Lee Seung Hwan / Improved language samples / Tue 1 p.m

I interviewed my close friend, Sang-Min Kim

 

-> I interviewed my close friend, Sang-Min Kim, who has a calm, white face with glasses.

 

I prepared 5 questions beforehand, just to make the process more smooth.

 

-> I prepared 5 questions beforehand, just to make the interview go well, which means preventing me from murmuring, urgently making up next questions. I also did not want to give him an impression that I didn't prepare anything for the interview. 

 

 The interview was conducted inside the graduate school building, and the atmosphere there was very comforting.

 

-> The interview was conducted inside the graduate school building. The atmosphere there was very comforting. There was a coffee shop inside the building, and it was nearby from where we stood. We could watch people chatting with each other or doing assignments. The coffee smell tickled our noses.

 

We had few conversations about how things were going.

 

-> We had few conversations about how things were going. We chatted about how the exam was, what we've done recently, and if wasn't there anything new to our mundane daily lives.

 

He said he has done some assignments about this, and he experienced hardships.

 

-> He said he has done some assignments related to adopting the economic theories to the real society we live in, and he experienced some hardships from this. He couldn't find a proper and accurate statics that were needed, and even though he found one, sometimes it turned out to be different from what he have learned.

 

Some degree of flexibility is needed.

 

-> Some degree of flexibility to make the interview not too rigid is needed.

 

The main theme of the interview was 'future and major'.

 

-> The main theme of the interview was 'future and major'. Through this theme, I planned to deal with some topics like hardships of studying one's major, and preference of getting jobs according to majors.

Park So Young/ Improved samples/ Tuesday 56

 1.She had been born into a very poor family at the time. 

       _> Her family had to live off of small bite size potatoes, corn, and few crops that were in the small yet suitable

area that they lived near to.

 

2. Their style of living was much more different.

     _> They lived off a daily survival by having just enough food for them to eat each day.

 

3. For the girls they had to wear a black skirt uniform that reached the knees and a blouse that had a white collar and long arms.

   _>The dresscode was very strict for the girls. They wore an a-shaped black plain boring skirt that touched the knees. The blouse was very simple and clean.

 

4.Also, we could not start eating until my father had picked up the spoon and started eating first.

   _> There was a specific order in which we would be able to place anything into our mouths. My father had to check that everything was tidy and looking shiny before he picked up his gold designed spoon. The moment one of us chidren unintentionally picked up a spoon before her did, he would flip the whole set up table over and ask us to re-do everything on the correct order just like he wanted.

 

5.  Our culture seems to be changing more and more as the years go by

     _> We can see the drastic changes from how long a skirt should be to how short does your hair have to be. These are changes that this recent generation is facing and will face furthermore as each year passes and more so called trends move into place.

Jeong Do Young/ improved language samples/tue56

-Mother's recount of her past history is always interesting.

Hearing Mother's vivid description of her past life is like looking into the pensieve in Harry Potter.

-We played with gonggi and I was a queen of gonggi

We played with gonggi and I was a queen of gonggi (Korean jackstone but in a round shape) 

 

added

-She shrugged, as if saying ' That's the way it is'.

-There was a sense of pride toward my aunt in her voice, the same kind of pride she had for me.

-She spoke with the air of an old warrior, who has been in so many battles that now hardly anything counted as ordeal.

Wonpil Lee/ Improved language samples/ Tue 1pm

1. She had a strong mind, so she smiled even at her painful life.

- Her great willpower did not crumble away in spite of her painful life.

2. I believed those sweet words as you did.

- Those intriguing catch-phrases readily piqued my naive curiosity.

3. There were several wooden standing tables, and people were eating and drinking there.

- Five to six village people were eating pie and croissant respectively at wooden standing tables.

4. I became a regular customer of the bakery. When I felt like eating Apfelstrudel and drinking strong coffee, I went to the bakery.

- I visited the bakery twice a week, because I addicted their Apfelstrudel and German-style coffee.

5. They accepted my knowledge after we were familiar with each other.

- It was not until we became intimate that they started to listen to my explanation.

Young-Lee Seo/Improvement samples/Tue 1pm

1.     Grinning slightly, he said…

è  Grinning as he propped up his chin with one hand, he said…

2.      DaeSung kept narrating his memories.

è  DaeSung spoke of his memories in a low, and slightly nostalgic voice.

3.     I took an entrance test, and barely passed.

è  I took an exhausting 2 hour entrance test, and was barely able to make the cut.

4.     He never really cared for the test too much.

è  He never gave much thought or gave the test any meaning to it. (Same?)

è  It would have been hard for my friend to be less interested in the test, as he had never really given it much thought in the first place. (Same?)

è  HELP (Maybe just keep it the way it was?)

