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Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Lucid dreaming

According to Pamela Hartmann (n.d.) in her article, "Lucid dreaming", lucid dreaming means consciously aware while a person is dreaming. At that time, they can participate in the events and emotions of the dream by character experiencing , observing and watching, directing and creating. Patricia Garfield, who wrote "Creative Dreaming", said that a lucid dreamer would have unbelievable freedom through the lucid dream. Also Stephen LaBerge, at the Standford University Sleep Lab, has developed a method called the MILD technique. MILD technique is waking up from a dream, imaging yourself, seeing yourself, and telling yourself. He claims that by using the MILD technique, he was able to have lucid dream on any night he wished. The way to gain access to your dream is to place a notebook or diary on your nightstand or under your pillow. Secondly, don't open your eyes immediately when you wake up. Third, lie and try to recall any imagery. Next, think about its ABCD order, ABCD means that D is any specific image, C is the event or activity that preceded it, B is what preceded that, and A is what preceded that. Lastly, describe the dream. Pamela Hartmann says that as we begin to experience this, our dream journal will achieve a special place in our life.

Friday, September 26, 2008

MY DREAM OF MOVIES


There are three famous movies that I've REALLY been afraid of since I was a little child. One is "ET". You may say, "it is a good movie not a scary one!," but when I saw that movie foe the first time, I couldn't understand the story, because I was little, and instead of that, all I could feel was scared. After seeing the movie, I started to dream about ET; moreover, it was too horrible for me that the story turned into more and more scary in my dream. Imagine that ET stands looking at you at the Japanese traditional wooden house in the dark. So scary! Therefore, I still take the movie of ET as a horror film. The other two movies are ”Jumanji” and "Friday the 13th". I also dreamed about them after seeing the movies and experienced their stories in my dreams again and again. Dreams are really related with my daily life and my feelings. If I could enjoy these movies, these dreams would be different ones for me. I missed the chance to be friends with ET because I never want to watch these films again, even if I'm no longer a poor little child.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

My Worst Nightmare

People dream whenever they sleep. But it’s not a certain thing whether they remember what they had at night or not. For example, I can’t remember almost any of my dreams every day. But let me tell you my worst nightmare. It was when I was a little child, around seven. In my dream, one of my friends and I were walking in a large desert. While we were moving with no purpose, she disappeared from my vision suddenly. I was looking for her for an hour, and then at last I could find her. Surprisingly she was in the house of ant-lion and had been sucking into it quickly. Because I liked her, I made a big effort to help her from the suffering. Though it was a small nest, I couldn’t pull her up because of my lack of power. I guess she was dead, unfortunately. That’s it.


Rie

Three dreams

When I was tired, I slept early. I had several dreams about CESL. In the first dream, I went to a CESL class. Nobody came to the CESL class. I tried to find people, but I did not see people. That moment, I felt so lonely and woke up from my sleep. I slept again. I went to the CESL class again. In my dream, I met many friends. In my second dream I had a problem! Only Korean people came to the CESL class. I felt bad because did not want to meet so many Korean people. I woke up from my sleep again. I thought in my dream that I had changed to a good mind. The third dream came to me. I saw a big hurricane at the university. I ran away from it. I wanted people to rescue me, but nobody helped me. I opened my eyes. I did not sleep that day.

CESL Class's Dream

Every night I have a new dream and usually I can remember my dreams. The last dream was about a CESL class. This dream was in color. First, I saw myself with all my classmates in mr. Leverett's class, and my sons were with me. Then, Mr Leverett came to the class with a big box. This box had many gifts for all students, watch,necklaces and earrings. mr. leverett said, "everyone can choose one," then he saw my sons and said, "your sons also can choose". Finally, my little son took a watch . My youngest son also took a watch; after that, he said, "I want to take a watch for my father". And he chose a brown watch. I chose a necklace. In conclusion, all my classmates were happy. And I woke up in the morning with a good feeling.

War in Jeddah

I had a nightmare about a war. I was in the dream sleeping when the airplanes started to explode Jeddah, my hometown. I woke up and looked out the window. All that saw was exploded buildings. I was trying to reach anybody from my family members, but there was nobody. I went to the street in which I had seen my neighbors who had passed away. I asked, who is still alive, where is my family? They said they are with a man whose name is Ahmmed. I asked them, "Any Ahmmed," and they didn't answer. After that I woke up from my nightmare.

