Getting Driver License on Saipan

Yesterday, I got my permit for driver license. On Saipan, we do not have driving schools anymore. I had to bring an identification of either a birth certificate or passport. All I had to do was take a written exam that had thirty questions. I passed by getting 4 wrongs and the maximum is 7. After that, I had to pay $20 for the tax and the permit at Saipan’s Congress place. Then I went back and got my permit card and the schedule for the driving test. I have now 59 days until my test. I have to start practicing my parking, parallel parking and etc. I guess Saipan is the easiest place to get driver license. I need it before I go to college so all I have to do is exchange it in the state. I need to start practicing. I will drive as much as I can before I leave. Finally... But I could’ve gotten my license when I was in 9th grade since I was 15.5years old. My mum did not allow me to drive until the end of my Senior Year. It kinda sucks especially when I am going on a date with my bf. 

In Saipan, we do not even have transportation. And we don’t have malls. There is nothing to do on this rock. We have Big Dipper, and the movies. That is basically it. We have the ocean but I got tired of it. Now Saipan’s gas price is way up that it is unbelievable. Come on... this is ridiculous. We are part of USA now and Saipan is going down the toilet. 

Ah.. I don’t have internet at the moment. I am bored. I like Jian’s nails. They are so colorful. Red, yellow, purple, sky blue, sparkling purple. Alice is taking over Minjoo’s laptop. Sneaky sneaky. She is laughing and she has green nails. She is like the fox in Dora’s adventure thing and Minjoo is the Dora. She is smiling at me and she is staring at me. I do not know what she is typing but she made a black mark on my Hollister hoodie today. Gosh Alice. It is out 102nd day. Today is March 14th 2012, Wednesday on A day afternoon. My laptop’s keyboard protector is really getting on my way in typing. I am getting rid of it right now. Lani’s guy is British by law. So where is he from? Never mind. He is Jian’s guy. One Direction dude-Zayne? He is from Pakistan? No wonder he looked kind of Middle Eastern. Minjoo is back. My keyboard is so much better without the protector. I am sick today. I have been sick for the past week. I fell asleep for four hours after my driving test. Me so tired. I miss Grey’s Anatomy. This is becoming my stream of consciousness. Today is NHS induction ceremony day. I am tired. My voice is gone and I have to say the “leadership” line. “I light this green candle for leadership...blah blah blah.” Minjoo is typing and she just realized I am writing about her. She is writing about Alice and Alice’s metamorphosis. Alice did change a lot. She was really quiet but now she is the opposite. Now I have 521 words. 79 more words to go. Alice is amazed by Minjoo’s writing about her. I just described Alice’s change as the alien in “Men in Black.” I want to go home. I am sick. But I can not skip my film class. I love film class. I cannot miss out. It is only 1.33pm. 17 more minutes until my film class. 

At first, I was scared of driving. I literally stopped when a car came behind me when I had to make a sharp right turn. I practiced at the American Memorial Park with Mr. Tessen. I hope I did not give him any heart attacks. Then we moved our practice area to the airport road. Soon...we are going to Garapan! Well... I am back to my topic. But I want to stop here. Saipan is not what it used to be. It is getting dangerous now. Last year, two elementary girls were kidnapped. We are not hearing anything. Last month, a women was kidnapped and murdered. As the economy is going down...crimes are rising on this rock. We cannot even walk around like we used to do. Jian is fixing Minjoo’s grammar. Anyways. I am just letting people know that Saipan is not what it used to be. CUC is like down. It has millions of dollars in debt that public schools cannot afford to turn on air conditioner in the morning and the afternoon that they finish school early. I do not have to worry as I am going to private school. But still... driving is really scary. Accidents may happen within a second. Just FYI. 

Are you beautiful?

Indeed. What is beauty? How do we even define beauty? It is hard. I see people ranking most beautiful people in the world. Small face, highly elevated nose, big eyes, Angelina Jolie lip, big forehead, skinny, curvy=beauty? People have different opinions since people see things differently. Typical beauty are those defined above, like a Greek godess. Venus is supposed to be the most beautiful godess. Hm... from Botticelli's drawing... not really but oh well that is only a painting. Sometimes I do not understand the beauty in some cultures. I do not find filling golden rings around my neck attractive or narrow eyes in Asian drawings or those Dark Ages paintings of "attractive" woman. According to my Milo's dictionary, beauty is "a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight." So beauty will be defined as whatever that attracts one. Since I am Korean, my perspective of beauty differs from people from other cultures. In Korea, pale skin, small face highly elevated nose and double eyelid big eyes is beauty. Korea's top 5 beauty are Ga Inn Han, Tae Hee Kim, Ji Hyun Chun, Hae Gyu Song, and Hee Sun Kim. They are Korea's legendary beauties. Ranking beauty is not an easy task. How do we even rank people by those golden ten stars? But we generally divide appearances by pretty and ugly. Little children are innocent and naive. They are honest and do not usually think about the consequences. When you ask the children, "is she pretty?," they generally answer right away without hesitation. 

Are you beautiful? My mum said that if people live up to their passion and do their best, they are beautiful. She was referring to Yuna Kim, the korean figure-skater who won the olympic medal. She worked so hard to reach where she is right now. She is treated as the nation's queen. She is beautiful because of the way she is. But if I say people are beautiful the way they are...I think I am being dishonest with myself. My favorite model is Sean O'pry. He is ranked #1 in models.com for male models. I think he is the hottest man on earth. But my friends' opinions differ as they have different taste in man. My friends find Francisco Lachowski, Marlon Teixeira or Simon Nessman more attractive than Sean. 

