Eunwoo Kim/ Ch5 Final/ Tue 5,6

As time goes by, students think less carefully

 

After a long time, I made a phone to my mom. Since I have been to Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, I started to live in Seoul and my mom has lived in Cheonan. Other than usual conversation, this phone call was special because it was about an interviewee and an interviewer, not as a mother and a daughter. I remembered my mom told me "Students these days don't think carefully or deeply, compared with the students old days." I was curious what she meant by that and what kind of things she wanted her students to learn.

It has already been 28 years since she has stood in front of high schoolers as a teacher. "How my first school looked like? Oh, well…" She remembered it looked like a school in a countryside that would come out from a movie. She said she was so excited and delighted to make her dream come true, but there was a funny episode that she cannot forget still. "Boys liked me, but girls were on the alert toward me. I was in confusion and couldn't understand why they were offended." Her curiosity was solved one month later. Some girls came to her and said sorry. They were offended to her because there was a male teacher before she came and he was a celebrity in the school. Girls would wait outside of this single male teacher's house to do laundry and cook for him. My mom came to the school to fill up his empty seat, so girls treated her as if he left because of her even though there was other reason for him to leave.

 After a month, knowing my mom more, girls started to open their heart toward my mom and like her. "This situation became an old memory, but I cannot forget it and still remember the students. They were refreshingly naive and pure." She was charge of a literature club at that time so had much time to spend with students, talking about books and stories. There was no computer or something special to enjoy, so for students, school was everything. Teachers were their celebrities, hanging out and talking with friends was their fun culture. When a vacation came, students would send handwriting letters to my mom with pretty dried flowers or leaves, saying "I miss you teacher. I hope you are doing okay and see you when the school begins!"

However, these days, she is sad that the more times goes by, students become more calculative and thoughtless. They only think about themselves. Students would do everything if it is helpful to enter an university, but if not, they would treat things lightly. And they take 'money' as the most important value. My mom told me to see many students who raised their hands on the question asking that "I would do everything to earn a billion, even getting it illegally and go into a prison."

 Because they can easily get many fun things and interesting information with smart phones and computers, teachers are not in their category anymore. They are getting used to many visuals through smart phones, many students are becoming less patient and have busy brains. There are even some students who think seriousness is foolish. "I feel pity for many students that their bodies grow up, but their mentality is so light. Many students are so thoughtless. I mean, they don't think about other people, society and country, but only them."

 

Hwang Jeongsoo / Chapter 5 Final draft / 1pm

Changeable or Unchangeable?

 

When I asked him to tell me the life in army, he said, "What's wrong with you?" with a puzzled look. To be honest, I don't want to hear about the army thing. More accurately, I haven't been interested in army even though he works in the military. I haven't tried understanding his scar caused by the soccer game in army. It is only the soccer game in army that gives him a scar. Why doesn't he change for ten years?

When I saw him first, he was about to decide to be a ROTC. After he spent two years as a ROTC, he was commissioned second lieutenant in 2004. He served in the military for 6 years. After he was discharged from a captain, he became a civilian worker in the military through the test in 2011. As I looked back upon the time when he was in army whether he was a corps leader or is a civilian worker, he has been always diligent and positive.

 In the beginning of the interview, I asked him how many things have been changed in the soldiers' life. "Too many." First, the accommodations of soldiers significantly improved. He said that there were 1 or 2 story buildings where they were so old that soldiers felt very hot in summer and cold in winter ten years ago. There was a sort of bed where about ten soldiers sleep together, which means each individual didn't have his own bed. "But now, every soldier has his own bed." The accommodation building has been improved. In addition, in the past, soldiers weren't supposed to bring their cell phones and they would be punished if they did. Now, they can bring cell phones, hand them in the military, and get them back on leave. To this generation, a cell phone is a big deal so they are so delighted to this change.

 "How about the attitude of the soldiers? I heard that there are many problems caused by some soldiers." He seemed that he had lots of things to talk. As he always said, he noted that the younger are absorbed in individualism, which causes them not to adapt the culture in the military. Although not all soldiers are in relaxation of official discipline, the problem is truly the issue these days. He is not the person who exaggerates a vertical relationship but he thinks it is needed in the military because it is in military where they are. He concerns the better the condition of the life in the army, the more problems occur. When I was told that these days, soldiers can surf the internet, sing in the singing room, play games, and exercise in the gym after daily tasks, I said, "Is that true? Is that a military?" I was a little bit shocked because my notion about the army stays in the past. I am not sure if it is better or not but I am sure that Korean army has changed a lot for ten years. 

