The real 1988
My dad was born in November 11, 1962. He had spent his entire childhood years in Ganghwa Island. The place he grew up was countryside far from the city, so he had lots of interesting experiences that I cannot imagine since I have lived in the city for my entire life.
The first thing I wanted to ask was how he overcame the near-death experiences in his childhood.
"Oh, I will tell you the worst," He replied retrospectively. His face hardened as he tried to remember one of the worst memories in his life.
It happened when he was at the age of seven. At such a young age, he caught the measles. At that time, most people were poor and struggled to make ends meet. Therefore it was just a luxury for them to visit hospitals or have medicine when they were sick. He said it was so common for newborns or young children to die at their early age. So my grandparents, who are of course my dad's parents, thought he should overcome the disease himself without any treatment. In fact, measles is not a serious disease. It can be cured with some simple treatments. However, my dad had to struggle himself without a help, so the disease got worse as time passed. He said he was down for almost a month. He suffered from high fever. "I started hallucinating as the disease got worse." He said with low voice. His face still hardened, he frowned as he tried to recall the exact scene of hallucination. "I saw worms…..thousands of them were coming down from the wall." The horrible description scared me stiff. "Oh my god. Did they seem real?" I asked. " I was too young and sick to distinguish what was real. They came out from everywhere, even from the soup my mother gave me." He added that his tongue went black from high fever. It was so shocking. My grandfather thought my dad wouldn't be able to stand it anymore, so he ran for 5 hours in the rain to get to the city and found medicine since there was no traffic other than one's feet. It was the last hope for him. My grandfather injected it himself to my dad. My dad said it felt like something had cleared his brain. Gradually the hallucination disappeared and he could overcome the disease thanks to the medicine. When I asked how he felt when he was sick in bed, he replied "I was too young, so I thought everyone was like this. I thought it was the way of life. I just admitted it."
"Okay then, what was the happiest experience?" I quickly turned to the next question. I was too shocked by his first story, so I wanted to hear something joyful and happy. He replied without hesitation that the time he raised his own family was the best period in his life. As soon as he came to maturity, he moved to Seoul all alone. He was lonely and went through hard times far away from his hometown without anyone's help. But he met my mom and after a few difficulties, he finally got his own house and gave birth to me and my brother. He felt responsible for his own family and thought he had found the meaning of life. He got a place to go after work, and his wife and adorable babies greeted him as he got home. "I think it was like the climax of my life." He said with a smile on his face.
I love watching the famous tv drama, 응답하라 1988. It shows how people at that time lived with details. Watching the drama, I thought people at that time seemed so happy even though they didn't have smart phones or something to play with. They seemed to have nothing to worry about. However, what my dad told me about the days of 1980s was very different from the drama. He said the drama seems unrealistic to him. He was starved and always exposed to dangerous situations. Thanks to this interview, I could clearly see what is real.
HI, my name is Kye-yong Lee and I'm so much impressed with your writing.
ReplyDelete1. The part I felt most impressive was about his overcoming his near-death experience. From his answering the question, I could vividly imagine, if indirectly, the phase of the times in Korea.
2. Well, most part was well-written so I understood the writing enjoying reading it. If I must say, in the sentence "he had lots of interesting experiences that I cannot imagine since I have lived in the city for my entire life," it would seem clearer if you change from 'since' to something else more specific such as 'because.'
3. I think the thesis statement of this essay is the fact that by a process of interviewing her dad the writer came to see the unseen phase and understand it from a different standpoint.
4. The part I thought of as most effective is "I saw worms…..thousands of them were coming down from the wall" because it was very vividly depicted.
5. I think the number of quotations was quite right. In the beginning and the end it is her own thought and reflection so it needs not many quotations. In the answers from the interviewee she used the effective number of quotations making the writing feelingly and vividly.
6. I think it is such a nice writing. To make it a lot better, I think the third paragraph can be divided into two or three because it seems a little long.