Oh well. People are different. My definition of beauty differs from another. What can I say? Listen to Lady GaGa's "Born this way." You are born that way. Unless you want to change it and go to Korea's GangNam (Korean Beverly Hills) to get plastic surgery. Or accept it. "I was born this way. "There's nothin' wrong with lovin' who you are. She said, 'cause He made you perfect, babe. So hold your head up, girl and you you'll go gar. Listen to me when I say. I'm beautiful in my way cause God makes no mistakes. I'm on the right track, baby. I was born this way."

What is good?

How do we determine what is good? I don't wanna write philosophy essays today... What is good? Well...personal morals determine our decisions. If one has a legit brain, he will probably determine the basic morals. But if it gets complicated, then people's opinion collides. People are different. People have different morals. Unless they are mental or dumb, we might somehow have some common grounds or are brainwashed with some weird religious or Nazi ideas. How sad. But it is the reality. How can we even determine what is good when people already start debating on everything? But if I determine what is good it will be something that is indeed moral. The moral that follows my own definition that has been building up since I was a toddler. It is based on my family, religion, school, and mostly society. Altruism is good. Humility is good. Seven deadly sins are not good. So you can guess what is good. I am more of a giver. I like giving things to people. My sister is not really like that. But my mum and I like to give presents to people. This is how I think. Give people what you want to receive. Therefore do good things if you want good things to happen to you. Why live according to evil? Even evil deeds will not satisfy you. I am a Christian but I believe that trying to convert people forcefully is useless. Who wanna believe a religion like that? I hate seeing people going up to people's doors or going up to them in the subways/streets telling them to convert. Those converts embarrass their own religion. Well. If I were in those people's shoes I would not listen to them. Somewhat leaving those people alone are better. I would not bother them if they do not want to listen to me. It is not my business anyways. I am kinda a head strong girl. I would have been Elizabeth Bennet in "Pride and Prejudice." I do not really want to but my prejudice is always right in the end. As an adult, I now have the lawful decisions to make my own decisions. I decide what is morally good to me. I decided to leave my former church to go to a real church. I see there is no good or God in that church so I left. What I determine good is good. I guess that goes with everyone. That is why we have wars and conflict. People are stubborn to listen to others or sacrifice some of their ideas. 

Film Review: Platoon

“Platoon”(1986, directed by Oliver Stone) is a film based on Stone’s own experience in Vietnam. The film’s plot is about U.S. soldiers fighting in the bloody Vietnam War but realizing their fight is against themselves than the enemy. The film starts with the scene soldiers coming to their new assigned place on the border of Cambodia. Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen), a dropout college student who volunteered to participate in the war, narrates the story. He realizes that no one cares for each other and their existence is useless. He suffers psychologically that he tries to recover by smoking pot. He witnesses the unfair justice of Sergeant Elias’s (Williem Dafoe) murder by Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger) and the immorality of the war. In the end, Taylor revenges Elias’s death by killing Barnes and goes back to United States. 

Stone’ achievement of this powerful film is praised for its cinematography. The scenes usually dark lighting that perfectly fits the setting of the war as the soldiers were usually ambushed in the night. Stone also uses dark lighting in the cabin clubhouse where the soldiers smoke pot and drink alcohol. The act of drinking and smoking depicts the reality where some soldiers took comfort in the war. Stone focuses on Chris Taylor to show how an ordinary man will react to the situations as he is inexperienced. The scene of taking over the Vietnam village crystallizes the cruelty of the war as Stone depicts the immoral death of the chief’s wife’s death, threatening the girl’s life, abuse and burning of the village. From these incident, the conflict grows between Sergeant Elias and Barnes. The setting changes from day to night as they set up for the battle and the actual battle in the jungle. These effects of camera and editing perfectly fits the war scenes in the film. He also uses profanity dialogues that fits the reality of the war. Stone uses silence mostly through the film just like the reality of the war while using dramatic violin music in the death of the soldiers. Oliver makes the audience nervous by anticipating the enemy’s attack. As the conflict of power between Sergeant Elias and Barnes grew, the audience could feel that something was going to happen. When Sergeant Elias finds Barnes in the jungle, Elias feels relieved that he is not the enemy. But as the camera zooms to Elias’s eyes, the realization of his death is shown. As the platoon evacuates on the helicopter, Stone surprises the audience by resurrecting Elias who is running from the Vietnamese soldiers.  Stone uses the bird view from the helicopter to show the chase. Elias finally falls after getting numerous shots. The setting of the Vietnam War is almost quite portrayed to reality with jungles as it was filmed in the Philippines. 

“Platoon” won Oscar Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Sound, Best Film Editing; it also received nominations for Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography. The budget for the film is estimated to be $6 million and the gross is around $138 million (www.imdb.com). Also “Platoon” won and had been nominated at many film awards for its outstanding film. It is a great movie that gives tribute to the soldiers who fought and died in the Vietnam War. It shows the horrors of the war as “the first causality of war is innocence” (“Platoon”’s tag line) “Platoon” is a powerful film that leaves the audience with a strong message of the chaos of the war and humanity. It is one of the best war films and is rated R for strong violence, gore, profanity, use of alcohol, drug, smoking, and intense scenes.