 I hope to see Korean young men serving the military feel confident of what they are doing in better environments including civilian workers. I want him to act as if it's the first year in the army. Though many things change, something should be the same as it is. 

 

Yoona Kim / Chapter 5 Essay Final Draft / Tuesday 1pm

A Teenager's Home Away from Home

 

Life as a high school student in Korea is really tough because of so much hard works to do in such a young age. Imagine how much harder it would be to go all these through away from home. My sister Yooli, an 18-year-old girl, had to live away from home and live at her school dormitory for three years. It was according to her school rule so she had no choice but to live at her school. Even though we are close sisters, we often share positive stories rather than negative ones. We intentionally avoid the chances to remind all the hardships in our lives whenever possible. However, I thought an interview can be a great chance to know more about my sister's real thoughts deep inside her mind. The mood was awkward in proper settings, but we gradually adapted and concentrated on the situation.

To ease the mood, I asked her to grab some snack and said, "I'm going to properly interview you." She said, "Well, go on. I'm actually looking forward to it." Then I started off by asking an overall living condition at her school dormitory. According to Yooli's response, the overall living conditions at her school was vey poor. She had to share a room with 4 other roommates that she was not familiar with (Roommates were randomly organized by the school). It meant 4 distinct people had to adjust each other's lifestyle. She added, "If you can think of the concept of 'house' and 'home', it is pretty clear to understand. The school dormitory is a 'house' where we sleep and take a shower. It was definitely not our 'home'." Then I said, "So, can you explain more about the difference between house and home? It's not really clear to me as you said." She said, "Basically, I personally believe that house is where you never get any rest for both your mind and body. It is just a space you can lie down and have a sleep." Even though it was my first question, I already felt sorry and sad for my sister.

It would probably have been so hard for my sister to live in such environment studying more than 11 hours a day. All the text messages that we use to send to each other saying "I wanna go home" as a joke suddenly popped up in my mind. I got myself together and said, "When it comes to living, what was the biggest difference between family and friends?" Her immediate response was "Oh, it's not simple as you think." I wondered why. Family is family and friends are friends. What can be so complicated? She said, "You know, school friends and roommates are different. I'd rather spent most of my time with class friends rather than roommates. Roommates consist of students from different majors. Apart from me (Japanese major) all other roommates were from English, Chinese, and international major. So I'd rather call class friends my school family rather than my roommates. See? How long it took to explain all this and that to you about the subject? It's so complicated." She sighed. I looked back how stupid I was to whine about my relationship with friends not knowing how my sister's situation was.

However, she used to tell me lots of fun stories about her life at school. I asked, "I know you also had a lot of good memories, what were the good moments at school?" She replied, "Well… I'd rather say it this way. I learnt a lot of valuable lessons at school. I believe these are something that I would never be able to learn if I did not live away from home. First, I learnt how important it is to have a 'me time'. For 3 years I was always surrounded by people. Of course it was same for my friends too. In other words, we did not have a chance to have a calm time to be ourselves. I found out that without 'me time', I was mentally unstable. So every single day, I imagined going back home and have a peaceful time alone. In the same context, I learnt how valuable my home and family are. During 3 years of time at school, I dreamed of the last day at school to come and to go back home."

I was surprised how much my sister thinks the home an important place. She really cared a lot about the family and her surroundings. I always thought that she was indifferent to family matters because of her works but it was my complete misunderstanding. Gathering all the memories of our conversation throughout 3 years of her high school life and the interview contents, I was so touched by her words. Because of a six-year age gap, I always treated her like a baby sister. But after the interview, it feels like she is a grown up. Her thoughts are so mature and I was able to feel that during the interview. Now, she has a new start ahead as a university student. Luckily, we can live together whilst she goes through the new chapter in her life. I am already excited to talk to her in her age 24 recalling the memories of both high school life and university life.

 

Hyun woo Jun /Chapter 5 final draft/ Tuesday 1pm

 Hyun woo Jun   

201402934

Caught in the Arms of God

     It is a very bright, sunny day around two o clock afternoon. I arrived church early for Sunday service, as I see that there is only one middle-aged man with short, black hair in the room. He is about 5 feet 9 inches tall and wears glasses, a light black shirt, and short pants. This man named Kim Jin Hyuck is rumored to be a man who changed his personality completely after returning from the army. I think he could be interesting so I ask for his time for an interview about his story. I guess there is enough time for us to talk before the service. I begin asking questions such as how and what made him change his personality, how was his personality before and what else was involved during his change in the army. Jin Hyuck emphasized that people should never give up during hard moments.

