Is There Heaven on Earth?

The movie of Lost Boys of Sudan is showing the story of two Dinka boys, one of the boys who were forced to migrate from a Sudan’s civil war to Kenya, then decided to step migrate to America for better life. In 1953 until 1972 Sudan was separated by north and south because of northern leaders of unsupported of commitments to create a federal government that would give the south autonomy, which leaded to the civil war. While the boys were out for working their own job, their house was burned out by northern solders. They had to run away letting their family captured and killed. A long journey to find the safe place had taken years suffered by starve, heat and wild animals. Finally they arrived at a Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. After years of living in the camp, some boys decided to move to America. Peter and Santino were one of them.

“We are going to heaven!” – They were excited and expecting for a new better world, but to live in America required assimilating into American culture; it wasn’t easy. Peter started to go to school to re-start his education in high school, but the struggle of English bordered his study. For their new living, a house was two-story moreover uses of gas and electricity, which they have never experienced before, were hard to manage at first. Furthermore how money work in their home country compared to America was too different. To get the job and that to catch up the work was confusing. For their cheep income for a Part-time work it wasn’t easy to get money, which they never thought about before the migration. They were stressed and tired of many difficulties to be assimilated. They said; “There is no heaven on earth.”

Though they conflicted with a big cultural shook between their cultures and new migrated country, they both adjust their cultural shock by making friends also by support of YMCA sponsors. Peter made his friend at school and Santonio made his friends at his workshop. Their friends supported them and they learned a lot from them about how to manage in their new life. Santonio’s job friends understood his situation and because of them he had getting use to the new job, which made him positive about earning money for his living. Peter learned English from them by talking each to other, spend time at break time, playing in the basketball mates; all of them made him comfortable at his new school life. As well as YMCA sponsors, they came at their village often to try to solve their worry and trouble. Once they start realized social statues, how other people looked at them differently, they confide their dissatisfactions to the sponsors. They listened carefully and tried to solve the problem. The support of the sponsors helped other Dinka boys who were living there as well as Peter and Santonio.

By all those supports, they have gotten over the conflicts. At the end of the movie, Peter graduated his school confidently. They thought there is no heaven on this earth; but like Peter and Santonio, moved to new country and get over the suffers, they are still working hard but those strong volition of act made them be able to make better life, like heaven, by their own.

The Name on My Collar

I was alone in the quiet bathroom, sitting on a toilet with my pants on. Normally people won’t sit on a toilet with pants on, but I was hiding in one of the stalls. The small space filled with heavy sighs. I didn’t want to be here at this school. I wanted to go back to the Japanese school. It was only my third day at this school, and I wanted out. Throughout the morning, before homegroup started, I hid in the bathroom. Why was I here? Why was I feeling so blue? Here is a story…

With only three months of school left, I changed schools from the Japanese school where I was for 4 years, to this school, ISKL. This was my first international school. I came here to learn to speak English. I had been living in Malaysia for a long time, but that didn’t help me increase my level of English. I felt I should be able to speak English because I’m living outside of Japan. However, I was thinking that it would somehow be easier and that I could survive. Unfortunately, at this moment, I am in the biggest suffering of my life so far.

As I sat in the bathroom, I thought about my situation. I could understand what everyone around me was saying (well almost), but I just didn’t know how to answer them. I couldn’t have a real conversation with anyone. The first and second day at ISKL were okay because there was a person with an orange shirt call peer helper who helped me, the new student. She was so kind and helpful. She showed me where my classes were, explained time schedule, and told me that if I had any questions that I could ask her. Sadly, after a few days, she was no longer there for me. Of course she had her friends, but I couldn’t make new friends because of my lack of English. I knew I could make friends, like myself, that weren’t so good at English, but I was afraid what people would think about me. I didn’t want to sit alone at the 6th grade deck before homegroup. I’ve never had the experience of having no friend. I didn’t know how to handle this. So here I was in the bathroom, felt lonely and miserable… I looked at my watch; it was time to go. I caution out off the bathroom, hoping no one would know I was in there for such a long time. I hesitantly ambled to homegroup.

All my classes were hard for me. I couldn’t enjoy them at all. Even the classes that I really liked such as Art, were stressful because of the difficult words that the teachers were using. I just COULDN’T understand, so I just COULDN’T enjoy them. But the biggest reason that I couldn’t enjoy any classes was that I couldn’t make any friends because of my fear of English. In science class, a few girls came and asked me, in girl talk, “Who do you like??”
I thought how should I know. I was here for only a few days and I still didn’t know anyone, but I knew that it was a good chance to make friends, so I tried to reply with humor. All that came out was a murmured “ah, … am…”. They left. Oh, they must have thought that I was so weird. I missed my chance to make friends. They were only 6th graders, and now, as an 8th grader, I know they didn’t do it on purpose or to be mean. Maybe they left because they knew I was uncomfortable and so didn’t know how to handle the situation. Those things happened to me all the time, and made me more scared to speak English. One day, when I was in the hallway, a boy that I don’t know, came up to me with smile, and said, “Why are you so quiet?” I couldn’t say anything.

