Korean Spirit

Korean Spirit

By: Braden Christensen

Age:12 Phone:(435)-628-7261 email: 20chrisbra@washk12.org Mail: 2261 Julie dr. Santa Clara, UT

School: Lava Ridge Intermediate 7th grade

Four stories from Chung Hyo Ye that I read were: A Visit to Seoul, Hyangdok’s Devotion, The Boy Who Saved His Father’s Life, and Under the Burning Sun. These stories impressed my for lots of reasons. One of which that I caught the most in these stories was family devotion and caring for your family. I was very impressed by these stories because they were entertaining and always kept me reading to find out what would happen next. I really enjoyed reading these stories for lots of reasons.

The thing that I thought was impressive was that the families set standards for each other. In one of the stories the father told his kid to never visit Seoul because of what his father told him what would happen. He got married and decided he would finally go visit Seoul. Every day he would climb up a hill to a gate but remembered what his father told him about going and would climb down the hill right as he got to the top. He kept on doing this until one of the guards arrested him because he kept on going up and down. He then was sent to Seoul for a trial and found innocent and was able to see the city. I thought that this one was impressive because it was showing how much he trusted his father in following rules and what would happen if you stuck to the rules.

I was very impressed about the care that they had for each of the family members and how they risked their life for each other just to keep the other people safe. in The Boy who Saved his Father’s Life, they were being robbed and the dad stayed out to protect the other family members hiding under the floorboards. As the dad was about to be killed because he wouldn't tell them where his family was, his son came out to protect him. Because of this caring action, the burglar could not get himself to kill the family. Because of the son, his fathers and his own life were saved instead of being taken by the burglar.

In Under the Burning Sun, a boy who didn't have the best living conditions was at recess at school. Most kids would read under the shade of a big tree to keep cool in the heat. But one boy, sat reading under the burning sun. When someone came around to watch them, the man saw the boy reading in the heat and asked him “Why do read in the heat when you could be reading in the shade of a tree?” The young boy responded saying that it wasn't fair that he got to be in the shade when his father was out working hard to support his family in the hot weather the town had been getting. The man going around left amazed at the devotion the boy had for his family.

In these stories I am still impressed at everything that happened in them, whether it was family devotion or setting rules to be followed I am very impressed. They impressed me because they were basically telling you that family is more important than anything and you should sacrifice big and small things for them. I hope to apply this message in my everyday life and I hope it can make me a better person.