| so i haven't made an entry in forever, but this deserves one i think. I'VE FINISHED GRADUATION IN KOREA AT THIS MOMENT WILL BE IN CHINA TOMORROW I'M GOING TO MISS ANDREWS~~ |
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| Today was the 61st "kwang-bok-jul", the Korean equivalent of independence day.
In my 21 years of life, I've never celebrated it, though my dad has reminded me a few times of it in past years. It's never been emphasized in my family or in the korean communities that i've been a part of, and i never questioned why this was so.
Today, I went to my first kwang-bok-jul "celebration". Actually, i think it's more appropriate to call it a sort of memorial. It was a small gathering with a short program. We sang the American and Korean anthems, and a kwang-bok-jul song. Someone read an abridged version of the president's address given in korea, and to close it off we all "man-seh"ed three times. That last part was hilarious, and at the same time a serious reminder of the past days of oppression when such calls were punished severely. I realized today that the korean independence day is not only a day of remembering our independence, but a stark reminder that we are still divided and have not fully healed from our wounds.
I began to wonder about what koreans do on this day. Apparently, there are no fireworks or big parades. People take the day off of school but there aren't any big celebrations. It's "celebrated" quietly, almost solemnly. This is the description i heard from an unni. She told me today was her first time going to a kwang-bok-jul celebration too.
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