LET'S TALK - Chowon Kim
Now in Canada, the weather is cold and it is snowing. Every house and every road is full of people. The whole town is full of happiness but there is one person who does not feel happy. A boy, who thinks Christmas is nothing special, and cannot understand why people give presents to each other and why those stupid kids are waiting for Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve he is walking lonely in the streets, with a black jacket, black jeans, and brown shoes on. No parents, no friends are with him. He is totally alone.
“I don’t believe in Santa Claus,” he said when he was only seven. His name was Ain.
Ain was little bit different from the people who live in Canada. Something special about him made lots of people look at him at least once in the streets. Once a boy with his parents passed the boy's mom said,“He is so poor, it seems like he does not have parents.”
But Ain doesn’t think he is poor. Actually he has good, wealthy parents. He dislikes the others because they think he is an orphan, even though they don’t know anything about him. He is also easily annoyed by the gazes from strangers, as he always is in the center of attention and this sometimes even gets him into trouble. When he is at school, many students bully and bother him because of his skin color, which is different from the other students. Yes, he is not Canadian, but a Korean boy. He really hates students bullying him, and he cannot ask for the teachers for help. The bullies said that if he tells on them they will not let him go forever. It was so painful and unbearable for a little boy, and help lived far away, in Korea, busy at work, with no time for their child. When Ain has a hard time, he calls his parents.
Ain says,”Mom, I can’t stand anymore! The kids always bully me and…and they…”
“Son, that’s nothing! You should pay more attention to your grades! Everything will be fine, people will not look down on you when you are a great student!” Mom said, and that was the only thing she told her little kid.
Time passed, Ain grew up, he is now 15years old, but nothing did change. He still is a poor little boy. Students still hate him, hit him, and ignore him. He also hates them, but there is one person he does not hate, there was a person he liked, a girl called Erica. She was pretty enough to catch Ain's mind. She has long brown hair, big eyes, and white skin. She was tall and thin. She was just perfect. She was very popular both boys and girls. One day, Ain walks into a hallway and spots her coming from the opposite direction. He wants to look good in front of her, so he walks confidently. Never thought, he falls down miserably. The others had tripped him. The boys laugh and leave and Ain feels so embarrassed. He wants change, and challenges himself but he always thinks he can’t. Days pass, new days come and soon it is time to graduate. All the parents of all the students come to the graduation ceremony .Only Ain don’t. After the ceremony, he slowly walked back home.
At home, he cries, he hated his life like this and hated himself crying because of this. He decides: He will change. He will not live like in the past days.
Vacationis over, and high school starts. There are a bunch of new people, and Ain feels very nervous. When he is looking around, he finds a familiar face! A Korean guy! Ain kind of observed him during the school days and soon he discovered, that Korean guy’s name is Dong-eon Lee. Dong-eon is very different from Ain, even though both of them are Korean. He is very popular. It was amazing and Ain feels jealous. One day, Dong-eon came to him and says” Hi, I’m Dong-eon let’s be friends”
“Oh… sure! But is there any reason why we should be friends?” Ain said.
“No, I just think it’s a good idea, since we are both Korean” Dong-eon said.
Ain accepted and as he gets closer to Dong-eon and knows more about him, Ain notices that he is wrong. He had made a big mistake, by blaming his peers, even though he shouldn’t! The big mistake, which he realizes he made, was that he didn’t try to understand them. He, in the past, always thought about himself and never considered what other students might feel about him. Ain started to change as he found this mistake, and by the time, the students, who before were far away from him, started to come closer a little. Of course only Dong-eon makes this possible. As Ain tries to talk with them and have a good relationship, they started treating him well to. He also begins learning about their culture and the personality of other people. At first, it is of course difficult for him to understand every culture, because the people in Canada are from many different countries. However, as he communicates more and more with people, it becomes easier for him, because they tell him a lot when they are talking.
Two years pass, and he becomes a totally different person and he learns a very important lesson during his changing period: That understanding different cultures and people is very important. If people do not accept different cultures they will be excluded from them.