Dream About CESL

I usually do not remember dream, but I know I dreams every day. There is one dream, which I have dreamed since I came here. One dream is about a CESL class. When I came here, I completely did not know about English because most Korean sport players do not study anything. One day, I was in CESL class with my classmates in dream. This time, I talked with teacher and classmates, but I cannot remember what we said or what situation we were in, because there was no sound. In my real life, I cannot speak anything, but I worried about my English. I think I could dream because I always worried about English. In other words, some people dream about what they want when they really want something. So, they accomplish their wish in their dream. And, they feel good in a dream. So, they practice more than before they dreamed, because of their accomplishment. This kind of dream is very useful in our life.

My worst nightmare

One day, I dreamed a nightmare, that I was in a wide plain finding shelter. I was surrounded by the military. I recognized that it was war. There were lots of people who died with blood around me. I wanted to hide and to find shelter with my family. I could hear shots easily. A few minutes later, someone was shot by the military with guns in front of me. I saw the situation. So I was shocked and afraid of them. I really wanted to escape from the place where war occurred. It was my worst nightmare.

The Worst Nightmare

The worst nightmare I have ever had was about ghost. Before I slept, I read a book about a ghost. In my dream, I walked on a road which had no light in the middle of the night. Suddenly a woman who had a big mouse appeared. I was very afraid and ran away from her, but she chased me. I ran until I exhausted, and finally I could perfectly run away from her. I stopped in front of a tree, but it was a ghost, too. So I had to run away from it, and I should run again!! I was breathless so much. And I stopped near a man to ask for his help, but the man also was a ghost!! In my dream, all of them were ghosts, so I could not relax during this dream. It is the worst nightmare that I have ever had.

Worst Nightmare...

Dreams have a special corner in our life. First, some people like to talk about them and some people won't, because they think it is a private personal experience. Second, I usually don't remember my dreams, except for unique ones, good or bad. One of the worst nightmares, I haven't forgotten it since I had it. I was in my parent's house and I went to the back yard. I had had a tooth, then I dug in the back yard and buried the tooth. Also, It was very dark. when I had this dream I was very scared and concermed about this nightmare, and I thought something bad would happen. In addition, I didn't try to interpret my dream because I believed it was just a nightmare and it didn't mean anything. Finally, dreams have an old history from many cultures, and every person has dreams in his/her life and it is very important for him/her.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Lucid Dreaming


We control our dream in a lucid dream. Pamela Hartmann explains lucid dreams and their technique. Lucid dream, which Fox discovered in 1902, means we are participating in our dreams. It was given special status in early Christianity and Buddhism. Stephen Laberge made the MILD technique, in which we wake up , we imagine the same dream and tell ourselves "next time, I can control the dream." This is a method that he developed. It gives us mental power. When we wake up in the morning, we should not open our eyes, think about a specific image, recollect whatever events we experienced, and remember what it was. We open our eyes and record all those things. It changes our life patterns.

Lucid dreaming

In "Lucid Dreaming" by Pamela Hartmann (2007) she explains the lucid dreaming history and the methods for its developing. First, in lucid dreaming the dreamer can be part of her or his dream. For example, the dreamer can control and notice his or her dreams' details. Second, Aristotle mentions the idea about lucid dreaming, and the religions like Christianity, Tibetan Buddism and Islam were interested in it. Not only that, but Oliver Fox found it in 1902. Third, the MILD technique, wich Stephen LaBerge has invented, shows how you can be a lucid dreamer. Next, in lucid deaming all the dreamer should do is focusing in their dream and getting ready to notice the potential clues including writing down his or her dreams.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Trains and Buses in the U.S.

