Taerang Middle School Chapters 4 and 5

Hi, Minho. What are you up to?
Hi, Vicky. I was just looking at the website for the Latin Culture Center.
Oh, yeah? Did you find anything interesting?
Sure. The center has a museum, a garden, and a cafe. They sell Latin food in the cafe, too.
Wow! Where is it?
It's near City Hall, downtown. Would you like to go?
Why not? I'd like to do something different.
Great. How about this Saturday?
Fine with me. Why don't we meet at the bus stop?
OK. Can you make it at ten?
No problem. I'll meet you at the bus stop at ten.
How was your weekend, Minsu?
Great! I went to the German Village in Namhae-gun with my family.
There's a German Village in Namhae-gun? Can you tell me more about it?
In the 1960s, a lot of Korean nurses and miners went to Germany to work.
Some of them got married to German people and decided to stay there.
In 2005, however, some land in Namhae-gun was offered to them at a cheap price.
So they came back to Korea and built German-styled houses.
What an interesting story! Can we experience foreign cultures in any other places in Korea?
I think so. We could find more information on the Internet.
That's a good idea!
Very near the Incheon subway station, you can find the gate to Chinatown.
Houses there are made with a combination of Chinese and Korean styles, and shops are decorated with Chinese paintings.
The restaurant area is the home of jajangmyeon, a favorite Chinese food for many Koreans.
Do you want to know how to make jajangmyeon noodles?
If so, don't miss the Jajangmyeon Festival held in October.
During the festival, you can enjoy not only the Noodle Making Show but also other events like the Jajangmyeon Eating Contest and performances by the Chinese Circus.
Do you know where to experience French culture?
Seorae village in Seoul is a great place to go to.
In the Village's cafes and restaurants, you can hear people speaking French.
There is a French school as well as Montmartre Park.
The park was named after the famous hill in Paris.
If you are interested in French music, visit Seorae Village in June for the Korean-French Music Festival.
During the festival, you may run into a marching band or see French school students doing special performances.
Wow! We can learn about foreign cultures in many different places in Korea.
Uh huh. And there's more. Look at this!
Isn't that a mosque?
Yeah! It's located in Itaewon, Seoul.
Really? I've never visited a mosque before.
Then let's go to Itaewon this weekend.
We can get some lamb kebabs at one of the restaurants in front of the mosque.
Great! I can't wait!
This is a little gift for you, Suji.
Thank you, Jake. That's very nice of you.
Oh, it's nothing. Don't mention it.
Wow! You painted a picture of me! I love it! Are you taking art classes after school?
No. But I read a book about Paik Namjune. He said anybody can create art.
Paik Namjune? Oh, I know him. I saw some of his work in an art museum.
Did you find it interesting?
Yes, it was very interesting. If you're interested, we can go to the art museum together.
Really? I'd love to go! How about this weekend?
Great!
What can you do with a television set?
You might think this is a stupid question.
Televisions are for watching, right?
You can watch news or movies on your TV.
Paik Namjune, however, used televisions in a very different way: to create art.
He used television sets in his art by making them into other things such as chairs, robots, gardens, and even a house!
Paik Namjune was born in Korea in 1932, but he lived in several other countries such as Japan, Germany, and the U.S.A. over the course of his life.
He studied music at first, but he became interested in combining video and music.
He especially wanted to use television sets in his performance art so that he could show the music instead of just playing it.
In 1965, he had his first solo exhibition Electronic Art in New York.
He used different techniques so that he could create new moving images that no one had seen before.
People were surprised by his ideas and he became famous.
Now he is known as the father of video art.
One of his famous pieces is Internet Dweller: btmj.twelve.jhgd ― the twelfth in his Internet Dweller series.
The title is written in the form of an Internet address, and "btmj" and "jhgd" are letters taken from his friends' names.
This piece of art is made from things that we can easily find around us.
For example, the face is made from two television cabinets.
TV screens are used for the eyes and the mouth.
A large camera lens is used for the nose.
Two clocks are used for the ears.
What about the light bulbs on top?
Maybe they represent "bright ideas." What do you think?
The more the Better is another famous work by Paik Namjune.
He made this great tower of televisions to celebrate the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
Each screen showed colorful scenes of Korean nature or culture.
The number of screens in the tower, 1003, was picked to represent the date October 3, Gaecheonjeol (National Foundation Day of Korea).
The tower looks like a birthday cake, doesn't it?
Many people may think art is difficult to understand, but Paik Namjune thought art should be fun and easy to enjoy.
He used his art to express his sense of humor and imagination.
You can see more of Paik Namjune's works of art on the right.
Take a look at each picture and try to guess their titles!
Look at the swimmer in the second lane! He is as fast as a fish.
Yeah. He's going to win the race.
By the way, do you know why there are lane dividers in swimming pools?
Well, I don't know. Why?
Because lane dividers help the water stay smooth.
What do you mean?
If there were no lane dividers, the water would become rough. Lane dividers break up the waves other swimmers create and make the water calm.
Oh, I get it. I didn't know science was so important in sports.
Yeah. I want to learn more about the science of sports.
So do I.
There are many forces around us.
You can learn about one of them through this simple experiment.
Put a coin into a clear balloon.
Make sure that the coin goes all the way into the balloon.
Blow up the balloon until it is almost clear in the middle and cloudy at the areas near the neck and the top.
If the balloon is completely clear, it has too much air in it.
Tie off the balloon, and you are ready to go.
Hold the balloon with your hand.
The neck of the balloon will be in your palm.
Your fingers should be holding the sides of the balloon and your palm should face the ground.
Spin the balloon around for a few seconds and then stop it.
The coin may bounce around at first, but it will soon begin to roll around inside the balloon.
Your coin should continue to spin for 30 seconds or more.
Do you know what makes the coin spin?
This experiment shows the effects of a special force on the coin.
The force is the inward force on an object that causes it to move in a circle.
For example, tie a ball to a string and hold the end of the string.
Swing it around, and you will be able to feel the force.
You can find more examples of it in your everyday life.