Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Anda]

Just a little script for a speaking contest, unchanged as received.

Hello, everyone! I am Ryu Ju hee in the second grade.

As my mind always changes, my dream has changed a lot.
When I was young, I wanted to be an ice cream shop owner.
When in elementary school, I wanted to be an eye doctor who can cure the blind and help them see the beautiful world. But the dream changed again. In the first year in my middle school, I thought it would be nice to become a minister of women department and help other women suffering in this men-centered society. But now I have a way different dream. That is to become someone like Jinkis khan with a strong mind.

This summer, my mom recommended me a book titled "Dreamer of future for another Jinkis Khan." He was not a born rich person. He was not tall, not well-educated. He lost his father when very young. His life was a total misery, however, he could conquer the whole world only with his strong will power, which I don't have.

He made me look upon myself again. You know, I'm not a dilligent person in the first place. I am a kinda lazybone and sleepyhead. It's a big problem whenever the big test comes. When I talk to myself,"Okay, Let's do some study" and I do but in 20 minutes, I feel drowsy. Then I go to bed early, saying to myself, "Fine, let's get some sleep, then I can get up like 3 or 4 in the morning. It would be much better." However, when I get up, it's always 7. I almost burst into tears. since I don't have enough time to go through the whole book, I just skim it in the last minute. But, how could my teachers know that I didn't study the whole book? Are they mind-readers? They always make a test on what I didn't study. Teachers! I really hate you, or you hate me, Do you???

My friends told me that they study till 1 am. But I simply and physically can 't do that. This is not all. I do study for my test but I don't get a very good score especially in Korean, Engineering and Home Economics. When I get the score, I feel so pathetic myself. I want to give it up and start daydreaming. How wonderful would it be without a test at all!!!! But just daydreaming. How could my friends study till 1 or 2? DON'T they sleep at all? Or do they have 27 hours a day? Maybe they are iron woman!! Don't you think so?????

So, the reason why I admire Jinkis Khan is that he could control himself and push it hard for the future. I want to introduce to you the most touching part in this book. The author says if Jinkis khan were still alive, he would say like below..

Hey, thy Korean teenagers!! Don't be grumpy about your family. I lost my father when young and my family were evicted from my hometown. Don't say "I'm poor so I can't" I had nothing to eat. Even all the crops and trees dried up. So I had to catch mice and eat them to live. Don't complain that your country is too small and has no power. I had meager military forces, whose number was a hundredth or a thousandth of my enemy's forces. But I won over them and conquered the whole world. One more thing, I didn't know how to write. I could barely write my name. But I always tried to listen to others. And that helped me to be wise enough to lead my country. An enemy is not somebody else. The biggest enemy is you, yourself. Only after I won over myself, I became Jinkis Khan.

Isn't it really moving? The biggest and most daunting enemy was me and still is me myself. Hey, everyone as Jinkis Khan told you, it's really important to win over ourselves to become a better person.


If I can control myself and keep myself always fully-awake and tight, I could be a better person. You know what? Maybe 10 years later, I will be a doctor, and 30 years later, I will be like a minister of women or pubic health department. Do you also think I can make it?

Maybe you can say "No", though, I can believe in myself. Because when young, I went hiking with my dad. And a man told my dad, " Your girl will be SOMETHING when she grows up." Hey, could you pray for me so that I can be a Jinkis Khan who can beat my laziness and sleep ? Now I wage a war against myself. I'm in Blue team and the drowsy and lazy girl is in White team. Hey, let's root for Blue team!! Go Go Blue team!!! Thanks for listening.

[ulsanchris]

pretty impressive thoughts for a middle school student.

[Anda]

Yes when you are speaking to her it is easy to believe that you are talking to a well educated young lady in her late twenties. She was my private student for one evening a week for four years from 1967 untill I left the city where she lives. We still keep in contact. The pressure is there all the time to out preform the competition at school. Her poor subjects she only gets around 90%+. Math, English, Science but she gets 100%.

[VanIslander]

It's truly ironic that she wanted to help women in a male-centered society and yet her idea of liberation is a doctrine of self improvement that has her at war with herself, that would see her simply strive to be good and conform to Korean society's pressures to exam cram.

Without critical insight to filter out some social pressures, or at least label some as bad, the Jinkis Khan inside her will probably kill her professional ambitions. And, she won't feel like a victim then, because, when Korean expectations of marriage and wifehood overwhelm the fatherless woman, she will think she has indeed conquered herself.

[Squid]

...and then she'll murder her brother for eating the last of the sheep guts.