FAMILY
Read our students' reflections on family and everything that comes with it.
JUNE 2021 ARTICLES
From Appenzeller to Allen: An unplanned journey with a happy ending
by Hemin (Pho Vu)
Let me tell you a story: I moved to Allen House this spring semester. At Yonsei, undergraduates from Underwood International College (UIC) live and study in two houses, namely the Allen House and the Appenzeller House, located in the G area (locally known as G-dong) and in the vicinity of the Chicken Stairs. The Appenzeller House, also known as Appenzeller International House, is the residential area of students of foreign nationalities. Meanwhile, Allen House is considered home to UIC students who possess Korean nationality or have Korean parents.
In my first impression, the Allen House was simply the home of Korean students from other departments at our university. Later on, during some conversations with many of my friends, I realized that Korean students in other departments would live in different houses (we have up to 12 houses). This was something both very special and new to me. Since Underwood is an English-based college, everyone is supposed to spend time in a mutual place. Even if the student is a Korean, he or she can still stay in the same house. Well, one of the possible explanations for that could be the understaffing of proficient English-speaking human resources. That divide might have made everything more manageable.
Okay, that’s it for my brief introduction about the two houses. In my first semester, I spent my time on the 8th floor of the Appenzeller house. Everything was good, I had a busy semester filled with class assignments and clubs’ tasks. Online meetings persisted in my triple-room occupied by one during the freezing winter days at Songdo. I tried 짜파게티, Jin Ramen (I was impressed with the name because in some aspects it looked like it was named after BTS’s ‘Worldwide Handsome’), Neoguri, and dozens of other types of noodles that mostly came from Nongshim brand thanks to the water heater in the community room on the 8th floor. Except for the fact that the vacuum cleaner didn’t seem to really suck up dirt from my room, the community room's refrigerator and the quietness of the dorm area in the first semester really brought away parts of my worries whenever intense deadlines from CC classes approached.
I spent my first winter in South Korea in the same room on the 8th floor until one day I heard that students would be required to move to a different room after every semester. I was a bit surprised, because I thought it would be troublesome to move things from room to room every semester. Then I think again, maybe it will be good for the cleanliness of the rooms. Each time a person moves out, the janitors will come in and clean up every crevice in the room. That way, the room would always feel new, and I could always enjoy the freshness of a new semester in a new room.
Unfortunately, I registered for my residential stay 2 to 3 weeks late - I didn’t recall exactly. Reasons: I was enrolled in two classes during the winter semester and attended the two-week-long Winter workshop held by The Yonsei Annals (also secretly dubbed the school's busiest and most stressful club, at least that’s the vibe that it gave off). This took up 98% of my winter break and I failed to keep my mind up-to-date with the times of my surroundings. I couldn’t believe I forgot to pay for the room by the deadlines. Then I rushed down to the dorm administration’s office. They told me I missed the payment deadline and couldn't stay here anymore. Where should I go now? I was a little worried, but my (sometimes) quick-witted mind predicted that my school would not want to see me wander on the street at nighttime. My reasoning was somehow correct. They said they would discuss it again. I finally breathed a sigh of relief. The story was not over. I thought they must have mistyped the number of the new room I needed to move into on the portal. Judging by the number of rooms, it was located at the Allen House, four floors below my current room’s floor. I was an Appenzeller. That would not make any sense. Apparently, there was a mistake in the records and I would officially become a temporary resident of the Allen House.
I reluctantly moved into the first room of the 4th floor of Allen's house. ‘Exhausted’ was the first feeling that came to my mind. I regretted a bit for bringing so many things from the US to Korea, but I thought I would regret it even more if I knew I was missing something. The new room wasn’t so bad. I never felt closer to the ground than this. After some efforts of unpacking and rearranging, I was also able to settle in this new room. One thing I liked was the light and the water system in my new room. They were much better than the old room. In the old room, the restroom lights couldn’t be turned on for half of the semester. Since most of the Korean students moved home due to COVID-19, everything here was unusually clean and empty. My favorite was probably the fridge in the community room. It had a mirror for me to look at every morning when I opened the door. There's also paper and a pen to label my own food. The vacuum cleaner here worked effectively. Maybe it was not used regularly this semester. Everything here was written in Korean, which was different from the bilingual characteristics at the Appenzeller House even though residents of both Houses were UIC-ers.
