Keep it up study on Oct 4th in 2014

[Alex Jung]

안녕 하세요. 리더 Alex 입니다.

어제는 비가 꽤 많이 내려서 잠시 카페에 앉아 비를 감상 했지요.

내내 습도가 높아 그리 상쾌하진 않네요. 이럴땐 에어컨 ~

내일 밝은 얼굴로 재밌는 스터디 하도록 해요 :)

Topic1: Top 10 Most Extreme Travel Adventures in the World

Discover the coldest, hottest, driest and most extreme travel destinations on earth: Find out which

spot on the planet is the closest to outer space and which hard-to-reach landmark will take your breath away.

1. Steepest peak on Earth: Mount Thor, Nunavut, Canada

At 5,495 feet tall, Mount Thor is not the world’s highest peak, but it is the steepest. The most famous summit in

Canada and made of pure granite, Mount Thor has a 4,101 foot vertical drop, at an average angle of about 105

degrees.
Despite the fact the mountain is in a remote area, it’s a popular destination for avid mountain climbers. If taking on

the peak is too much for you to handle, you can also visit the site and camp out instead.

2. Coldest inhabited place on Earth: Oymyakon(오이마콘), Russia

As the coldest inhabited place on earth (with a recorded temperature of -96.16 degrees F in 1924), the small Russian town of Oymyakon, with a population of 500, was once only used as a location for political exiles. 

Winter temperatures average at about -58 degrees F, the ground is permanently frozen all year long and the town currently has only one hotel.

Popular sports include skiing, ice hockey and ice fishing. The small town has even been visited by celebrities

as diverse as Burt Reynolds and Paris Hilton (along with her Chihuahua, of course).

3. Driest place on Earth: Atacama(아타카마) Desert, Chile

According to both NASA and National Geographic, the Atacama Desert in Chile has soil comparable to that of Mars. (Fun fact: Mars scenes from the television series Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets were filmed here.) From October 1903 to January 1918, the Atacama Desert did not see so much as one drop of rain, making it the longest rainless

period in the world’s recorded history. 

Sparsely populated, the Atacama Desert has several hotels to choose from that cater to tourists who come to

explore the land. 

4. Closest place to Outer Space: Mount Chimborazo(침버라조), Ecuador

An inactive volcano that last erupted in approximately 550 AD, Mount Chimborazo stands at over 20,000 feet high. While Mount Everest is over 29,000 feet tall, due to the position of the mountain on the earth’s surface the peak of Mount Chimborazo is the furthest spot from the center of the earth.

That also means that standing on it will put you closest to outer space that man can ever reach on foot. Its

peak is completely covered by glaciers, but this mountain has several routes for climbers.

5. Hottest Place on Earth: Lut Desert, Iran

Here, temperatures soar as high as 158 degrees F. According to a local legend, the name Dasht-e Lut(다쉬트 루트) means “toasted wheat” in Persian, referencing a story about a load of wheat that burst info flames after being accidentally left out in the desert for a few days. 

Though tourists visit this desert land, it’s a destination only for those willing to take on the challenge of

surviving the heat and the unbearably dry climate.

6. Most isolated place on Earth: Tristan da Cunha(투리스탄다쿠냐), United Kingdom

Looking for a getaway from the everyday? This is about as far away from it as you can get. Though formally part of the British Overseas Territory, Tristan da Cunha is over 1,750 miles away from the nearest

land in Africa. Discovered by Portuguese explorer Tristao da Cunha in 1506, the island is home to fewer than

300 inhabitants and has no airport; Tristan da Cunha is accessible only by sea.  

7. Coldest continent on Earth: Antarctica

With a population estimated at somewhere between 1,000 and 4,000 people, the world’s fifth largest continent

is a land of extremes, the coldest and driest continent on the planet. Travelers can only reach it by ice-strengthened vessels made for toughing the rough seas. 

Though known for its breathtaking scenery, visitors who trek through the wilderness must be well prepared

or accompanied by a tour operator who knows the area well.

8. Wettest place on Earth: Mawsynram(모신람), India

This Indian town receives an average of 467 inches of rainfall every year. In 1985, the Guinness Book of

World Records dubbed it the Wettest Place on Earth after it saw 1,000 inches of rain in a single year. 

Plagued by subtropical climate and monsoons, Mawsynram is both a difficult place to live and an interesting

trip for tourists.

9. Tallest waterfall in the world: Angel Falls, Venezuela

Although Angel Falls is located in an isolated jungle region and is not reached all that easily, it remains one

of Venezuela’s top tourist attractions. The falls are approximately 3,212 feet high and includes a 2,648 foot plunge and a quarter of a mile of sloped cascades and rapids.

10. Most treacherous waters on Earth: Gansbaai(Gans Bay), South Africa

Since 1995, cage diving with Great White sharks has been a major tourist attraction in Gansbaai, South

Africa.

With one of the densest populations of these beasts in the world, Gansbaai is the top destination for an up-close view of the deadly creatures. If you want to play it safe and steer clear of the Great Whites, whale

watching is also common in Gansbaai, from the sandy white shores of Pearly Beach.

<Questions>

1. If you have a chance to visit the above places where do you want to go the most?

2. Do you know some other extreme travel area? 

3. Let’s share your travel experience. Where? When? Why? How?

   - Where was the best place ever?

4. In the recent future, where do you want to visit?

   - Or do you have a plan now?

5. How about in Korea? Where have you been and where do you recommend to visit?

Topic 2 : My third story is about death

My third story is about death.

When I was 17 I read a quote that went something like "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, "If today were the last day of my life, what I want to do what I am about to do today?"

And whenever the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important thing I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life, because almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago, I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months.

My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctors' code for "prepare to die." It means to try and tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next ten years to tell them, in just a few months. It means to make sure that everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day.

Later that evening I had a biopsy where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor.

I was sedated but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope, the doctor started crying, because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and, thankfully, I am fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept.

No one wants to die, even people who want to go to Heaven don't want to die to get there, and yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it.

And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It's life's change agent; it clears out the old to make way for the new.

Right now, the new is you. But someday, not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

Sorry to be so dramatic, but it's quite true. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.  And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalogue, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch.

This was in the late Sixties, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form thirty-five years before Google came along. I was idealistic, overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of the The Whole Earth Catalogue, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-nighteen Seventies and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words, "Stay hungry, stay foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off.

"Stay hungry, stay foolish." And I have always wished that for myself, and now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. Stay hungry, stay foolish.

<Questions>

1. If today were the last day of your life, what would you like to do?

2. If today were the last day of your life, what wouldn't you like to do?

3. How long do you want to live?

4. What is the most important thing in your life?

5. What is your philosophy in life?

6. After reading this story, how do you feel and what do you learn?

[JACE_L]

참석합니다~

[Alex Jung]

가릿~

[STAFF♡]

준비해 놓겠습니다:)

[cynthia]

참석합니다. 첫출석이네요

[Alex Jung]

네~ 반갑습니다.

[cynthia]

죄송합니다. 갑자기 일이 생겨서 오늘 출석이 어려울듯 합니다.
조만간에 다시 신청하겠습니다

[steven_]

갈수있도록해볼게요..

[Alex Jung]

Kay

[Todd Kim]

가야 되는데....ㅋ

[Alex Jung]

Kay