Daily Life of the 1980s
Highly developing economy, political oppressions from the junta and movements toward democracy – These symbolic words describe the 1980s in Korea. However, I do not know well about the everyday life of common people. I want to know how people live at that time. So, I asked it of a contemporary person. He was my father. At first, I hesitated to the interview, because he is shy and quiet man. When I asked him the interview, he said "Should I do this interview?" That was what I expected. However, I could not give up the interview. For leading him to say something, I asked a detail question.
"What are the major differences between now and the 1980s?" I asked. He began to answer my question, thinking of his young memories.
"Compared to now, all the elements were undeveloped at that time." He said. He described me the life of 1980s in Korea.
"In 1980s, many people lived in the poor housing environment. There are so many apartments now, but, at that time, I could not see any apartments at all. In Daegu, there were just a few apartments. Most people lived in small houses which had poor slate roof or western style houses which were made of red bricks. Before you were born, we lived in the western style house with many other families."
He told me that even many people at that time used briquettes for heating the room. I became more curious about the contemporary life. I asked him the food life. In detail, I wondered when he saw fast food and how it was.
"What about foods? I was told that fast food franchises were introduced in the 1980s in Korea. When did you eat fast food first? How was it?"
"Oh, you are right. They were introduced in the 1980s in Korea. I cannot forget the moment when I faced them first time. When I was teenager, about 15 or 16 years old, I went Myeongdong, Seoul with my family. I saw KFC at the trip. At that time, meats were very expensive; many people could not buy and eat frequently as people could do now. Fried chicken is the most common food now, but we did not have opportunities to eat it frequently. I cannot forget the moment I bit it first time. The crispy chicken made me very happy. Even flesh in fried batter was so tender." He was immersed in his happy memories.
"What about hamburger?" I asked.
"I ate it first, when I was about 20 years old." He ate the hamburger in Mcdonald. After he watched the baseball game, he ate it with his friends. "It was so comfortable for it and even delicious!" He said, at that time, it did not have many kinds of hamburger as it has now. However, as he has become older, he does not like it very much when he was young.
"How were public transportations? Were they very different from now?" I asked. He affirmatively answered my question: "Absolutely different." "The first difference between today is there was no subway at all. Bus was the only transportation people could take." It was just a part of his answer. He described his experience in the bus.
"Taking the bus made me exhausted when I went to school. Almost every day, I had to struggle with many students and people who were trying to take the bus. Although I secured the bus, it was too dense in the bus. After I took off the bus, especially in summer, I was drenched with my sweat. I really hated that moment. Also, we have tickets to take the bus. They were sold by ten tickets. But, my friends and I made them a fake dozen of tickets."
Also, he told me that there were clippies in the buses. The clippies got the ticket from passengers and noticed a driver that it was time to arrive. "They said 'ohrai', hitting the bus, and then the driver stated to drive forward. They seemed like alarm clocks."
When I finished my interview, although he did not say anything that it was happy, the interviewee smiled slightly with his reminiscences. Before I interview him, I was a little bit worried that he is an introvert person. However, when I asked the questions about his youth, he enthusiastically answered my questions. His answers gave me the descriptions in the 1980s in Korea. I can understand deeper than I just was provided the explanations from textbooks. Furthermore, my father and I felt familial bond that nobody can break off.
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