In the U.S., trains and buses are often impractical. Why? There are two reasons. First, people who live in the U.S. have their own car, so they can go everywhere they want to go. Second, trains ans buses often don't arrive on time. If you have the most important meeting in your company, you must not use trains or buses, because you will probabry be late to that meeting. So if the number of trains and buses increase, and if they always arrive on time, people will ride them. The government especially should tell them that you don't be late!!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Buy to Low Price

All buyers want to buy products that are the cheapest prices. So, people always try to decrease the price of their goods. You can see this situation in departments, shops, and markets in Korea. It can help to save your money. First, buyers compare with other products. For example, when buyers buy some good, the can say, ” I saw this products in another place, but, another place goods are cheaper than these. So, they shake the seller’s mind. Second, the seller always gives an ideal price when the buyer asks the price. Sometimes, they add extra price. So, the buyer must distinguish the details of prices. And then, they can control the prices. They pretend they are buying the products. Finally, they ask many questions, and they look like they almost buy it, but they say, “It is very expensive, so I can’t buy it.” And most sellers reduce the price, because a cheap sale is better than no sale. We can control the price, and it is helpful to our economic lives. We should save money through negotiating.


Paul

Saturday, September 13, 2008

The Differences between Saudi Society and American Society

There are many differences between the societies all over the world. These differences are consequence of religions, old customs, the value of freedom and development in the societies. Therefore, people's behavior in certain societies is different than other people's behavior in other societies. Saudi people's methods are bonded by Islamic religion instructions and very old customs. Therefore, Saudi people's methods are different than American people methods, which depend completely on development and freedom. These differences contain three results. Saudi society is more collectivist than the American society, Saudi society has higher power distance than American society and the Saudi society has stronger uncertainty avoidance than American society.

Collectivism in Saudi society is more important than it is in the American society. First, Saudi people prefer group activities; they prefer doing work in the companies with a group to doing it alone. In contrast, American people prefer doing their activities alone. For example, they prefer financing a business instead of getting other people to invest in it. Second, Saudi people think of themselves as "members of a group" so that all people in Saudi Arabia work together to make things happen for each other; they wouldn’t be jealous if another person were more successful than them; they help each other even if they are in competition. This is something that you rarely observe in American society. Finally, Saudi people base decisions on the needs of the group. They never have made decisions based on the benefits of only few in the group, but American people base decisions individually. American people are more individual than Saudi people.

The lack of the development which Saudi Arabia has, and the consideration to keep the old customs has made Saudi society have higher power distance than American society. First, in the Saudi house the man has the first and the final words. The woman cannot make any decision without the approval from the man, and the man always makes the important decisions without sharing them with the women. On the other hand, the man and the woman share with each other to make the important decisions in the American house. Second, at work, Saudi people expect the boss to make all the decisions, and all they do is the achieving. In contrast, at work in American companies there is not as much difference between people of high and low status. The boss listens to people at all levels in the company too. Finally, in the Saudi society the relationship between the old generation and the new generation is strong, so if you were 40 years old and your father asked you to do something you would do it, even if it were without benefit. On the other hand, the relationship between the old generation and the new generation is weak; therefore, the people in the new generation make their decision without taking advice from the old generation. American society eliminates the buffer of the hierarchy, but Saudi society still has it.

Saudi society is close minded; therefore, their uncertainty avoidance is stronger than American society which is open minded. First, Saudi people try to avoid the unknown. For example, the employees in the company are always against any change in the company procedures which they work in, while American company employees are more open to changes. Second, Saudi people are more emotional than American people. For example, the emotions are the most important things at work in Saudi society, so Saudi people never work devotedly without having good relations exist between them and the mangers in their work. However, in American society the most important thing at work is the work itself. They never let the relationship between them and their mangers affect strongly on their work. Finally, Saudi people tend to like having many rules. For example, at work if there were not many rules, they would not achieve, come to work on time and leave on time, so the employer could put a lot of rules to actualizing his work. In the other hand, American employees prefer less rules and more freedom in their work to achieve efficiently. American people have weaker uncertainty avoidance than Saudi people do.

Collectivism, power distance and uncertainty avoidance are higher in Saudi society than they are in American society. That exhibits the disadvantages which Saudi organizations should start to get rid of, and exhibits the advantages which Saudi organizations should keep and develop. With The development of the global economy and the advances in the technology Saudi Arabia cannot afford to resist change and America must come together and work as one. If there were more collaboration and understanding between the societies of the world, and there were even plans for countries throughout the world to share their experiences, the people would be much happier.