Well, everyone could take pictures in the well-decorated mini garden right in the small hall of this floor. You could actually sit on a small bench surrounded by floral motifs. I did a few shots and it turned out pretty nice.
I straight off cried in front of an Allen House’s RA when she told me that I might get in trouble if I left the carton box, which was one of the items that I would send back to an ex-Appenzeller RA a.k.a my dear sunbae based in Vietnam because she couldn’t travel to Korea due to travel restrictions. The RA helped me a lot, taking down my walls and my guards that were up due to constant pressures throughout that period. We bought things together at a 24/7 convenience store at our dormitory and she even gave me a croissant nights later. For the first time in a while, I felt protected and loved so calmly. It could be said that I had many good days at Allen. My daily life’s routine was going on normally but somewhat more interestingly. I was assumed a Korean baby freshman by our floor’s cleaning ladies.
I just received an email from the school's dorm administration many days ago. They informed me that I would have to return to the Appenzeller House before mid-June. I felt a bit sad. I should have jumped with joy because I was an Appenzeller, no? Coming back to your own home should have been the most comfortable thing ever. Perhaps COVID-19 has transformed the definition of everything, especially my personal identity and affiliation with things around me. Because all communication was online, I didn’t feel that kind of attachment to my residential house like I should have.
I was quite ready for this departure anyway because I already anticipated that one day I would have to leave this place. Life is still happening and I will move forward, but the peaceful days with little joys in Allen will forever hold a special place in my heart. Allen, thank you for everything!
DECEMBER 2020 ARTICLES
The Goodbye Left Unsaid
by Aruzhan Aimanshina
My grandpa was a man of stern character and endearing tendencies. He would adorably pout when we were short on dried prunes and apricots. He would not start drinking a cup of green tea until he made sure it was piping hot. He would pretend to have little red spots on the top of his head just so I would give him a scalp massage. Years later, my mom revealed that I was basically used as a free labor resource. I was scandalized, and grandpa pleaded guilty (although he didn’t look guilty at all). We shared bright moments together, but as we began living separately and my studies started to consume more of me, we didn’t have as much time to spend with each other as we did before. We were still on good terms, just not as close as we used to be. In preparation for my independent living and departure to Korea, I was so consumed with my own commitments, I didn’t say goodbye to him before my flight. That time I didn’t worry too much about it, thinking I’m going to see him again anyway. Then, the pandemic happened.
When grandpa was diagnosed with coronavirus, it was like the final reality check. My foolishness led me to believe that the pandemic would never affect my family. It’s funny how we acknowledge the severity of things only once they strike us. Our family was prohibited from visiting the isolation facility grandpa was admitted to. The only way to contact him was through his mobile phone. Unfortunately, grandpa was one of the few patients whose disease progressed at an incredibly rapid speed. Not just talking, even breathing was too painful for him. Since we could not contact him directly, his assigned nurse would recite a daily log of his activities. Most of the time, he would try to fall asleep to avoid feeling pain. The days he had spent in the hospital were my most frightful days, filled with anxiety and feeling useless. Being stuck in another country didn’t bring any more comfort, so I could only hope he would get better. My hope, however, has not prepared me for the incoming doom.
I used to think that power, or competition, or money bring out the worst in us. On the day of grandpa’s passing, I discovered that grief is just as triggering. The nurse revealed that during his last days, grandpa knew he wouldn’t make it. He refused oxygen treatment. "Don't worry about me,” he said. “Those young folks need it more.” I got angry at his selflessness. I wished he were a bit more selfish and accepted that oxygen tank. After a while, I realized how disturbing my thoughts were. Despite his critical condition, he worried about other patients more than he did about himself. On the contrary, I sometimes neglected to lend a helping hand during the most trivial of things. The recognition of my flawed thinking was like opening a dam into a myriad of all poor decisions I could think of. I blamed myself for not leaving Korea when I still had the chance to, for not calling him frequently. Most importantly, I blamed myself for not saying goodbye before departing for college. All the actions I hadn’t done that could have made things different, I blamed myself for them.
