Monday, 25 April 2011

Credits to our Sources.

We couldn't have made our project successful without the sources below! We thank them all and Google as well :)

Korean Flag: http://www.paulnoll.com/Korea/History/South-Korean-flag.html
The Kanji Writings: http://www.google.com.sg/imglanding?q=hiragana+katakana&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1345&bih=612&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=UFsIO5POlrBcHM:&imgrefurl=http://englishtreejapan.tripod.com/archive/learning-hiragana.htm&imgurl=http://englishtreejapan.tripod.com/images/Hiragana.gif&w=480&h=765&ei=fVO1TanbBZTAsAOWrsXnCw&zoom=1&iact=rc&page=2&tbnh=153&tbnw=96&start=24&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:24
Sharon Tree: http://www.google.com.sg/imglanding?q=sharon+bush+close+up&hl=en&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=KgTLuE-3y-Bk6M:&imgrefurl=http://www.nature-and-flower-pictures.com/rose-of-sharon-pictures.html&imgurl=http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/sallyann53/Roses/rose-of-sharon-pictures/rose-of-sharon-bush-w-4930.jpg&w=800&h=600&ei=rU-1Taz6AsKJrAePnIXJDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&page=1&tbnh=148&tbnw=197&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0&biw=1345&bih=6
Youtube Video on WWII: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptm8cguMjJU

Research of Events (Uncle Working for the Resistance)



A picture of a Korean flag that Uncle had drawn for Sun-Hee and Tae-Yul on a piece of paper.

Source of Information: Google Images ( http://www.paulnoll.com/Korea/History/South-Korean-flag.html )

Research of Events (Sun-Hee: Top Kanji Student)



An example of the Japanese kanji writing from the Japanese Alphabet book. It gives us an idea on how to write Sun-Hee's kanji words when she practises writing it and learning new words. We also have reference to Siew Li's Hiragana Katakana. Three cheers for Siew Li! :)

Source of Information: Google Images (http://www.google.com.sg/imglanding?q=hiragana+katakana&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1345&bih=612&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=UFsIO5POlrBcHM:&imgrefurl=http://englishtreejapan.tripod.com/archive/learning-hiragana.htm&imgurl=http://englishtreejapan.tripod.com/images/Hiragana.gif&w=480&h=765&ei=fVO1TanbBZTAsAOWrsXnCw&zoom=1&iact=rc&page=2&tbnh=153&tbnw=96&start=24&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:24 )

Research of Events (Sharon Trees Chopped Down)





This picture of the sharon flowers gives us reference to us as we have the leaves of a sharon tree as one of our artefacts. We used this as a guide to pick the most appropriate leave that looks almost like that of a sharon tree.

Source of Information: ( http://www.google.com.sg/imglanding?q=sharon+bush+close+up&hl=en&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=KgTLuE-3y-Bk6M:&imgrefurl=http://www.nature-and-flower-pictures.com/rose-of-sharon-pictures.html&imgurl=http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/sallyann53/Roses/rose-of-sharon-pictures/rose-of-sharon-bush-w-4930.jpg&w=800&h=600&ei=rU-1Taz6AsKJrAePnIXJDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&page=1&tbnh=148&tbnw=197&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0&biw=1345&bih=6 )

Reference to our Journal Entries of our Scrapbook

This is a video that we made reference to before we started drafting out the journal entries in our scrapbook. We wanted to know how life was like during the Japanese occupation, like how Rhee Jae Sun had been through. This is so that we could understand how it felt like and how the atmosphere was like being a victim during that period of time. We also needed to understand the language used as we needed to be in the shoes of Rhee Jae Sun. In this case, it was an aggresive and firm tone as the speaker in this video had that accent. By doing this, we could make our scrapbook as realistic as possible.

Source of Information: Youtube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptm8cguMjJU )  

Photo of Old Papers Used For the Pages of Our Scrapbook



These are papers dipped in coffee to give it an olden and antique effect. This is so because the paper dates backs to the days during the Japanese occupation, which is during the 1940s. Therefore, the paper is worn out and old, having the brown effect on it.