Some Time Business is a Gamble

People always try to start in business to increase their incomes; some of them take loans to start, and others spend all the money which they have saved through of their live. Therefore, they should choose good cities to start a strong business in. Carbondale is one of the cities which some people have started a small business in. They may forget that starting business in Carbondale contains three dangers. The number of Carbondale people is not comforting; the geographic location of Carbondale is not strategic, and the competition with the big store in Carbondale would be difficult.

The people who live in Carbondale are about 40,000, and this number of people is not encouraging at all. First of all, this number of people in Carbondale makes the people close to each other. Therefore, if you make mistake with one customer, a lot of people in Carbondale would likely know about it; therefore, this would negatively affect you in your trade by losing more than one customer. Second, 20,000 of Carbondale people are students, and the students never have much money to buy from the stores. Finally, the people who are not students in Carbondale have simple jobs, so they have small mount incomes which they use some of them for the important products. The number of people in Carbondale is not enough to start your business in it.

Carbondale, which is located in southern Illinois, has a bad geographic location to start a new business in. First, it is not a tourist city, so your dependence would be on local people. Therefore, you could lose the opportunity of tourist customers. Second, the weather in Carbondale is bad for business. The winter in Carbondale is seven months, so the sky is still snowing for five months, which could have negative effects on your trade. Not only that, but in the summer, which is three months in Carbondale, all the students could leave because of the high temperature, so almost half of your customers would have left during these three summer months. Finally, Carbondale is next to big cities like Chicago, St.Louis and Memphis. Therefore, your potential customers would prefer traveling to them one or two times a year to buy long term products for the year instead of buying from your store. Carbondale's geographic location makes it bad for starting a business in it.

Starting business in Carbondale requires strong competition. First, big stores like Wal-Mart and Kroger will be your competitors. The big stores like them have more ability in the product discounts than small stores, by using their big warehouses to store plenty of products after buying them with cheaper prices because of the big amount. Second, Carbondale is very small so the good business would be noticed; therefore, you would have many potential competitors with a small number of people. Finally, people always trust big stores more than small stores. They sometimes prefer buying products, which the small stores have, from big stores at same price than buying them from small stores next to them because they think they are cheaper. The competition in Carbondale would put you in a critical position.

Business in Carbondale is not a good idea, because of the number of the people, the geographic location and the strong competition. If you want to take a gamble do it. Some people in the world love the adventures, but they try to study them well before will have started, so if they are would be unsuccessful they, avoid them. And business in Carbondale is an unsuccessful adventure; so think about your luck.

Bargain Before Buying

In my country people always negotiate.Some people neqotiate high price products others negotiate cheap products. Houses, cars and lands are the first things we negotiate for. Food and clothes are the second thing we negotiate for. In my country I used to bargain to buy some land for may father, and buy some used cars for my family's restaurant chain. Not only that, but when I was working in my family's restaurant chain, I have faced many customers bargaining with me. Therefore, I am good in bargaining because of my special strategies. Frst, do not show your craving or desiring of the products. second, before deciding to buy any products go around and observe the costs of the similar products. third, decide how much you want to pay. Next, offer a price which is as much below what you have decided to pay, as the seller's price is above it. Finally, go back and forth with the sellers until they accept your price. you should bargain in my country to have a good price.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

"Effects of Supply and Demand"



The world is changing the effects of supply and demand. There are at least three reasons that the world has changed. First, people use more products. For example, china is developing rapidly those days. Chinese people spend to eat a lot of pork, so the pork price in the world have in creased. Second, the economic effect changes supply and demand. The Beijing Olympics finshed their events. The world economy has grown, so all countries have increased spending for products. Third, the world changes effects of oil shocks. When the U.S attacked Iraq, oil prices increased. All countries' economies had big damages because of all prices, spending, and increases for poor people. Now the world is changing in a variety effects. We should care about changes in the world effect our lives.

