The Globe

A Student Publication

Spring
 THE GLOBE
Spring 2008
Volume XIII, No. 2

A Student Publication
of the
English Language Center

Continuing and Professional Studies

University of Maryland Baltimore County
An Honors University in Maryland
elc@umbc.edu 410-455-2831
www.umbc.edu/elc
 The literary and visual works reproduced in THE GLOBE were created dur-
ing Spring semester 2008 by English Language Center students. We are proud of
them, and we thank them. We hope you will take time to read and enjoy their work.
Students, we wish you an enjoyable summer break, safe travel, and the promise of a
warm welcome back, as a continuing student or as a graduate of the program. You
have given us a great deal of pleasure as we have learned together this semester.

Members of the English Language Center Staff – IEP and ICP Programs:

Staff
Beverly Bickel, Director
Heather Linville, Academic Director
Joan Kang Shin, Director of Online Programs
Sarah Gardenghi, Assistant Director for Student Services
Sarita Foutz, Program Coordinator
Josie Penn, Program Management Specialist
Joyce Braker, Office Supervisor

Faculty - Instructors: Student Assistants- Support:

Shuhua Bloom Turki Alsubaie

Katie Barker Marcos Capriles
Judith Chase Eun Lee Jung
Elsa Collins Busanee Kithararak
Marilena Draganescu Mi Jung Lee
Lori Edmonds Lina Martinez
Sonja Follett Kiran Ramakrishna
Irma Giouris Ahmed Yousif Zourob
Katarzyna Kines
Tsisana Maysuradze
Susan Mundy
Kevin Okun
Doaa Rashed
Adriana Val

Cover Design by Sarita Foutz

Contents © 2008 English Language Center
 Table of Contents

Reflections

Reflection for Nature 4

Dae Eun Im (Danny) - South Korea
Connect with Nature 4
Marcela Herrera P. - Chile
Cherry Blossom and a Memory 5
SeungHun Kim (Rosa) - South Korea
Enviroment Reflection 5
Hattan Saad Aldousary - Saudi Arabia
Building Bioregionalism and Embedding People in 6
Nature
Masayoshi Takahashi - Japan
Drawing 7
Rarinthip Homklinkaew - Thailand

Life

My Life in the U.S.A 8

Eun Lee Jung - South Korea
How Different Cultures Manage Time 9
Hattan Saad Aldousary - Saudi Arabia
My Family 9
Ae Kyung Kim - South Korea
Page 5 The Globe

Reflections

Reflection for Nature

Dae Eun Im (Danny)

South Korea

I drew a river, trees, and other environ-

mental elements in Hershey Park on the field
trip. Once I saw this scenery, I was lost in con-
templation for a while. It seems that nature
gives valuable messages that human life is
similar to and a reflection of nature to people,
but people do not recognize these messages. Af-
ter that, I discovered some thoughts about na-
ture and humans. That is – “the river will flow
until there is no way where for it to go and meet
a lot of and a variety of trees and other things.
The flow of the river reminds me of its human
likeness as time goes, and trees are a symbol of
people or situations we met, meet, and will
meet. I felt that each one moment of my life is
valuable for me as I can not return to that
again, and I decided that I have to not only ap-
preciate and enjoy it now without any com-
plaints, but also I have to make unforgettable Danny’s drawing
memories with people I encounter while I re-
gretted my behavior and thoughts from the
past.

