The United States in seven photos

Please read before you start reading the post. The photo's for each of these paragraphs are not there right now because there is an issue with my phone's mail application. Hopefully, the photo's will be uploaded soon. Please forgive me :(

Hi! It's me Oh Jun again and I feel like I haven't had enough posts to really introduce myself and get close to you guys. So, what better way is there to know someone better then telling a story about my past. Through this photo essay, I'm going to tell you about my trip to the US last year. Hopefully, you will know a lot more about me after reading this post.

I still remember the day as if it was yesterday. It was my first day in the US! Why does this day matter so much? Well, ever since I was a kid, one of my dreams was to visit the US, and it finally happened. On that day, we actually went to the Empire States Building. The photo that you can see above me is me in the Empire State Building but I want to write about the entire day. As I've mentioned, I've always wanted to visit the US so everything was fun. Even when we had to wait in line in the airport for an hour, it was fun. From the airport, my family and the rest of the tour group went on a bus to New York. When we got off, I was excited. Everything was different; the people, the buildings, the culture. At that moment, I just wanted to run off and tour New York myself but I had to remember that that my family cam here with a tour group. The first thing we did was eat at a Korean restaurant. We ate rice and a nice hot soup, which I think calmed me down. Afterwards, we went on a boat around Manhattan, on the way seeing the Statue of Liberty. When the ride ended, we immediately drove to the Empire State Building, where we got to see the entire city of New York. Personally, I wasn't too impressed because Dubai (where I live) has the tallest building in the world, which I've been to.

On the second day, we took a trip to Washington DC. During the day, we went to many interesting places, the most memorable being the Whitehouse. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go inside the Whitehouse, but it felt great just to see it. This was a building that I've seen on television and the internet, but never in real life. So even though I couldn't go inside the Whitehouse, I still had a really fun time. However, we had to leave to go eat lunch. Usually, I love food and wouldn't ever miss a meal. But just this one time, I wanted to stay and skip lunch.

Just looking at this photo reminds me of how much fun I had that day. I know I keep using the word fun, but it's because the entire US trip was extremely fun. Anyway, the photo that you can see above is me posing in front of an elephant in the National History Museum. Of course the elephant wasn't real, but that didn't take away from the fun. On that day, I remember being like a little boy and just running around everywhere. I don't know why I did this because it was only last year, I guess i was just really excited. Fortunately, there were a lot of people around so hopefully I didn't look too weird!

You may be wondering why I picked this photo. In the US, there are so many things to see, so there are many photos I could have used. Nevertheless, this photo was chosen because it's easy to forget about family when you're doing exciting things. This photo was taken just after we toured Harvard University. We were all tired from walking around the massive campus, and I remember that my mum was about to go to sleep. For some reason, I decided to take a photo together with my family. My dad isn't in the photo because sadly, he couldn't join us on the trip, due to business reasons.

I have a lot to say about this photo so get ready to do some reading. This photo was taken on the last day of my trip to the US. You may recall from one of my previous posts that my role model is Steve Jobs. Also, I am a HUGE Apple fan. Therefore, coming to this famous store was one of the things I had to do. However, during my week in the US, I was with a tour group so I couldn't wander off on my own. On this day, we were actually touring Central Park. During the tour, the guide gave us two hours of free time to explore the park. However, I had other plans. Immediately, my brother and I ran out of the park and entered 5th Avenue; I needed to see the Apple store and my brother really wanted to visit the NBA store. So together, we had a mini tour of 5th Avenue.

This is one of the most famous locations in the world. Time square! Our tour group visited Time square on the same day as Central Park. After we finished touring Central Park, we visited NYU, relaxed for a while, watched the Phantom of the Opera (which I fell asleep in), then went to Time square. It was so crowded. In fact, as soon as we got there, I got lost and my mum had to find me. Fortunately, it wasn't anything major and I was found pretty quickly. Time square was awesome! All the cool shops, flashing lights and the huge crowd. We were given around three hours of free time, so in that time, I visited every single store that I could. On the way, I took pictures with spiderman and elmo as well.