"No cell phone No life" in Japan


In Japan, cell phone is now one of the most important tools that almost all people carry. At first, it was simply a tool to call and email, and gradually became popular as a useful tool that we can use to get in touch with each other easily. The supply of cell phones grew rapidly after it had other functions besides calling and emailing. Now, we can take beautiful pictures, listen to music we like and see the internet as if we were using high-end equipment. Also we can use it as a wallet, train and airplane ticket, or sometimes it can become our ID. This means that we can do everything, all our needs in our daily life, with the small single cell phone. It can be said to be kind of crazy. Because it also means that our life is completely controlled by it, in other words. It may be true that technical progress makes human beings decline.

Subway



In London when I was 7 years old l rode the underground train; it was my first time to ride a rain. It was an interesting experience. Transport by trains or buses is easier, faster and cheaper than by car. I think they should provide some services, like Internet cables or wireless connection. Therefore, the people can do their business. In addition, if they make some private cabins for those people who have a long trip, they can sleep, read, and watching TV. In the end if Carbondale has a subway I will sell my car and use it.

Bargaining and Supermarket

A negotiating situation is often seen in a supermarket in the evening. When you go near the area with uncooked food such as meat or raw fish, after around 5:00pm, you can find the clerk sealing tiny circular seals on the goods. The seals show a discount rate like “50% OFF”. So, buyers put the food that became cheaper into their baskets. Of course, it is getting worse to eat, less delicious as time goes by. But it’s possible to buy lower prices than in the daytime. That may be an original habit in Japan. But it helps many people who want to save money.


Rie

Change of the demand for wheat

In Korea, we have changed with regard to wheat flour. Wheat has been regarded as a cheap crop since the Korean war in 1950. At that time, we didn't have enough food to eat like rice. Therefore rice, which was not plentiful, was regarded as an expensive crop, while wheat, which was common, was regarded as a cheap one. Today, however, because Korea has become a richer country, rice is not an expensive crop anymore. In the case of wheat, its demand has became increasingly more and more. Because of the demand for wheat, wheat has been cultivated more and more.

Bargaining

bargaining means making the price lower than the original price. First, some people have skills and ability to negotiate about products to make the prices low. Also, the ability to bargain differs from men to women. Second, there are many thing you can bargaining about, like houses, cars and furniture. In contrast, some products already have a low price, like clothes, fruit and vegetables. Also, some places you can not bargain, because there are particular prices, and the salesman can not change it, especially, in international and famous store. Finally, there are many strategies to do the bargain with skill. The customers compares the price of products in many stores to find a suitable price for them before buying. In addition, the comparing between the stores helps the customers to put in their minds the ordinary price for those products. After that they can get the price they want, because they know the maximum they can reach. Bargaining is a special ability; not every person can do it.<

Privacy on the internet


Now, the internet is one of the most important tools to communicate. When we use it, we can communicate with friends even if we live far from each other. It is really easy and convenient for us. For example, by using communities like "My Space" or "Face Book", it will make it easy and more useful. On those tools, we can tell people who we are, what we do and anything we want. But we should notice that it also can endanger our privacy. Because we can tell everything easily, everyone can get information easily. We should watch and have wisdom about it. It made our life easy and convenient when we use the internet, but especially when it has to do with our privacy, it depends on ourselves whether it will be a good tool or not.

Ai

Buying things in the U.S.

When we buy some things in a supermarket, there are some differences between the U.S. and Japan. People living in the U.S. use a big shopping cart and put food in it directly without a basket. This action is not seen in Japan, because we make use of a basket to stock food and goods on a cart. Then we carry them to a cashier and put just the basket with stuffs before her/him. In this situation I found the second difference. The American supermarket usually has a conveyer on the cashier’s desk. I was surprised at this. That machine is very useful, but on the other hand, it wastes energy. Compared to using peoples’ hand to check goods, it does not take as much time. That is the difference I can feel in a grocery.

Rie

Monday, September 08, 2008

Revolution of Our Life


When the computer was supplied to us, we changed our life. We use it in every part of our life for mail, airport, train government etc. Basically, we changed in three ways to we use it to set, to enjoy life, and to communicate easily. First, we get a lot of information from the computer. 20 years ago, my father found it difficult to study at a university; if he wanted good information, he had to spend a lot of time searching. Now, if we want to find good information, we find easily from the computer. Second, we enjoyed only going to cafes and department stores. now we enjoy playing games and traveling to other nations from the computer. Third, we communicate easily from the computer. A long time ago, we used to communicate from people to other people. It took us a lot of time. Now, if we use computer, we spend only 5 seconds. We save a lot of time from the computer. we change many things about getting good information, making good time, and communicating easily. We can be able to try anything.