A few weeks had passed, and each day I hoped I would wake up and realize it was just a dream. For some time, I rejected accepting the new reality without grandpa, mostly because of my own guilt over lost opportunities. It took one strange occurrence for me to begin moving forward. One night I saw the first dream I had in many months. In that dream, grandpa gave me a tight hug. He felt so close, yet so out of reach. “Grandpa, have you left us?” I asked. “No, you dummy,” he replied, grumbling in his typical fashion, “I’m just in a different place.” The next time I woke up, I felt strangely peaceful. I didn’t know what to make of that dream but decided to regard it as a sign of farewell. What I definitely knew was that everything was going to be okay, and we would meet again someday.
As much as it may sound like a tribute to my grandfather—and perhaps it partially is—this story serves more as a reminder to our beloved readers: please, treasure your loved ones. Send them a message right now. Tell them how much you love them. You don’t know when will be the last time you see them. When you realize what you have missed, it may be too late.
FAMILY
by Dail Jung
The value of a family is something that we often overlook since we always assume it will be there. There is comfort to knowing that there are those who care about you at all times, but at the same time, there is a responsibility to give proper love and attention to those you love. Although it may seem like family is the best community to be around when you are happy with your life, family is also there for you when you are at your lowest of lows. Family is there to protect you when no one else will.
Although receiving love is easy, it can be difficult to reciprocate it. When you get a phone call from a parent as a college student, it may be easy to tell your parents to call you back later when you have the time, but in reality, you may have just received love without giving it back. The act of reaching out to a loved one shows that you care about them and want to hear about how they are living and whether they are happy or not. It should be the duty of every family member to reciprocate that love and affection. At least, to give back a call and genuinely care about the responses we give to questions like “how was your day?” or “how are you doing?”
It can be easy to stay alone when you are in a bad spot and to share the good news when you are excelling in life. However, in both of those cases, one factor in everyone’s life remains: family. Family will be by your side regardless of how you are doing and is always there to support your actions. The difference from your friends and family comes in the inherent trust that is irreplaceable.
All in all, family is a place where you are at home and most yourself. You can be whomever you want and still be accepted and loved. That is why family is so special to many. Why not give your family a call in a while to express your gratitude?
NOVEMBER 2020 ARTICLES
UIC EXPERIENCE AND HOMESICK
by Jiah Khanh
Family plays such an important role in everyone’s development. As a girl who has never been away from my parents for more than 2 weeks, now has been living in Korea for more than 2 months on my own, sometimes, the feeling of homesickness strikes me so bad. However, the more I miss them, the more worthy my experience in UIC is. And here are my 3 tips that I use whenever I miss my family.
1. Call my family on a daily basis:
The easiest way to get rid of homesickness is to hear my parents’ voice everyday. Therefore, I establish a daily routine to call them every evening. I always feel lucky that nowadays, technology is increasingly developed that \ video call is an easy thing to conduct. In my opinion, hearing their voice, seeing them through the phone screen everyday encourages me really much to keep learning studiously and enjoying my college life in UIC. Some platforms that I suggest are Messenger, Instagram, and Viber.
2. Club joining:
Joining one (or more) clubs in college is such a wonderful experience that everyone should have in their life. As for me, joining a club has so many benefits as to broaden the network of relationships, to improve my language skills, and to find similarities within those who live far from my family as me. Furthermore, while joining a college club, I also have a chance to promote my home country’s culture to other members, who have never been there; hence, decreasing my homesickness.
3. Cooking:
Making a traditional dish is another sound advice whenever I misS home cooked meals. Pouring all my heart to the dish serves not only to ease my homesickness but also to make me feel less stressful after an exhausted learning week. Here is a picture that me and my friends having a Vietnamese meal during 2020 Chuseok Holiday:
4. Exploring Korea:
At the end of the day, besides studying, one of the very first factors that I want to go abroad is to discover a new country. Wandering around the neighborhood where I live, visit some famous sight-seeings around Seoul and never forget to take pictures and send it to my family gives me a feeling that my parents are exploring Korea with me; thus, I do not feel I miss them anymore. I also particularly love going on picnics with my friends, therefore, we usually go to some picnic areas in Korea together. It was so fun and “healing”.