Connect with Nature

Marcela Herrera P.
Chile

This weekend I spent around an hour walking through a neighborhood surrounded by

peaceful and colorful nature. It was in Potomac, Montgomery County, and during that moment I
could really connect myself with the nature and the spring, which was with all its splendor. I felt
that spring captured my spirit and fed it with renovated energy through its light, colors, sounds,
shapes and shadows. The renovation process that nature experiences during this period of time
called “spring” is so wonderful and surprising that human being can not be apart of it. We, as
part of the nature, change with it in its natural course, and spring is a time to be “re-born” in
body and mind. The weather is warmer, the days are longer, the flowers and trees are full of
color, and we, as human beings, should capture all that renovated energy to fill our soul with it;
maybe after we can really understand this, we are going to start acting again as part of nature
instead of pieces of an unconscious society.
Volume XII, No.2
Cherry Blossom and a Memory
SeungHun Kim (Rosa)
South Korea
A few days ago, I was going back to my dorm after
class.
I realized that there were many cherry trees and
it was really beautiful.
Those cherry blossoms made me realize the
beauty of the environment.
I took a picture of a scene and drew it.
A week later, I went to Washington, D.C. to see
the cherry blossom festival.
Many of the cherry blossoms were gone, but I had
a great time there.
Looking at them made me think about my child-
hood because I used to go to a cherry blossom
festival in Korea when I was a young child. Dur-
ing the cherry blossom festival, I could connect
with environment by watching and smelling it.
I’ve cherish my memories related to cherry blos-
soms since I’ve become an adult.
Giving many chances to connect with environ-
ment is the most important thing for children.
They can recollect those memories, and those
memories will stay with them in their life as
sweet memories.
Drawing by SeungHun Kim
Korea
Page 6
Environment Reflection
Hattan Aldousary
Saudi Arabia
Here is a conversation between a smoker
and a non-smoker:
The smoker: Why don’t you smoke with
me?
The nonsmoker: No thank you, I do not
like this bad thing in your hand
The smoker: Why, it is nice, just try it.
The nonsmoker: No, man, it is not.
The smoker: Ok, you are missing some-
thing in your life.
The nonsmoker: No, I am not. In addition,
you know that you are killing yourself. I
really care about my health and my lungs;
I am not going to destroy them by smoking
cigarettes.
Finally, both of them died with the same
disease…lung cancer.
The due to smoking, and the non-smoker
due to air pollution
We need to do some thing about it!!!
Page 7
Building Bioregionalism
and Embedding People in
Nature
To develop an ecocentric
philosophy driven by sus-
tainability of our Earth
Masayoshi Takahashi
Japan
Nowadays, the “Crisis
of Global warming” is one of
the highest prioritized issues
to be resolved. However, the
world we live in today is mak-
ing it difficult to accomplish
that due to individuals who
seek to obtain their narrow
self-interest within the global
market economy.
Under this situation can we
build an underlying logic
linked with “Healthy Earth
First” philosophy that realizes
the sustainability of our Earth
with balancing resource, pro-
ductivity, innovation and com-
petitiveness?
The first approach is
to change human thoughts to
become more eco-friendly.
In this sense, we can see sev-
eral successful approaches
such as in the cases in Singa-
pore (Garden City), New Jer-
sey State (Garden State),
Japanese prefectures and cit-
ies (Which define and protect
their own symbolic flowers,
trees and birds), Kenwood
communities in Maryland
(cherry tree planting) and
Bonsai town (planting obliga-
tions).
This is an approach to share
common goals (eco-friendly
minds) to build mutual trust
and cooperation among peo-
ples. When such common ob-
jectives are present, commu-
nity members are likely to
have a shared understanding
of what members are obliged
and responsible for “Healthy
Earth First” philosophy
though there is a temptation
for free-riders to take advan-
tage. In tradition, small-scale
societies have a function of
fairly immediate feedback to
stabilize to achieve the goals.
However, the problem really
begins when small societies
grow in size. In this sense, the
roles of the UN such as “the
World Charter for Nature” in
1982, “The World Summit on
Ecology and Development
Conference” in Rio in 1992
and the Kyoto Conference on
Global Warming” in 1998 are
important to create global con-
sensus.
The second approach
is to end the stalemate on
“Green and Competitive”.
In other words, achieving and
innovating industries towards
eco-friendly industries are to
materialize competitive coun-
tries and industries in the
global market economy.
In this approach, the typical
successful examples can be
seen in the Dutch flower in-
dustry, German and Japanese
car makers. The Dutch flower
industry has responded to its
environmental problems. In-
tense cultivation of flowers in
small areas has been contami-
nating the soil and groundwa-
ter with pesticides, herbicides
and fertilizers. Facing increas-
ingly strict regulation on the
release of chemicals, the bet-
ter product quality and en-
hanced global competitive-
ness. Japanese and German
auto-mobile manufactures de-
veloped lighter and more fuel-
efficient cars in response to
The Globe
eco-friendly measures compar-
ing with other car manufac-
tures such as in the USA,
France and UK. It is impor-
tant to use resources produc-
tively, whether those re-
sources are natural and physi-
cal or human and capital. En-
vironmental progress de-
mands that companies inno-
vate to raise resource produc-
tivity and that is precisely
what the new challenges of
global competition demand.
Resisting innovation that re-
duces pollution, as the U.S.
car industry did in the 1970s,
will lead? not only to environ-
mental damage but also to the
loss of competitiveness in the
global market. The countries
that stick with resource-
wasting methods and want to
stay out of international envi-
ronmental agreemennt be-
cause of their self interests
will remain uncompetitive,
relegating themselves to pov-
erty. Thus, resisting innova-
tion will lead to loss of com-
petitiveness in today’s global
market economy.
In conclusion, the
above mentioned two ap-
proaches will be the most ef-
fective way to achieve our
common goals “Building Biore-
gionalism and Embedding
People in Nature - To develop
a ecocentric philosophy driven
by sustainability of our
Earth .”
Reference materials:
Green and Competitive: End-
ing the Stalemate Michael E.
Porter and Claas van der
Linde
Harvard Business Review
(September-October 1995)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fl
Volume XII, No.2 Page 8

