An Honest Life
'An interview with my grandfather'
by Sung Young Jang
The sun innocently shines its bright rays on a small farm village in Yecheon, as a young handsome teen strolls the empty streets. The thin boy struts slowly with his head down lost in thought. The whole village is eerily calm and quiet, with nobody to be seen. The boy holds on to his stomach as its sound ripples through the soundless air. Suddenly a loud BANG! The boy is no longer slow, as he hurries back home to where a woman is frantically looking for her son. Gun fires continue as men in green shout and run at each other.
"The village was always quiet" said grandpa, "and we were always hungry." The Korean war had stripped this small farm village of not only its food and resources, but also its people. A lot of people had been killed, taken hostage, forced into the military, or just honestly lost. The place resembled a ghost town, with only a few people alive and everybody famished. "It was called a death town back then, at the time." said grandpa, "So much death... and from a single village." This is very surprising as the village I have always experienced is filled with life and people. It is hard to imagine something so tragic had happened to so peaceful a place.
"It was then that I thought I had to do something. I had to save my home."
My grandfather, Jang Iho, was born in the 1930s, a time in which Korea was still in Japanese imperial rule. Grandpa said that nothing was enough at the time, neither food nor luxuries were plentiful. "Tree barks were our main food source. We would strip the outer barks off of trees and bring the insides home with us. It was all boiled to be made soft so it was edible, but it was never enough. Hunger was just part of our lives. Then the war broke out."
War is never good and there is never a good time for war, but the Korean war came at an especially bad time. Poverty and hunger had been common in Korea, and the war just worsened the situation. My grandfather and his family was not an exception. "Everybody was fleeing south, to get away from the clashes of war. Me and my family went all the way to Chungdo, where my grandfather barricaded a school to fend the North off. Many people died from bullets and hunger. Chungdo eventually fell to the North, and a lot of people died again. " My grandfather was only able to go back to his home after the army retaliated against the North. A place that had now turned into a death village. Things were much worse than they were a few years ago, the poverty, the hunger and the death. "Difficult times they were" grandfather said, "difficult times."
Grandfather had always had a thing for farming and growing things. It was his passion to work with the earth, and one day go back into it. "After middle school I went to an agriculture high school. Even though I was a couple years older than my peers, I was never bothered. I was very lucky to be at such a school and I loved what I was learning. I was learning the skills and the knowledge that would help me rebuild the village, something I had sworn to do." At the time, going to high school was a very hard thing to do. It was an elite course, while a step lower than college, and it also needed a handsome amount of money. At the time grandfather was a very successful athlete, especially 400m running. After high school he was scouted to Kyeong-hee university as an athlete, but was never able to go. "My education had been funded by an uncle of mine, but he was not able to help me go to college." So, that was the unfortunate end of grandfather's education.
"The fact that I was not able to continue my studies left me feeling weak and powerless. I spent the next few years wasting my life, playing with my friends until I was enrolled into the military." After his three years of military service, grandfather came out eager and passionate to do something. At this point in his life, he was given a choice, one of which would change his course of life. Great-grandfather had given grandfather an opportunity to work in the city hall of Seoul, a very good opportunity, different from living in a small town far south of the capital. At the same time grandfather was also offered the position of head of the village, something that was rarely given to somebody of his age. Grandfather was unsure of his decision, but eventually chose to remain and become head of the village. "My old passion and decision of rebuilding my home and village stuck to my heart and I could not ignore it."
At this point out of curiosity, I asked him whether he regrets this decision he made so long ago. Grandfather's eyes looked at me firmly and said that he regrets it deeply. Then he told me something that he has always remembered to this day, something his father had told him when he decided to become the village head. "That position, in Seoul, is not there for you. It does not wait for you. Why should it? Who do you think you are? Grasp the opportunity while you still can." Then I asked him, "What about your passion? Rebuilding the village? It was important. It was noble. You did not make the wrong decision, you followed your heart. Isn't that what matters? Doing what you want?" Grandfather shook his head firmly. "No, Sung Young, no. I was a fool, driven by a thought that I believed to be so important. I was blinded by it... unable to see further. "
Grandfather maybe disappointed by his decision he made at a young age, 29 to be exact, but he did his duties as town head with great success. He was head of the town for 12 years, until 1981. The village that had once been a village of death had become a village that was famous for its prosperity. Grandfather had done what he had once sworn to do, rebuild his home and village. After he gave the position of head to another person he was reappointed as head of the village again in 1984 because the other people wanted him to do it once more. He did the job once again with passion and left many of his own marks in the village. One thing was that he made the village hall that connected all of the village people and made a place for everybody to come together. "I did many things with the village people and I am proud of what I did as village head" grandfather said, "but I had had enough, and gave up the position in 1988. It was time to move on."
The impression I got from grandfather during the interview was that he was always eager to do something, and was actually always doing something. It's a trait in the family I believe. My father is just like that, and so am I. Grandfather moved on to become chairman of the board for the Saemaeul finance firm in the region, and soon became a board member of the National Agricultural Cooperative Firm. All the time grandfather never let go of his passion in farming, and for his eagerness to serve his village. This passion led him to become a senator for the district, his final position. If you think about it, his whole life, all of the things great and poor he did, came from the single decision he made as a fellow of 29.
Finishing his life story grandfather looked at me with the same firm eyes again. "As you can see Sung Young, life is filled with choices that you must make. Decisions will direct your life from one place to another. Making choices is inevitable, making the right ones is what is important. There is a saying in Korea that I strongly believe to be true; a person has three opportunities in his life. I had my three opportunities, maybe more, and I regret three choices that I made. The first being not going to Seoul city hall at 29, second being wasting my life before enrolling into the military, and third becoming a member of the district senate rather than president of the National Agricultural Cooperative Firm(another option he did not take). " At this I asked him, "If you could go back to one moment in your past, what would you change?" Grandfather answered without hesitation, "Becoming senator. Politics was never my thing. The lies were very uncomfortable." This actually surprised me because I thought he would choose to go to Seoul city hall. It would have changed his whole life, but the next question answered my curiosity. "Then grandfather, what are you most proud of?" Grandfather answered again without hesitation, and with pride in his voice. "Of being honest all my life. Even though I have nothing expensive to show for, I was always honest in my life. An old teacher of mine told me once that pursuing riches makes a person inhumane, and I guess I can say that I have lived by those words."
Although grandfather regrets his decision of staying in his hometown, he is also proud of all the things he achieved there, and of how honest he had lived. Being a senator, which is rarely an honest job, had been a fault in his honest life, which made him want to change that choice the most.
On my last question I asked grandfather what his plans were for the rest of his life. Grandfather said, "I have no more plans. Just to live peacefully until I go back to the dirt, just as I had planned so long ago." Maybe he does not have any more plans, but I believe his enthusiasm, his passion, and his dedication is not yet over. I believe he still has quite some time in his hands left, and his eagerness will lead him once more into a pool of decisions. I just hope he makes the right ones.
I believe I inherited my grandfather's passion and eagerness, and I am proud of how it drives me to do as much as possible in the limited time I have. However, it also makes me careful, knowing that one decision may change my life. In the end of our interview grandfather asked me if I remember our family motto. I answered "To do my best in what I do." Grandfather nodded and said, "It is important to be acknowledged by society, Sung Young, and by acknowledgement I mean you must become trusted. Your words must become a stamp. What you say must be certified to be true, and to do that you must live an honest life. I hope you never forget that." I nodded at these words and deep down I knew, that these words were true.
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