Thursday, February 5, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
My Grandma, My Inspiration
“ Grandma tell me about your life please,” I said when we were both settled in bed that cold blustering evening.
“ Ayu,(oh my gosh) I always tell you about my life. Tell me about yours,” my grandma replied.
“ No your life is so much more interesting. Can you tell me about your childhood please?” I asked.
“Okay, okay, go to sleep. I’ll tell you about my life. When I was a little girl my father was a famous doctor in Seoul. He owned the land that was below the house we lived in, but also he had a rice patty field that was filled with over 100 workers. My step-mom was mean to me. She would always make me do all the housework but I still very much loved her. I have 11 siblings, including Samchung, (older uncle) Aunty Young-soon, and Kuimo (older sister) who are my real siblings, not the half siblings I got from my step-mom.
“Really? You had 11 siblings grandma?” I asked.
“Oh! You’re not sleeping yet? Okay mom’s going to be mad if we don’t go to sleep soon, so go to sleep and I’ll tell you about my life okay?”
“Okay grandma,” I said with a smile. She cleared her throat, which either meant she was going to say something important or she just had something stuck in it, either one I still thought she was going to say something big. It turned out, it was bigger than big, it was huge.
“ When I was 16 maybe 17 years old, my stepmother told me to go and find my real mom because Seoul, my hometown was no longer safe, since the Korean communists/soldiers from North Korea were coming. It wasn’t safe because they were messing around with teenage girls and women. “ (messing=raping)
“Where was Kuimo and Aunty Young-soon, because they’re older than you right?” I asked.
“ They were already married and had moved out, so I was now the oldest in the house. So I left and was just wandering around Seoul surviving on whatever I could find. I hid in the high grass for the longest times because I didn’t want any of the soldiers to see me. Also, I put you know black dirt, on my face so the soldiers would think I’m ugly if they were to see me and wouldn’t try to rape me. I was very scared Alyssa, I was. Anyway, I went two weeks without seeing my family and then when I went to the market, I saw Kuimo. We were happy to see each other, you know, because we were sisters and we found comfort with each other.”
“Wow grandma, then what happened?”
“Aygu Mosada Chumne Mosada. (you drive me crazy) Alyssa you should be sleeping, mom is going to be upset.”
“Please grandma I will fall asleep soon, but go on please. Then what happened?” You could tell that she was pausing to decide whether or not she should go on or just stop, which would force me to actually go to bed. But in the end she did go on, thank goodness, because one I could learn more about my grandma and also because it was a very touching story.
“ All right, but go to sleep okay? So after we met again we went to Taegu, by train since Seoul wasn’t safe. We got jobs in you know, the military base’s mess hall, where we were the cooks there. Later we went back to Seoul and saw our siblings again, except for one. One of my brothers died because he was in the army and was fighting with the communists, until they killed him.”
“He died? Grandma! Oh my goodness me timbers! Then what? Oh you met grandpa huh? Haha. “ I said with a chuckle.
“ Alyssa, you’re supposed to be sleeping. You’re going to have hard time getting up tomorrow morning for school. You have to make sure you concentrate and listen to the teacher. Do not listen to anyone else and…”
“Grandma never mind. Then what grandma? Tell me more please grandma just a little while longer.”
“ Ayu, okay but go sleep Alyssa. So I met grandpa and we married after three months. He was in the army so we traveled all over the world including where your mom and Hew were born, in Turkey. After them I had Junior in North Carolina and then later on your mom got married and had you, Alyssa, my only granddaughter. I have a very good life Alyssa. I get to see you, mom, Junior, Hew, your grandfather and from time to time, my siblings. It’s so hard you know, because some live in Korea, Kuimo lives here in Honolulu, Aunty Young-soon lives in Seattle and so everyone lives in different places. Okay go sleep now Alyssa, so you can wake up.” Silence. “Alyssa are you sleeping? I guess you are, good night darling. Sweet dreams,” she said before she turned over.
“Good night grandma,” I whispered so softly a mouse couldn’t even hear it. I didn’t want her to hear me sniffling or see my tears rolling down my face as I tried to go to sleep on the other side of her.
Why did I decide to write about this experience as my most inspirational moment? It’s because I not only was able to learn more about my family and what their childhood was like, but I was also learning about history. Sure I could look up some books and sites on the Korean War, but it wouldn’t be the same as the experience coming alive right out of my grandma’s mouth. My grandma being able to actually speak about and describe this experience with me was truly amazing to me. I mean she told me about how she was alone and put dirt on her face so she would have less of a chance getting raped, and about how she was so scared of the men, after all she was only 16. For my grandma going through that experience and able to give me all the details including feelings and thoughts about it, is something that I will never forget because it has taught me more about being grateful about the country that we live in, the U.S. Sometimes we take advantage of living here, because everything is at our finger tips. We have all this high tech technology and we haven’t had to be separated from our families because of a war. Of course there’s the war going on in Iraq, but we all have someone we can lean on. But my grandma had no one because she went by herself, having to survive on anything she could find. By having all these luxurious things, we are not able to feel or experience what it’s like to not have any of it. I don’t know what I would do if I was my grandma and had to be apart from my family, all alone and being scared of being found by soldiers. This was my inspiration moment, a story about my grandma and her adventures in the Korean War. If you had an inspiration moment, what would it be?