oral_industry
http://www.netstate.com/states/in
tro/nj_intro.htm
http://www.unescap.org/DRPAD/
VC/conference/ex_sg_14_gcm.htm
http://www.twin.ne.jp/~saineria/s
ymbol-flower.html
http://www1.odn.ne.jp/haru/data-
list/ken_hana.html

Drawing by Rarinthip Homklinkaew

Thailand

ELC Students Sekou Kassambara, Moise Traore, Eunjoo

Jung, Gaoussou Gueye and ELC Instructor Helen Bloom
Go to the Orioles Baseball Game.

ELC Instructors and Students Enjoy an Orioles Baseball

Game
Page 9
My life in the U.S.A.
Eun Lee Jung
South Korea
Hi, my name is Eunee.
I’m from Korea. I have two
children to take care of by my-
self because my husband is
not here. He works for his
company in Korea. My son is
thirteen years old and goes to
a middle school. His favorite
subjects are math and science.
My daughter is ten years old
and she is an elementary
school student. She likes art
and music.
I arrived here five
months ago to study English.
I don’t have any relatives
here, so I had to do everything
for myself. I have been experi-
encing differences and difficul-
ties in the U.S.A. I’d share my
experience with you.
At first, I bought a
used car which was made in
1999. Americans don’t mind
getting a used one, even more
than ten years old. How much
mileage it gets and how many
owners have driven it seem to
be more important to most
American. My car was suit-
able to these opinions and I
agree with them. Fortunately,
I don’t have a problem driving
here and there with my car.
Google maps help me not to
lose my way. If I just know
the address where I’d like to
get, I have no trouble locating
it.
On the other hand, my
housing contract has bothered
me since last October. There
were several leaks in my
house. Each time, a different
plumber came, so I had to ex-
plain the problems repeatedly.
Also, much time was wasted
waiting and calling to make
appointments. I asked my
landlord to permit me to move
to another house, but his an-
swer was no.
He said to me, “Concerning
your contract, you may move
after paying the
whole rental fee.” I was con-
fused what I should do. In my
country,
in the same case, if I ask him,
he should pay the entire fee
needed for my moving as well
as allow me to move. I didn’t
know why I should keep such
a one-side contract and live in
this terrible house against my
will.
But I changed my mind. I
asked him to fix the leaks per-
fectly. Now, I don’t have any
leak in my house.
In addition, bills and
voicemail were the other
things that I feel so
terrible. Making payment by
mail, I couldn’t understand
this system
at first. Tammy, who works in
my school mail office, taught
how to write check for pay-
ment and helped me mail
them. I met with her more
than four times a month. I
made friends with her thanks
to mailing. Voicemail is the
most terrible until now. Espe-
cially, automatic answering
systems often make me em-
barrassed. I have listened to
an automatic answer even for
one hour about my very ex-
pensive internet fee. Finally, I
The Globe
could do nothing but drive
myself to the office with the
wrong bill. I managed to solve
the problem not with conver-
sation but with writing and
gestures.
Above all, the thing
that I have most difficulties
with is taking care of my chil-
dren. I have to care for them
and study at the same time.
School registration, attending
parent conferences and so on
I didn’t know anything: where
to go if my children were hurt,
what to do for my daughter
when she was invited to her
friend’s all night birthday
party, which costume to put
on my daughter for treat or
trick on Halloween, how to
help do their homework.
One day the electricity
happened to go out at mid-
night due to snow. I left home
in the darkness, earlier than
them, not to be late for morn-
ing class due to icy weather.
When I arrived at school, I re-
alized that every public school
was closed. I had no idea to
tell them not to be on their
way, shivering with cold, wait-
