Life: Self Narrative

Today I am up here to supposedly talk about my life. Obviously this is meant to be a narrative speech, talking about my life. Actually there's not much to say about my life. I didn't live in a jungle where I ate caterpillars as a daily diet. nor did I have a disabled member in my family who I always had to look after. No, no, no. I grew up in quite the average family in South Korea, living in an apartment with my mother, father, and my younger sister. We are a happy family and are very close to each other. All of this is boring. Nothing in life would be that different to you guys also with a normal family and in a normal house. It seems a bit ridiculous to actually talk about myself and my life when it's just the same as everybody else's.

To be honest though, I think I have a story that I can tell everyone else that probably most of the people here haven't gone through. A car accident. And a serious one. How many of you saw your airbag go off? Or did anyone see your car window shattered into pieces on the road? Well not that much I guess. Okay then, let me tell you what exactly happened. It was about a year ago, it was the day when me, my mom, and my sister had lunch with my grandmother. After the meal and after a bit of shopping, me, my mom, and my sister gave our grandmother a ride back to her apartment, and then left for my English Academy. My mother said that she needed to stop by to refill the fuel tank at a gas station, so she drove to the direction. Our car arrived near the gas station, at a T-shaped road. (Drawing and explaining) The light was on signaling the left turn, and my mom drove the car forward. And then there was a crash. It was incredible. Something so powerful shook the entire body of the car, making everyone inside, the three of us, not being able to sense what was going on in that moment. My sister screamed for a second. And then silence. Well I guess I just thought it was silent because my ears were ringing. Then I got out of the car first, trying to figure out what happened. Then I was dumbstruck. Our car's right side was literally caved in. (Drawing Explanation) And also the direction of our car was FACING the other car(a truck actually). That day, we all went to the hospital taking small tests and getting check-ups, and having the entire day off. Luckily, no one had a serious injury, except for the truck driver who sprained his ankle. Honestly I has a bit more relieved by the fact that I missed the English Academy rather than the fact that I didn't die.

But anyways, there's a message I want to tell you. What I learned through this not-an-every-day-event is that not necessarily the fact that you should put your seat belt on. Actually, my sister didn't get hurt because she didn't had her seat belt on and because she was leaning towards me, but that's a different story. What I really wanted to say is that everyone in this room should live your life as if it is your last. People these days, take their life as granted. But, there is a open possibility to be gone from this world every second of your life. My grandmother that day, was lucky. If she decided to be with us in the car, she might have gone through serious injuries that may have harmed her life. Especially because she would have had seated on the right front passenger seat, which was the most heavily damaged. Not only about our grandmother, but even myself, if our car was not a SUV that is higher than an average sedan, I might not be here.

After experiencing an accident that might have been somewhat fatal, I began to lean close to the idea that you have to live your life without regret. I believe it is very important to do so. Looking back at the accident, I...was scared. because your life, your last breath can be taken anywhere, at anytime. So lastly, I want you to shout out carpe diem! in your lives. Live a life where you will not regret anything, and enjoy your afternoon! Thank you!

Volunteer Work?

I never have fancied meeting the poor. I also never fancied meeting disabled people and helping them. I other words, I never actually liked volunteer work. Trying to give meals to people I do not know, sitting in front of mentally ill patients and making myself look like one of them. That was the initial view I had towards all the different acts of volunteer work. I literally found them a waste of time.

When I was in middle school, I found out that it was necessary to fill in 60 hours volunteer work throughout the 3 years in order to graduate from the school. Having a dark look on my face, I decided to participate constantly in playing the violin for the poor in front of a cafeteria. The cafeteria was run by a chapel nearby, the priest looking over the system, hygiene and the financial management of the place. Me and my part of my orchestra went to that place once every two weeks. And whenever we visited the place, we weren't that happy. The music teacher, who managed our school orchestra, was getting aggravated by the fact that me, as a bandmaster, was not seeming to be the best model for the freshmen nor the juniors. Eventually, I decided to pay more attention to the people who come to have a meal.

As I drew my attention from my personal boredom to the people who are taking our volunteer work, I got to know something peculiar. The people there weren't that happy either. It was very weird to think that the service that our orchestra provided never was that much of a joy to the people who met upon it. With a characteristic of which I cannot stand my curiosity, I ask the priest why these people were so unhappy about our performance. His answer struck me hard in the head.

"These people spend their entire day simply craving this single meal. Most of the people only get to eat this meal as their one and only diet everyday. Of course they don't understand you're musical talents, actually they can't afford to understand. It would be a better idea to try to understand them and try some new music, okay?"