A SISTER'S ENCOURAGEMENT
by Jayda Cez Lim
It was my nth time for not passing another local university entrance exam. Frustrating as it is, I had no choice but to accept the fact that I wasn’t good enough to be acknowledged.
I have always thought that I have worked hard enough to pass the college entrance exams. I woke up at 8 AM every weekend to go to review centers to study for these exams and even studied during weekdays despite having school and homework. Even though it was tiring, I felt that it was worth it, thinking that my hard work will pay off and universities will accept me.
Weeks turned to months and I felt more confident each time that I take a practice exam in my review center since I was starting to recognize and master the topics that will usually appear in the exams.
I took the university exams and waited for many months for the results to come out. I failed to past a university I applied for, and then I thought that maybe that university wasn’t for me. Then, came the second result of another failure. Then came the third result of another failure. As much as I want to think that the university is not for me, I couldn’t help but think that maybe I was just plain stupid or not smart enough.
I came to my 13-year-old sister for the possibility of being comforted, believing that since she’s young, she wouldn’t dare to sugarcoat her words. I sat at the edge of the bed and asked her, “do you think that I’m stupid?”
She turned her chair to face me and gave me a questioning look, “why?” She asked. I shrugged. “I don’t know, can’t you see? I failed most of the entrance exams I took. Doesn’t that mean that I’m stupid?”
“I don’t think you’re stupid, if you were, you wouldn’t have achieved the things that you have achieved in your life so far.” Listening to what my sister said out of pure sincerity, I was given hope. I decided to try other universities and gratefully, I have found my place.
My sister and I usually bicker; however, she was always there by my side whenever I needed comfort. She may also be younger, but that doesn’t mean that she can’t be there for me when I need her. A family’s presence and honesty can encourage and give you hope even in times where you feel that you’re a failure, and I am glad that I have a sister whom I can rely on.
OCTOBER 2020 ARTICLES
WHAT DOES FAMILY MEAN TO ME?
By Pho Vu (Hemin)
I asked this question to myself while looking for a story to develop for the “Family” segment of this magazine. Family... This easily pronounced, three-syllable word that I've been repeating for countless times in my run for schools, essays for Literature classes, and also as keywords on the discussion table with groups when teachers assign us an issue to talk about. Contrary to the enthusiastic voice I had back then, I found myself lost in hundreds of thoughts surrounding this near and dear vocabulary word that I had learned back in first grade.
So what does family mean to me?
I spent many days inside the dormitory during the Korean Thanksgiving holidays (Chuseok) to contemplate the matter. The background of the story was not serious and I did not necessarily have to think too much. But at that moment, I also realized that, when I first traveled to a new place without my family, the patches of thoughts regarding the meaning of family continued to spread along with the wrinkles in my brain for hours. Right at that time, I felt most the need to think about it and define it with all seriousness. In the end, after three days long of wracking my brain, I eventually arrived at a series of these temporary answers to my own question.
My family is a place where I freely show my true face even though there are 1234 cameras
Among the friends I know, I have never heard of anyone who can compliment his or her family without a complaint here and there every two or three sentences. Likewise, every time I talk to their parents, uncles and aunts will complain about their child as well as the actions that their child only do at home. Those behaviors were sometimes alien to us although we were their close friends. In fact, the way we present ourselves at home and in society has a big difference. Whenever I come home, I always feel true comfort and pleasure in expressing my feelings without the fear of judgment. There would be days when I was not in the mood, but it was usually due to an external factor like school, friends, and a few other trivial things. I assume that everyone can relate with what I share: there always exist industrial smiles and we only really know what people are actually going through if we follow them home (of course with anonymous status). At home, I could put on display my frustration with a girl I didn't like an hour ago, when I had to smile as nothing happened. Well, home is where we are ourselves. In this place, we do not need an anti-dust mask or COVID masks. The only mask we wear is the moisturizing facial mask.