Instructions to make paper:


1. Boil water for 5 mins.
2. Pour packets of coffee powder in a huge tub. Pour the boiled water into the tub.
3. Stir the tub of coffee powder thouroughly until all the powder dissolves and coffee is made.
4. Take some a4-sized blanked papers and gently put them on the surface of the coffee. After the paper turns brown in colour, flip it over for the remaining white areas to turn brown as it dissolves.
5. Repeat step 4 for all 14 papers.
6. Use a hairdryer to dry the paper thouroughly and leave it to sun to dry completely.

Credits:


~Siew Li (for making the brown paper)
~Yang Yao (writing down the steps)
~Asilah (taking the picture of the final product of the paper)

Photo of Japanese Alphabet Book (Hiragana Katakana)


This is a picture of a Japanese alphabet book as reference for the artefacts as we had an artefact that has Sun-Hee's kanji words written on an old paper.

Photo of Japanese Kanji Writings


These are pictures of Japanese kanji writings that Sun-Hee loved to practice writing it. We made reference of it from the Japanese alphabet book (Hiragana Katakana).

Friday, 22 April 2011

Progress Checklist

Date
Week 5 [18 April 2011]
What We Aim To Complete
1. Touch-up on events, diary entries & artefacts
2. Label & organize items
3. A box to store our artefacts
4. Include names and roles of each member on the box
What We Have Completed
1. Touch-up on events, diary entries & artefacts
2. Label & organize items
What We Have Not Completed
1. A box to store our artefacts
Areas We Want To Improve On Or Change
1. Our scrapbook
2. Our box to store artefacts


Progress Checklist

Date
Week 4 [11 April 2011]
What We Aim To Complete
1. Finalise our letter to Linda Sue Park (2nd round of language check)
2. Researches on our chosen events
Ø  To be uploaded on blog
3. Draft diary entries for each event
4. Finalise our artefacts
5. Decorations for our scrapbook (front cover design etc.)
What We Have Completed
1. Finalise our letter to Linda Sue Park (2nd round of language check)
ü  Grammatical checks
ü  Language (vocabulary checks)
2. Draft diary entries for each event
3. Finalise our artefacts
What We Have Not Completed
1. Decorations for our scrapbook (front cover design etc.)
Areas We Want To Improve On Or Change
1. Finalise our artefacts
·         How they are displayed

Progress Checklist

Date
Week 3 [4 April 2011]
What We Aim To Complete
1. Draft of letter to Linda Sue Park
2. Confirm on how we will present our 10 events
3. Decide on the sketches and materials (artefacts) needed for at least 6 events
What We Have Completed
1. Draft of letter to Linda Sue Park
2. Decide on the sketches and materials (artefacts) needed for at least 6 events
ü  A Korean flag that Uncle had drawn on a piece of paper
ü  Japanese Alphabet book (Hiragana Katakana)
ü  The paper leaflets from the American military
What We Have Not Completed
1. Confirm on how we will present our 10 events
Areas We Want To Improve On Or Change
1. Draft of letter to Linda Sue Park
·         Check for grammatical errors and improve the language (vocabulary)
·         The artefacts chosen
·         The sketches

Progress Checklist

Date
Week 2 [28 March 2011]
What We Aim To Complete
1. Finalise 10 events
Ø  Choose the events together as a group
Ø  Write a brief summary of each event
2. Decide on pages for our scrapbook
3. Brainstorm on:
Ø  Plot of scrapbook
Ø  Language of scrapbook
Ø  Colour types for the pages of scrapbook
4. Content and organization of our scrapbook
What We Have Completed
1. Finalising 10 events
2. Decide on pages for our scrapbook
ü  14 pages maximum
3. Language of scrapbook
ü  Formal, firm (also filled with thoughts, emotions & feelings)
What We Have Not Completed
1. Brainstorm on:
Ø  Plot of scrapbook
Ø  Colour  types for the pages of scrapbook
2. Content and organization of our scrapbook
Areas We Want To Improve On Or Change
1. How our scrapbook  would look like
Ø  Look more antique and old as it is written in the past

Friday, 15 April 2011

Theme of Blog

Dear all,

We chose these theme for our blog as it is brown in colour, in order to give this blog an antique look, as this blog is about the Japanese occupation in the past, when Korea was ruled by them. The birds at the top right hand corner symbolises the "birds of hope" when the Koreans did not have enough willpower to overcome the Japanese and its empire. :p

