Chicago 2014

Photo Essay
David Park
Class: 20

So, this March, I got the chance to go to Chicago.
It was my second time going there but still I was fascinated by the architecture and the beautiful scenes there.

One of the places I went while I was in Chicago was the Millennium Park. In this picture, you can see the Cloud Gate which is the bean mirror looking thing in the middle. Since it reflects the scene, you can easily see a wide view of the city at one look. At the time I was there, there were a lot of people so it was very loud. Even though it was loud, there was a great smell of food too since in Chicago, there were a lot of restaurants there. Lastly, I felt kind of cold that day since it was March and since Chicago is also called a Windy City.









Now this is probably what everyone should at least see once in Chicago. So behind me, you can see the Millennium Fountain. On it, you can see a face with a water coming out of his mouth. That is actually a face of a citizen living in Chicago. So, basically the city of Chicago took thousands of pictures of Chicago citizens and will display them on the fountain. I personally thought that it was really neat and cool.

While I was at Chicago, I got the chance to go on a ferry tour that goes around Michigan River. Lake Michigan is the lake that faces Chicago and it is also one of the reasons why Chicago is also called the City of Water. Anyways this photo is a picture I took while I was on the ferry tour. In it you can see huge buildings and I thought it looked great and that it looked really modern. On the ferry itself, it was kind of windy but overall it was a great experience for me.

There were a lot of places to eat at Chicago but one day, I decided to go Navy Pier. Navy Pier is one of the most famous piers in Chicago and is on the shore line of Lake Michigan. In the pier, there are a lot of restaurants as well as shops. In this photo, I was in a Italian Restaurant and I was waiting for food. I was so hungry so I was taking sips of the lemonade that you can see on the table. Anyways while I was taking this photo, I was very very hungry and the place was great since it had the great and awesome smell of Italian pizzas, and spaghetti.

Now you shouldn't look at this picture if you are afraid of heights. Now in the photo you can see I am on a glass floor and way below my shoes, if you can make it out, you can see buses, taxis, cars and people. You might think they are ants but to be honest, they are actual people and cars. I took this photo in the Willis Tower which is the landmark of Chicago. The Willis Tower has 108 floors and it is the 12th tallest building the world. While taking the photo, I felt kind of dizzy but overall, it was a great time.

Do you know the story of the Lions of Tsavo? In Africa, there was a construction on the Kenya - Uganda Railway. However during that construction, many people were killed. You might think that accidents during the construction had killed them but actually theses two lions to your left killed them. They were known as the Tsavo Man - Eaters. One of the funny things about these lions wad that they didnt have manes even though they were both male lions. Anyways eventually they were both killed and are currently in display at Chicago's Field Museum. When I saw these two lions, I imagined how scary it must have been for the construction workers. Anyways I got to see a lot of things in the museum so it was a great time for me.

The final picture is the logo of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Art Institute of Chicago is also one of the most famous places in Chicago too since it holds a lot of world famous paintings, and sculptures. Some examples of these paintings and sculptures includes The Bedroom by Vincent Van Gogh, Stack of Wheat by Claude Monet, and A Sunday on La Grand Jatte by Georges Seurat. While seeing these art works, I was fascinated by their details and got interested in a lot of art pieces there.






In conclusion, my trip to Chicago was overall, a great time for me and my family. We got to see a lot of different things and also got the opportunity to experience new things. I'll miss you Chicago!

Movie Review (Mao's Last Dancer)

Movie Review

David Park

So, a few days ago, I watched a movie called “Mao’s last dancer.” It was released on September 13, 2009 and was based on a true story. I personally thought that this movie was great, so I decided to write a movie review.

Summary:

The movie is about  11 years old boy named Li CunXin. Li was living in a sleepy old town, but then, one day, officials from Beijing came to the town in order to select some gifted students to take to Beijing. As Li was getting examined, he was selected. Li soon found himself in Beijing school of ballet, practicing ballet for a few years. During those years, Li experienced lots of things, such as a new type of ballet. In China, they enforce the Revolutionary style ballet, but from a teacher named Chen, he gets inspired to Western ballet. Times passed and one day officials from the Houston Ballet came to choose some candidates to go with them to Texas to learn ballet. Li gets picked and went to Texas for 3 weeks. He changed a lot during those weeks. You should watch the actual movie to find out more.

Question No.1

If you watch the movie, you can easily connect the movie with the phrase: “The frog in the well.” I strongly think that this phrase is strongly connected since I portray Li as the frog. In China, they enforce Revolutionary form of ballet, and since Li is in China, the well, he is forced to practice that way. However as soon as he goes to Texas, he learns a new style of ballet which is more free and natural compared to that of China. Additionally in this movie, America or Texas is seen as outside the well, since it gave Li a new point of view of the world.

Question No.2

In the movie, as time passes, Li doesn’t want to go back to China, since he finds love and finds the western culture so attractive and great. So, in the end, Li decides not go back to China. I think that his actions have both pros and cons, and I will now talk about them. First the positive side is that he will get to marry Liz, his girlfriend. Additionally another good thing is that he would be able to stay in the United States and do what he wants to do rather than doing strict, revolutionary Chinese ballet. However, there are many negative sides of not going back to China too. One of the main consequences that Li had to follow was that he couldn’t no longer go back to China since he opposed to the Chinese government. That is really bad for Li because he won’t be able to go back to his own home country! The second negative thing is that he wouldn’t be able to see his parents from now on. Other bad thing about staying in the United States is that his love with Liz isn’t entirely secure. If you watch the movie, you can clearly see that it was love by first look.

Overall:

Overall this movie is a great movie that teaches you many things on choices and life. I would like to give it 8.5 stars out of 10. Thank you for reading my movie review.

Three words about me!

Hey guys its D.Park here  and today I will be doing a little introduction of myself.
So, for this introduction, I will be using three words to describe myself.
Try to guess what it stands for and good luck!
Here are the words:

1. 2 years
2. Swissalia
3. Capitals

Did you guess them all?
Well if you didn't know these things about me before, here you go.
These 3 things are all true and I will see you next time!
Bye :D