Young’s Extraordinary Writing

September-October

Uh Oh!!

Island Dispute STUCK HERE ALONE

Big Wave Poem

1. Writer’s Workshop-Uh Oh 2. Big Wave Poem 3. Perspective Writing Piece 4. Japanese/Chinese Island Conflict 5. Opinioned Points 6. Opinioned Quotes 7. How Has my Environment Affected

me 8. Splat Blurb 9. Tiger Mom

Tiger Mom Do you sometimes feel like everything’s going wrong in

your life and everybody is constantly not listening to you? To people who do feel like that, stop weeping and start feeling bad for me!! This endless everybody-is-not-listening-to-me thing has been non-stop for me. My dad and my sister, they are a piece of cake to deal with, but my mom, now that's a challenge. My mom, I guess you can refer to her as a tiger mom. These moms, they are unpredictable, almost as if they were balloons. Pressure filling them up and if you poke them just enough they’ll POP! This story begins with my own tiger mom, ready to pounce…

I quietly sneak up to the fridge, grabbing the one and only sugar filled tripled chocolate rocky road ice cream, closing the door as softly as I can, my hand trembling. The last thing I wanted was if my mom would suddenly come right through the kitchen, her face red with anger, finding me, not practicing my flute songs, but laying around trying to find something to eat. Suddenly, a large squeaky creek reeked from the fridge door, spreading evidence all over the house that I wasn't in the room I was suppose to be in. I knew I was dead caught already. I plunged into one of the drawers, clutched a spoon, snatched the ice cream and sprinted back to the practicing room as if nothing happened. I hastily flung the ice cream and spoon into one of the pillows and hid it safe where no one could touch it. This piece of heaven was gold to me. A Godiva triple chocolate rocky road ice cream, my mouth started to water. I couldn't resist. Out of nowhere, sudden footsteps started to roar through the hallways. It became louder and louder.

A face poked out through the door, and guess who it was…

The Tiger Mom

Her eyeballs were burning trying to escape from her head, her clambered hands in fists, and for the worst, here it comes, the shouting.

“Young, how many times have a told you to stop walking

around the house and focus on your flute! Your teacher is coming in 30 minutes and you are not even half done yet! Why do you have to be so irresponsible and not finish your flute work on time? Now stop goofing off and start playing that flute right now! And

one more thing, if I see you walking around again then your going to be in BIG TROUBLE.” Her voice boomed straight into my head. She did her signature “tsk” to top it off, and went out of the room, angry as ever.

I knew right then this was going to be one of those days. -

Mom acting all cantankerous and disappointed. Making me feel deplorable. Glaring at me with an evil squint, pressure running up and down her body. These are the worst days you can have, the days when you have only your sister and dad to watch your back.

Ferociously, I started to search through the pillows trying to find my ice cream. There it was, the heaven with chocolate. I put down the ice cream and thought for a second,

“Should I start playing? Just to chill mom down?” I grabbed my flute with a tight grip, sighing. This was not my day, I did not know when I started flute, but it was not me who signed up, of course it was my mom. I simply told her I DIDN'T want to do it, but she didn't listen to me and went straight to sign me up. I hated when these things happened, I hated the feeling. All mom did was ask me if I wanted to do it, either the answer was yes or no to her, it was always yes. When these things happened I hated my mom, she was annoying, mean, and selfish, but none of these things mattered to my mom when she was in this mood. I slammed my book onto my flute stand and flipped to the page that I had to practice. I started practicing. A soft vibrant sound came flowing out of my flute as I blew it, I wasn't great, but I guess I was ok. I could finish the story for you, but that wouldn't be fun. Next time your mom gets angry at you, think of this story and finish it for me. Remember, a mom always has a little tigerous attitude in them, I promise. Now go on, all it takes to blow one up is a touch of annoying, whining, and the last ingredient a nasty attitude. You know you can do it. If you want to try one on your dad, just add another pinch of whining, that should do it. Dads are softies so it takes a bit more, but once you get them fired up, they will never stop. Have fun… I guarantee it.