5.     ….he started to become afraid.

è  He developed chronic paranoia. (ok lol, no.)

è  He became scared that one day, he would fall from his shaky perch in the ladder of grades. (hm) 

Young-Lee Seo/ Interview/ Tue 1pm

My friend DaeSung and I talked about his recollections based on the key word 'tests' from his past, in memory of Sunung, the final test all high school students take to enter college. Of course, since the topic was about tests, it was naturally closely related to school life, which he discussed with much passion.

 

His earliest recollection of a test was with his parents. He had moved to the States with his parents when he was 6 months old, and stayed there for around 7 years. When he came back to Korea, his parents decided to teach him Korean proverbs. He studied out of a mini-book and was rewarded with a stamp for every proverb he got right. Grinning slightly, he said "at the time, I didn't realize that it was a test. But now that I look back, I realize that it was a test of sorts, to ready me for society." At the time, he enjoyed the process of learning, and testing. For him, preschool tests were simply fun, enjoyable challenges that he was rewarded with when he got right. He described it as his 'Leeds days', slang for 'the golden days of unchallenged skill'.

 

Then came elementary school. Tests became a bit harder, and he himself told me that he wasn't all that talented in studying. It just wasn't 'his thing'. The only reason he did the tests was because he had to, and because it would be embarrassing if his grades fell further than that. I was surprised at this, because I thought that everyone would try their best to ace the tests. It was different from what I used to be, when I would really break down and cry sometimes on days that we received our report cards. He seemed a bit startled when I told him so, and he agreed with wide, and surprised eyes that perhaps it was a matter of how much outer pressure there was.

 

In middle school, he went back to his preschool days. "I went back to being an innocent child that tried to raise his grades to receive praise. But unlike before, now the pressure was becoming more intense." He said to me. As his grades went up higher and higher, he started to become afraid. "I didn't want to fall back down from being praised. I wanted to stay there at the top, and the fear started to overtake me."

 

DaeSung kept narrating his memories. "And then suddenly, the little kid wasn't so little anymore, and went to a foreign language high school. I took an entrance test, and barely passed. But then I had to take another test to decide class levels, and I ended up as 340^th out of 430 people. I was shocked." Apparently, the 'little kid' had a brutal wake-up call. There were 3 more tests after that, and DaeSung said that he couldn't believe what had happened. "I studied hard, because I thought I was good at it. But the second test and on put me at 280^th, and each test afterwards just proved I wasn't so smart after all." He told me that each test after that seemed like an alarm, telling him that he wasn't the best, putting him 'in his place', as he called it. It was something that completely changed him and his identity, because after a while, it made him stop thinking about grades and more about simply having fun. He scratched his slightly unkempt hair, frowning, but with an apologetic smile, as if he was telling me something that he didn't particularly like to remember. But he blinked a few times and went on to tell his story.

 

High school came and went, and finally there was the great Su-nung test awaiting him. For him, language was his choice of 'weapon' in this battle royale of the survival of the fittest. He never really cared for the test too much. According to him, Sunung was something which "nothing in particular comes into mind." DaeSung stared at me blankly, as if there was anything to really think about. His black eyes were a bit unfocused, as if he was trying to grasp a vague concept. He shook his head slightly while waving one hand, and told me that he didn't regret it though, and that his carefree attitude came from not worrying about tests anymore.

Through this interview I learned many things about my friend that I hadn't before, and garnered some insight as to his personalities and lifestyle choices. We were living in the same era, born at the same period, but led drastically different lives, and I was able to appreciate and learn from his experiences. I can't say that either one of us led the most 'ideal' life, but I think it was good to know more about him, and remember the days, looking back at them once again.

Simmy/ Interview/ Tue 1pm

One of my Korean friends has lived in Argentina for a long time, so I'm curious that whether women's social position in Korea is different from Argentina or not.

We met in a cafe and I asked her opinion about the women's social position in both countries.

Ignoring the noise around us, my friend was lost in thought:" Well, in Korea, women are supposed to be at home and take care of the family. Although nowadays many people has changed this kind of traditional thought, but it still exists. On the contrary, women in Argentina have more freedom. I mean, they just seek for whatever job they want. Ah, there's one point I'd like to mention about. In Korea, or in some other Asian countries, women have to get married when they come to the certain age, right?"

I was a little bit confused:" Don't women in Argentina also marry when they are at their 30's?"

My friend giggled and showed her agreement with a nod:" Yeah, but the situation is not that serious. There are women just having their career in their life without marriages."

My friend also told me that in Korea, people seemed to judge women in a certain prototype. For instance, they thought Korean women should be innocent, cute etc. But in Argentina, there was no right and wrong about what the women should be. Her frank speaking made me feel that women in Argentina own a rather free lifestyle.

