Jacqueline TS #16

5/4 8-9am

For our last session, I had So-young read the article out loud, and I would do a comprehension check every few paragraphs.

The Business of Fast Fashion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhkBfbwCzxc

http://www.triplepundit.com/2016/12/high-environmental-cost-fast-fashion/

For this session, we discussed the danger of "fast fashion" and its impact on the earth. Companies like Zara and H&M produce tons of waste each year, and the fabrics they use are not eco-friendly. We learned that synthetic fibers, like polyester, emit 3 times more carbon dioxide in its life cycle than cotton. This article also discussed how the landfills are filling up with clothes, since the clothes are not made to last, and people often throw away or donate their clothes. Unfortunately, there's still a lot of waste, even when donating. Places like Goodwill can't accept everything, so a lot of items end up in the trash. It's a vicious cycle, and we will continue it unless we change our buying ways or companies change they ways they manufacture products. 

Jacqueline TS #15 adult

5/2 8-9am

On Tuesday we discussed the climate march. I had So-young read this article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/29/us/politics/peoples-climate-march-trump.html

We discussed the march protesting the denial of the earth's warming climate, as one of the hottest days in DC. We went over some vocabulary she didn't recognize, such as parlay, magnate, levity and antagonist. I told her about how Trump shut down some major websites when he first took office, such as the EPA. We discussed ways in which the climate was changing and how it can effect people (jobs- fisherman, farmers) and animals.

Jacqueline TS #14 adult

4/30 8-9am

During this session, the article I chose was on personal space:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/04/24/how-close-is-too-close-depends-on-where-you-live/?utm_term=.648953dd341c

Depending on where you live, personal space looks different to each culture. She said in South Korea, they don't require a lot of personal space. We also talked about how girls hold hands in Asian countries as a sign of friendship. I told her about a time with my last conversation partner, Min, and how she would also hold my hand. At first, it was a little weird, but I just tried to embrace it and saw it as a sweet gesture. We went to the circus one day and I felt super judged by everyone around us. It made me feel bad for couples who are openly gay. If I felt judged, and I wasn't gay, I can only imagine how hard it is for people to be in openly gay relationships...

The second half of our session, I helped her edit an application for a volunteer opportunity in South Korea. I chose a shorter article, so we would have time to edit and talk about her application.

Taylar CP #6

Date/Time: May 5, 2017; 8-9PM
Location: Strozier Library
In preparation for our final, Eun You g and I met up briefly inStrozier to study for our exam. We talked for about an hour, mainly about the test itself, but also our post-graduate plans. Although we wouldn't be graduating in the same semester, we both shared an excitement about being done with our undergraduate degree and getting jobs in the "real world." However, we both agreed that we are also apprehensive about graduation just because it means becoming fully independent, which more than likely scared me much more Eun Young! She also told me about the road trip she was planning on taking with her Mom when she comes to attend her graduation at the end of the summer. She hadn't decided where they were going yet, but she said she wanted to go to the west coast and possibly the mountains as well. We both agreed that we should keep in touch and I look forward to hearing from Eun Young again!

Taylar CP #5

Date/Time: April 27, 2017; 10:15PM-12:00AM
Location: Student Life Cinema
Eun Young and I went to go see the new movie Sot with some of our mutual friends. In our earlier meetings, we had both talked about wanting to see this movie, so it was perfect timing that it came up in the SLC film schedule! Before the movie started, we talked a little bit about our classes and where we were with studying. Because finals were right around the corner, we were both pretty stressed out with all the studying ahead of us, so it was nice to be able to relax and watch a movie. We might not have chosen the right movie for relaxation, however, because Split was full of jumps and scares that I'm not sure I could relax throughout the film! Eun Young and I seemed to have differing opinions of the film by the end as well. She said that because she couldn't keep up with all of the English that some of the important dialogue was lost on her and she didn't understand everything. I thought it was a really good movie, but she said it was confusing and everyone we were with seemed to agree that the ending wasn't what they were expecting (or even wanted!).

Taylar CP #4

Date/Time: April 23, 2017; 2:15-3:15PM
Location: Dirac Starbucks
Eun you g and I met up for coffee and we started discussing the recent United Airlines headlines and how shocked we both were at what had happened. I don't think anybody, ourselves included ever thought that something like that could happen on an American airline, especially me who flies United frequently. Through this discussion we began to talk about how different airlines work and how airlines in the United States operate differently than in other countries, including South Korea. We then started discussing different language learning techniques and how different languages are structured grammatically. Both Eun Young and I have experience learning multiple languages, so we started comparing and contrasting basic sentences like "hello my name is..." or "I am X years old." across the different languages that we learned and how each ARE different grammatically.

Kim CP #6

For our last meeting, Dojun and I discussed our opinions on a couple of very interesting topics including: childbearing, cohabitation, and marriage. I am not sure how old Dojun is but it was really interesting to speak to him about his opinions on these topics. He told me that in South Korea it is very traditional to meet the parents of your partner and have their approval before extending a marriage. He told me he will follow this tradition himself before marrying his girlfriend. I told him about my upcoming trip to Japan and how I recently read that the Japanese government offers incentives to young Japanese couples to have children and help grow the population. He told me there are similar pushes in South Korea as well because young people are not marrying or having children. He told me in Seoul it is really expensive to live in the city as a single person or as a couple, so he couldn't imagine having to pay for a child as well. This led into a really great conversation about the education systems in both the US and South Korea and how they vary. He thinks the children are worked too hard in South Korea. I've really enjoyed getting to know Dojun over these past few weeks and hope we continue to stay in touch!