Tsunami

Run away, Run away,

Run away from it

Its thrashing arms, And legs

The murderer, itself Wiping out everything

Your family, Your Home,

Your Memory Everything

After the job is done, There is nothing left

No Family, No Home,

No Memories Everything Gone

The enemy,

Itself, Loves

Swallowing up the Poor,

Fragile Humans

Leaving their souls to be In it’s deadly

Bodies

The word for them: Monsters Murderers

Enemies Killers

The list goes on and on

They are always with you wherever you are

They never stop

The Waves NEVER stop

Waiting for the earthquake to call them

to kill us

We can’t survive this If you get hit,

Your… Dead

The TSUNAMI will be

back…

OPEN  YOUR  EYES  PEOPLE!!!!  I  AM  WORTH  A  LOT!!!  By  Young  Kim  

    Stuck  in  the  hands  of  grotesque  people  really  messes  up  my  mood.  Stuck  in  cash  registers  for  hours  makes  me  hard  to  breath.  Stupid  adults  keeping  me  in  the  palm  of  their  kid’s  hands.  Ripping  parts  of  my  body  in  half  and  taping  me  together.  The  crumpling  sound  of  my  body  as  they  crunch,  crunch,  crunch  me  up  like  a  piece  of  junk.  10th  graders  spilling  grape  juice  all  over  my  rich  hair.  Shaking  me  in  their  tiny  pockets-­‐too  lazy  to  put  me  in  a  wallet  where  I  belong.  Why  do  people  mistreat  me???  I  am  worth  a  lot!!!!  100  dollars,  seriously!!!  PEOPLE,  ARE  YOU  CRAZY!!!???  I  used  to  smell  like  a  newborn  baby,  but  now  I  smell  like  gunk  with  a  touch  of  dog  poop!!!  You  will  be  surprised  with  what  you  find  out  in  this  life  if  you  were  me.                            Although  my  life  seems  horrible,  some  things  are  ok  to  deal  with.  Some  things  are  good  like  I  always  go  to  the  bank  2  times  a  week.  I  love  the  bank.  It’s  where  my  friends  are,  my  best  friend  is  the  $10  bill.                            My  long  time  wish  is  for  somebody  to  act  like  I  am  worth  a  lot.  That  they  will  see  me  for  me,  100  dollars.  Not  a  old  piece  of  worthless  paper.                          Now,  I  am  stuck  with  this  very  fancy  lady,  I  think  about  27  years  old.  Her  name  is  Carrie  and  she  

smokes!!!  She  always  takes  me  to  fancy  places.  I  think  I  like  her  best  cause  she  keeps  me  in  a  WALLET!!!  OH  NO!!  She  is  carrying  me  up!!!!  NO  SHE  IS  GONNA  USE  ME!!!!  NOOOOOO!!!!!

 

Tsunami

It is an enemy

It kills you

It’s unexpected, It strikes within minutes

You don't know when it kills you Just one slap with its body and

your dead…

It raises its arms and kicks its feet, then it repeats, repeats,

repeats, and repeats

And then it will start to thwack and boom

Swallows you up in one BIG gulp

Your dead within a second, all

washed out No nothing in your memory

your family or about It killed you

With no doubt Killed your family Killed everything

Everything wiped out Everything gone

A new world A sad world

Just because of it

What if you got stroke from this vicious monster Evil, nasty murderer

It will bury your soul in its

body Acting innocent

When it’s actually the nemesis

This is called a… Tsunami

 