My friend drank the coffee, tapping the table as if in that way she would be able to get the idea:" In Korea, women care a lot about the image."

I showed my agreement:" Yeah, I have heard that most of the Korean women go to do the plastic surgery. Do women in Argentina also have this tendency?"

She answered:" Actually it's not that serious in Argentina." She gave me the example that in a job interview, Korean people would take women's ability into consideration, but their appearance and age were the vital elements. While in Argentina, they almost only concerned about the women's ability.

By chatting with my friend, I came to learn more about the facts of women's social position in Korea and Argentina. Personally I think both countries have their own pros and cons. And I'm also interested in interviewing more people to get further information. 

Park Hyeonbae / Oral History Interview / Tue. 1-3

Oral History Interview

My Grandmother Makes Doenjang

200801424 Park Hyeonbae

 

 My grandmother is very old; she is 83. She is bent and now it's hard for her to stand or walk. But only a few years ago, she was still healthy and able to go out to sell fruits in business. Before she got too weak like now, she used to make all the food for the family. When I was younger than now, my family was a large family, including my grandmother, my father, an aunt, an uncle, me and my younger sister―my mother passed away before. In the dinners, usually my grandmother prepared for the food. Grandmother always emphasized that doenjang and kimchi makes people healthy. That was the reason why should eat them in every meal. When I was young, I didn't like doenjang so much. Especially, the doenjang my family used to eat was the one that my grandmother made on her own; sometimes I could see several blocks of fermented soybeans at the corner in the house. At that time, I didn't know why she didn't want to buy it from markets and kept her own way, and even I didn't like its smell. But now I understand that was the way she loves the family; she didn't want to feed the family with the manufactured products, and thought that the traditionally made food was far better. So she wanted to keep the way. By now, much experienced with the food other than my home's, I came to realize that actually the doenjang made by her was really much more delicious than any other ones.

 

 She now lives with her second son's family. He is supporting his weak and elderly mother in his house at Bundang, Gyeonggi Province. Someday I was bored and needed to be refreshed, so I suddenly felt that I should go see my grandmother because it was quite long times no see. It was a rather chilly day. I took the bus to Bundang. Before I departed, I called her.

 

"Grandma, it's me. I want to see you."

"Oh, dear, my kid. I miss you too. Are you still busy these days?"

Yes, I often made excuses that I was busy. But now, I also don't want to.

"Grandma, I'm on the road to see you. I'll get there soon."

 

When I got there, there were the whole family of my uncle and grandmother―he has two young daughters. We gladly greeted, and I and grandmother hugged each other. She seemed a little bit tired with her aged body. But as she saw me, she gradually got vitality. Whenever I see her, I can feel that and I come to know she really loves me.

 

We had a barbecue for the dinner. I could feel that it was because of my visit. My family has such a ritual habit when there' is something special. I felt comfortable a little bit. On the table, the doenjang(in this case, actually it was the one mixed with other ingredients for the barbecue) was also served as always. Then I felt that it will be good enough for the material of the interview. In fact, I thought that the taste and the recipe might disappear with her someday. So I decided to interview her about how she came to make doenjang.

 

After the dinner, I asked her, just as ordinary. "By the way, grandma, how do you make it? When did you learn the recipe of doenjang?" To my question, she seemed that it was rather unexpected and asked me smiling. "Why, do you want to learn making it?" "Yes, I want to learn and keep your recipe."

 

With my request, she began to explain how she came to learn the recipe and how to make it. When she was a very young girl, she had to assist whatever in her home. Because she spent lots of her childhood under Japanese occupation and in the Korean War, it was very hard time to keep the living. And it was very natural for the people in that time to feed on the food that they made by themselves. Also the people were suffering from the shortage of food. So whatever it was, the people had to conserve everything. My grandmother was also suffering from the same problem. She said that she could make the 'real' doenjang for the first time after 1957, which was when she was 27, although the first time that she learned the recipe was at her age of 8. According to her, before that, people should make insufficient doenjang with lesser ingredients. When she was an 8 years old child, she had to do house chore. It also meant that she also helped his mother cooking. She was taught how to cook and even how to make doenjang. She said that actually she learned it by her grandmother, not by her mother. One day, her grandmother instructed how to make it, showing the process by herself; her mother was also following the way too. At that time, it wasn't enough for her to follow up the entire process because it was too difficult for a young child. But time by time, with the continuous teaching from her grandmother and her mother and cooking by herself, she gradually became skillful. She recollected the first time she made doenjang without any help. She was 14. She also added that it was hard to make doenjang; not only because she was young and not proficient, but also because the Japanese people oppressed the Korean tradition itself. She depicted a situation that one day 2 Japanese policemen aggressed on some guys eating cheonggukjang in the marketplace. The reason why they were mean was it smelled bad. While telling this, she started to burst out her lament and anger from the bottom of her heart. I could guess that it's from the hardship of her life. I felt sorry that she had really suffered from the many difficult days.

