201500568 Su Yeon Kim
Two Sides of a Coin
I'm certain that most people, if not all, can't exactly pinpoint their first memory or remember their earliest memories in flashes, like a spliced movie. I must have been barely five when my family moved to Fiji and to be completely honest, the first year of my life in Fiji is a blurry memory. When I look back now it feels as though my life till now had been a pleasant dream. Any blank in my memory is filled in by the stories from my family members particularly my dad, who is blessed with extraordinary memory. Just a normal day at home, my dad, brother and I were enjoying a casual beer at the dining table and were reminiscing about the good old days when my brother abruptly directed a question at our dad.
"Dad, I can't begin to imagine how you felt when we first went to Fiji. What even could have possible motivated you to move to such a place? I mean we know the main reason was because of the IMF crisis but why Fiji?"
My dad slowly started to smile and simply said, "Hm, I wonder. It's been so long."
With the encouragement from my brother and me (mostly my brother), my dad finally began to share his story.
"So before the IMF crisis, I had done a lot of traveling because of my job. I had seen the world outside Korea and always thought there's so much to be learned outside the borders of Korea. Your mother was always completely open and supportive to the idea of moving. There was no better time to implement this idea than when the IMF crisis hit Korea. So we laid out our options and with the process of elimination, we crossed off the cold countries for your mom's health, then we crossed off countries with high living prices. At this point we were still unsure but one day by some coincidence while watching TV, an advertisement about Fiji came on and quite frankly, it looked like paradise." He then took a chug of his beer and paused a while as though he were reliving that moment.
Of course, we have no idea why Fiji became so popular in Korea back then. My father at this point didn't seem as though he wanted to give all the information but we pressed on.
"But Fiji back then was so underdeveloped. Did you know exactly how you were going to make things work?" I inquired.
"Of course not," my dad said with a chuckle then stopped again. It was clear at this point that he needed egging on.
"How did you feel when you first landed at the airport?" This was the question my brother and I never bothered asking.
"So in the taxi, going to our new place, you kids and your mother fell asleep in the backseat but this was when the impact of the whole thing came crashing down. I had no confidence we would make it and almost wanted to go back to Korea immediately."
This reply struck my brother and me. In the silence that followed that answer, I'm sure my brother and I came to the same realization which was that our attitudes in getting to know our parents as people should change. Out of my earliest memories, the day we arrived at our new home is the most vivid. I remember not having a worry in the world and just running around the new backyard with my brother. How could we ever have known the responsibility that fell upon our dad's shoulders?
My father upon seeing our reaction gave a hearty laugh to break the silence and said, "This is a parent's burden and responsibility that you don't have to worry about."
"Why didn't you stay in Korea though? Surely finding another job wouldn't have been that hard with experience such as yours?" My brother asked cautiously. The answer that followed was completely unexpected yet if anything it asserted my dad's character as to who he is was and what he valued.
"When you enter a company, you're not immediately allowed to work in a high position or the position you had in your previous work. You start from the bottom and after being in the position that I was back in Daewoo I couldn't bear the thought of having to go back to the bottom and work for those younger than myself."
At the time of this conversation my brother was having a difficult time adjusting to the working environment in Korea while I was just getting used to the Korean culture. I suppose, my brother was somewhat able to sympathize yet feel a great dissatisfaction for such work morals and I was simply shocked. The answer did not change the way I thought about my dad but allowed me to finally understand the reason behind some of his deepest personal philosophies. His story was the other side of the coin and it that made me view everything he did for the family in a new light and made me appreciate all the sacrifices he had made for us. He provided a whole new perspective and side that I could not have possibly been aware of as a child.
201500568 Su Yeon Kim
ReplyDeleteTwo Sides of a Coin
I’m certain that most people, if not all, can’t exactly pinpoint their first memory or remember their earliest memories in flashes, quite like a spliced movie. I must have been barely five when my family moved to Fiji and to be completely honest, the first year of my life in Fiji is a blurry memory. When I look back now it feels as though my life before coming to Korea had been a pleasant dream. Any blank in my memories regarding Fiji is filled in by my family, particularly my dad who is blessed with extraordinary memory.
