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I’m A Global Citizen By Daniel Kim, Imae Middle (Secondary) School, Bundang, Republic of Korea

An essay/article relating to the spread of globalization and what makes a global citizen

Although around 3 years have passed since the moment the wheels of the plane bearing me back home kissed the soil of my nation, I still vividly recall the many experiences I encountered during my 4-year stay abroad; in America and the UK. Out of the numerous experiences I had, one particularly profoundly set in my memory is deeply concerned with the factors a global citizen must be equipped with, and through this one experience I had, I intend to portray the necessary qualities a global citizen must encompass and inspire future readers to follow my example in becoming a true citizen of the global community.

I first set foot in Great Britain following two years of life abroad in America. I, by coincidence, arrived there together with a certain friend of my mom. After that one chance meeting, we used to meet occasionally to see how each of our lives were going on, and we gave each other criticisms to take to heart and live by. It was through this practice that I learned how to become a genuine global citizen, and even till this day, I still live by the piece of wisdom the friend gave me.

At first, everything in England felt so different to me. Even though I had been exposed to an English-speaking environment (the US), the many abstruse traditions and customs in the English society were hard to digest. For instance, even in the area of food, eating deep fried fish n chips or trying the first apple pie was hard to adjust to. In school, holding everyday assemblies starting with a morning prayer could not be understood, pulling on ‘crackers’ to make them ‘crack’ on Christmas seemed totally weird. And to top all of this, the unique British accent which first sounded like French could not become used to. I had, in short, met for the first time, a nation with a tradition vastly differing from my own nation’s customs. My reaction to this new change of environment was completely natural and common. Instead of trying adjust to the different environment, I turned myself into a cold, unapproachable person. I had, simply put, surrendered to the stereotypes that had assailed me. The vast cultural differences had worn down my motivation to conform to it and it had made me become excessively cold to the England and its culture. The consequences were as expected. Because I could not accept the English tradition, I found myself unable to be accepted into the English

society. I could not make new acquaintances or continue a stable relationship with my fellows. I had, by my own actions, created my own cage of neglect.

As time trickled on, I met my mother’s friend again. Upon hearing my problem, the person suggested a simple but effective resolution for me. She told me that what I should have done was that I should have at least tried to respect and understand the various cultures of England, not memorize or shun them out. It was a solution that encouraged me to do the opposite of what I had done for the previous 4 months. Naturally, it required some time to work my past backwards. And one day, it worked. By humbling myself, and by conforming to life in England, I managed to change the attitudes of my English peers and by accepting their ‘difference’ my own ‘difference’ had been accepted too. As a result, over the course of the next 2years, I managed to make lots of very close friends with whom I still contact by E-mail. I had, in other words, changed myself from being a ‘foreigner’ into a verified ‘global citizen’.

This simple factor, I believe, is the key to becoming an international resident. Neglecting or disregarding the maybe strange traditions is, basically, undermining a nation’s valued conventions. However, by accepting and understanding each other, we can overcome such vast differences in society and conform together to become one. Just a matter of perception can turn us into a second Hitler who proceeded to fulfill inhumane actions based on prejudice or elevate us to the level of a true global inhabitant.

Even now, in many countries, lots of people still hold a common stereotype against laborers from South-East Asia, the Middle East, Africa and many more. It is also evident in the classrooms when we see students from a different race, or of intelligence being shunned from the rest of the school. However, as seen throughout the essay, neglecting or disregarding the difference does not make one superior to the other. It simply lowers us to the level of ‘foreigner’. It is, therefore, up to us to transform our prejudiced society into one that invites future global citizens. And the first step starts with YOU.