 

I asked another question to avoid making her sad. "Grandma, then could you teach me to make doenjang? I'm afraid that someday I'll miss the taste of yours. I want to keep the recipe." "Do you? Are you serious?" She then smiled at me again, wiping her tearful eyes out. "It's not too difficult. But you have to spend some time to get proficient." "I know. I just want to be familiar with your recipe and some important points of it. After that, I may be able to be good at making it on my own." She instructed me the recipe for short. I asked her for more detailed process, but she noticed me. "If you want to get it, you should visit me more often. I said, it needs time and sincerity."

 

"By the way, have you ever taught the recipe to any other family members?" I asked. "Your uncle does know it." She called him. He said he also had learned how to make it. But he also added it's difficult to exactly mimic the taste of grandmother's doenjang. "Of course," she said. "it won't be made in a day. It takes time." In this moment, I asked my uncle when he learned it. It was after he got married. He said after he got married, he became disappointed with the food and, especially the doenjangjjigae made by her wife. "It was because of doenjang." He said. "I realized my mother's doenjang was the best. There has been no better doenjang ever. So I decided to learn how to make it. Maybe it was about 10 years ago." He explained how he made efforts to learn it. And one day, he gave grandmother's doenjang as the presents to his acquaintances. Then they all praised it. He then made it by himself and again he offered it to some of them. But he was only told that it wasn't enough as before. So he still asks her mother to help when he makes doenjang. The latest one was made in the early of this year. "Maybe I can assist in the next time," I said. "Yeah, maybe, if you want," My grandmother said.

 

I had a new feeling while being told about the story of her old days. Although it was very little part of her life, I felt I could draw some old pictures related with it. While I was listening to her story, I felt I was less interested in her so far and now I and grandmother have no enough time to get together because she is too old. It made me rather complex and sad. So I decided to visit her more often, just to see her and learn her doenjang recipe.

Young-Lee/Interview essay/Tue 1pm.

My friend DaeSung and I talked about his recollections of 'tests' from his past, in memory of Sunung, the final test all high school students take to enter college. Of course, since the topic was about tests, it was naturally closely related to school life, which he started a storyline about.

 

His earliest recollection of a test was with his parents. He had moved to the States with his parents when he was 6 months old, and stayed there for around 7 years. When he came back to Korea, his parents decided to teach him Korean proverbs. He studied out of a mini-book and was rewarded with a stamp for every proverb he got right. He said that "at the time, I didn't realize that it was a test. But now that I look back, I realize that it was a test of sorts, to ready me for society." At the time, he enjoyed the process of learning, and testing. Perhaps it was a lot like when I was little, and thought that every puzzle or challenge was a game, which was mostly true at that age. For him, preschool tests were simply fun, enjoyable challenges that he was rewarded with when he got right.

 

Then came elementary school. Tests became a bit harder, and he himself told me that he wasn't all that talented in studying. It just wasn't 'his thing'. The only reason he did the tests was because he had to, and because it would be embarrassing if his grades fell further than that. I was surprised at this, because I thought that everyone would try their best to ace the tests. It was different from what I used to be, when I would really break down and cry sometimes on days that we received our report cards. He seemed a bit startled when I told him so, and we agreed that perhaps it was a matter of how much outer pressure there was.

 

In middle school, he went back to his preschool days. "I went back to being an innocent child that tried to raise his grades to receive praise. But unlike before, now the pressure was becoming more intense." He said to me. As his grades went up higher and higher, he started to become afraid. "I didn't want to fall back down from being praised. I wanted to stay there at the top, and the fear started to overtake me."

 

DaeSung kept narrating his memories. "And then suddenly, the little kid wasn't so little anymore, and went to a foreign language high school. I took an entrance test, and passed. But then I had to take another test to decide class levels, and I ended up as 340^th out of 430 people. I was shocked." Apparently, the 'little kid' had a brutal wake-up call. There were 3 more tests after that, and DaeSung said that he couldn't believe what had happened. "I studied hard, because I thought I was good at it. But the second test and on put me at 280^th, and each test afterwards just proved I wasn't so smart after all." He told me that each test after that seemed like an alarm, telling him that he wasn't the best, putting him 'in his place', as he called it. It was something that completely changed him and his identity, because after a while, it made him stop thinking about grades and more about simply having fun. It was different for me, because I was always at that spot where I could almost reach the title of 'the best', making me even more desperate for it, but never actually getting there. I respected his thoughts, and it made me reflect on my own school days as well.

