Author: vabenissimo

The So-Called Strip Search

vabenissimoLeave a comment

Humiliation was not the only feeling entered my mind when the so-called strip search happened to me at the airport security point.

The procedure for this process is extremely demanding.

A person must have their necessarily removable clothes in the public and all possessions taken away for examination. Then, a x-ray body scanner will scan the person comprehensively, giving a holistic naked view of the body to the airport.

However, this picture unsafely divulging every body part failed to satisfy the security, introducing another step to this procedure.

From now on, every person has to go through the physical strip search.

Some say this approach will necessarily guarantee their safe flight better.

As a person who has experienced this hands-on strip search, the process did not seem to produce such a relieving effect. Instead, I felt an outrage for such demands and longer line to wait. Most people also did not look so content waiting in an extensive line to have their body searched physically and mechanically.

Perhaps, the security checks at American airports have recognized the ridiculous aspects of this search violating the very basic human rights such as privacy. On a small, almost ignorable sized sign, it noted that people were free to ask for “private” strip search.

Can’t they understand that I just wanted to fly safe, not to feel the degradation through the so-called strip search?

The Legendary Golfer Contributes to the Medical Field

vabenissimoLeave a comment

The Legendary golfer, Tiger Woods, has indeed failed his career due to his scandalous behavior.

The media successfully took an advantage of his affairs with a nightclub manager and several other mistresses, sabotaging his reputation mercilessly.

Since then, Tiger Woods has been taking a break from his career.

During his free time, he joined Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services with a hope of treating his sex addiction.

Of course, his program was not free, at all.

On the bright side, his celebrity status succeeded to add popularity to this program, exponentially encouraging people to voice their symptoms of sex addiction.

Apparently, this “illness” can be “diagnosed.”

Read More »

Vogue Tells Something More

vabenissimoLeave a comment

Adjusting to different regions had always been my challenge.

Let me scratch, I mean adjusting to different “fashion.”

When I lived in my hometown in South Korea, different layers of clothing, matching accessories and intricate designs had been the major Asian style of dressing.

During my several years of residence in Southern California, the sunny weather helped me to define my “So Cal” fashion: thin layers of clothes, traditional pair of Rainbow flip-flops, and sunglasses.

As I entered a boarding school in Connecticut, “prep” was the word for my outfit. Blazers with khaki pants, classic patterned skirts, simple dresses, and pearl earrings had helped me to abide my school rules: knee-length skirts, shoes with heels, and no jeans.

Read More »

Schools for Swat Valley

vabenissimoLeave a comment

In America, students compete for high quality education.

In Pakistan, students just want a “school”.

Due to Taliban attacks, about 150 schools in Swat Valley were left devastated.

No water, chairs, desks, buildings, or proper educational supplies is provided to these students who sincerely need the help of education.

“Today, when I look all around me at my school, I can’t tell if this is reality or just part of my dream,” said one of the girls in the video, “Lost Generation in Swat Valley.”

Constant threats from Taliban, limited donations from other countries, and corrupted political exertions hinder the future lives of these students.

However, wealthy Pakistani families began to contribute in school reconstructions and, most importantly, the students still find the desire to attend “schools.”

All they want is a building with chairs and desks.

Still, a long road seems to be left ahead to establish such environment in Swat Valley.

Unguaranteed Success

vabenissimoLeave a comment

Of course, a mother would want her child to receive an excellent education

However, in South Korea, this desire is taken far too extreme.

South Korean “Children” are forcefully sent abroad without any guaranteed success.

Often times, these students end up in committing unethical behaviors such as underage drinking and substance abuse and become anxious and obfuscated with their conflicting cultural identities; to simply put, unhappy.

Exceptions exist. They can benefit from the early experiences of independence and cultural diversity and possess careers within international range.

My point is not about tilting onto one side of this global study overseas issue. It is about recommending much more careful judgment about this experience and not merely following a trend based on an obscure success.

Check out this New York Times article, “For English Studies, Koreans say Goodbye to Dad” by Norimitsu Onishi.

Mauritania Wants Obesity

vabenissimoLeave a comment

“You are fat.”

I am almost certain that most women around the world want to avoid this title except for the ones in the northwestern region of Africa.

Fascinatingly, Mauritania considers obesity as an intricate beauty symbol.

Since young age, females from this place are pressured to stuff themselves with fattening foods. Their parents encourage them to gain weight constantly. Believe or not, vomit is even considered to be “natural” and “good.” They also intentionally increase their weight before marriage to satiate their “lovers’” taste.

