2021년 12월 19일 일요일 – Mountain View 생활 10주차

Inflation

The inflation rate in the US surged to 6.8%, which is almost five times higher than 1.8% in 2022. Workers whose salary increase rate is lower than 6.8% would earn less next year. Since the median US salary increase is 3%, the quality of living in the US would get worse.

I know that economic stimulation packages are the root cause of inflation. As the pandemic continued, governments expensed supplemental budgets to support the rescue plan. We all know this, but we don’t know where the money has gone. One thing clear is that the economic gap between rich and poor has widened.

I don’t believe that politicians would solve this social problem. Capitalism is a representative ideology in the US, and nobody could deny that it is the foundation of the US economy. The world’s biggest money market is the best place for talented foreigners, and that’s the main reason why the US never lose their competitiveness.

However, this beautiful story is far from ordinary people whose living is directly related to minimum wage. People should ignore that they are also the foundation of the country. This giant building is not built with a single pillar. But I feel that only one aspect is spotlighted.

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K-POP

While having several coffee chats, I was surprised that many US people love K-pop, K-drama, and K-pop. It can be a biased conclusion since they were all Asian. Since we have similar culture, they could easily accept the K-culture. However, it is clear that K-culture is famous in the US. I hope people have a positive attitude to Korean through K-culture.

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Racism

While having lunch together, Asian-American colleagues said that Asian is the most racist. Someone said that Asian loves white people and hates all the rest, which made me laugh off. They were born in the US, and their parents have moved from abroad. When they visited their parents’ country, they experienced some discrimination. One of them was Korean.

Koreans already know how harsh they are to people of color and how much they try to be nice to white people. The story that I heard from him was exactly the same as what we criticized online.

I’m afraid of how our children identify themselves. If they spent too much time in the US, they would never feel any emotional connection to Korea. If they think of themselves as American, it would be better since they won’t be confused between two identities.

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Booster Shot

It is usual to make an appointment in the US before visiting the hospital. Even the term hospital doesn’t refer to all agencies. As I heard from my teammate, the hospital is where you are hospitalized and get major surgery. I don’t know well how they are classified.

So, I didn’t visit a hospital for the booster shot. Instead, I have gone to OneMedical, the primary healthcare clinic chain. The interior design was modern and warm. I’m surprised since I expected what I’d seen on a TV show.

It took a minute to get vaccinated. I stayed in the lobby for 20 mins to check the adverse reaction. They gave me a certification card, and it just contains handwritten information on the form. I’m curious about how I can search my vaccination history online.

I suffered a headache and body ache the next day. It wasn’t severe, but It lasted until Saturday morning. Hopefully, my Korean friends came by my apartments and gave me porridge and side dishes. They have helped me a lot since I have moved here. I don’t know how I can express my appreciation.

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Politicians

As the Korean presidential election is ahead, negative news about candidates’ families is produced and spread online. I don’t know what their campaign promise is because it is hard to find it. Each party seems to think that a negative strategy is the best way. They only focus on winning the election, and they don’t care about the aftermath.

Therefore, It looks like a final match in the world series. Before the match, its fandom operates a cyberwar online. The fight is getting severe as the match date is close. Nowadays, broadcasts provide reality-show like ballot-counting live. It is more fun and exciting than watching the real sports final match.

After the winner is disclosed, fans cheer and celebrate the night as they are elected as a president. However, the result doesn’t improve their life. All benefits, decision-making power, and budgets are given to the candidate and its party, not fans. Because we don’t know their plan, we never assume that our future is brighter than now. That’s why I think that the next election is filled with negative propaganda, and the future will be suck regardless of the result.

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Career & Experience

I strongly believe that having talented people is an effective and powerful way to increase my value. Of course, I should be a person to worth. To do that, I should be successful in my career. Also, I could share at least one interest with them.

It is easy for me if someone needs IT-related help. Or If someone enjoys LOL or drinking, we can get close fast. But if there’s no common interest between us, it can be impossible to sustain a close relationship. It means that we can be acquaintances but can’t be friends.

That concludes that having various experiences is worth it in terms of relationships. But I can’t pretend to like what I’m not into. Therefore, I should try to find my new favorites.

For a career, there’s no better way than spending much time. One hack that makes someone look outstanding is to ask good questions. I’m not used to asking questions in meetings. My bad English might be a reason, but that’s not all. I tend to be indifferent to others, and that attitude might affect my behavior. It must need improvement.

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Spider-Man

Spier-Man no-way home has made a successful score in the first week, and that made me nervous about being exposed to spoilers. So, I decided to watch the movie this weekend. I tried to find a theater whose screening provides subtitles. But there was only a closed caption available. closed caption means that people can borrow the LCD-like device, which displays subtitles, from the counter.

Since I was not used to the device, I wanted to see the subtitle on the screen. Finally, I found that the option is called open caption. There was one screening on Sunday morning, and I booked it online.

There weren’t many seats in the auditorium. However, the seat was very cozy, and it had a small table for small dining. I felt that theaters in Korea are crowded and uncomfortable compared to here. Even this theater is just a normal one in here. I hope to visit the more good one later.

Anyway, the movie was good, and the ticket fee was the most worth expense I’ve paid this year. Also, I don’t need to worry about spoiler postings anymore.