 

High school came and went, and finally there was the great Sunung test awaiting him. For him, language was his choice of 'weapon' in this battle royale of the survival of the fittest. He never really cared for the test while I had to risk my life on it. But according to him, it was something which "nothing in particular comes into mind." He told me that he didn't regret it though, and that his carefree attitude came from not worrying about tests anymore.

 

 

Through this interview I learned many things about my friend that I hadn't before, and garnered some insight as to his personalities and lifestyle choices. We were living in the same era, born at the same period, but led drastically different lives, and I was able to appreciate and learn from his experiences. I can't say that either one of us led the most 'ideal' life, but I think it was good to know more about him, and remember the days, looking back at them once again.

Yeonsoo seo /interview essay/ tues 1pm

My father was a teacher in middle, and now he is a principal. I know my dad's childhood was not easy and smooth, but I wanted to know more about his childhood and how he overcame his difficulties. So I interviewed my dad for about an hour. Here is his story.

He was born in a small suburb in Sun-cheon. He is eighth of nine children in his family. He has six sisters and two brothers and his parents sustained a living by growing rice and very sometimes selling pigs or cows. He seemed to have quite hard lives.

"When I was a kid, I used to walk walking and running to school for one or two hours every day. I packed books in a cloth, not bag. There was no bus because many roads were unpaved. When buses started to run, I couldn't use it because I couldn't afford it."

His voice became very calm, and he closed his eyes gently for a moment recalling his childhood. Back in the day, flush toilet did not exist in Korea. When my dad was young, toilet was outside of the house, a little bit far away from his room. So he had to bring flashlight at night, and umbrella when it rained. I was so shocked at his childhood because he was living a life that my generation can't think of and even can't stand at all. However, despite his hard circumstances, he enjoyed reading books and studying since he met one teacher when he was ten years old. The teacher made him to be interested in learning new things. After that, my dad really enjoyed studying unlike most students these days studying so hard just to get good grade.

"I was just so happy to learn new things through books. I often had to help my parent's farming after school. One day, when I was reading a book while feeding a cow, I was so focused on a book that I fell over a stone and slipped on cowpat." He chuckled at this memory for a minute.

Since he was in ROTC at his university, he entered military as a platoon leader. As he worked at demilitarized zone where there were mines everywhere, he should have controlled soldiers he was in charge of. His face looked gloomy when he talked about military because some soldiers died of stepping on mine accidently. He commanded and guided subordinated soldiers very well during his military life that no one got hurt or died. This military experience made him enough qualities to become a leader. Enjoying studying and experiencing leading soldiers in military led him to be a teacher ultimately. He started to teach ethics in middle school after college and military service.

"Why did you decide to teach ethics?"

"I wanted to talk about life itself with students. Human duty and smooth relationships with others are very important in life. I wanted to tell them how to live from my own experience overcoming all those hard times." He sounded very confident and lively at this time, with smiling face."

He really enjoyed every single hour talking about how human beings should behave or how to live in their lives with students.

"I really liked my job because it is rewarding to guide students who have infinite potentials."

I especially respect his positive attitude and challenge spirit towards dreams.

He wanted to become a principal someday when he started his career, so he prepared little by little what he had to do to be qualified to become a principal. He accomplished his goal by making efforts with positive mind. Lastly my dad told me, "I was not afraid of failure because I did my best every moment in my life. People often say something is hard without even trying. You will never regret if you exert your utmost."

Park So Young/ Interview essay / Tues 5-6

 "It just isn't the same anymore." Mama said.

        As I was deciding on whom I should interview, I had decided that I should interview my mother. Her experience from her younger years was much more different from the world we live in today. We often do hear many stories of how people who are older experienced many different things. It was not any different from my mom.
        She had been born into a very poor family at the time. Her parents had raised her to grow as a string woman, but it did become a bit difficult for her to do so because she was very weak at a young age. They lived in Kang-wondo and they did not have much to eat. Their style of living was much more different. "We could not afford to buy any type of candy or junk food, so we just had to chew on the sweet potato peels and corn that we sometimes got. It was very difficult and we were not fed as well and healthy as kids today get to eat." said mom. Living a life back then was not whatsoever easy therefore they had to learn to adjust to the way of living which was not the best.
         Another main difference was the way the dress code was for school. The school uniform, school supplies, etc.. were not the same. It was very difficult for them to buy supplies because they did not have the money to buy the things that they needed. Also, momma said, "the uniforms back then were very modest. For the girls they had to wear a black skirt uniform that reached the knees and a blouse that had a white collar and long arms." As she was telling me about these things, it was interesting to hear how she thought it was so strange and odd to see how much society has changed and how short and tight the uniforms for girls have become.
        In addition, one of the biggest things was the whole issue of respect to the elders. My mother told me this very interesting story. She had said the following. "When I was growing up, our table for eating was separate from my father's table. We had to set up double side dishes. Also my father was very strict on everything being set up the way it was supposed to. If the spoon was even the littlest bit dirty, he would make us set the table again. Also, we could not start eating until my father had picked up the spoon and started eating first. Things have changed so much since then when you see the way children act towards their parents." It was so interesting to hear this. It actually made me think about and imagine how it would have been to live in that time.
         We were able to talk about many things such as the way of casual dressing, the way they met each other, dating, buying things, technology, amongst other things where I was able to really compare it to what I am living in. Through this interview I was able to realize many things. We can see how our generation has developed not only as people but as cultures. Our culture seems to be changing more and more as the years go by but I think that it would be good to look back once in a while to remember what it really used to be like.

