Stella+K.+Most+awesome+interview

=**Interview with Jo Won Sool**=

My name is Jo Won Sool, (조원술). I was born in Chungchong Bok-Do, Ok Chun (춘청북도, 옥천) in the year 1929. My mom was present and that time but my dad was not. He had passed away earlier. Being the oldest out of five, I had full responsibility to take care of my family. I didn’t have to worry about leaving my family to go study in Seoul. I was attending college- Kyung Sung College (경성 대학) and studied the law and learned english during my college years. I never knew this would come in handy. My mother was young and charismatic. She devoted herself to the family- for instance putting food on the table.

It was a Sunday on June 25th 1950, when I was 21, a war had broke out between North Korea and South Korea. Usually when there is a war, people are warned with an alarm but, they had failed to warn us about this situation and many had died. I was in Seoul when the North came barging in. I first heard this news through my neighbors. I thought it was a joke it wasn’t possible we just finished our business with Japan. But, when I went to school everyone was talking about and soon we sat around listening to the radio for confirmation. It was true. We we’re in war. Being the required age for military service, I had no choice but to volunteer. My friends had all volunteered too. They had placed us in specific departments according to what we did. Instead of serving in the military physically I was given the job to translate and so I became a translator. My job was to help the communication flow between American soldiers and Korean soldiers. Throughout the war, I keep hearing rumors of who had died. Many of my friends who I had studied with had died in the war. But during the war, unlike citizens who were short on food, I had the best food. People stationed in the base got to eat Western food. Things such as chocolate and candies were also something new. What I had been impressed with was the Washington Apple. This fruit is not an ordinary fruit it was the most delicious thing I had tasted.

The war honestly was caused because of North Korea. After the war, all the building and houses were destroyed. Many were homeless. Luckily I found my family. Many of my friends were unfortunate for many of them had lost their family. The saddest things after the war weren’t just the loss of friends and neighbors but also the loss of memorable places. Places such as my favorite record shops were gone, the coffee shops my friends and I had always went in Myung-Dong was gone. I was happy the war had finished but at the same time mad. It was sad for many to not realize that we killed our own people. This was like civil war. These people just had different accents and lived in different places but when all those things are forgotten and stripped to the core, we all are the same people who once had depended on each other to survive.

=Questions:= Name: Jo Won Sool Age: 1929 21 years old Finished education and attended college (경성 대학) LAW study and learned English returned school after war and graduated 5 siblings and oldest Mom was present and Dad passed away early Heard through news and radio. Gossips and rumors All his friends went out to war because it was the age of 군대 Same friends who studied together had died Some friends had lost their families Found out through gossips and rumors Wanted to study more but had to go out to war North Korea for intruding Translated english to Korean between soldiers Everything was destroyed including house luckily found family Favorite record shop in Myungdong had gotten destroyed as well as coffee shops he used to go with his friends
 * Basic information: name, age, background info such as marriage, job, family (ask during the war too)**
 * Do you remember the first time all this chaos happened?**
 * What happened to your friends? Best friends?**
 * Did you enjoy going to school during this era?**
 * Who’s fault do you think this is?**
 * Did you support the Korean War? If did, what were some ways you’ve helped**
 * What were some changes after the war and before the war?**

Russia and America was sad at the same time happy it was over was pissed that north and south went to war even though they are sharing the same blood and same heritage Ate just boiled noodles or 죽 but ate american food washington apple his favorite food.Chocolate 맛의 감탄했다. 라면은 없었다 60면데에나왔다. Active in politics (정치운동) related to Kim Dae joong 할아버지의 고모 윤보선 대통령 결혼해서 그쪽 패밀리
 * Who’s side does the fault lie on?**
 * Feelings after the war**
 * "Is there anything I haven't asked about that you think I should know?"**

=**REFLECTION**= To be honest, I couldn’t get in contact with any of my grandparents on either side. My grandfathers and my dad side grandma were the only ones who were old enough to share their experience. My grandfathers unfortunately all passed away and my grandma can’t talk. All the distant relatives had refused to answer too. Luckily, I met my mom’s side grandpa before he had passed on and my mother had also heard many stories from him about the war. While I was interviewing her, I learned a lot about my grandpa. I never knew he was involved in the government and the war. Hearing about the war and what he did during the war just gave me a new perspective of him. I never met anyone who had served in the war. I really regretted not being able to ask him personally about the questions I had. Just by hearing from my mom of what happened during the war and what got destroyed, it became more personal for me. This whole thing actually happened to more than one of my family member. It was different from reading a book or journal entries from other people who had witness the war. I would have felt so guilty and sorry to ask my grandpa this question personally but at the same time I was a bit disappointed at myself. My mom told me all the small details of what happened and what my grandpa had thought about the war as vague as what he did in the war to as specific as the Washington Apple. This helped my understanding of the war because instead of learning through stiff textbook context, I learned about personal opinions of what happened. After the interview, I realized not to complain about my life and realize how lucky I am to live in this century with out worries. The impact I had after the interview are grave and so I wonder if I had the chance to talk to my grandpa his life in war how more of an effect it would have on me. Even if this is a topic I learn in history class and just the past, for many this “topic” or chapter I learn without any thoughts had changed lives.