I’m not quiet, I thought after he left. I’m not. I should’ve said that’s because I can’t speak English well, but I was too shocked. The words that the boy said were echoing around in my head. Everyone thought I was quiet, no one understood my real personality… The feelings I was holding were over frown. That night I jumped into bed and grumbled to my parents crying that I hated school, no one understood me, and I didn’t want to go anymore. They cheered me up, but tomorrow would still come; I had to go to school anyway even if I cried out all the water in my body. I went to school each day bearing the struggle, but I was the one who decided to come here, so I should bear it.

Finally I found the place where I can be who I am. In fact, I was taking that class every day. People in ESL were all like me, but their English was better than mine. They have all experienced a feeling of struggling in English. First I was scared of this ESL too, but they cared for me. They waited me when I stuck to reply, which I felt really happy about that. And OF COURSE they didn’t think that I was quiet! They knew that first when they couldn’t speak English they were like me. I made my first friend in English in there, too.

She was so nice to me, and she tried to help me in my classes. Luckily her schedule was almost the same as mine. “There are three kinds of hot, Ayumi. Weather hot,” she gestured fan with her hand with her tongue out, “temperature hot,” she acted like she touched something and jumped out, “and sexy hot!” The way she gestured was really clear to me. I didn’t know that “hot” meant “sexy” as well. Because of her, I started to like going school. By talking to her, I learned English, and I gained confident; it’s ok to make a mistake. I started talking to others even thought my English was broken. She left ISKL after 6th grade; therefore I spent time with her for only 3 months, but how she was supported me and the fact she was my first friend in English, I still remember her. A message that she wrote “I will miss you” on my uniform shirt at the back of the collar which I still wear it today, even its getting fades, but the memory of the time of my struggle and my first friend in English still remain deeply.

Why do people colonize? and The reason behind colonization leads to exploitation

People do colonize over the countries to extend their authority for profit and advance of their country. In 1876 Belgian’s King Leopold II (1835-1909) of Belgian colonized central Africa, the Congo region, to monopolize the rubber and ivory trade. Territory of the modern Democratic Republic of the Congo was over two million squared kilometers, which was suiting for Leopold’s plan. He was forcing native people to work severely, punished cruelly to the labors that resisted. Leopold wanted to advance his own country, Belgian, even thought to destroy all the native people’s cultural identity.

When the colonizers decided to colonize the country, they’re already thinking about the exploitation of the colonized country. Leopold was planning to make Congo to be their one of the way to be successful. They were premeditating since they decided to choose the land of Congo to advance their own country. Have a huge area to populate people for a labor movement, and take resources from the country for trading to earn money. Also the colonizers had more power than the colonized therefore they took an advantage of them moreover pushed away the colonized to be the colonizers’ way. As a result, to make their country advance, which is the reason behind the colonization, and it leads to exploitation to control the colonized.

Why Are Apologies Important?

In early 1869, by a government of Australia’s regulations, Aborigines children were forced to remove from their parents for civilize them into a white society. These stolen children were called “The Stolen Generation” and it was a huge impact of Aborigines populations. This wretched policy was continued sufferable until as late as 1970.
On February 13th in 2008, a Prime Minister Kevin Rudd finally apologized to the Aborigines especially for The Stolen Generation, after 38 years of time.
Apology is important, which is an act of feel remorse of having wronged another. To apologize of your bad deed to sufferers, they might forgive what you did, or even they won’t, the fact that you apologized is showing you recognize and reflect what you did. So the situation will be much better then don’t, even it doesn’t mean that your bad deed will disappear by doing the apology.
For this situation, the apology made the colonized, Aborigines feel solace then before, also relief that the colonizers admit what they did and so do the colonizers, re-understood what they did in their history therefore reflect and endeavor forward to turn new page with confidence, as the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said in his apology speech. But because of such long period that the colonizers didn’t apologize, about 38 years, the colonized might think why they didn’t apologize such a long time. Therefore the colonized people may not feel good as the colonizers apologized early.
But still, it was necessary and important that the government of Australia apologized to The Stolen Generation of Aboriginal people. And that made the situation improved, but it was better if they apologized earlier.

Description of This Blog’s Title…

"All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better."…My title of this blog is from this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. This quote means even though you may be regretting something you did, think positively and think that it was good that you made the mistake so you could experience that mistake to change it to an advantage; like a science experiment, learn from the mistake to improve. Go to “Humanities” was very challenging thing for me, the person who used to be in ESL, it was taking a risk to go. But like this quote, I took a risk and didn’t afraid to make mistakes. Because of this now I am happy and my English is getting much better then when I was in ESL. Because of my “experiments” I can be where I am now.

This picture of beakers means straightforward to “experiment” as you can see, which means you can take as many mistakes to improve your life, like scientist do their laboratory. Most of experiments finish in unsuccessful conclusion, but they learn from it and discover the final conclusion.