use to pay the rent/debts.

Personal Opinion

In my opinion, having hope can allow us to move towards our goal. If we don’t have any hope we are most likely to give up and not accomplish our goals. I feel like having hope builds up the confidence in us to do whatever we can to reach our goals. Even if your future is uncertain, having hope can build strength and allow you to be confident in yourself. I think you need hope to truly reach your goal. I think hope can be either good or bad because it depends on the person and their intentions. Hope doesn’t necessary has to work all the time, it’s not always reliable. Relying heavily on hope can be dangerous.

Holocaust Survivor : Iby Knill

Iby Knill grew up in an educated family, she went to a German school and was excluded because she was Jewish. Back then Jewish people were not allowed to sit in public transport and were always the last to be served at shops. Also Jewish students were not allowed to study after age 16. Iby was also forced to wear a yellow star but she covered it with her scarf.

Iby’s family was forced out of their apartment, which was assigned to a German family. Her family was given a very small house where she had to sleep in the kitchen.

One day, she received a call for volunteer nurses to go with a slave labor. She didn’t know if it was real or fake, she had to risk it. This was when the war was going bad for Germans. In the dying stages of the war, Iby and some other women were taken on  a forced march to Bergen Belsen. People who were lagging behind were shot. Iby had an infection on her hip and her friends carried her or else she wouldn’t have been able to survive. After a stay in hospital she got a job as a translator for the Military Govt. She then got married, had kids, and a successful career.

The friendship between her and her friends is what made this story powerful and memorable. She had hip infection, and knowing that her friends decided to carry her and run so she doesn’t get shot. If she didn’t have her friends helping her in this situation she might have not been able to make it. They even saw American tanks, and they were finally liberated on Easter Sunday in 1945.

WWII POETRY

The War in the Air

By: Howard Nemerov

For a saving grace, we didn’t see our dead,

Who rarely bothered coming home to die

But simply stayed away out there

In the clean war, the war in the air.

Seldom the ghosts come back bearing their tales

Of hitting the earth, the incompressible sea,

But stayed up there in the relative wind,

Shades fading in the mind,

Who had no graves but only epitaphs

Where never so many spoke for never so few:

Per ardua, said the partisans of Mars,

Per aspera, to the stars.

That was the good war, the war we won

As if there was no death, for goodness’s sake.

With the help of the losers we left out there

In the air, in the empty air.

To me this poem sounds very deep, but I really love the meaning behind it.

We know for a fact that war can’t really be avoided, but my question is why wars even happen in the first place. In this poem Nemerov is trying to tell why wars happen and what’s the benefit of a war.

As mentioned in line 2 “who rarely bothered coming home to die”, the soldier never even came home to die. Nemerov feels bad for the soldiers who died and those who won a battle but lost a war. In line 1 “we didn’t see our dead” basically tells how they can’t really see the soldiers who died on the battlefield. There are people who died on the battlefield and who on air.  I think soldiers who died in the air basically refers to their struggles.

In all the stanzas Nemerov talks about something that is unlimited or something you can’t really imagine like the air, stars, wind. I feel like we who have never seen a war can never really imagine what it is like. We have no idea what all the soldiers go through in a war. The soldiers who did survive didn’t get to see the dead soldiers or the bombing. The author also talks about “clean war” and “the good war” maybe he doesn’t like being violent.

This poem uses symbolism like using stars, air to describe how war is actually unimaginable. Also uses, ground and air to describe the deaths.

I’m actually astonished to see how soldiers risk their lives for war even though they don’t really get anything out of it, they fight for their country.