2. Family is the funniest movie theater. Have you tried watching movies with your family yet?
In my spare time, I usually tune into Netflix for a movie that may help me find inspiration for the upcoming essay or simply relieve stress after busy days. Watching movies on your laptop and mobile phone is one of the quickest and most convenient activities that allow one to relax by themselves. Even so, I still have nostalgia over the times I watched movies with my family. My family is a big one, spanning three generations. Everyone always has their own thing to do when they go home. When I had time, my mother or aunt would have an urgent task from their workplace. Other days, grandparents just happened to have visitors from afar. Everyone was really busy so it's hard to imagine watching the movie without anyone's absence. Yet when there was a chance to see them together, the atmosphere was completely jubilant and what can I say—it was a one-and-only experience (kinda like that once-in-a-lifetime concept from Japanese tea culture). If the experience of watching movies on Netflix was 5 out of 5, I would give the experience of watching movies with my family members a 10000 out of 5!
3. There would also be times when the family made me feel sad and doubt their genuineness. But trust me, that was just an illusion! It’s their kindness that's real
A majority of us in society put family over other things and the action doesn't just come out of nowhere. This has been documented by many books and there has been a lot of scientific research on family and family members. First of all, I am fortunate for the fact that spending time with my family members gave me a handful of laughter, especially during the most depressing times. However, there would be times when the family would hurt me probably because I had expected too much from them. After all, everyone, no matter how close they are to each other, is still human. They still have their own emotions, and also make mistakes. Family is still the best place to be. Even though there were times when people were saying something hurtful and cutting to me, it was just a minute of an accident. I know that we humans are naturally fond of short-term memory and often remember only the events that happened closest to ourselves and then blame each other. I think moments like that are the most accurate tests by definition for our patience and sympathy towards each other. If family members forgive each other, all difficulties will be over soon. Let's start understanding our members, starting from yourself first!
4. Every country needs history, and every individual needs a foundation. That foundation is family. Family is a school where members learn at different levels.
Any country, in order to survive for a long time, needs to go through a long period of gathering, fighting, building, and development. All of these things are called history. When we want to survive in life, we don't have to have a family. However, in order to cultivate the standard qualities of the standard moral characteristics in us, the presence of the family is the main building block in this important process. Since each of us is different, there will be instances where someone was born without having any acquaintances beside them. In this case, the people who nurture these individuals are their family and their foundation.
In short, family, literally, is a place that shelters me from rainy and stormy days. In the figurative sense, the family is the place that protects my soul when the whole world turns its back on me.
MY LIFE AS A TWIN
By Jihye Nam
I’m the youngest child in our family: mom, dad, my sister and I. One thing that may seem quite interesting is that I’m only one minute younger than my sister. Yes, that’s right – we’re twins! Some assume that we’d be like the ones in <The Parent Trap(1998)>, where Lindsay Lohan appears as identical twin sisters who act like each other and switch roles. Sadly, we never could really play these kinds of “twin” tricks since we’re not identical, but fraternal twins. This means that we’re in fact very different in appearance(we do look alike, but more as ‘sisters’ rather than twins) and characters. Still, since we’ve shared almost every moment and memory in our childhood, we have countless common tastes and similar perspectives to certain things.
Nevertheless, it is true that there are some inevitable and involuntary difficulties that every twin has to face. One thing that sometimes even made me wish I hadn’t been born as twins was the “comparison” people gave between me and my sister. Since we were in the same grade and age, there were some people who were always interested in comparing “who’s better in what”. The adults would constantly ask our parents, or even us in the elevator on the way home, about who’s getting better grades in school, who’s more popular or who’s the nicer kid at home. Those who were asking these questions may have asked without particular intention to really compare or evaluate our competencies; but as the one that was the target of these comparisons, it was quite distressing to bear the unwanted attention. The worst part was that even though the questions weren’t very aggressive and might seem trivial, as a young child, I could sometimes find myself being conscious of my twin sister as a “competitor” in everything.