Draft Of Diary Entries

Changing Of Names
Today, my name was changed. It was from the Korean name of Rhee Jae-Sun to the Japanese name of Kaneyama Nobuo. I felt so angry because of this. The Japanese get everything they want from us like nobody's business and makes us suffer all day long, day and night. They never, never, never stop. Those incorrigible Japanese soldiers treat us like slaves, making us do things they command. I hate this and I hate the Japanese for what they had done. Changing my name, to Kaneyama Nobuo is horrible. I can only think of it as a name but not as my name. Even though I am forced into their cruel laws and orders, I know that in my heart, I will forever be a proud Korean and stand tall.


Sharon Tree Being Taken Away
Today, Omoni's beloved Sharon trees in the backyard were chopped down and burnt, as she was forcefully commanded by the Japanese soldiers. She looked so upset as they gradually witnessed her Sharon trees burnt into ashes as it raged in the fire. Although she stayed calm, I know that, judging by her body language, she was crying in despair and wanted to break free from her spot and rescue her trees that she had grown and nurtured for years. Now it was all gone like that, in just one fire. I felt a sense of anger chilling down my spine. Furthermore, the Imperial Majesty ordered to replaced the trees with Cherry blossom trees, their national flower. Fortunately, before I was able to chop down the smallest Sharon tree, also the last one standing, Omoni asked me to transfer it to another pot. She kept it in the workshop and covered it with a burlap sack and other junk in the workshop. It was now the only Sharon tree left.


The Metal Being Taken Away
Our metal was taken away by the Japanese soldiers. We had to give any metal we had to them, except for basic utilities like a knife, an axe, scissors, needles and basic cooking tools. Omoni had to give her dragon pin, which was her most prized possession, as well as Sun Hee's favourite pin. She loved its pearl in the dragon's claw. It shines beautifully, with lots of unnamed colours flashing brightly. Instead of putting it into the sack of metal that are to be given away, Omoni felt unbearable to give her dragon pin, and so she slipped it into her underwear and held her head high, keeping calm so that she does not alert the suspicions of the soldiers. Abuji then brought the sack outside the house and handed over our metals to the soldiers.

Americans Dropping Paper Leaflets From The Sky
Today in school, there were papers falling from the sky. I thought it had started snowing in Korea. I stared dreamily as I admired the beautiful scene. As I was daydreaming, there was an object that caught my eye. As i widened my view of the sky, I realised that there were many objects of that same kind. It was not snowing, it actually paper leaflets! I heard some rumbling noise from above and saw airplanes hovering about the sky soon after. They were American airplanes! They were the ones releasing those leaflets! I looked at the planes in awe, and at their beauty of its swivering. In the midst of daze, I started to wonder what the leaftlets are all about. I sneaked out of class and picked one that just landed on the ground and slid it in my waistband, looking right and left to see if anyone was looking at me. At home,I opened the leaflet to find that it was written in Korean. Although i understood Korean, I was unable to read it as our school did not taught us how to write in Korean as the Japanese took over and education changed to Japanese. I was only able to speak Korean. I gave it to Abuji, who was shocked upon receiving it, but read it anyway. He wore a quizzical expression on his face, and went to the kitchen to burn it after that. He then told us that it said that the American general said that the Americans were not going to attack Korea because they know that Korea were not their enemy. At that moment, I only thought of two words. "Thank Goodness"! I was relieved as the Americans knew how to differentiate between the Japanese and Koreans. We would not be innocently harmed!

Bicycle Being Taken Away
Today was very, very horrible! After being released from school, I got on my beloved bicycle and cycled my way home. As I cycled, thoughts raced wildly in my minds. I thought about what the Japanese had done to me and all the other Koreans. How could they commit such acts of cruelty? Hadn't their elders taught them values?! Without realising as I was into the world of my thoughts, I began speeding as my anger reached its limitation. Unknowingly, two Japanese soldiers came out of nowhere. They started walking towards me. They gave me the expression like as though they were more superior than Koreans. Furthermore, they started mocking at me and my bicycle. They claimed that the bicycle was useless, old, rusty and other things that I did not listen. I just closed both my ears. Abuji came out of the house to find out what the commotion was about. The soldiers requested for my bicycle to help out in the war efforts. I could not believe my eyes. After all the things they had done to us, they still wanted to take more things away. Now they want my precious bike. Finally, Abuji allowed them to do so. I pulled my bicycle and so did they. We tugged back and forth, till I shouted at them. What a slip of my mouth. My father pulled me swiftly away from my bike, prying my hands open from the handles. After they took my bike and left, I turned away, crying silently. I hated that Abuji did not care. I really do. Why didn't he do anything. He knew how important the bike was to me.