 

     I asked him about how he first got to know about Christianity. He replied, "I was born in the year 1992 and I am the elder brother of the two in my family. I started to attend church just because my friends were there. But in my first year during middle school, I stopped going to church because my parents had a divorce. Sometimes the deacons would call me to come to church, which I did go at times, but as expected, there was no change in me."

 

     "How was your personality during childhood?" I asked with curiousity.

Staring somewhere afar, Jin Hyuck said that he was actually a very shy kid during childhood, but the divorce has affected his personality. He started to become angry easily and his heart was full of hatred. He was basically wearing a mask of pride and strength to protect himself from others. Because of this, he would also get into arguments and fights with infamous kids at school and cause trouble.

 

   I asked him if he had tried changing his personality. He answered "Yes, but my personality got worse as the time passed by. I started to not trust anyone because both of my parents lied to each other. I enjoyed being with my friends, but they never became my best friends because deep inside I did not trust them. So I would draw an imaginary line between me and them. I did not like to be honest with them. I also liked to be alone especially during group projects and homework. I did not like to be in synch with other people so I would do them all by myself."

 

     I asked him how life was in high school. He replied that as soon as he became a student in high school, he applied himself to become a member of Student Guidance Leadership group, a group of students who would punish those who disobeyed the rules of the school. He did not care whether they were seniors or not, as he would forcibly grab them to the disciplinary office. Jin Hyuck spoke scratching his head "At that time, I felt like a very proud and arrogant man who did not care about the hierarchy and relationships of Korean culture. But during my third year in high school, I was now assigned to be the leader of the Guidance group, which made me realize all the responsibilities and my own disadvantages. My life was full of stress because I had to handle many problems at once. I was worried about how to lead the group, my future, personal family issues, and studying. At that same time, I met Navigators Missionary Church under the invitation from Mr. Kim Hyo Yeon. The original reason I went there was to study English from him. I needed to study English as soon as possible to get ready for college preparation. But one day, Mr. Kim proposed me to study the Bible as well, which it did give me a little of interest. So I accepted his proposal and started to study the Bible. It was very boring as I would not invest much time reading it and would also not pay attention during Bible study. Nothing was felt in my heart during meditation and that of course did not help me to change my personality."

 

   "Then how did you begin to believe and have fellowship with God?" I asked after drinking a sip of water. Jin Hyuck answered, "My father's job is a taxi driver. One day he picked up a Portable Music Player (PMP) in his taxi and gave it to me as a present. I thought this was useful to me so I registered it in the company's homepage to receive service. While doing that, the owner of the PMP had reported the police that someone had stolen his device. The police had found the device on the homepage by chance so they called me and came to the front of my house. My father explained the situation truthfully that it was lost, not stolen. The police had to do some research about this incident so they took my father with them. This was the first time I prayed earnestly to God, worried that my father might be arrested. Hours later, my father returned with no problems. After a few days, I had given thanks to God and decided to accept Jesus Christ."

 

    "I have been very anxious to ask you about the scar in your face." I asked with a look as if I were expecting something. He replied, "Oh, this… It was during my second term in my first year in college that this horrible event occurred to me. In the year 2011 November 2^nd, I was riding a bicycle down the road until suddenly a man appeared in the way. I avoided hitting him but this made me lose my balance and I bumped against a pillar that supported a bridge. The pain was too severe that I couldn't feel the pain. When I looked down the floor, a huge amount of blood began to flow from my nose and my head. Luckily, I was able to regain my consciousness and someone nearby helped me to get to the taxi. I arrived at a college hospital and went to take emergency measures and the doctors told me that I needed to take a surgery right away. But according to the CT scan result, I couldn't take a surgery right away because of a few amount of oxygen have entered through the hole in my head. It was dangerous to do the surgery so I stayed in the hospital for about two to three weeks. The doctor said that the left side of my head was severely broken with some nerves disconnected in the process. On the fourth week, I finally had my surgery. They have also placed around twenty screws into my head to reshape my broken bones. After the surgery was done, the doctors had dried my neck so that no type of liquid could flow through it. I was not allowed to drink water for three hours, which it was a very painful moment and an experience of hell for me, as it reminded me of the story of the rich man and Lazarus from the Bible. After the surgery, I began to worry about upcoming college Finals tests, hospital bill, and the possibility of the shape of my face to become bad."

