Tajikistan - the country of beautiful mountains

Let me tell you about my motherland, Tajikistan. The republic of Tajikistan is the central Asian country having a border with the countries such as Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Tajikistan is 93 percent mountainous. That’s why Tajikistan is usually called as the country of beautiful mountains. The nature of Tajikistan is so beautiful: its lakes, mountains, rivers, flowers are so beautiful, I would say indescribable. Tajikistan is landlocked, covered by mountains of Pamir range.                 Imsoil Somoni Peak is the highest pick in Tajikistan and post Soviet Union (7,495 m). It is named under the ancestor of the Samanid Dynasty. It was used to be named as Communism Peak. There are over 900 beautiful and very long rivers, lots of wonderful lakes such as Kayrakum, Iskanderkul, Karakul and so many others. The lake Iskanderkul is one of the most beautiful one which means as the lake of Iskander, named under Alexander the Great. I would like to mention also about the main products of Tajikistan which are aluminum production, cotton, agricultural products such as fruits and vegetable. Tajikistan is also home to the hydroelectric powers. The population is getting close to 8 million people.

I strongly recommend you to visit the central Asian beauty.

Taekwondo competition

On November, 5 -7 there was South Korean Taekwondo competition held in Kukkiwon, World Taekwondo Headquarters.  There were the students from more than 60 universities.  I participated in weight category which is called as featherweight (62-67 kg).  On Friday (November, 5) we gathered in Daejeon (near KAIST Auditorium) at 6 p.m., took a bus and moved to Seoul. On first day we had check-up on our weight, which I successfully passed. On that day we stayed in Motel, woke up early in the morning and went to Kukkiwon for competition. There were about 80 participants in my category.  In order to get medal one must win at least 4 games without losing. If you lose one game, then you’ll be out, without medals. The first day of the competition was very successful for me.  My first game was against the new comer in taekwondo, which I quite easily won. The second games were tougher as I accepted. Still I won the game with score 16-8. I also won my third game in a day with the result 7-2.

Then we went back and slept early to have a rest after long busy day. The next day I just had to win at least one game to be in the list of medalists. I started game quite well with the result 3-0. But at the end because of my mistakes and my opponent’s effort the game was equalized to 6-6. We had to fight for the gold point, which is called as sudden death. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it and was out of the game.

I learned a lot from competition. I’ll keep working on plans, to get gold medal in this competition.
 p.s. Here is the video fragment of my 3rd fight below:

Trip to the Korean Demilitarized Zone(DMZ) -part2

 After visiting museum, we went to one of the tunnels built by North Koreans for military invasion of South Korea.It was quite impressive because the tunnel was built very deep into the ground crossing the DMZ dug.

Before leaving the historical place we took some photos in front of the globe which kids trying to join South Korea and North Korea. I decided to help them.

I hope someday the magic of unification will happen!



























Before coming back to Daejeon we dropped to the lovely place, which was designed so beautifully. It looked like a magic Fairyland!

 

 This is my favorite photo taken there:

Finally when we were back to Daejeon, we had a very delicious dinner all together.

I enjoyed my trip spending excellent time there. I've heard a lot about DMZ, but that time I had a great change to see how it looks because as it's said that "Better to See Something Once Than Hear About it Hundred Times". I also made lots of friends.
Finally, at the end of a busy day I went to Halloween party which was held in one of the buildings within KAIST campus. 

I was so tired that I just took some photos, stayed there for about one hour, went back to my room and slept. What can be better then sleeping after such an unforgettable busy day? :)

Trip to the Korean Demilitarized Zone(DMZ) -part1

On October, 30 I went on a trip to DMZ, the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone).

 It is also called as the world’s last Cold War frontier, the line which has separated Korea into the 2 parts (1953).
Even though there were some shots from both sides on October, 29 still we decided to go there on the next day as we planned.we met early in the morning in front of the West Gate(KAIST), took a bus and head to DMZ. It took about 4 hours to get there. On the way of going there I made a friend from Mexico, whose name is Bernardo. I learned a lot from him about his country and about other Latin American countries. I also told him about my country, hobbies. Because of the interesting conversation I couldn't how time flied and suddenly I realized that we are already in the block post before entering to DMZ. I told my Mexican friend that the former president of the United States Bill Clinton described it as "the scariest place on Earth" and he replied that it doesn't seem to be so. When we saw some soldiers with guns my friend changed his mind and said "Actually it is" and it didn't sound funny that time.
Finally when we arrived there we took some pictures.

I was impressed to find the "Bridge of No Return"on the map.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_of_No_Return ):

"Zabon doni Jahon Doni" - Tajik proverb

"Zabon doni Jahon Doni" - is Tajik proverb, which means "Know language, know the World".