War Is Finally Over
Finally! The war is over, the Americans have won the battle and the
Japanese have surrendered. The Americans dropped two bombs on Japan. One that had wiped out half the city of Hiroshima and half the city of Nagasaki. I was amazed at the huge power and impact of the atomic bombs. I had no idea how powerful the Americans were. The war that had been going on for years had ended in just less then 2 months. It seemed unbelievable that it had been over so quickly, in a blink of an eye. We had gotten back what was rightfully ours, our name, our language, our rice and every other thing. Even though Korea was free from the clutches of Japan, I felt sorry for the Japanese. I could almost imagine how horrible the scene would be if my city was partially destroyed. I could feel the agony and pain of the victims and the deceased. At the same time, I felt that they deserved it because they had started the war due to their selfish cravings for power. Korea is finally free! We danced, cried, hugged, screamed and shouted out of overwhelming joy. The feeling could not be described by words. I was elated.

Thursday, 14 April 2011

Research of events

Changing Of Names
The first point is when all the Koreans were forced to take on Japanese names. The people who do not change their names will be arrested by the police and would be sent to prison.

Sharon Tree Being Chopped Down
The Sharon trees were being chopped down in all Korean homes. The Japanese did that because they wanted to replace the national trees of Korea to the national trees of Japan, which was the Cherry blossoms. This was because the Japanese wanted to chop down the pride of Korea and mock them as they do so and represent Korea as Japan. The Sharon tree is also pride of Korea and the only thing that represented Korea. By chopping down the Sharon trees, it means that the Japanese are taking away their history, culture, language, etc. as the trees represented Korea.

Tae-yul's Bicycle Being Taken Away By The Japanese Soldiers
Tae-yul’s bicycle was taken away by the Japanese soldiers. They did this so they could take advantage of the Koreans to use them as source of materials to help in war efforts as they have lack of materials to make weapons for warfare. They did this so that Koreans will recognise Japanese to be more superior than Koreans no matter what the Koreans position or status is.

Metal Being Taken Away
The metal being was taken away from all Korean homes for war efforts. This is another example of the Japanese taking advantage of the Koreans as sources of materials for the replacement of insufficient war materials. They think that they can take anything that belongs to the Koreans just because they are more superior than the Koreans and how they can use Koreans whenever they wanted to.

War Is Over
The ending of the war. The Americans won the battle and the Japanese surrendered. The war ending is a great celebration for the Koreans as they are free and have gained their own rights and culture back from the Japanese. All the countries under the dictatorship of Japan have finally been freed and Japan has finally fallen. The Japanese empire has fallen.

Thursday, 7 April 2011

Draft of Letter to Linda Sue Park.

5th April 2011

Dear Ms. Linda Sue Park,

My grandson has told me about your book "When My Name Was Keoko" and after reading it, I have realised that I am the character in the book, "Tae-Yul". I noticed that there are several events that are similar to what I had experienced during World War II and the Japanese occupation, when I was a teenage. It also relates the same thing as the Japanese and my family.

These are some of the 10 events that I should probably list down to prove to you that I am "Tae-Yul".

1. Changing of Korean names to Japanese names
2. Sharon tree forced to be chopped off in all Korean homes
3. Tae-Yul's bike being taken away by Japanese soldiers
4. Tae-Yul volunteering to work at airstrip
5. All Korean houses' metals being taken away
6. When the whole war is over

I understand that you would not believe me because I have the information from your book. I have compiled everything that can be known as evidence into my old scrapbook that i used to write in during World War II. I hope you would take the time to look through it and I hope that I can gain your trust that I am "Tae-Yul".

Yours Sincerely,
Rhee Jae-Sun