Sakura: July 2014

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Learning by Doing

"Ok, I've been gone for a minute, but now I'm back with the jump off" (Lil Kim)
I'm not really jumping off anything, but I'm ready to write again. I feel like I have 5 extra minutes today to devote to writing non-academic prose. So, here goes...

Boxed macaroni and cheese has never tasted as good as it did today. After maybe 3 or 4 years of no Kraft macaroni and cheese, it has found its way back into my kitchen. Oh lordy, words cannot describe the immense pleasure I felt while eating that orange meal from a cardboard box! It was expensive but definitely worth the money. In fact, I just may wait another 3 years to eat it again. I don't want it to become everyday food again. Having it as a luxury meal makes it taste way better :).

On the same topic of food, I recently made my first pot of cornmeal porridge. Not even cancer patients have so many lumps. There was a lump fiesta going on in my porridge :). Anyhow, the second time I tried, it came out lump free. Ah dear, I guess my incompetence to prepare this everyday meal is a result of not having any grandparents. I've heard that grandmothers teach grandchildren how to cook among other important life lessons. Anyways, learning by doing is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, there's an economic theory by that exact name, 'learning by doing'. You would think that that would be obvious to everyone, right. It's very effective to learn something by doing it. So why did they need to create a theory to show just that? Sometimes I think some Economists have nothing to do. But on a serious note, that's exactly what Economists do - observe life and the elements that participate in the economy and create theories and models that describe them. I guess it's a way of documenting our existence. The theories and models are then tested to see how they actually measure up to reality.

That, in a small nutshell, is economics. Please don't confuse it with business. Financial economists are the closest peers with Business men. Financial economists may watch the financial market and theorize and make models or follow models then business men will take the information and do business. In general though, one should not expect an economist to be financially savvy with overflowing expertise about business and money. I think that would be like asking a gynaecologist about the steps to build an x-ray machine. They both exist in similar fields, but medicine and medical technology are very different.

Taken from a Slideshare presentation by Ranganadh Siitam

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Help, Frisk me!

What an advertisement!
I saw this on a train recently and just had to take a pic. What were the creators thinking? Frisk is a popular brand of peppermint sweets, but how does that link to a bikini top in a pool? Do the creators know the meaning of frisk?

frisk

frɪsk/

verb

1.

(of a police officer or other official) pass the hands over (someone) in a search for hidden weapons, drugs, or other items.

"he raised his arms to permit the officer to frisk him"

synonyms: search, body-search, check, inspect, examine; More
2.

skip or leap playfully; frolic.

"spaniels frisked around me"

synonyms: frolic, gambol, cavort, caper, cut capers, sport, scamper, skip, dance,romp, trip, prance, leap, spring, hop, jump, bounce, bob; More

noun

1.

an act of frisking someone.

"a frisk search"
2.

a playful skip or leap.

Are they saying help me because I'm being frisked due to my amazing peppermint sweet? Maybe the peppermint made the person eating so cool, that they got arrested for high levels of coolness and the bikini was taken off and left behind during the frisk.

Or could it be that the sweet has made the person sucking it so cool that he / she needs someone to frisk him / her and remove this supercool sweet?

Whatever the meaning, it surely got my attention and I'm sure the implications of a bikini top floating in a pool without a body also got the attention of many others. Sex sells even peppermints! Haha!

Rock Climbing in Ashiya

Yesterday I went rock climbing, partially by accident. My friend invited me to go hiking, but a lack of a tour guide and an adventurous nature led us to a rock climbing path. I thoroughly enjoyed it even though my body was screaming with exhaustion. Believe me, rock climbing inside a gym does not compare to actual rock climbing on a real mountain. During the ascent, we found several scenic views that left us with a sense of peace and serenity. So much so, that one of my climbing partners kept repeating that she wants to live in the mountains so that she will be able to feel the same sense of calm all day everyday.

The terrain was simply beautiful. The orange coloured dirt provided an apt contrast to the luscious green hills of Ashiya Rock Garden. The journey was one of endurance and bonding among friends.

A few times during the trek I wondered about our safety. If one person had fallen and gotten hurt on the rocky terrain, what would we have done? It would have been extremely difficult to bring someone downhill because of the steep and uneven surface. I hope the hospitals have special helicopters to rescue injured hikers and mountain climbers.

On the way up we encountered mountain lions. Haha, ok, not really lions, but cute cats from the family of lions :). It struck me as a bit strange because it was drizzling and as far as I know, cats do not like being wet. So why were they outside in the rain? Are mountain cats less sensitive to being wet? I love the colour contrasts though. I wonder if they are a couple. If they are, I hope they'll make multicoloured kittens.

