1/2 What are your New Year’s Resolutions?

I want to make some big changes in my life this year.

ex> You need to make some big change if you really want to be successful.

First and foremost, I want to take care of my health a little better.

* first and foremost: 가장 먼저, 우선

* take care of one’s health: 건강을 돌보다

ex> You need to take care of your health better than now.

ex> Let me take care of this problem.

I am planning on eating properly and working out on a regular basis.

* working out: 운동하다

I want to invest more time in building my career.

* build one’s career: 경력을 쌓다

I’m planning on listening to EBS radio programs every day to brush up on my English as well.

* brush up on: ~을 복습하다, 실력을 가다듬다

ex> I need to brush up on my interview skills.

I want to become a more organized person by planning ahead more thoroughly.

* organized person: 체계적인 사람, 짜임새 있는 사람

ex> I’ve never met such an organized person like him.

Last but not least, I plan to check up on my parents more often this year.

* last but not least: 마지막으로

* check up on: ~의 안부를 확인하다

ex> I often check up on my mother by calling her.

@ I’m going to sign up at a gym.  

1/1 What do Koreans do on New Year’s Day?

Koreans like to celebrate New Year’s Day by catching the first sunrise of the year.

ex> We stayed up all night to catch the first sunrise of the year.

People flock to coastal areas or mountains to do this.

* flock to: ~로 모여들다

ex> Young couples flocked to the park for the concert.

There are many tourist attractions across the country.

While watching the first sunrise, Koreans make wishes for the New Year.

* make wishes: 소원을 빌다

ex> Make wishes before you blow out the candles.

Some wish for the health of their family members while others make New Year’s resolutions for themselves.

Of course, not everybody take a trip to see the sunrise on this day, but many at least wake up early to do this.

@ I hope my wishes come true. 

PE 12/31 Baz Luhrmann's Speech - Part 5

Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
* trust fund: money set aside for when a person reaches a certain age
ex> Although he had a trust fund waiting for him when he turned 25, Bill worked three jobs through university to pay his tuition.

* run out: to leave; have no more of something
ex> I ran out of money before the end of the month and couldn't pay my rent the next month.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.
* mess with: to constantly change something or tease someone
ex> As a teenager, Eva used to mess with her little brother a lot.

Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping if off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for mere than it's worth.
* nostalgia / nostalgic: a fond feeling for past events and memories
ex> A feeling of nostalgia swept over Jane when she watched her family movies.

* fish: to search for something in one's mind; try to get someone to tell you something
ex> He fished out what remained of his courage and ran back into the burning building to save the child.
ex> Tanya stood in front of me in her new black dress, fishing for compliments.
ex> If you're fishing for compliments, you've come to the wrong place.

PE 12/30 Time Flies!

I don't want to get older. Remember when we were kids how one school year seemed to drag on for 10 years?
* drag on: to continue without a foreseeable ending
ex> The movie seemed to drag on forever, leaving half of the audience asleep by the end.

It's much better than I could have fathomed it would be when I was only 10.
* fathom [^|fӕðəm]: to have  at least a vague understanding of something
ex> It is hard to fathom the pain felt at the death of a child.
ex> It's hard to fathom what a billion dollars would look like in a stack of one hundred dollar bills.

That's because our parents were 30 when we were 10. Now, most of our friends are waiting until their biological clocks start ticking before they think about having kids.
ex> Julie could feel her biological clock ticking, but it still wasn't the right time to have a child.

So our 40s is going to be like our parents' 30s? Wow, society has really been turned on its head over the last few decades.
* turn ~ on its head: to drastically change a paradigm or way of being
ex> When the first woman was selected as CEO, the corporate culture of the car company was turned on its head.

That just gives me one more year of golfing and fishing and then it's all downhill from there until our sons are old enough to go with me.
* downhill from here/there: when you imply that one has reached a peak in life, career, etc
ex> They say that once a man turns 50, its all downhill from there.
cf> Once we reach the mountain peak, its all downhill from there.  (it will get easier)
Work together downhill from here on!

PE 12/25 Annual bonus!

Since the company had a stellar year, these checks should be pretty big. Don't you think?
* stellar: excellent; very impressive
ex> Ryan's stellar performance in the championship game won him the coveted Player of the Year award.

I'll take my mother on a shopping spree and donate some to charity.
* shopping spree: 폭풍 쇼핑, 물건을 왕창 사들임

I'd put money on the fact that the CEO and the other top managers didn't take a cut in their bonuses this year. It isn't fair.
* put money on: to back up one's claim with a wager; place a bet
ex> She is definitely going to say yes if you ask her out. I'd put money on it.
* take a cut in: to willingly receive less than expected or deserved
ex> As part of the charity drive, all of the staff members took a cut in pay to fund the homeless shelter.

Look at it this way - the second year I worked here I didn't get a bonus at all because the company was in the red that year.
* look at it this way: to suggest a person see an issue from a different point of view
ex> Look at it this way, if you lose a lot of weight, you can go shopping for a whole new wardrobe.
* in the red: when a company is losing money
ex> For the first time in the company's history, they finished the year in the red.

PE 12/24 Baz Luhrmann's Speech - Part 4

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good.
* for good: forever; final
ex> If I walk out that door, I am walking out for good!

Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
* stick with: to keep someone as a friend through good times and bad
ex> some of my friends have come and gone, but the ones I had as a child have mostly stuck with me.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on.
* come and go: to enter and leave one's life
ex> Don't be so heartbroken, girlfriends will come and go until you find just the right one.
ex> Money will come and go, but once you lose your health, you will lose everything.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
* bridge the gap: to overcome an obstacle separating people such as distance, age, culture, etc
ex> Despite spending almost a year apart, Tracey and Laurence managed to bridge the gap and were married in the spring.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.
* make someone hard: to remove a person's sensitivity and kindness through exposure to negative events or people
ex> Serving in two wars as an infantry soldier made my father hard and unable to express his feelings.
ex> Don't let a few bad breakups make you hard or you will never have a decent relationship.

PE 12/23 I Need the Newest Smartphone!

You are flat broke. You spent everything on new video games.
* flat broke: having no money at all
ex> Shirley wanted to go on a backpacking trip with her friends, but she was flat broke and couldn't even buy a plane ticket.

That ship has sailed, Wes,. I ordered your gift a month ago and, I might add, I spent a fortune on it.
* that ship has sailed: an opportunity that has already passed
ex> It's a little late to turn in your application for the manager position. That ship has sailed.

I don't want to be the troglodyte who's still carrying around an early-2013 model.
* troglodyte [^|trɑ:glədaɪt] : a cave dweller; a person who doesn't embrace technology
ex> My father is such a troglodyte that he doesn't even have an email address.

When you get a job and live in the real world you will see how unrealistic you are being.
* the real world: the demanding and often disappointing life of adults
ex> Many college graduates find the real world so stressful that they go back to school for their master's or another bachelor's

You'll have to wait until the 25th, but I promise you won't be disappointed in the least.
* in the least: not at all
Don't worry, I wasn't offended in the least. I have come to terms with the fact that I am bald.