Thankfully, however, these comparisons have mostly disappeared as we chose our own direction in high school and college – I can now proudly say that my sister is the best “companion” of my life, and the one whom I can share the half of my soul with. Despite the few difficulties that twins may have to face, I’m very certain that if I could be born again, I’d still choose to be born as a twin.
JUNE 2020 ARTICLES
STRIKE WHILE THE IRON IS HOT
by Jungmin Park
How much do you think FAMILY affects self-improvement? Family seems to have nothing to do with various self-improvements, such as keeping a healthy lifestyle or seeking new interests. However, this is not true at all. What if the relationship between family gets broken? Or what if someone in the family passes away? The it would take a lot of motivated to do self-improvement, and it is even a reason for motivation to disappear. Family seems like it has nothing to do with self-improvement, but they are actually the most reliable supporters who make me go forward anytime.
Family is so normal that it seems like they will be with us forever - like air. However, we always have to «do our best when we have a chance» to our family, who are our closest beings in the world and who are unconditional supporters. Many know this maxim, but it’s the hardest thing to actually do. I recently experienced and learned this lesson, and luckily I got an opportunity to do my best, and I am still trying to do my best. This is a story about my grandfather and me.
A grandfather can be very intimate to someone, or an uneasy being who does not speak to you, not even a few words. To me, my grandfather was my best friend when I was young. Here is one example how: When I was little, I was a polite child who used honorifics to adults, including my parents. (In Korea, there are honorifics for older or respected people.) However, I did not use honorifics to my grandfather, and my mother asked me one day why I don’t use them. I replied: «Because he is my best friend. Friends don’t use honorifics.» This shows how close my grandfather and I were. But as I grew up, we barely met because of various reasons, and consequently, we became gradually estranged. I was reluctant to go to my grandfather’s house, which used to be as pleasant as going to my friend’s house, and most time when my grandfather, who loved hiking so much, asked me to go hiking with him, I refused on the pretext of being tired.
Entering high school made me have less contact with my grandfather. I had not seen my grandfather for a long time, and one day I heard that my grandfather was unexpectedly in a severe condition. I was so shocked that I delayed all my schedules and arrived at the hospital. With my whole body covered in blue cloth, I entered the intensive care unit (ICU) and looked for my grandfather. Finally, I found his name, but it was hard to recognize him no matter how long I looked at him, since he got so gaunt. It was the day I cried the most in the last two years, and I reflected on myself for putting him aside. For a while, after that day, I kept in touch with my grandfather. However, I became busy with my studies and became distant from him again. A few weeks ago, I heard that grandfather’s condition, which had been improving, had deteriorated rapidly. Tears streamed down my face unceasingly. I felt so disgusted that even though I’m not a high school student anymore, I did not visit him once. Again this time when I visited him, my grandfather was so swollen that it was hard to recognize him. He had difficulty talking, and he barely noticed me. I was terribly saddened by the fact that although I had a lot of time to go hiking with my grandfather, or I was old enough to drink with him, which he loved a lot, but he couldn’t anymore. Am I being punished for not doing my best when he was healthy?
Two crises have come, but fortunately, my grandfather got over those and is recovering now. I am full of regret, but luckily, I was given time to make up for them. However, someone else might not have this opportunity. So what I really want to say to my readers is: strike while the iron is hot, please do your best to your family when you have a chance. Once the iron hardens, it is irreversible.
MAY 2020 ARTICLES
BROKEN BEYOND REPAIR?
By Gayatri Patel
There is a saying that time heals all wounds. Now, all we have is time in our hands, not knowing when this pandemic will be over. I often think my family is broken to the core. However, modern times have changed my point of view. The more time that I am spending with my family, the more I realize that living together brings our hearts together. Many aren't able to stay together with their family because of quarantine and other travel restrictions but are wishing for the well being of their loved ones. While staying together, hearts do come closer, but it also causes disputes. Since we are spending much more time together, arguments occur frequently. When I feel frustrated, I take three deep breaths to prevent myself from expressing my resentment. I, then, don't make any conversation until I have a clear mind. The next time I do have a conversation, I don’t bring up the topic that caused the dispute. I believe that timing is extremely crucial to maintain healthy relationships. If the timing is not correct then the entire conversation can lead to a misunderstanding. There are a few ways to know your family member’s moods:
1st: Keep an eye on their facial expression. It may seem like a minor detail, but often we miss the small details right in front of our eyes.