Japan,  China,  and  Taiwan  at  war,  a  nuclear  strike  on  Japan,  the  US  navy  involved?  Death  threats  from  all  ends??  What  is  going  on??!!!  What  do  you  think?  Whose  side  are  you  on?  This  is  a  big  situation…  but  all  over  a  small  group  of  islands?  Lets  find  out  the  true  story  of  this  problem…          The  Chinese  protesters  are  getting  very  violent.  They  believe  that  it  “their”  island  and  the  Japanese  stole  it  from  them.  They  show  their  anger  by;  throwing  rocks,  bottles,  eggs,  and  bricks  at  Japanese  embassies,  cars,  and  even  people!!  They  are  wearing  Anti-­‐Japanese  logos,  vandalizing  photos  of  Japanese  high  authorities,  sending  death  threats  to  the  Japanese  prim  minister,  and  the  worst  of  all,  and  ripping  the  Japanese  flags.      Here’s  our  own  new  reporter  Kristi  Deki  for  the  news  on  the  island  dispute  reporting  from  China.  “PROTESTING  IS  OUT  OF  CONTROL!  PEOPLE  ARE  BEING  ARRESTED  ON  THE  SPOT  FOR  PROTECTING  THEIR  PROPERTY!  THOUSANDS  OF  PEOPLE  ARE  PARADING  THE  STREETS  WITH  DREADFUL  SIGNS  AND  DEATH  TREATS!  WHO  KNEW  THAT  THIS  TINY  ISLAND  WOULD  CAUSE  THIS  MUCH  DISPUTE!”    There  are  two  sides  of  the  story  for  the  Chinese  workers;  some  of  the  workers  believe  that  “Japan  is  part  of  the  problem  we  need  to  let  them  know  it’s  our  island!  “  China  needs  the  oil  and  gas  because  they  are  the  country  that  makes  a  lot  of  products  and  they  own  a  lot  of  factories  so  in  order  to  produce  their  elements,  they  need  all  the  resources  they  can  get,  but  some  of  the  Chinese  workman  need  the  Japanese  manufactures  because  that  how  they  feed  their  families  and  provide  for  themselves.  “Japan  is  one  of  our  main  business  partners  and  most  of  the  jobs  come  from  Japanese  factories  so  why  are  we  stressing  our  economy  even  more  by  fighting.”          

    A  Chinese  fisherman  exclaims,  “The  Daioyu  islands  belong  to  us.    We  sailed  the  around  the  island  many  times  and  discovered  it  in  the  14th  century,  so  why  are  we  not  the  owners?  We  evidently  are  a  big  country  and  China  has  one  of    the  biggest  populations  in  whole  world.  Clearly  we  have  the  most  to  provide  for.  Adding  to  that  the  Daioyu  islands  are  a  pretty  big  fishing  area  so  we  need  that  to  feed  the  people.  It’s  clear  the  islands  belong  to  us.”    

A  Chinese  fisherman  named  BuBu  proclaims,  “This  is  an  outrage!  We  have  the  right  to  fish  and  for  Japan  to  stop  us.  Vandalizing  the  Toyotas,  Nissans  and  Hondas,  vandalizing  the  Japanese  flag  and  prim  minister’s  photo  is  what  they  deserve!”    Let’s  stay  away  form  those  angry  protestors  for  a  long  time.      Some  believe  that  China  is  using  the  island  dispute  to  resolve  their  World  War  2  grudges  and  direct  it  off  their  economy  failure.  A  Chinese  historians  says  “the  island  is  ours  since  we  sailed  the  island  during  the  1400  hundreds”    Now  lets  hear  Taiwan’s  part  of  the  story…  A  Taiwanese  official  protests  “We  need  the  island  since  China  has  enough  resources  and  Japan  has  help  form  the  U.S  we  need  the  island  most.”      Taiwanese  local  fisherman  says,  “This  is  an  outrage!  The  Japanese  navy  has  been  blasting  my  boat  with  the  most  unusual  thing…  WATER  CANNONS!!!  One  of  the  major  problems  of  this  situation  is  that  the  island  is  a  key  fishing  spot  for  the  Taiwanese.”        A  Taiwanese  protester  states,  “The  Island  is  ours  because  geographically  it’s  around  75  miles  from  our  “Island”.      Another  protester  states,  “The  children  all  agree  with  us  and  since  we  believe  that  the  island  is  ours,  the  children  should  protest  with  us.”  As  you  can  see,  it  looks  as  if  Taiwan  thinks  