ing for the buses. It felt heart-
breaking to perceive my weak-
ness.
I know not all problems
were caused because of my
lack of language ability. But I
think when I acquire English
skills, some will be solved.
Everything could depend on
me and time.
Volume XII, No.2
How Different Cultures Manage
Time
Hattan Saad Aldousary
Saudi Arabia
As every one knows, the dif-
ferences between the cultures are
different, so that makes the way
people in each culture think and be-
have different as well. However, the
way other people manage their time
is one of the important things that
we should look for before dealing
with new people.
There are two major ways of
managing the time, according to
what we studied in the class; the
two ways are monochronic way and
polychronic way. We also can name
a culture, a monochronic or poly-
chronic culture. The definition of the
term monochronic is; time is a com-
modity; there is a limited amount of
time. Moreover, the definition of the
term polychronic is; time is limit-
less, there is always more time.
Some cultures are “M” and some
others are “P”, but not completely.
My country, Saudi Arabia is
in between but I think it is more
polychronic. In my culture, we do
not schedule the daily events, we
just go, not with everything, but in
general, we are not a schedulable
people. For me it is much better to
have a schedule to manage the time
properly. Definitely, the culture and
the people around me had their af-
fect on me. I have been in the U.S.
about six months, until now I cannot
say to some one sitting with me that
I have to go, even if I really have to,
because the way we deal with time
is not so strict. I always have the
thought of; the person will get mad
at me because I will leave him. I
think that I just need some more
time to get used to the system in the
monochronic culture that I live in
now.
My Family
Ae Kyung Kim
South Korea
My family members
are my father, mother, sister,
brother, my daughter and my-
self. My father is 72 years old.
He retired long time ago. He
worked as a police office in a
police station. He's a good
man because he gave me some
money when I bought a car,
and when my daughter went
to Japan and Europe. I'm
paying for my studies now,
but I guess that he will sup-
port me.
My mother is always
happy because she grows
some vegetables. She's very
busy with her garden. She
spends her days working in it.
She loves it very much. So my
father often prepares dinner
and eats lunch alone at home.
They took care of my daughter
until she was eight years old
because I had to work.
My sister's name is
JinKyung. She's two years
younger than me. She studied
English at a university. She
speaks English very well. Her
pronunciation is excellent, but
my pronunciation is too bad. I
envy her fluent English. She
also speaks Japanese very
well. She was an English tu-
tor for students. But now she
takes care of her sons. She
married 4 years ago. Her hus-
band is two years younger
than her. He's very simple and
honest. They have two sons.
The first son is 23 months and
the second son is 6 months.
She is very tired all the time.
She is composed and thought-
ful. I lived with her family
Page 10
until last December.
My younger
brother married two
years ago. He works in
a re-insurance company.
He also speaks English
well because he needs to
speak English at work.
Sometimes he goes to
Honkong, India, Singa-
pore, and Japan for
workshops. He's serious
and reserved. His wife
is young. She's 9 years
younger than me. She
works too. Her job is a
research assistant about
plant. She has a baby.
We will meet the baby
in August.
Finally, my daughter
name is Jiwon. She 's
12 years old. She is liv-
ing in the United States
with me now. She has
long brown curly hair.
She wears glasses. Her
height is as same as
mine. She Studies in
middle school. She's
cute and funny. She
loves and enjoys her
life. I wish that she
will be wise and smart.
ELC students, Washington DC