Sometime around January last year, it was just a normal day at home and my dad, my brother and I were enjoying a casual beer at the dining table while reminiscing about our life back in Fiji. Then my brother put his glass down on the table and abruptly directed a question at our dad.
“Dad, I can’t begin to imagine how you felt when we first went to Fiji. What could have possible motivated you to move to such a place? I mean we know the main reason was because of the IMF crisis but why Fiji?” my brother inquired, it looked as though he had been wanting to ask this question for quite some time.
I wasn’t sure where this question came popped out from or how to react so I just started blankly at my brother and my dad. Just a second before this, we were wondering whether our dogs were doing well without us and then suddenly the atmosphere became heavier.
My dad at first looked slightly startled but slowly started to smile and simply said, “Hm, I wonder. It’s been so long.”
That reply was enough to suggest there was a long explanation behind our migration to Fiji. With the encouragement from my brother and me (mostly my brother), my dad finally began to share his side of the story.
“So before the IMF crisis, I had done a lot of traveling because of my job. I had seen the world outside Korea and always thought there’s so much to be learned outside the borders of Korea. Your mother was always completely open and supportive to the idea of moving.” We all smiled and nodded our heads in acknowledgement. “There was no better time to implement this idea than when the IMF crisis hit Korea. So we laid out our options and with the process of elimination, we crossed off the cold countries for your mom’s health, then we crossed off countries with high living prices. At this point we were still unsure but one day by some coincidence while watching TV, an advertisement about Fiji came on and quite frankly, it looked like paradise.” My dad then took a chug of his beer and paused a while as though he were reliving that moment.
Of course, we have no idea why Fiji became so popular in Korea back then. My father at this point didn’t seem as though he wanted to give all the information but we pressed on.
ReplyDelete“But Fiji back then was so underdeveloped. Did you know exactly how you were going to make things work?” I was slowly becoming more invested in this topic, my curiosity had to be quenched.
“Of course not,” my dad said with a chuckle then stopped again. It was clear at this point that he needed more egging on. From my dad’s reaction so far, I could understand that it wasn’t something that he could or wanted to openly talk about. I wasn’t sure why this was so but my guess was that by doing so he was hesitant on showing us a weak side of himself.
“How did you feel when you first landed at the airport?” Once again, I was shocked by my brother’s question. It was so random yet in a sense, it was fundamental in further understanding our dad. I became silent and observed my dad. His expression was a mixture of discomfort and peace. An emotion that I was unable to interpret. I suppose it was a difficult time and he’s just relieved we made it through somehow.
“So I guess I can talk about the taxi ride going to our new place,” my dad hesitantly started. “You kids and your mother fell asleep in the backseat but this was when the impact of the whole thing came crashing down. I had no confidence we would make it and almost wanted to go back to Korea immediately.”
This reply struck my brother and me. In the silence that followed that answer, I’m sure my brother and I came to the same realization which was that our attitudes in getting to know our parents as people should change. Out of my earliest memories, the day we arrived at our new home is the most vivid. I remember not having a worry in the world and just running around the new backyard with my brother. How could we ever have known the responsibility that fell upon our dad’s shoulders?
My father upon seeing our reaction gave a hearty laugh to break the silence and said, “This is a parent’s burden and responsibility that you don’t have to worry about.”
“Why didn’t you stay in Korea though? Surely finding another job wouldn’t have been that hard with experience such as yours?” My brother asked cautiously. The answer that followed was completely unexpected yet if anything it asserted my dad’s character as to who he is was and what he valued.
“When you enter a company, you’re not immediately allowed to work in a high position or the position you had in your previous work. You start from the bottom and after being in the position that I was back in Daewoo I couldn’t bear the thought of having to go back to the bottom and work for those younger than myself.”
At the time of this conversation my brother was having a difficult time adjusting to the working environment in Korea while I was just getting used to the Korean culture. The answer did not change the way I thought about my dad but allowed me to finally understand the reason behind some of his deepest personal philosophies. His story was the other side of the coin and it that made me view everything he did for the family in a new light and made me appreciate all the sacrifices he had made for us. He provided a whole new perspective and side that I could not have possibly been aware of as a child.