that  no  one  would  harm  a  child,  no  one  would  so  the  protestors  use  the  children  to  do  their  dirty  work.      Surprisingly  with  all  this  commotion  Japan  has  managed  to  stay  calm.  A  Japanese  official  declares  “  We  bought  the  Senkaku  islands,  China  is  just  trying  to  use  this  to  distract  the  fact  that  their  economy  isn’t  doing  well  at  all.  Taiwan  just  wants  the  island  for  the  fishing  rights  since  that  their  fishing  hotspot.  Clearly  the  island  is  OURS.”  The  Japanese  prim  minister  is  very  firm  in  his  speech  he  sends  a  message  to  the  Taiwanese  and  the  Chinese  that  the  Senkaku  islands  belong  to  Japan.      A  Japanese  historian  announces,  "We  bought  the    Senkaku  Islands,  we  surveyed  the  islands  since  the  late  19th  century  and  the  Americans  administered  the  island  till  the  1972  and  hand  overed  the  islands  to  us.  China  is  just  using  this  crises  to  resolve  their  World  War  2  grudges.”  The  funny  thing  is  was  that  when  Japan  surveyed  the  island  in  the  late  19th  century  the  claimed  it  belonged  to  nobody.        A  Japanese  worker  exclaims,  “Since  China  has  shut  down  multiple  of  the  Japanese  factories  that  are  located  in  China,  we  are  losing  more  than  10%  of  our  manufactured  production.”      A  local  Japanese  fisherman  called  Mr.  Sakamoto  says  “  Yes,  Hello,  I  feel  we  really  shouldn’t  go  to  war  over  some  silly  islands,  we  own  them  anyway.  Even  though  the  islands  are  a  fishing  hotspot  and  I’m  a  fisherman,  I  have  a  brain.  I  mean,  I  hope  Japan  get’s  the  islands,  but  their  said  to  be  a  nice  oil  preserve  in  the  area  and  definitely  nice  fishing  spots.  Even  though  I  haven’t  visited  the  area  yet  I  won’t  until  all  this  commotion  ha  settled  down.”            The  U.S  are  starting  to  get  involved  in  this  escalating  crisis    

“If  any  country  pass  the  Japanese  territorial  border  we  have  to  get  involved.  We  really  don’t  need  another  country  hating  us  since  our  nation  is  split  between  the  presidential  election.”    We  hope  that  this  island  dispute  doesn’t  get  any  farther  than  this,  Let’s  hope  that  they  share  the  island  before  this  escalates  into  a  something  bigger.  This  is  Maya,  Kristi  and  Young  Signing  off.                          

Opinion  Language  From  the  Japanese,  Taiwanese,  and  Chinese  

Dispute    

• “Mine,  Mine,  Mine,  Mine”  leaders  sound  like  seagulls  from  “Nemo”  

• BRIEF  HISTORY  A. The  Japanese  call  them  “Senkaku  Islands”  B. The  Taiwanese  call  them  “Tiaoyutai”  C. The  Chinese  call  them  “  Daiyu”  • Administered  by  the  US  till  1972  • Handover  by  Japan  • Asserted  Claims  by  Japan  • China  Claims  island  since  then  • Close  to  key  shipping  lanes,  rich  fishing  grounds,  and  there  may  be  oil  reserves  in  that  area  

• Surveyed  the  islands  in  the  late  19th  century  A. Said  it  did  not  belong  to  anyone  B. How  things  change  

• China  feels  should  be  returned  as  the  rest  of  imperial  Japan’s  conquests  were  returned  in  1945  

• Defense  of  the  islands  by  Japan  may  compel  support  from  the  US  military    Opinionated  Language  Violence  

• Smashing  Cars  • Throwing  Eggs    • Throwing  Rocks  • Throwing  Bottles  

• Called  for  war  • Put  on  Anti  Japanese  Logos  • Putting  on  signs  on  cars  that  say  they  bought  the  car  before  Japan  started  misbehaving  