English Speech Contest

Korean Food Cooks the World

Prepared by Hwang Hye Won (2-2)

There was an article in New York Times about Koreans selling Tacos with kimchi on the streets of LA. In the picture, a huge crowd of Americans were lining up to have a bite of the unique tacos. It was amazing to see how Korean Food is being popularized among the people on the other side of the globe. Nowadays, many Korean restaurants serve indigenous foods in the global stage. For instance, Kim Kocht in central Austria and Sosonjae in Tokyo are well-known for their satisfying Korean taste and best quality service. The two restaurants are always packed with high- class consumers. Actually, even celebrities and high-ranking politicians have to book three months in advance to get a table. Moreover, the Lufthansa airline of Germany chose a Korean star-chef named Mr. Park to serve in-flight meals for the passengers. He is expected to create premium menus with various Korean foods, such as bibimbab and galbitang which are beloved by many foreigners.

However, it was not long ago that Korean food became popular in the global society. For a long time, foreigners did not enjoy the true Korean foods for several reasons. They thought Korean foods had strong taste and smell, which made foreigners hold back from the food. Second, Korean cuisines that were known to foreigners were very limited. The most widely known Korean food is kimchi, which makes foreigners think that all Korean food would be spicy and salty. Also, Japanese foods were considered nutritious and healthy, whereas Korean foods were not.

These misconceptions, however, are being cleared away, due to the “Korean Wave” and the rising position of Korea in the world. As a result, our culture, especially our unique traditional foods have been newly recognized among foreigners. Many Japanese visitors to “Foodex Japan 2009” were surprised that Korean cuisine is not limited to kimchi and samgyeopsal. Recently, various Korean Food Festivals are being held in several countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, France, the United States, and so on. Foreigners attending the events have shown enthusiastic responses to the food. Even they are seeking to get recipes and some information on the ingredients.

Well, how can Korea successfully compete with other International cuisines and turn traditional dishes into global favorites? First of all, professionals have to improve the taste and the smell of our food so that people from all around the world could be able to enjoy Korean cuisines. Not only that, we need to take care of the sanitation and interior of traditional restaurants that many foreigners visit. In rural areas, there are a lot of worn-out restaurants that make foreign visitors lose their appetites. If we change them into hygienic and elegant atmospheres, the food will seem to taste better. We also need to advertise our own food more actively, showing the world how nutritious our foods are, with healthy vegetables and beautiful colors that make our mouth water just by seeing it.

Now, it’s time for Korean foods to conquer the world!!

How to become a global citizen The London subway was jammed inside. A woman was heading to the park soothing her crying child. A blackcoat was watching the clock worrying that he would be late for the work. A college student was watching a newspaper. And a few seconds was enough for the subway to become a disaster. Hundreds of people were lying down with blood jumbled together. Small kids were crying out loud holding their parents. This is what happened in London, the center of capitalism, in July 7th of 2005. Because of excess globalization, international trades expanded, so the crash between cultures increased dramatically. The London Subway Terror was the result of excess globalization, since the suspects were 4 Pakistanis British. In order to get rid of this problem, we should become a global citizen. In other words, we need to be respectful, responsible, and open minded in order to understand other cultures that are different from ours. In other words, we should become global citizens.

London Subway Terror

One way to become a global citizen is establishing international organizations. By establishing international organizations like United Nations or Non-Governmental Organization, we can prevent feuds between both cultures, and countries. For instance, after the World War ll, most of the countries in the world realized the necessity of international organizations, since they knew that supporting each other was essential. For instance, United Nation (UN) was first founded for the purpose of suppressing international conflicts and to maintain harmony. Moreover, this organization brings countries together Also, we can discuss about the solutions for

international problems

UN Flag

Another appropriate method to become a global citizen is to be tolerant. In order to be tolerant, we need to respect and understand other cultures that are different from our culture. And to comprehend and appreciate other cultures, we can share and exchange cultures. For example, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a member of Asian Dialogues. In there, students from all over the world can share their cultures and opinions. So, they can learn a lot about different countries. Eventually, controversies between students decrease surprisingly. Also, we can discuss about international problems, and cooperate together to find solutions for them.

To sum up, being a global citizen is essential for the world because it reduces quarrels between countries, like wars or terrors. In addition, it encourages countries to cooperate together, especially when solving a worldwide problem such as global warming. Plus, it helps countries to understand and respect each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cultures. If we practice these things in our world, the world would be fulfilled with happiness and peace. In that world, London Subway Terror would not happen, so the woman could go to the park with her son, the employee could go to his work on time, and the college student could go to the college safely.