“ Ayu,(oh my gosh) I always tell you about my life. Tell me about yours,” my grandma replied.
“ No your life is so much more interesting. Can you tell me about your childhood please?” I asked.
“Okay, okay, go to sleep. I’ll tell you about my life. When I was a little girl my father was a famous doctor in Seoul. He owned the land that was below the house we lived in, but also he had a rice patty field that was filled with over 100 workers. My step-mom was mean to me. She would always make me do all the housework but I still very much loved her. I have 11 siblings, including Samchung, (older uncle) Aunty Young-soon, and Kuimo (older sister) who are my real siblings, not the half siblings I got from my step-mom.
“Really? You had 11 siblings grandma?” I asked.
“Oh! You’re not sleeping yet? Okay mom’s going to be mad if we don’t go to sleep soon, so go to sleep and I’ll tell you about my life okay?”
“Okay grandma,” I said with a smile. She cleared her throat, which either meant she was going to say something important or she just had something stuck in it, either one I still thought she was going to say something big. It turned out, it was bigger than big, it was huge.
“ When I was 16 maybe 17 years old, my stepmother told me to go and find my real mom because Seoul, my hometown was no longer safe, since the Korean communists/soldiers from North Korea were coming. It wasn’t safe because they were messing around with teenage girls and women. “ (messing=raping)
“Where was Kuimo and Aunty Young-soon, because they’re older than you right?” I asked.
“ They were already married and had moved out, so I was now the oldest in the house. So I left and was just wandering around Seoul surviving on whatever I could find. I hid in the high grass for the longest times because I didn’t want any of the soldiers to see me. Also, I put you know black dirt, on my face so the soldiers would think I’m ugly if they were to see me and wouldn’t try to rape me. I was very scared Alyssa, I was. Anyway, I went two weeks without seeing my family and then when I went to the market, I saw Kuimo. We were happy to see each other, you know, because we were sisters and we found comfort with each other.”
“Wow grandma, then what happened?”
“Aygu Mosada Chumne Mosada. (you drive me crazy) Alyssa you should be sleeping, mom is going to be upset.”
“Please grandma I will fall asleep soon, but go on please. Then what happened?” You could tell that she was pausing to decide whether or not she should go on or just stop, which would force me to actually go to bed. But in the end she did go on, thank goodness, because one I could learn more about my grandma and also because it was a very touching story.
“ All right, but go to sleep okay? So after we met again we went to Taegu, by train since Seoul wasn’t safe. We got jobs in you know, the military base’s mess hall, where we were the cooks there. Later we went back to Seoul and saw our siblings again, except for one. One of my brothers died because he was in the army and was fighting with the communists, until they killed him.”
“He died? Grandma! Oh my goodness me timbers! Then what? Oh you met grandpa huh? Haha. “ I said with a chuckle.
“ Alyssa, you’re supposed to be sleeping. You’re going to have hard time getting up tomorrow morning for school. You have to make sure you concentrate and listen to the teacher. Do not listen to anyone else and…”
“Grandma never mind. Then what grandma? Tell me more please grandma just a little while longer.”
“ Ayu, okay but go sleep Alyssa. So I met grandpa and we married after three months. He was in the army so we traveled all over the world including where your mom and Hew were born, in Turkey. After them I had Junior in North Carolina and then later on your mom got married and had you, Alyssa, my only granddaughter. I have a very good life Alyssa. I get to see you, mom, Junior, Hew, your grandfather and from time to time, my siblings. It’s so hard you know, because some live in Korea, Kuimo lives here in Honolulu, Aunty Young-soon lives in Seattle and so everyone lives in different places. Okay go sleep now Alyssa, so you can wake up.” Silence. “Alyssa are you sleeping? I guess you are, good night darling. Sweet dreams,” she said before she turned over.
“Good night grandma,” I whispered so softly a mouse couldn’t even hear it. I didn’t want her to hear me sniffling or see my tears rolling down my face as I tried to go to sleep on the other side of her.
Why did I decide to write about this experience as my most inspirational moment? It’s because I not only was able to learn more about my family and what their childhood was like, but I was also learning about history. Sure I could look up some books and sites on the Korean War, but it wouldn’t be the same as the experience coming alive right out of my grandma’s mouth. My grandma being able to actually speak about and describe this experience with me was truly amazing to me. I mean she told me about how she was alone and put dirt on her face so she would have less of a chance getting raped, and about how she was so scared of the men, after all she was only 16. For my grandma going through that experience and able to give me all the details including feelings and thoughts about it, is something that I will never forget because it has taught me more about being grateful about the country that we live in, the U.S. Sometimes we take advantage of living here, because everything is at our finger tips. We have all this high tech technology and we haven’t had to be separated from our families because of a war. Of course there’s the war going on in Iraq, but we all have someone we can lean on. But my grandma had no one because she went by herself, having to survive on anything she could find. By having all these luxurious things, we are not able to feel or experience what it’s like to not have any of it. I don’t know what I would do if I was my grandma and had to be apart from my family, all alone and being scared of being found by soldiers. This was my inspiration moment, a story about my grandma and her adventures in the Korean War. If you had an inspiration moment, what would it be?
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