 I love proverbs, because even though they are short, but sharp. The proverb "Know language, know the World" is my favorite one. In order to understand it , I had and still having a real experience based on that. I couldn't even imagine how helpful it can be until I started learning Korean, one of the most beautiful languages. I started feeling the immediate positive effect after learning Korean day by day. I made so many friends, started learning from them about Korean culture, traditions, lifestyle, everything!
In 4 years of learning Korean I made so many close friends, joined the computer club "SPARCS" being proud to be the only foreigner accepted so far .I'm sure language skills played a big role on it. By learning language you will feel more comfortable living in Korea, Koreans will feel closer while talking in their own language (there won't be a barrier among you). Imagine when some foreigner start learning your own language, you mother's tongue, I'm sure you will feel surprised and happy about that. That's why I always suggest to my friends, especually newcomers the first thing to do in Korea is to start learning Korean. So, if you are going to visit any other country, try to learn their language, because "Zabon doni, Jahon Doni"! :)

The courses I'm taking in this semester(Fall semester, 2010)

This is how my timetable looks like(in the picture below):

This is the last semester for me. Up to now I completed 141 credits:

The courses left to take:

Major(CS) Required: "Operating Systems and Lab" (CS330, 4 credits)
Major(CS) elective:  I selected   "Network of Things"(CS340, 3 credits)
Basic Required: "Calculus II"(MAS102, 3 credits)
Minor(MS) Required : "Introduction to Business Management"(,MSB200, 3 credits)

	The courses I just decided to take(to improve my English Reading&Writing skills):

Humanities & Social Elective:  "English Short Stories"(HSS273, 3 credits)
Other Elective :  "Advanced English Writing"(HSS391, 3 credits)
Total(Fall Semester, 2010): 19 credits
Total: 160 credits

Let me briefly explain about each courses:

Operating Systems and Lab is considered to be one of the most difficult courses in CS Department. We are learning about so many things, that I can't even describe it .
 This is how the grading system looks like:
42.5% : midterm and final exams
–42.5% : projects
–15% : homeworks& class participation
As far as I know there are going to be 5 projects, which we'll have to complete during the semester. I hope I will successfully pass this course.
Network of Things:
This course is being taught be 5 instructors.  We study different networks, about what kind of unique perspectives on network research is brought by different disciplines. (Lecture #1, CS340 Network of Things, Fall Semester, 2010, KAIST). I love everything related to Social Networking(such as Facebook :) ).
 Calculus II:
Based on the course description:
"This course deals with differentiation and integration of multivariable real-valued functions, emphasizing basic concepts and applications."  Reference: http://mathsci.kaist.ac.kr/en/education/courses.php

Introduction to Business Management:
We are learning about the many concepts in business. As professor told us that we'll feel business, because we'll have to do business right after the mid-term exams  and create a value(as more as possible). Well, let's see the way how it feels soon.
English Short Stories and Advanced English Writing:
Even though I don't have to take this courses, but I want to improve my English Reading and Writing skills, and my my total credits to be exactly 160 credits. I love the courses from Humanities & Social Elective Other Elective division.

Also, I have a plan to participate in South Korean Championship among the students (Taekwondo, WTF). I'm planning to start training from the next week, regularly from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the newly built Sport Complex. Come and join is, I'm sure you will like it.

I hope everything works well for me in this busy and at the same time full of new exciting things semester. Fighting!!!

My hobbies

What are my hobbies? Well, I have lot's of hobbies.
One of them is playing on piano. I graduated the Children's school of  art based on the piano specialization(1997-2004). After that I worked as a concertmaster(2004-2005), accompanying children on the piano and participating together in annual concerts. I also love composing. Hence, I took the course "Special Lectures on Art< Music Analysis & Composition II>"(fall semester, 2009) at KAIST  and learned about the basic skills of composing. In the final exam we had to compose the music, based on the special rules and I did it with all my pleasure. Here is the link to one of my composed music, which I named as "Imagination": Imagination. I hope to successfully graduate KAIST soon(January, 2011)  and start doing Masters in Graduate School of Culture and Technology, AIM(Audio-Interactive Media) Lab, which I believe is also related to music as well.

I also love sports, especually practicing Taekwondo(WTF). I've been practicing for more that 10 years from my high school years(practicing professionally) up to now. I got 2 times gold medal in republican championships(May,2004; July, 2005) and participated in some international competitions such as Match Meeting of  Tajikistan vs. Afghanistan (representing my country) and in the match meeting dedicated to the decade anniversary of the ascertainment of diplomatic relations between the republic of Tajikistan and the republic of Kazakhstan in 2003(2nd place). When I came to Korea, I continued practicing Taekwondo and got the second place in Daejeon Competition(July,2007), got the second place in South Korean Championship among the students(November,2007). Currently, I am the owner of the black belt (the second dan), planning to take test on March, 2011 for getting the 3rd dan.

One of the other sports I love is soccer.Hence, I joined KAIST Internationals Football Club. Currently we are participating in Hurricane Cup(KAIST) and doing not bad(we are in Quarter-finals).

I also like swimming, that's why I took a swimming class to get 2AU, which is mandatory for graduation in KAIST.

In my free times I like playing chess, table tennis, billiards, reading books, listening to the music. 

One thing that I try to stay far away from is playing computer games(even though it attracts me a lot), because I think that it's nothing but wasting, killing the precious time.