• Turning  around  cars  • Breaking  Windows  • Acting  crazy  • Armed  Ships    • Kill  All  • Fight  to  the  death  • Sailors  having  water  fights  

1. Squirt…  Squirt…  How  Mature  • Nuclear  Strikes  • Flexing  muscles  • Shiny  new  aircraft  carriers  • Long  resentment  • Memories  from  World  War  2  • War  crimes  not  address  • Claim  since  14th  Century  • Ripping  Flags  • Throwing  bricks    • Using  children  • Huge  gas  and  oil  reserve  • Taiwan  and  China  teaming  up?  • Fighting  on  the  ground  of  Japan  • Chinese  people  arresting  Japanese  people  • Japanese  people  arresting  Chinese  people  

Multiple  Chinese  fishermen  have  been  determining  the  same  argument.  Lets  take  a  look  at  one  of  these  sayings…    Fisherman,  ________________  says,  “These  islands  belong  to  us.  Period.  We  controlled  and  discovered  these  islands  in  the  14th  century,  so  why  are  we  still  not  the  owners?  We  evidently  are  a  big  country  and  China  has  one  of  the  biggest  populations  in  the  whole  world  so  clearly  we  have  a  big  herd  to  feed.  Adding  to  that,  __________  islands  is  a  big  fishing  area  so  we  can  get  a  lot  of  food  to  feed  these  people.  I  think  this  makes  pretty  much  sense  and  makes  the  point  that  these  are  the  islands  that  belong  to  us.”    Prim  Minister  of  Japan  retells  their  story  and  how  the  ___________  islands  is  theirs…  They  are  firm  that  they  want  to  make  sure  this  message  goes  out  to  the  Chinese  and  Taiwanese.    Prim  Minister  says,  “We  have  claimed  the  ownership  of  these  islands  because  we  bought  it  from  Japanese  citizens,  which  proves  we  are  the  rightful  owner  to  these  practical  islands,  and  that  Taiwan  and  China  should  just  leave  us  alone  and  let  us  be  with  OUR  islands,  also  just  move  on.”    Taiwanese  citizens  have  been  chatting  about  how  its  unfair  to  make  Taiwan  feel  small  just  because  they  are  geographically  smaller  than  the  US,  China,  and  Japan.      One  Taiwanese  says,  “The  __________  islands  are  ours.  The  US,  China,  and  Japan  have  been  arguing  against  us  but,  they  truly  know  that  its  ours.  Its  true  we  have  to  compete  against  other  large  countries,  but  all  we  believe  is  that  the  island  is  ours.  We  are  the  closest  country  to  it.  That's  all  we  have  to  say”    US  citizens  suddenly  are  starting  to  get  involved  with  this  situation  too.  Whats  their  story…    One  American  says,  “We  have  owned  the  _________  islands  from  1945  to  1972.  We  think  that  is  long  enough  to  have  claim.”  

How Has my Environment Affected

Me? Sometimes I imagine how my life would be like if I have lived in Korea as other normal Korean kids. It must be much different from how it is now. I moved to Beijing, China when I was 4 as my father came to work there. I spent three years in great International Kindergartens in Beijing. I could learn Chinese as well as English and experience something Chinese even though I cannot remember all of them. My family moved here to Tokyo, Japan in the summer of 2008 and I have attended ASIJ since then. I could meet so many friends and kids from all over the world. I am learning Japanese and have visited many places in Japan. I think all these experiences were possible because my parents gave me a chance to live in an international environment. I am not sure I will live in Japan or any other country outside of Korea in next few years, but the environment surrounding me since we left Korea definitely changed my life and will also affected the rest of my life. I am more open minded to any language or culture and I am sure I can be a friend with anyone from any country. I may be studying in universities in the States or in Korea, but I know I have more choices and opportunities than other Korean kids as I am learning many languages and my parents will

support me as they did the past 10 years. I really thank my family for giving me such a good environment to live and learn in.  