This was a very sad day. My last day in the US. After having visited some parts of the US, I really wanted to visit Miami, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, etc. These are the famous places that are always shown in the movie's and it looks amazing! It was a shame that I didn't get to visit it. Nonetheless, it was a very fun experience and I didn't want to leave. So it hurt when I had to step in the airport and say good bye to the US. The first thing that we did in the airport was put our luggage away but after that, I don't remember what happened. All I remember is the fact that the day was filled with sadness.

To summarize, this trip to the US was extremely fun but also educational. How? I've ignored this the entire post, but the trip to the US was actually a campus tour. We visited Harvard, Yale, MIT and many other universities. Through this, I got to see and learn about the inside of universities. To be honest, my favorite campus was UPenn. The only reason for this is because the dorms look cool and have air conditioning. Anyway, this tour was a lot more than just a campus tour. Because of this tour, I got to see the Statue of Liberty, visit Time square and most importantly, VISIT THE APPLE STORE. Visiting the Apple Store was a huge thing for me. I've seen thousands of pictures of it and stories from my friends who have been there. For many tears, it was my dream to go to it and if I didn't get to go there, I would probably still be crying. Nevertheless, the US was a great experience but if I ever go there again, I'd love to visit places like Los Angeles.

Persuasive Letter

Dear members of UEFA,

I am writing this letter to you to inform you that thousands of people around the world, including myself, strongly believe that all clubs that participate in the UEFA Champions League must agree to UEFA's Financial Fair Play Regulations. We think that clubs spending astronomical amounts on players is very wrong. To convince you,I am going to give three reasons to why this is wrong: it is not fair for not as financially developed clubs, it ruins the chance for underdogs, and there are many more important places money can be spent. Hopefully, you will understand how bad this situation is and this chaotic situation will come to an end.

Arsene Wenger is against clubs spending
outrageous amounts of money on players

As I've mentioned already, the first reason is that it is simply not fair for the less financially developed clubs. It's in the name of the rule, the Financial FAIR Play Regulations. Surely, anyone would agree that clubs spending insane amounts of money on players is unfair. Why? Because it ruins the purpose of what football started out as. In the beginning, football was about bringing in players from the youth team, developing them and turning them into stars.Transfers of over £20 million were very rare. However, now, it has turned into a disgusting system where only the financially capable clubs spend outrageous amounts of money to build the ultimate team. For instance, it is just over half of the summer transfer window and the likes of Manchester City and AS Monaco have already spent over £100 million! Additionally, there is a lot of speculation about Real Madrid potentially buying Gareth Bale for £105 million! Has the football world gone insane!? £105 million for one player! From this, it is evident that some clubs are going crazy with money and making it increasingly difficult for clubs that aren't as financially developed. Many experts agree with me on this. For example, Arsene Wenger, the manager of Arsenal, has recently said that clubs spending astronomical amounts on players will make the Financial Fair Play Regulations a "joke" (http://metro.co.uk).

FC Porto celebrates winning the 2003 UEFA
Champions League

Secondly, clubs spending millions as if it's nothing is ruining the chance for the underdogs. Everyone loves the underdogs, and every few years, the underdogs break through and win major trophies. However, the fact that clubs are building indestructible teams is making the chance for underdogs a lot slimmer than it already is. Why should we care about the underdogs? I believe that . For the first point, let's take the 2002 World Cup as an example. During that very controversial World Cup, South Korea got to the semi-finals. In that moment, the entire world's eyes turned to the World Cup. Think of all the advertisement potential. The second part is bringing nations joy. Let's take the 2010 UEFA Champions League as an example. When Inter Milan made Italian football history by winning the biggest tournament in Europe, everyone in Italy celebrated. Whether you're a Juventus fan or an AC Milan supporter, you still celebrated Italian football history together with Inter Milan. It united the nation of Italy. A prime example for the third part is the 2003 UEFA Champions League. Before FC Porto won the cup, no-one knew about Carvalho, Thiago and Jose Mourinho. It was thanks to Porto winning the cup that Carvalho got to play for Real Madrid, Thiago became of of the best Premier League midfielders, and Jose Mourinho is one of the most decorated managers in the history of football.
we should care because it has so much commercial potential, brings entire nations indescribable joy, and it can start careers for players and managers

