My father works in a construction company.
He usually wakes up early and returns home very late.
When I was young he was so busy during the weekdays
that I almost felt abandoned. Sometimes,
I would tell him how I felt.
But then I would get the same speech about how the sweat
and blood of hardworking Koreans like him made Korea rise
from the ashes of war and hunger 50 years ago to become
the world's 10th largest economy, hosting global sports events like
1988 Olympics and 2002 World Cup.
Just like my father said,
Korea's diligent, hard-working quality is known around theworld.
These days however, more families are starting to enjoy their weekends together traveling and doing other activities thanks
to the government's 5-day work week program.
Korean mothers are very passionate about their children's education.
My mother is no exception. Some mothers insist on moving to
neighborhoods with good schools while others send their kids to
hagwon or hire private tutors.
This is all so their kids can get into prestigious universities.
Some mothers go too far pushing their kids to get good grades and
even cause some social problems as a result.
Still,
many world experts believe it is zealous Korean mothers
who are behind Korea industrializing, democratizing and
embracing the information age faster than any other country.
Mom told me human resources are the most important asset
in a country without natural resources.
Although I,
too get tired of my mom's nagging me to study harder,
I also know I want to be a skilled professional when I grow up.
My brother is a computer programmer.
He's glued to a computer day and night.
It will be a very familiar sight once you visit Korea.
That's because once you enter Korea you will constantly be surrounded
by people talking endlessly on their cell phones,
listening to music flowing from MP3 players as small as accessories and
surfing the Net with ease on notebooks and mobile phones with wireless
Internet connections, anyplace, anywhere. Lately, I see more and
more people watching satellite channels through their mobile phones.
Only a decade ago,
no one would've thought that was possible in this country.
I think it’s Koreans' interest in new things and
eagerness to adapt to an ever-changing environment that contributed to
making Korea the world's most wired nation.
You should see how proud my brother is to be born in a country
with a great communications infrastructure.
Korea's education system includes six years of elementary school
and three years each for middle and high school before college.
I'm in high school right now, and it’s an important stage of
my life because this is when I decide where I want to go and
what to study. My dream's to become a diplomat one day.
It’d be so exciting traveling around the world
promoting my country. For now, I'm a VANK volunteer.
VANK is an Internet site that provides accurate facts about
Korea to overseas Koreans and foreigners who want to know
more about the country through e-mails.
We also arrange meetings between Korean and
foreign schools and correct any mistakes
found in the World Wide Web concerning Korea.
I am one of the teenage diplomats there.
The Republic of Korea in the 21st century
aims to become a center of Asia,
a gateway to Northeast Asia and at the same time
a friendly nation that shares a common dream and
partnership with the world.
To realize that dream my country will
need my help as well as VANK's.
We will continue with our exchanges with other countries and
spread true facts about Korea around the world.