 

   I asked about what he did to solve all these problems. He said, "During my time in the hospital, I was not able to do anything, so I decided to spend my time praying about my worries to God. A few days later, I was discharged from there, and all my worries miraculously disappeared as my grades were better that I had expected, the surgery bills had decreased, and the surgery was very successful. I then realized that God had planned this to change my arrogant personality. So I became more interested to learn about Him. But after four months, I had to go to the military even though I was injured a few weeks ago. It was because the surgery was very successful."

 

   "Tell me about the army." I begged earnestly. Laughing he said, "Well, I went to the army at the age of twenty two. At first, I thought that I could spend the military life in peace. Unfortunately, it was not as good as I had imagined it to be. In boot camp, my pride was broken all because of the military rules not fitting well with me and the treatment from others. After boot camp, I was assigned to the artillery group. My pride was once more broken here. It was very hard to get accustomed to the work and the hierarchy of the military. Getting a good and constant relationship was a very hard task too. Each time I struggled with these problems, I would meditate and study the Bible. I began applying the Word into my life style, as this helped me to not get angry easily anymore and become more forgiving, I also began to believe that hardship comes from God with a purpose."

 

   "What do you think about your current self?" Jin Hyuck answered, "I had realized that I cannot change my own life. It was God who had done it all. In conclusion, I had matured through hardships and sufferings with God not leaving me. I had become who I am today through God and the military service. Now, I thank God everyday for changing my life."

 

   I learned many things through this interview. Sometimes you can have a lot of trouble and worry about future such as studying in college. If you are a man, you might also have to worry about military service. But if you think back, all these hard tasks were actually easier than you thought. They were never impossible in the first place. I believe that all hardships will turn into experience that will help you live wisely and enjoy life to the fullest so make sure to never give up.     

wangluying/ chapt5final/ tues1pm

Him

201401991

Wang Luying

 

My boyfriend has always been someone that I look up to, we are really different yet similar in so many ways, his name is first that came to my mind while I was deciding what to do for the interview, and doing this interview with him was no doubt a good way to get to know each other better and it was a fun and meaningful experience for both of us.

 

He came to China a year and half ago, working as an English teacher at an English school, most of the times we are in different countries but we always try to make the best of every situation.

 

I set up the interview over Skype and started by a pretty common question, "why did you come to China in the first place? "

 

"A good friend of mine, Tom, you know him, he was working at this English tutoring center with his wife and they both loved the job and the city. So when the tutoring center needed a new foreign teacher, I took the chance and applied for the job, I'm still really glad I did."

 

"Have you been to China before, or any Asian countries?"

 

"No, I haven't, but I have heard so many wonderful things about Yantai from Tom so I wasn't that worried. I went to Japan with my parents when I was little so I can't really remember any of it but I think I had fun."

 

"Which country do you like better? England or China?" He thought for a bit, stroking his chain and said that he prefer China, the weather here is quite perfect, unlike England which is always so gloomy and cold all year round, and then he mentioned that people here in China are really nice to him all the time.

 

 "What about Chinese then, is it hard to learn?"

 

And then he started to laugh real hard with a little embracement on his face, "you know how it has been for me, it is so hard, I can never get those intonations right but I am glad that you are always there to help and correct me."

 

"What is your biggest passion?"

 

"Music, guitar definitely, guitar was my major back in University and I have been playing guitar for 12 years now." And then he pointed at the two guitars right beside his bed, one electric and one acoustic and laughed. 

 

"Great, I'm gonna go on to some personal questions, are you ready for that?"

 

 "Always."

 

"How did we first met and how long have we been together? Don't get it wrong haha."

 

"Well, we first met at the English tutoring center during my first week in Yantai, you were my teaching assistant and we have been together for over a year now and it has been great, I am glad that we have been together for so long since I feel like I have matured a lot in that time. You have been by my side during all that time and being in a relationship with someone who you care about so much is really easy."

 

I was really happy to hear that, I think this is the first time I asked him questions about our relationship and I think it is great for both of us that we actually get to talk about it taking this opportunity, "what's the most important thing in being in a relationship?"

 

"I would say you have taught me that good relationships really depend on honesty and respect, and if you have that, the rest is all just pretty natural."

 

Then I thanked him for participating in this interview, and we start talking about our days just like any other days. Before this, I never thought an interview with someone could be so easy and comfortable and relaxing at the same time, but at this point I think I'm starting to love the idea of this, you get to ask what you want to know, even questions that you wouldn't usually ask or you felt a little embarrassing to ask. I think this is a great way to know someone better, I would like to do this with my family members too, I think more and more people should do this with their loved ones, because even though you might know that person pretty well, they can surprise you and amaze you from time to time and I am truly grateful for that.