-Magazine article

<Global citizen?> Many changes are happening around the world these days. Many people are getting mass of information by using the internet and satellites have made overseas telephone call available. Because of these changes, the words containing ‘global’ are becoming more important day by day. Especially among the words, the word ‘global citizen’ is highlighted because it is related to people, which means all of us. Unfortunately, it is hard to know who global citizens are. Before knowing who global citizens are, let’s read some facts about global tragedies that occurred and are occurring to get some clues.

In May 12


2008, an earthquake broke out in Sichuan, China. The earthquake’s Richter rate

was 7.8, which was very destructive and many people were sacrificed because of it. Many people all over the world mourned for the ones who were sacrificed and they were eager to help the civilians who were damaged by the earthquake’s impact. Many people thought the tragedy was not only China’s business but they thought they were also involved to this accident.

-Sichuan earthquakeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s damage

-Some Ethiopian soldiers are having military drill in Somaliaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capital, Mogadishu

Like the Sichuan people, most of the Africans are having a hard time. Many conflicts are currently emerging from Africa. Most of the Africans are exposed to critical diseases such as AIDS and eager to get water and food supplies. For example, about 1/3 of the southern Africans have AIDS and a child is dying of hunger on every 7 seconds. Fortunately, many people are helping to make Africansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; conditions better. People are making foundations to donate money to Africans and giving lots of medical help for sick civilians.

From these two global tragedies which I mentioned above, we can find a similarity. We can know that we think we are involved in every event around the world. We think that every person is not separated and everyone is linked to each other. We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t care about religion, where we are, how we look or live. We sometimes help each other, sometimes become helped by others, and exchange a lot of information. From this, we can figure out who global citizens areâ&#x20AC;? nothing special is needed, just ourselves are global citizens. It is not a hard job to become a global citizen. Learning, understanding and accepting others cultures, helping each other when we are in trouble and being truly ourselves makes us global citizens. How about being a global citizen today like we have always been and will always be? -By Min-gyu Park


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<Global Citizen:what and why>

Global citizen is defined as a person who has the understanding of individual or groups in moral and ethical disposition. They also feel caring for local to global problems and responsibilities within different communities. It is rather special however to find that this kind of person is getting popular in our society. In the past, most of the people liked structured and well-educated person who can do the work properly and add more support to the company’s work. But now as creativity is getting important and the earth turning into a global city, importance of global citizen is being realized. As this goes on, the world has started to take interest in creating new generation and developing talented people for the world. On May 2004, Hague Peace Conference had taken place in Hague, Netherland. The secretary-general of UN, Bangladesh prime minister, and queen of Jordan had participated in this event. NGOs held this event, and underlined the importance of global citizen and mind of people all around the world. Under the main theme of "Building Our Humanitarian Planet," the forum, which coincides with the 60th anniversary of Kyung Hee University, also aims to become a conduit through which world universities and international organizations can communicate and join hands in tackling global issues. About 1000 renowned scholars are participating in this event, and the forum seeks to redeem lost humanitarian values in society. Many press are seeing it as a chance for Korea to become part in creating global citizen and the right mind. Well, then who is exactly a global citizen and his characteristic? Oxfam Education divided it by 10 characteristic. A Global citizen •


role as a world citizen;

respects and values diversity;

has an understanding of how the world works economically,

politically, socially, culturally, technologically and environmentally;

is outraged by social injustice;

participates in and contributes to the community at a range of levels

from local to global;

is willing to act to make the world a more sustainable place;

takes responsibility for their actions. (Oxfam 1997)" As the people around the world show their concern in global citizenship, many groups and organizations seem to participate in this fad.. People should look broader to the world, and take one’s justice. Maybe we will be able to see a better world later on, with people who cares for others and himself.

Yumin Kim SOPHISTICATED chief writer

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