I was a fool. Every time I visited the cafeteria, I was loaded with hard and dynamic notes composed by Mozart and Beethoven. However, it was clear that the people who visit the place had no way to access such genre of music in their lives. It was obvious that they don't understand classical music. So, I changed the plan. I made an agreement with my other orchestra members to choose songs that are probably much more familiar to the people. Old Korean songs and songs by very famous Korean singers were the major choices we made.

After the change I started, there had been a huge difference in the way the people reacted to our performance. Starting off from nodding their heads, some elderly people even danced and sang aloud to our music. In the end I acknowledged something very important. Volunteer work is something that can be only properly done when you truly try to understand the people. Although I still am not a big fan of doing such work, it turned out much more easier for me to understand the people whenever I had a chance to help them out.

Goot and a new remedy

Korea has a variety of unique customs. Including eating dogs, which French people hate, there are a lot of traditions us Koreans have that many others do not understand. The custom I would like to introduce also falls into the same category where foreigners might not fully understand. It is called Goot(굿). Similar to exorcism, Goot is a method used to either extract ghosts from someone or something, or a way to bring a dead person's soul to reality. Such performance is done by a person called Mudang(무당), who specializes in the act of communicating with the dead. Goot has been performed all across the Korean peninsula for the purpose of curing sick people or ones with serious depressions due to the death of a family member. The points that should be focused on among this superstitious action are the meanings of it and the effects of the execution of Goot.

Historically, Goot is not only found in the North and South Korean region. But is also found in China and Japan. The biggest difference between the ones in other countries and the ones in Korea is that Goots done in other regions are mostly performed by males, while ones in Korea are mostly done by females. Goot done by men requires the Mudang with a drum and an individual that catches a ghost with a stick. What male Mudangs do is to basically find a dead ghost and bring it to life for the family members who have something to say to the ghost. When the Mudang starts to cast a spell and hits the drum, then it is said that the ghost finds its way to the stick and goes inside the holder of the stick. After this is done, the person holding the stick becomes the dead person that was called from the underworld. They answer the questions that the other family members ask, and also request other things back to solve their past resentment.

The female Mudang on the other hand does two things. One is the 'soul resurrection' that the males did, and the other role is to work as an exorcist. Female Mudangs casts spells and dances with bells on her clothing in front of a well-made set of meals. Awkward enough, but these Mudangs when they do the same thing as the males did, they themselves become the subject of the ghost. In other words, become the ghost herself who talks with the family members. In the case when these people perform exorcism, they dance on top of a razor blade, but that is not the important issue. The essence of Goot is when the goal of it is to make a dead person come into another being.

Goot done both by men and women has a symbolic meaning of a psychological remedy. Back in the time of which there were no mental hospitals, the only solution to find when extreme psychological pain came was either to bide in time or to meet a Mudang to find a spirit to help them. What the Mudangs can provide is believed to be something that even the current society cannot produce. Although the current medical systems do have a psychology cure to relax a mind, in most cases it is impossible to remove all the specific problems the families face. They might not had been able to say the last goodbye, they might not had been able to hold the hand of the dead for the last time. And in these cases, the family members feel devastated and will have a sense of regret in their hearts for the rest of their lives. However, Mudangs and Goots can resolve this problem by actually bringing the dead back to life.

It a nut shell, it is not possible to know whether these Mudangs or lying or not, but still, the effect that can give can apply to anyone reading this essay. Introducing Goot to foreign people, I believe, will be a great chance to show them how Koreans tolerated a huge mental burden. Also Goots could virtually solve the problems people have there as well. Goots should be the number one custom we should tell to others from now on, not being ashamed of its superstitious aspects.

All about me and writing

Hello, my name is Hongmo Harrison Ku, currently a memeber of 10V3 in KMLA. I am wrinting this by the assignment of Mr. Menard, but honestly I've been thinking of making a blog of my own for a long time.

I am a person who likes writing. I have never in the past, did actually write something or post something on my own except for some comments that I make in news articles or in other posts in facebook. However, whenever I start to see comments about my comments, or a rebuttal against what I said, I begin to write long replys to prove my point right. Not that I never agree to the opponents thoughts, I just like to write argumentative essays, not necessarily essays but in some way argumentative comments.

But I have one problem. I am a free writer, and never have learned writing "properly" except for the typical TOEFL writing class. I am very pleased to meet upon Mr. Menard and I believe it to a a great opportunity to get proper evalutaion of my skill. It will be definite that my skills will fully improve. I am planning to write a lot of my favorite topics regarding common knowledge, music, and something else than European soccer. I hope everyone will enjoy my writings. Thank You!!!