Ju Ye-lam/Task 5.2/ Tue 1pm

Ju Ye-lam

5.

             I interviewed my father and asked him about political phenomena which he experienced during his lifetime. After I interviewed him, I could know the events that I couldn't get through such as the revitalizing regime and pro-democracy movement in Korea. I also could know the atmosphere at that time of the events and what my father felt and acted under those situations. About interviewing, I realized that I should know well about my interviewee and that I should prepare quite specific questions. I could get the longest answer from the question, "Could you explain about the Korean War including your or others' experience?" I think he talked much because I asked him to talk about specific experiences about the event. The question I got the shortest answer was "How did IMF affect your life?" However, he was a public official and he was not much influenced by IMF, so I guess he didn't have much to tell. Among many questions about the political events, one question about pro-democracy movement in Gwangju led to the most interesting response. Because his hometown was Gwangju and he could see, listen directly what happened in the city.

6.

             If I will do more formal interview with someone, I will prepare as many questions as possible. Because, though I prepare some questions to listen to long and detailed answers, interviewee could give me short answers for them. I will overcome that variable by preparing many questions. Also, I will use background information about the interviewee to ask the question which he or she thinks interesting and deeply concerned with him or her. But I will not use vague questions because an interviewee easily loses their logic, so story seems very unfocused.        

Lee Seung Hwan / Interview Essay / Tue 1p.m

Interview About Major

 

I interviewed my close friend, Sang-Min Kim. He majors in economics in HUFS now. He went to the same high school with me, but he entered HUFS one year after I attended this school, because he had to take the exam one more time. I prepared 5 questions beforehand, just to make the process more smooth. The interview was conducted inside the graduate school building, and the atmosphere there was very comforting. The main theme of the interview was 'future and major'.

 

Just after meeting each other in the building, we didn't get right into the interview first. We had few conversations about how things were going. I thought if I throw the prepared questions at the very first, the interview might become very awkward. I tried to make the atmosphere more natural, as if we are having just a conversation, not an interview. I threw an humorous question, asking what was his major, even though we both knew the answer beforehand. It worked, and we both laughed. The we could conduct our interview in much more comfortable atmosphere.

 

I asked about several things, like 'do you like your major?', or 'do you want to have a job which is relevant to your major in the future?'. The question which generated the longest answer was this - 'What are the hardships when learning economics?' I think the reason why this got the longest answer was simply that he had many hardships in studying his major. He answered that basically economics is difficult, and furthermore, he said that economics is not a mathematics subject, but a social subject. Therefore, as economy changes along with the society, adopting standstill theories to that circumstances requires much more skills. He said he has done some assignments about this, and he experienced hardships.

 

The shortest answer was 'I just came to like my major.', and the question to this was 'Do you like your major?' A simple question and a simple answer they are. He said that he didn't like his major so much at first, but as he studied more deeply into it, he came to like it. The most interesting response was the answer to the question, 'If you were to go back to your high school days, would you choose economics again as your major?" He replied, "I can't really tell. However, if I still know the fun that economics can offer me, I think I will choose this major again." I could see how much fun his major offers to him, and how much he liked his major.

 

Through conducting his interview, I tried to make comfortable atmosphere, trying not to lose the least formality that interview entailed. I learned that this worked well. Interviewing doesn't go like two parties great each other and just ask and answer about prepared questions. It should not be that mechanic, unless that interview is an extremely formal one. Some degree of flexibility is needed. Some answers can stray from the original questions, and some new questions can be created, but that is okay. If you just read some prepared questions and just wait then, the interviewee will end up with just few sentences. I learned that flexible communication with the interviewee generates many more useful answers.

Jina Park/ Tue 1p.m

She faces a little round, single fold. Her name is Marry. I interviewed her as a friend. She looked a little bit nervous, but she answered me very clearly and she was interested about my interview.