2nd: Try to remember the tone of their last conversation. If the tone sounded more negative than their usual tone, you should give them time to settle down.
3rd: Try to remember the topic of the conversation. If they were complaining about someone from work, you should know that it's time to back off and give them room to think and move past the incident.
Although speaking up is crucial in a relationship, it is important to give the other person in the relationship a chance to think and accept the truth. Nonetheless, no matter how hard you try, some things are completely out of your control. One of my closest friends had a hard time when one of her closest family members fell into depression and lost all reasoning. They were living abroad, and she couldn’t handle it alone . She decided to leave everything behind and to move back to their family on the other side of the world. The trip back home was a nightmare for her. They had booked a connecting flight and when they were boarding, my friend’s guardian had a terrible anxiety attack where his blood pressure was dangerously high. She called the medical staff at the airport and even though they couldn’t speak much English, she could tell that they were worried about his health. The medical staff called the ambulance to move him to the nearest hospital. On the way, she looked out the door of the ambulance to remember the times she heard of passing ambulance sirens, never thinking she would ever be in one. They stayed in the hospital for a day, where the staff spoke minimal English but were generous enough to lend their phone for her to inform her family. The guardian’s condition did not improve much but thanks to some medications he was given by the nurses he wasn’t having anxiety attacks anymore. When they came back to the airport, she realized they had missed their flight. The airport staff informed her that she would have to pay for new flight tickets, she immediately panicked because she didn’t have that much money. She had no choice but to ask people around for help, thanks to a nice stranger from her country who explained her situation to the staff, they provided new flight tickets without the need for any additional payments. The rest of the journey was not peaceful, but it wasn't as bad as the first half. When they finally reached home, she took him to the hospital and got him medications, after a few weeks she began to contemplate her future. She didn’t know if she could stay abroad with him, but he insisted on going with her to bring back their belongings. When they arrived back abroad, her guardian made up his mind to resign from his job and to look for something new. The two resumed their lives with a new motto to look after each other and to make the best out of the second chance in life. In conclusion, what I am trying to say is that no one is ever broken beyond repair, there is a second chance for everyone out there, once they realize how fragile our lives can be.
HOW TO IMPROVE THE RELATIONSHIP AND QUALITY OF COMMUNICATION WITH FAMILY MEMBERS
By Jingyi Lou
1. Schedule a shared time within a day.
It is important to create a time in which all family members can spend time together. Nowadays people are all busy with their work, parents are busy with their jobs, and students or kids are busy with their schoolwork and extracurricular activities. Conflict is easy to generate when family members lack communication or understanding of each other. So it is crucial to schedule a shared time with your family member, to share and discuss what each other have done on that day, to ask each other questions. The quality of communication will greatly improve if everyone understands each other’s thoughts. Also, during this shared time, family members can have special events such as cooking time, game time, or story time. These events not only improve the relationship with family but also have fun in your house!
2. Be an active listener.
This can apply to every aspect of our life. Make sure that you are much more focused on listening than on talking because only listening to your family members’ sayings can help you understand your family members more, and conflicts will be successfully avoided because when you carefully listened to everything, you will not misunderstand your family members or you will not give false feedback to them.
3. Attack the problem when having conflicts.
If there are issues amongst family members, make sure that the focus is always on the problem itself, not on either or both of the people involved in the situation. If necessary, take a few minutes before speaking to your family members about what upset you. Allow your family members to fully explain the reasoning behind what occurred, take the information in, and then explain how you viewed the situation.
4. Stay connected
Now since some of us are leave our country and live in the dorm, it is very important to stay connected with your family members through technology. We should call our parents every day to tell them we are fine and ask them how are they. In the current situation, connect with your family become more important. Do not let your family members worry about you, tell them you are safe and healthy!