Wrapping Up Questions/ Rhee So Hyun/ ISS2017

Q1. Choose one of the Korean stories we read and discussed. What kind of emotions were in it? If you had to describe the story to a friend in a few sentences, what would you say?

In Krys Lee's "At the Edge of the World", there is a wave of different emotions. The characters display a sense of lost, anger, confusion, excitement, sadness, relief, and happiness. Mark's mother was constantly angry due to the fact that her husband was consulting with the Shaman, and Mark's father was feeling a sense of lost and guilt after the death of his brother. Mark felt confused after seeing his father in a ritual, crying for his dead brother, excitement when he fell in love with Chanhee, sadness when his father did not shower him with affection, and relief and happiness at the end of the story when his father tells Mark about his brother and when he tells Mark that he loves him. I would tell my friend that this is a short story that makes you feel a wave of emotions. Though it is a fairly short story and it does not delve very deeply into the characters, the story makes you feel for the characters, especially Mark and his father. Through this story, you will be able to get a glimpse of the daily lives and the hardships and sufferings the Korean immigrants went through when they immigrated to America.

Q2. How have the stories we looked at in class changed your perceptions of Korean culture and immigrants? Was there one particular character whose experience affected you strongly?

The stories have made me aware of the sufferings and the sacrifices Korean immigrants went through. Being a Korean who was born and lived in Singapore, I never thought about the hardships Korean immigrants went through. Soo-Ja from "This Burns My Heart" particularly affected me strongly. My parents are both Korean immigrants who moved to Singapore when they were roughly thirty. They immigrated to Singapore in hopes of having better jobs and earning more money to raise my brother and I. However, I never once stood to think that they were indeed Korean immigrants. After reading the Korean stories and Soo-Ja's experience, in particular, I realized that my parents did indeed sacrifice their lives in Korea in order to provide my brother and I with better lives. Soo-Ja loved her life in Korea; she loved Korea and had dear friends in Korea. However, she had to move to America for her daughter. I related to this story because it is somewhat similar to my parents immigrating to Singapore. Whenever I talk about this subject with my mother, she tells me that it was extremely difficult when they initially moved to Singapore. Both my parents did not speak a word of English and they did not know anyone from Singapore. My mother often tells me that she misses her Korean friends and whenever I see her reminiscing about her past in Korea, I feel sad but grateful for the sacrifices she made as I am very thankful for growing up in Singapore.