We all know that talking to closedminded and intolerant people is difficult because they think they are always right. Before, Ain was this kind of person, but after he changed, people started to accept him as a friend too. Ain's lesson will help people to enrich them too. Talk to people as much as you can. That will enlarge your knowledge and later it will help you to create a better life.
“I don’t believe in Santa Claus,” he said when he was only seven. His name was Ain.
Ain was little bit different from the people who live in Canada. Something special about him made lots of people look at him at least once in the streets. Once a boy with his parents passed the boy's mom said,“He is so poor, it seems like he does not have parents.”
But Ain doesn’t think he is poor. Actually he has good, wealthy parents. He dislikes the others because they think he is an orphan, even though they don’t know anything about him. He is also easily annoyed by the gazes from strangers, as he always is in the center of attention and this sometimes even gets him into trouble. When he is at school, many students bully and bother him because of his skin color, which is different from the other students. Yes, he is not Canadian, but a Korean boy. He really hates students bullying him, and he cannot ask for the teachers for help. The bullies said that if he tells on them they will not let him go forever. It was so painful and unbearable for a little boy, and help lived far away, in Korea, busy at work, with no time for their child. When Ain has a hard time, he calls his parents.
Ain says,”Mom, I can’t stand anymore! The kids always bully me and…and they…”
“Son, that’s nothing! You should pay more attention to your grades! Everything will be fine, people will not look down on you when you are a great student!” Mom said, and that was the only thing she told her little kid.
Time passed, Ain grew up, he is now 15years old, but nothing did change. He still is a poor little boy. Students still hate him, hit him, and ignore him. He also hates them, but there is one person he does not hate, there was a person he liked, a girl called Erica. She was pretty enough to catch Ain's mind. She has long brown hair, big eyes, and white skin. She was tall and thin. She was just perfect. She was very popular both boys and girls. One day, Ain walks into a hallway and spots her coming from the opposite direction. He wants to look good in front of her, so he walks confidently. Never thought, he falls down miserably. The others had tripped him. The boys laugh and leave and Ain feels so embarrassed. He wants change, and challenges himself but he always thinks he can’t. Days pass, new days come and soon it is time to graduate. All the parents of all the students come to the graduation ceremony .Only Ain don’t. After the ceremony, he slowly walked back home.
At home, he cries, he hated his life like this and hated himself crying because of this. He decides: He will change. He will not live like in the past days.
Vacationis over, and high school starts. There are a bunch of new people, and Ain feels very nervous. When he is looking around, he finds a familiar face! A Korean guy! Ain kind of observed him during the school days and soon he discovered, that Korean guy’s name is Dong-eon Lee. Dong-eon is very different from Ain, even though both of them are Korean. He is very popular. It was amazing and Ain feels jealous. One day, Dong-eon came to him and says” Hi, I’m Dong-eon let’s be friends”
“Oh… sure! But is there any reason why we should be friends?” Ain said.
“No, I just think it’s a good idea, since we are both Korean” Dong-eon said.
Ain accepted and as he gets closer to Dong-eon and knows more about him, Ain notices that he is wrong. He had made a big mistake, by blaming his peers, even though he shouldn’t! The big mistake, which he realizes he made, was that he didn’t try to understand them. He, in the past, always thought about himself and never considered what other students might feel about him. Ain started to change as he found this mistake, and by the time, the students, who before were far away from him, started to come closer a little. Of course only Dong-eon makes this possible. As Ain tries to talk with them and have a good relationship, they started treating him well to. He also begins learning about their culture and the personality of other people. At first, it is of course difficult for him to understand every culture, because the people in Canada are from many different countries. However, as he communicates more and more with people, it becomes easier for him, because they tell him a lot when they are talking.
Two years pass, and he becomes a totally different person and he learns a very important lesson during his changing period: That understanding different cultures and people is very important. If people do not accept different cultures they will be excluded from them.
We all know that talking to closedminded and intolerant people is difficult because they think they are always right. Before, Ain was this kind of person, but after he changed, people started to accept him as a friend too. Ain's lesson will help people to enrich them too. Talk to people as much as you can. That will enlarge your knowledge and later it will help you to create a better life.