Computer give us convinient

Computer gives us a lot of things. For example, 25years ago there was no computer. My mother's hobby is traveling, so my parent often went to travel by train. Before they went to travel, every time they had to check the time when the train arrived, and which way was the best way to go there by book. But it was hard to find the best way, and it took a lot of time.

Now we can find with the best way easily because of computer. If I fill in the blank with what the place of purpose is, when I want to go, the computer will give me some answer. We can choose the best one.

It is easier than 25 years ago, isn't it?

Friday, September 05, 2008

Internet changed my life


In 1998 I started using the Internet. In the beginning I was just looking at different sites and I didn’t imagine that the Internet would change my life and become important to me. Now after 10 years of using the Internet, I can say that I learned a lot of things I would never know if there was no Internet. I am using the Internet now for everything from checking my email to cooking my dinner. After I came to Carbondale I started to buy and sell stuff online; because it’s easy to find and get whatever I want; I just received my new cell phone yesterday that I bought online. Internet is very important to me; I can see my family and talk to them, find my old friends, send pictures and buy everything, and that is what l like the most.

Using Computer For Shopping is Better

The computer makes us do many things more easily. These days, you can buy almost every things by the computer. First, you can buy books from sites like Amazon cheaper than in book stores. Second, if you want to buy clothing you could go shopping in your home without changing your regular day, and without spending a lot of time walking from one store to another store. Also, by the computer you can buy electronic products before they start to be in the electronic stores. Not only that , but you could buy video games from the internet before they would be in video game stores. Finally, you can choose the cheapest travel agency to travel with by the internet. These days the smartest way to buy things is by using computer.    

Buying Something

Paul 

AE2B Writing
09/05/08

Buying Something

People in the world buy something, at least on thing every day, for food, fashion, and health. But , the way of buying are different between U.S. and Korea. There are lots of marts and lots of people buying many things. They have different way of buying.  First, we must pay tax with products. For example, if you buy a cup of coffee, chips, and food, you must pay tax in the U.S. But, in Korea, you can pay just the price of products. Also, they do not give a tip. Second, U.S. people buy fruit and groceries in the store. Korea also has many grocery shops. But, many koreans buy fruit and groceries from the trucks. In other words, seller put fruit and groceries in his truck , and they go everywhere and to places where the store is not located. So, people can buy easily. Finally, Koreans eat something that they want to buy before buying. Most shops and marts have free food for trying. So, if you want to buy some food, you can try eating it. If you do not want to buy it, you do not have to buy it. It is up to you. But I have never seen free food for trying in the U.S. In conclusion, even if each country has different way of buying, we can buy everything easily in everywhere

Magic Machine (The Computer)

     The computers make life easier and more comfortable than many years ago. First, now you can do everything you want by computers. You can make new friends from around the world and have great time with them;also you can see them in your home. Moreover, you can study or work in the college or university by internet; in contrast, my mother or father had to go to college or university because that was not possible in their time. Second, the computers provide many professional programs. If you want to see some countries like France or England you can use google earth to see those places if you want, and that you go many places without travelling. Also, the computers help you to make reservations in the hotel before you travel, also, the computers are very appropriate because they make shopping interesting, by making good dealing by comparing with others stores. Finally, the computer is an organization machine especially, for women. It organizes all the appointments with reminders to help you not forget any important appointments, like the hospital appointment for children. I think computers are very useful machines for all people and they can not live without it.

Have 48 hours in a day

How much time do you have in a day? By using computer, it possible for people to have more time. That means computers help people to save time. We know what happened between old times and these days. There are lots of change. We can go shopping and make reservations on the internet. If I want to buy something, I can buy it without visiting a store. Older people who didn't use computer had to visit a store to buy something. However, these days people who use computer don't have to visit. Make reservations is the same. We can work easily for a short time. Moreover we can see any place where we can't go but we want to go. That is, by using computer, it possible for people to have more time.