Look at the slope!
I climbed that ! I'm proud of my fitness level because against my expectations, my body seems fine the day after. I'm not suffering from any muscle aches. How is that even possible? Someone who never exercises goes rock climbing and experiences no pain afterwards.

Anyways, it was a very enjoyable climb. I think I'll do it again this year :).

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Sakura: 3 little words of little importance

Sakura: 3 little words of little importance: I grew up in a society that didn't place much emphasis on the words 'I love you'. Love was shown by actions and everybody unders...

3 little words of little importance

I grew up in a society that didn't place much emphasis on the words 'I love you'. Love was shown by actions and everybody understood that. However, over time I've grown sensitive to those words. It seems that American television has brainwashed me into thinking that a confession of feelings is more important or equally as important as the actions of love. Mere confessions of love are seen all over American media. Personally, I think these words are overrated. The Chinese have a similar belief in actions over words. I recently read an article at

http://www.dailylife.com.au/life-and-love/real-life/why-chinese-parents-dont-say-i-love-you-20140304-341ws.html

about communication in a Chinese home. The article spoke about how well children learnt to read cryptic emotional messages in their families. They learnt how to understand the thing that was heard but not said. On that note, do we need to promote public display of affection in our conservative societies so that we'll be more Americanized? I don't think it's necessary to say 'I love you', what is important is showing the people around you that you care. They will understand it, even if they are Americans who expect to hear the words. I am not totally against it being sad in times when it really matters and needs to be said, but words without actions are meaningless.

So my question is 'why do Americans think it is so important to say those three little words?'. After meeting someone for a few months, I may develop deep, sincere feelings for him or her but why should I be rushing to declare these feelings? It seems like couples in Americanized societies are running a race to see who will say the words first. But wouldn't it be better to wait and carefully hone the relationship over time and use those words only when you are absolutely sure that this person is worthy of your love? From television shows and other forms of media and also just people around me, it seems normal for people to 'fall in love' every few months, but once you understand love, you'd realize how impossible it is to fall in love that frequently. I think falling in love is like throwing an anchor from a ship into the deep blue sea. If the relationship ends, it won't be easy to simply haul the anchor back onto the ship. If it were, then it wouldn't be an anchor, but a float. Pulling it up takes a lot of time and strength and in my estimation, that equates to more than just a few months of recuperation. So, what I'm saying is, what many of us call love is not really love. It's that word I learnt in high school, infatuation. It's like a float that is thrown overboard a ship. It's lightweight and easy to maneuver.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Bad Boy by Big Bang

I really like this music video and song even though I couldn't understand much at first. Boy, I wish I had chosen to live in South Korea instead of this place! What is it about Korean men that makes me so gooey inside? My friend JujuJamz introduced me to this song. She found it strangely addictive and I can completely understand why. They are a set of cute 'bad boys' :) with nice voices to woo me in 한국어 (Korean).

I've grown bored of the mainstream music. I search for things in other languages. I think people who live their entire lives in an environment with only one language miss out on more than 50% of probable life experiences. The language of a country exposes us to the way the people of that country think and experience things. On the contrary, this song by Big Bang, 'Bad boy' doesn't teach me anything new about South Korea. Take a look at the translated lyrics below. The song is basically about a guy who thinks he's a bad boy, so he treats the girl like crap, then expects that her love for him will remain. However after she leaves he begs for her to stay. Just crazy. I guess it tells me that some South Korean boys aren't much smarter than western boys (even though they study so hard in school, haha).

I was too harsh that night
I didn't know you would really leave
The words, “I’m sorry”, is too difficult for us that we take it to the end
Because I’m ill-tempered
We fight over stupid things numerous times a day
You take off crying, I look around and think,
‘She’ll come back tomorrow. She’ll definitely call me first in the morning’

Baby, I can’t, I’m so bad that I want to be good to you but it’s hard
Every day and night I’m so mean cuz I’m so real so I’m sorry (but I can’t change)

I’m the one you love but sorry I’m a bad boy
Yes, just leave me, good bye, you’re a good girl
The more time passes, the more you get to know me, only disappointments will remain but
Baby don’t leave me, I know you still love me
Why, yes, I’ll tell you the truth, I need you
My lay lay lay lay lady
My lay lay lay lay lady

You say that I’m different than other guys so it’s hard
You’re still like a young girl with a soft heart
For you, who is always smiling next to me, I’m still too young
With the excuse that I’m busy, I postpone our date
Because I’m sorry, because I’m frustrated, I turn my head
The bride in my dreams is just a friend now
Upset over the breakup, we are silent