Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States. It is the 49th state and the United States bought it on March 30, 1867 from Russia. The land is huge, 1,477,277 square kilometers, but the population is very small, 683,478. It has over 3 million lakes. Its capital city is Juneau, and the governor is Sarah Palin, who was the vice president candidate recently for the Republican Party. Alaska is a very cold place. In winter the temperature drops to -60 Fahrenheit (-52 Celcius). There is 275 inches of rain and snow each year. Alaska is very helpful for the United States economy because it produces oil. Jack London, who was a very famous American author, went to Alska when he was 21 years old. He wrote a lot of novels about Alaska, and in total he wrote 78 novels and stories, including 'The Call of the Wild', 'White Fang', and 'Sea Wolf'.

Veteran's Day (Korean War)

When I think about Veteran’s day, I think about my grandfather. Here in the United States there are many veterans of the Korean War still alive today. My grandfather, Sung Muk Lee, is also still alive, he is 76 years old and he is a veteran of the Korean War. When he was 18, the Korean War started, which was June 25th, 1950. North Korea was supported by the Soviet Union and China, who gave them tanks and weapons. South Korea was supported by the United States and many other countries that are in the UN. The Korean War was part of the Cold War. There were 590,911 Korean soldiers and 480,000 American soldiers. During the war, 36,000 American soldiers died in combat, 92,134 soldiers were wounded, and 8,176 soldiers were missing. Also 58,000 Korean soldiers died in combat, 175,743 soldiers were wounded, and 80,000 soldiers were missing.
My grandfather, Sung Muk Lee, was drafted into the army. He got into an elite division of the army and became a staff sergeant. He fought for two years at the front. He told me that many of his friends died beside him during the war. He was with the American soldiers and he learned a lot of English, even swear words. He told me that the American soldiers were very friendly. While he was in combat, a grenade exploded next to him and the shrapnel hit him in the right ankle, and he lost his ankle bone. Another time, while he was retreating, a bullet struck his left leg in the calf, and now he has a bullet scar in his leg. To me he has always been kind and peaceful. I was surprised when I saw his scars and heard stories from the Korean War.
I have to say Thank you for your service and sacrifice to my grandfather and all the other veterans and soldiers who sacrificed their lives in many kinds of wars. We have to respect them because they fought for our country to protect us and that is why we are still alive and free.

Boston Symphony Hall

On Wednesday, September 24th, my father and I went to the Boston Symphony Hall to watch the opening night of Boston Symphony Orchestra. I had to dress up like a gentleman. I had to wear my father's black suit and my father's leather shoes. I really like to wear black suits so I was happy to wear them. When we arrived there, it was crowded with people. They all wore luxurious clothes. It was my first time being in Boston Symphony Hall so I was very excited. The building looked like an ancient Roman building. There were statues of people and stone columns. We went upstairs to go to the first balcony which was our seat and observed the stage. It was white and looked beautiful. As we were waiting, we read the pamphlets about today's show. It talked about the Boston Symphony Orchestra's music director, James Levine. He is the 14th music director the orchestra. It was interesting to read the pamphlet because it gave so much information about the history of the Boston Symphony Hall and the Orchestra. A few minutes later, the orchestra came on to the stage with James Levine. Mr.Levine was a short guy but looked like a very generous man. It was interesting that he sat on a chair while he conducted the orchestra. I never saw a music director sit and conduct in my life. My music teacher said that he has a back problem or something so he can't stand for a long time. The orchestra played three songs which were; Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila by Glinka, Letter Scene from Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky, and Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky. When I heard the music, I was amazed. I was amazed at the orchestra. I was so amazed that I was shocked. They were so good and they were the best orchestra I ever saw so far in my life. I could know that the players practiced these songs for more than ten hours a day when I heard the music. When they played the music, I felt like many toothed wheels were working together, playing perfect music like the toothed wheels that are parts of a machine working together and making the machine run. Also the conductor was amazing. He was filled with passion while he conducted the orchestra. That night, I learned that if I want to reach my goal, I have to work and practice very hard like the players in the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was a great night and I was really glad to be there.

Happy Birthday DAD!!!

Hello Dad!

Happy Birthday!

I'm so glad that you are my father. Thank you for raising me . I know you are having a hard time in your church. You have to look over your church and your family at the same time. I know it is hard but thank you again for being a such a great father and a pastor. Thank you and I Love you DAD!!!

Clones

This summer, I read a book called 'The House of Scorpion' by Nancy Farmer. It's science fiction and it is about clones. After I read this book, it made me think "What if cloning people really happens in the future?" I think it would be terrible. I mean, the clones have their own thoughts and feelings. They are exact same as us, except they don't have souls I think. The reason why I think they'll not have souls is we make them. We have souls because God made us and gave us souls. I'm a Christian so I believe in these. However I think it's not right to use the clones just for us to live longer, by using their organs. I think it'll be terrible to kill to get some body's organ. Think about how shocking it will be if they find out that they are clones, not a real person. Think about how will you feel when you find out you were a living tool to make another person live longer by using your organs? Even though we know that the clones are fake and we are real, they have their own world and they have their own thoughts like us I think. So I disagree with making clones.

Healthy Lifestyle

In my opinion, a healthy lifestyle includes physical health and mental health. For physical health you need to exercise rapidly every day, especially an exercise like running and jumping rope. These exercises burn our fat in our body. Also you should eat a balanced meal. You should not eat too much meat or eat too much vegetables. You should eat all of them with balance. Of course physical health is important for us but, I think mental health is more important. Lets say that you have a good body but you are mentally abnormal, then your good body is useless and can be used in a bad way. It is important to have a peaceful mind and get along with other people well. If you have a lot of stress and can't get along with other people well you are not mentally healthy. Last thing, I think our environment effects our healthy lifestyle too. If a family is poor and doesn't have enough money to buy healthy meat or vegetables, then they can't be healthy in a physical way. So if you want to have a healthy lifestyle, you should exercise every day, eat a balanced meal, think positively, and always be happy.

It's Me!!! Joshua Joonsuk Lee

Hello! My name is Joshua Joonsuk Lee. I'm

in 7th grade now and I love~~~ spaghetti.