Do you think you are the world’s rebel??? Compared to the rascals in Eric Walter’s book you are nothing, but a pest. Alex and Keegan, the perfect pairs to be known as the sneakiest hooligans are about to strike back at the Tomato Festival. As their fathers, the chief and the mayor, stupidly make them work at the festival this year at the tomato toss booth, they make it a bit more interesting… lets just put it this way… if you were entering the booth… you might not want to wear something fancy… you are up for a… “SPLAT!!”

Tiger Mom Do you sometimes feel like everything’s going wrong in

your life and everybody is constantly not listening to you? To people who do feel like that, stop weeping and start feeling bad for me!! This endless everybody-is-not-listening-to-me thing has been non-stop for me. My dad and my sister, they are a piece of cake to deal with, but my mom, now that's a challenge. My mom, I guess you can refer to her as a tiger mom. These moms, they are unpredictable, almost as if they were balloons. Pressure filling them up and if you poke them just enough they’ll POP! This story begins with my own tiger mom, ready to pounce…

I quietly sneak up to the fridge, grabbing the one and only sugar filled tripled chocolate rocky road ice cream, closing the door as softly as I can, my hand trembling. The last thing I wanted was if my mom would suddenly come right through the kitchen, her face red with anger, finding me, not practicing my flute songs, but laying around trying to find something to eat. Suddenly, a large squeaky creek reeked from the fridge door, spreading evidence all over the house that I wasn't in the room I was suppose to be in. I knew I was dead caught already. I plunged into one of the drawers, clutched a spoon, snatched the ice cream and sprinted back to the practicing room as if nothing happened. I hastily flung the ice cream and spoon into one of the pillows and hid it safe where no one could touch it. This piece of heaven was gold to me. A Godiva triple chocolate rocky road ice cream, my mouth started to water. I couldn't resist. Out of nowhere, sudden footsteps started to roar through the hallways. It became louder and louder.

A face poked out through the door, and guess who it was…

The Tiger Mom

Her eyeballs were burning trying to escape from her head, her clambered hands in fists, and for the worst, here it comes, the shouting.

“Young, how many times have a told you to stop walking

around the house and focus on your flute! Your teacher is coming in 30 minutes and you are not even half done yet! Why do you have to be so irresponsible and not finish your flute work on time?

Now stop goofing off and start playing that flute right now! And one more thing, if I see you walking around again then your going to be in BIG TROUBLE.” Her voice boomed straight into my head. She did her signature “tsk” to top it off, and went out of the room, angry as ever.

I knew right then this was going to be one of those days. -

Mom acting all cantankerous and disappointed. Making me feel deplorable. Glaring at me with an evil squint, pressure running up and down her body. These are the worst days you can have, the days when you have only your sister and dad to watch your back.

Ferociously, I started to search through the pillows trying to find my ice cream. There it was, the heaven with chocolate. I put down the ice cream and thought for a second,

“Should I start playing? Just to chill mom down?” I grabbed my flute with a tight grip, sighing. This was not my day, I did not know when I started flute, but it was not me who signed up, of course it was my mom. I simply told her I DIDN'T want to do it, but she didn't listen to me and went straight to sign me up. I hated when these things happened, I hated the feeling. All mom did was ask me if I wanted to do it, either the answer was yes or no to her, it was always yes. When these things happened I hated my mom, she was annoying, mean, and selfish, but none of these things mattered to my mom when she was in this mood. I slammed my book onto my flute stand and flipped to the page that I had to practice. I started practicing. A soft vibrant sound came flowing out of my flute as I blew it, I wasn't great, but I guess I was ok. I could finish the story for you, but that wouldn't be fun. Next time your mom gets angry at you, think of this story and finish it for me. Remember, a mom always has a little tigerous attitude in them, I promise. Now go on, all it takes to blow one up is a touch of annoying, whining, and the last ingredient a nasty attitude. You know you can do it. If you want to try one on your dad, just add another pinch of whining, that should do it. Dads are softies so it takes a bit more, but once you get them fired up, they will never stop. Have fun… I guarantee it.