 

She is 21 years old and very independent. She wants to get the graduation quickly to have a good salary job and she want to live alone without her family. Because she really wants to stand alone and she said she doesn't want to be the burden of her parents.

 

It absolutely doesn't mean she want to marry. She thinks that if she has enough money or you happy enough she absolutely will not marry a guy. She just wants to enjoy the feeling of love and doesn't want to feel marriage restraint.

 

Of course, she doesn't want to marry. But the interesting thing was she love babies and wants to have one. It let me laughed a lot. She had told me that she didn't want to marry. Then how could she get a baby? She is a contradiction.

 

It was an interesting time to interview her. And I felt that today, there was not every woman wants to marry a guy like past. May be they are happy enough without a husband, a family. It also made me surprised.

doyoung jeong/interview/tue56

Mum was a girl once 

 

Mum's recount of her past history is always interesting. Though I have heard about it so many times before, it never gets old. Her full description takes me to the past, and I marvel at how things are so different from the present. My first question was about her favorite pastime as a kid. 

"There weren't any smartphones or playstations or whatever, But that doesn't make our pastime any less dull. We played with gonggi and I was a queen of gonggi, no one could beat me. But I was a tomboy and catching locusts with the boys was the best."

Her eyes were suddenly mischievous, as if she was back to those locust-catching days. Mum, always so brave and vigorous, would have surely been the leader of the gang.

"How was everyday like?"

"I was brought up with three brothers and two sisters. The house was always bustling with kids running around, roaring and screeching. There were never quiet moments. Every meal was like a battle. You had to make a frantic dash for dining table and snatch your portion of food or there wouldn't be anything left. After devouring food, though always craved for more, there were huge piles of dirty dishes I had to wash up. And that's not all-there were all sort of chores I had to deal with like laundry, scrubbing floor, bathing my baby sister... Being the second eldest, and a girl, I was expected to carry out such duties."

"Did grandmother always favored boys over girls?"

"Always. She can't help it. She is old woman with traditional values, and such notions were firmly rooted in her brain. It was same with education too. She poured all her effort and money in educating the eldest brother, saying he will one day become the man of the house, but didn't care much about educating girls. 'what's the point of educating girls?' She used to say. I, however, saw a potential in my sister and urged her to study hard. She passed her exam and got a job straight away, and brought home a lot of money. Educating a girl had its uses, after all."

I felt sorry for her, since I don't have to do too much housework and I get plenty of education, if not too much. I moved on with the question that intrigued me most.

"How did you get to marry father?"

" Grandmother was friends with a women who lived across the street. She had a son. They thought we would make a good pair. We met a couple of times and then got married."

"As simple as that? But that is practically marring a stranger！ How could you take such a risk?"

" Well they all said he was a kind person... And anyway, young people these days take more than a year to get married but they still get divorced, while me and your father live in perfect harmony."

I goggled at her. Strange how minds of past generations works.



Wonpil Lee/ Interview Essay/ Tue 1pm

A Cup of Interview: Teach You Teach Me

"This job is not only a great opportunity but also a real challenge," said my cousin Yu-son who recently became a college instructor.

             Yu-son has three identities: a product planner of a food company, a graduate student, and a college lecturer on food and nutrition. She is the most positive and energetic person I know. I do not understand where the endless energy comes from.

Sometimes she visits me without a notice and asks me for a cup of my great hand drip coffee. Then I give it to her and ask her for a reward. Give and take: a great virtue in this capitalistic society.

This interview was also the reward: I gave a cup of coffee, and she gave me some answers. By the way I realized an important truth through the interview. When a person teaches someone else, the person also learns something.

             At the first time she thought it could be meaningful when her professor suggested she take charge of a course this semester, so she readily accepted the offer. Because she has a lot of teaching experience in her former job, she was not so worried about the lecture itself.

She prepared the first lecture thoroughly even if she was very busy due to her company tasks and graduate school's assignments. She was confident about her successful debut.

However, when she got out of the lecture room after the first class, she realized, "I'm sunk." It felt as if the students had not really wanted to improve themselves. Especially, their monotone facial expressions made her nervous. They hardly responded her talk and just stared at their smartphones. She briefly described her debut, "It was a disaster. I was prepared, but they were not prepared."

            She changed the strategy. First of all, she decided not to give too many assignments. Besides, she tried to develop a rapport with her students and waited for their emotional preparation because she thought they might have less confidence. As a result, the students began responding much more positively and asking some meaningful questions about the course's contents to their lecturer.

I laughed aloud and said to my cousin, "You were probably too threatening, so their tails were between the legs." She answered, "You're right. A student came to me and said she was afraid of me at the first time because of the stern look on my face." Then Yu-son comprehended that her facial expression, way of speaking, and even posture can heavily influence her students as well as the contents of her teaching. She also realized that she should smile first to make students smile.