This practice seems odd. However, this tradition is something to be reflected much more gravely.

An increasing number of these women are experiencing health threats and are becoming mentally traumatized by the societal demands.

Thankfully, younger generation seems to be less committed to this practice and some organizations initiated their help to educate these victims the healthy ways to live.

Unfortunately, this case divulges no vast difference from the case of most young women from other nations where the desire to thin out is choking numerous women out of their lives.

Please girls and women,  you decide the right ways to live.

Death and Art Value

vabenissimoLeave a comment

In the worldly beloved art museum of Louvre, there is an important rule strictly applied to all artists.

Every artist must die for over sixty years to have the masterpiece displayed.

This rule abandons the positive correlation between price and demand and most logics that we could possibly mention.

Then, why is it true that artistic value increases along with death?

The answer may be related to the discovery of veiled works after death like Emily Dickinson‘s findings, people’s preference for old genre, or successful estate planning.

Estate planning essentially ensures the art value for the artists. During this process, they are highly recommended to make a will with a careful selection of their artworks that have been evaluated professionally, to decide the management of these works for 70 years after their death, and to figure out a way to reduce the inheritance taxes.

However, the case with Vincent van Gogh who left the world without such plan divulges a mystery of dramatic increase in his artistic value.

Despite the high appraisal he receives from the world today, his death was lonely with unpopularity. Perhaps, his artworks were overly avant-garde to be appropriately appreciated during his lifetime like Leonardo Da Vinci’s previously infamous but revolutionary creation of wheel transportation.

In the midst of this ambiguity, the Louvre Museum continues oblige its artworks to belong to the dead artists.

Intelligence Guarantees Success?

vabenissimoLeave a comment

With an IQ 220, Kim Ung Yong from South Korea surprised the world. He spoke fluently by 6 months, read Japanese, Korean, German, and English by an age of 2, solved a calculus problem when he was just 4 years old, and divulged his talents in poetry and painting during his childhood. He even took College courses in Korea from 4 to 7.

His IQ is an equivalent of the one of Leonardo da Vinci. However, none of these fancy titles like a prodigy, Guinness recorder, and genius mattered to him. They rather reminded himself of a “monkey in a zoo.”

Voluntarily leaving from his work at NASA at an age of 14, he looked for “his” life in Korea. Due to an absence of his elementary, middle school, and high school diplomas, he began his education from the very basics.

When he chose to enter an infamous university located in rural region of Korea despite his high score on standardized tests, the world derided at his choice and called him as a failure.

Read More »

Too Late for a Happy Ending

vabenissimoLeave a comment

“Don’t look,” said my aunt. Then, I knew instinctively to not stare at a black car passing Via del Corso near the Spanish Steps.

Every nerve in my system focused on the passing of the ominous car. As the distance between the car and me furthered, my tension finally relieved.

She as well as many other people who are either directly or indirectly related to embassies seems to recognize most of the cars belonging to different national representatives according to the number plates. Thus, she had known the car had been a possession of North Korea.

The stories that I heard of these North Korean families in Rome are fascinating but still foreign.

They bring tape recordings to places and have to be alert at all times. Despite, their national brotherhood, they constantly examine one another’s behavior. Even though they came for an international experience, they ironically cannot associate with the foreigners. Indeed, the book “1984” by George Orwell has accurately delineated the horrors of communism.

Should unification of the two Koreas happen?

This question engages much more complexity than a mere happy family reunion.

The Korean War is paused, not ended. Therefore, unification means an initiation of terror.

We, both South and North Koreans, have diverted too greatly from each other, sensing the word unification as a distant term.

Pandora Jar

vabenissimoLeave a comment

Driving through the beautiful city of Ojai, I saw four people, who appeared to be in their late 50s, standing with two colorful signs. “No More War” and “Please Come Back” were the words painted on the squared posters. The bright colors might have grabbed others’ attention. However, for me, the two fingers held up by the third man from the right captured my mind.

Peace is a distant term for the victims of war. When I tried to finish my reading about the recent American field reports of the Iraq War, I could not.

Attempting to suppress my outrage, I sought to look for a bigger picture of the unfortunate misery. Then, I became increasingly curious about the existence of peace. As I looked through newspapers and other events around the world, turmoil unfortunately appeared much more frequently than peace.

According to the Princeton Dictionary, the word peace means “the state prevailing during the absence of war,” but it also represents mental state freed from anxiety.

Read More »