Let us Pay Tributes

Let us Pay Tributes :

The Memorial Place& The National Independence Hall

 

 

 

The 18th wave of KMLA, Korean Minjok Leadership Academy, had a field trip a few days ago, namely, to 'arouse the minjok spirit in our blood' and to 'pay tributes to our ancestors who contributed in the nation's freedom and well-being'. That got everybody exhilarated, including me, until we heard that we needed to wear our formal school uniforms- ceremonial hanboks. They are of a rough material, and it is a little uncomfortable once you wear it, so our spirits were a little dampened as we set off.

 

 

 

 

The Memorial Place (Past home of sir Lee Sun-Shin)

 

    Trailing our 'traditional overcoats' of bright skyblue behind us, we marched to the old home of sir Lee Sun-Shin. Sir Lee, to briefly summarize, was a hero during the Japanese invasion and died in 1598. Since then he has received the love and respect of our nation.

   

A Memorial Temple was constructed there to honor his service and memory to our nation. Thus I was somewhat excited, for in my childhood one of my personal heros was sir Lee. His bravery and patriotism amazed me, and I wanted to become 'somebody who did so much good to my country' just like him. So he also inspired me, in a childish way. The portrait of sir Lee was placed inside the Memorial Temple- we had one minute of silence, as a tribute, and I also personally prayed for the accomplishment of my wish- and thanked him for protecting Korea. Well, Chosun, at the times, to be precise. And it might have been a coincidence, but our school, KMLA's role model is sir Lee as well, and so I felt some extra affection for my school.

 

 

 

<Choong-Moo Door>

 

 

 

 

 

 

<Memorial Temple>

 

 

 

Then I visited the sir Lee museum and saw . There was also a special display room in the memory of sir Lee, which showed how he was perceived by our nation through the years.




 

The National Independence Memorial Hall

    After lunch, we moved on to the National Independence Memorial Hall[독립기념관]. After a long path in the sun, we arrived at the actual building- and saw 'The Tower of Brethren'. It symbolized the nation of Korea, together, and was quite strange in a way, for our nation had obtained independence nearly seven decades ago, but still was parted in two.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were seven halls in total- due to limited time, we couldn't see all. But the halls were (nearly) displaying historical stuff according to time order. So the first hall was about our nation's history and cultural heritage in general. Then the next was about our nation's hardships during the Japanese invasion period. Then there were how patriots attempted to free our country, and how they fought for independence. Moreover, the last hall was about the temporary Korean government, and there was a hall for special displays.

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah~ It's ME!!! :)

 

 

 

 

    We followed around the curator, listening to our ancestors' struggles to protect our nation, and all of a sudden I realized that I loved them all so much. Was so thankful to them, for REALLY, if it weren't for them I wouldn't be standing there, listening to the curator, wearing hanbok uniforms. And even though the hanbok was quite uncomfortable and stuffy, I realized that they were all precious cultural heritage, of our great ancestors, and my complaints regarding hanbok were stifled all at once.

So overall, even if our trip was so hot, humid and stifling(no pun intended) there was a lot to learn, and a lot to feel. As our school's role model, sir Lee provided a pool of love for my country to me, and thus increased my motivation, literally. Furthermore, I was proud of our hanbok uniform, as well as my school's ideoligies, and so on. So this trip became a promise for myself, to keep on reaching for my dream; to shine Korea, our proud nation, all over the world.

 

 

-Written by Kwan Yu-Ji

a.k.a. JAde