She said, "They accepted my knowledge after we were familiar with each other." Now, her students attempt more challenging assignments without a murmur as they know their lecturer is trying to help them. In other words, my cousin and her students accept and embrace each other.

After that, her professor suggested she take responsibility for more classes next semester. Although she did not decide whether to accept the suggestion due to lack of time, she would like to continue leading this one class; through the teaching process she is also learning something new.

"By teaching I can organize my knowledge more clearly. In addition to this, there are emotional communications with students, which restores my tiredness, exhaustion, and emotional draining," said my cousin with a smile.

Yu-son teaches her students, and she gains benefits. Likewise, I gave her a cup of coffee, and I developed a good understanding. When we give something, we usually think we lose it. No. It is not true. When we give something, we receive something more valuable. 

Lee Jungha/Oral interview/TUE 5,6

- Living as Someone's Fan -  I think that the most people around the world have experienced longing for celebrity on TV in their childhood. Or maybe some people are still having fallen in love with him or her until now. I also like many male celebrities and search them on the internet, wondering their age, what shows they showed up, whether they are dating with someone or not, etc. But some huge fans usually do more than that. And my friend is one of them.  I met Minkyung when we were middle school students. At that time, several boy bands were really popular among girls. Students carved their favorite member's name on their wooden desks and elaborately decorated their school supplies with bands' pictures. I was also big fan of boy band called TVXQ that were composed of five members. But after they broke up, I lost my interests. But all students was crazy about boy bands, Minkyung was interested in a ballad singer who was not so popular among girls. So my friends used to tease her with her mature sensibility. But she didn't care about us at all. She has remained as a huge fan of that singer until we graduated the high school. And through 5 years so far, even if her favorite singer has been changed, if she got into something, she was deeply possessed with that.  Therefore I chose her for my interview because she keeps her balance well between her own life and at the same time, being a huge fan of singers. So it was not difficult to get honest answers to my questions. I wanted to know the effect of being a huge fan of someone, and how the fans think about themselves and what they feel through fan experiences, and so on.  We met at a cafe near the Konkuk University because she had to go work as a part-time after the interview. As she and I are very close friends, I knew about her fan life up to a point. So I carried out the interview focusing on her feelings more and recent experiences that I haven't heard before.  She has gotten into a Korean rock band recently. When I asked about her that singer's state, her face was not very good. According to her, that band is having trouble with their agency, so their album has not been released yet, even though recording had finished a long time ago. But she added some. "Of course I'm sorry that we fans can't listen their new songs. but it's okay because their previous songs are enough much for me to enjoy. I never get tired of those songs. And band members will be happy if fans wait calmly".  And I noticed that there is a fan network that is formed through some websites. Fans share the information about the singer and discuss on certain topics related to the singer or songs. Several band members sometimes sign up to the website and have a conversation with fans. A year ago, one of  members has invited a fan for dinner and still get in touch with the fan. Fans and singers both feel comfortable to each other because they can gather with the common interest. On special occasions such as TV show or concerts, they organize the small group from themselves and collect some money to prepare snacks or presents for the singer. When I asked her it's a wasting as we are still students but singers earn money by themselves, She said that "Others may think like that, but singers went through the hard time because it's hard to be get popularity in Korea as rock band. Korean still have prejudice toward rock band. And even though we collect some money, it's absolutely not much. We can pay as our please."  "When is the hardest time to fans in general?" I asked. Then she kept thinking a while and answered. "There are two cases. At first, fans are affected by the singer. So if the singer is in a bad condition, we feel in the same way. But as I said earlier, if fans get tired, singers will be more tired. So we just wait and see until situation gets better. We fans don't want to bother singers because of our trivial mind. And the second, sometimes people whisper that being a huge fan spoils our life and it's a wasting of time. But I don't think so. I met many people through an experience being a fan, and most of people live their own lives well. We can control our life. Of course, being too much addicted is not good. But I think talking behind our back is also wasting their time."  When I asked her when the happiest time was while you live as a fan, she recollect an experience that she met the main vocal after the concert. She got a signature and shook hands. And she added that she feels happy when band members enjoy the stage of other singer in some rock festival, because they are fans of other singer, too. So it's pleased to see band members do the same reaction when they were the seats for the audience.  While the interview was carried out, her eyes were bright and she answered passionately. I really appreciated her. As she said above, sometimes people worry about huge fans, thinking that they don't do right things. But to some people, living as someone's fan gives life to them and inspire them with happiness. It can be precious memories. I'm not a big fan of someone now, but as I have felt the same feeling with her, I can understand her. And I envy her that she has something that she get into deeply. Living as a fan is good, I guess.