Using money to help charity
will make the world a better
place

The third and reason that this has to be done is because there are so many other important places that money can be spent. Does it make sense that there are thousands of people starving to death everyday when there are clubs trying to buy a player for £105 million? No, because it's wrong. By allowing clubs to not agree with the Financial Fair Play Regulations, UEFA is saying that football is more important than the lives of thousands. So far in this transfer window, there has been around £500 million spent on players, which could potentially turn into £1 billion by the end. Imagine all that money went to charity. Providing water and food for thousands, giving these innocent people a chance to live. I'm not suggesting that this would end world hunger or anything crazy like that, but I'm saying that it could drastically reduce the amount.

To conclude, there will be so many more benefits for everyone if all clubs that participate in the UEFA Champions League must agree to UEFA's Financial Fair Play Regulations. Based on my arguments, I hope that you an see that clearly, it would make the majority happy. Thank you for reading and considering my point of view.

Yours Sincerely,

Oh Jun Kweon

The Space Incident

   "BOOM! Unexpectedly, the right wing of the space shuttle exploded! However, mission control had a back up plan for that. Using their plan, they safely guided the astronauts back to Earth and everyone lived happily ever after. The end."

   "You're
space plan isn't gonna explode, right? You're gonna return safely, right?"

   "Don't worry Neil, daddy's going to be fine. Stop worrying and go to sleep. Good night."

   "Good night."

Alan turned of the lights and went to his bedroom, however, he couldn't sleep.
Tomorrow was probably the most important day in his life; he was going to space! That enormous pressure and nervousness kept him up until 2 in the morning, when he forced himself to get some sleep.

The next morning, he woke up to the greatest morning of his life. His beautiful wife Sally was smiling at him and his son Neil was holding a sign reading "I Love You Dad". He couldn't have asked for a better gift before he goes to space. The thing he loved most was family. Afterwards, they all headed down to NASA HQ, where they would have to say goodbye.

It was a very emotional goodbye. Everyone was crying and hugging each other. Nevertheless, Alan knew he had a job to do. He had to part with his family. Just as they were about to separate, Neil asked, "dad, you're gonna return home, right? It's safe. right?"

   "Don't worry Neil. I promise you I'll come back safely," Alan replied, hoping it was true.

Before liftoff, Alan had about an hour, so he quickly got dressed and prepared for the big event. He was extremely nervous, and so were his colleagues. But they've been preparing for this day for over  two years, so they were ready. Time flew by and before they knew it, they were sitting in the shuttle and listening to the countdown.

   "...4, 3, 2, 1. Lift off!" Even with the deafening rockets, Alan could hear the public screaming and celebrating American history. Also, he could hear his family praying for his safety. In a few seconds, they escaped the Earth's atmosphere, and they were in space! The entire crew and mission control celebrated. But in the next few seconds, everything changed. The pilot died. Immediately, mission control was alerted, and didn't know what to do. They had a gigantic problem on their hands.

Are they gonna die? Will they return? What's gonna happen? These questions raced through the minds of the public, but also the astronauts themselves. They were worried. Temporarily, they were told to wait for mission control to think of a solution. Meanwhile, the flight director became the pilot. After 5 minutes (which felt like 5 years to them), mission control called back. They had a plan.

In the following, there are three clickable links. Each will take you to a different ending. Read each ending, and comment below which you thought was the best ending. Choose wisely.

Ending 1

Ending 2

Ending 3