The real 1988
There is an old, unused house next to my grandmother's place. It is kind of a traditional cottage that can be found at folk villages nowadays. My father had spent his childhood in the shabby house. Whenever I visit my grandmother's place on holidays, I used to play hide and seek in the cottage with my cousins. It felt like we were in the middle of a horror movie scene. Unused stuffs were piled up with a layer of dust and homeless cats were the only residents of the house. The chilly, gloomy atmosphere always made it hard for me to imagine my dad's life in the house. But I didn't have many chances to ask him about it, so I decided to interview my father.
My dad was born in November 11, 1962. He had spent his entire childhood in Ganghwa Island. He grew up in countryside far from the city, so I thought he would have so much interesting stories that I cannot think of. Currently I'm in love with the famous Korean soap opera '응답하라 1988' which shows the life of 1980s, so I was very excited to hear the real experiences from my dad.
First I asked him the most memorable experience. "Oh, I bet this story would scare you." He replied with a naughty smile on his face. However, soon 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, he said most people in his village were poor and struggled to make ends meet. Therefore it was luxury for them to visit hospitals or have medicine when they were sick. 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 simple treatments. However, my dad had to struggle by himself without a help, so the disease got worse as time passed. He said he had been down for almost a month. He suffered from high fever. "I started hallucinating as the disease got worse." He said in low voice. His face was still hard and 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 weather they were real or not. They came out from everywhere, even from the soup my mother gave me." He added that his tongue went dry and black from high fever. 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 because there was no traffic other than one's feet. It was the last hope for him. My grandfather injected the medicine 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 other boy were like me either. 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. I was surprised again because I thought although he was poor, he would have so many happy memories just like in the soap opera '응답하라 1988'. But he said he doesn't remember such a good experience in his childhood.
As soon as my dad 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 I had reached the climax of life at that time." He said with a satisfied smile on his face.
Before having the interview, I thought most of the life in 1970s and 1980s would have been the same with the description of '응답하라 1988'. Watching the drama, I thought people at that time seemed so happy even though they didn't have smart phones or computers. They seemed to have nothing to worry about. But the reality my dad has told me was so different. 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 was real.
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