Name: Nathan Cho
Class: ESL 100
Date: 03-13-14
Final draft
Let Bygones be Bygones
The International
Monetary Fund is an organization made up of 188 countries and it its main
purpose is to secure financial stability around the world. If one country can not
pay its debt exchange, the organization can help that country. In 1997, the I.M.F was active in Korea because
of lack of foreign exchange. At the time, the Korean economy had fallen and
many Koreans lost a lot of money, jobs and family. Also there was a lot of
corruption, suicide and accusations. That is to say, there was a huge economic
crisis. Of course, my family also lived in Korea, so it affected them. We lost many
things such as money, prestige and friends.
My father is a pastor who works in the church, and my mother is a
missionary. This crisis happened when I was six years old, so I could not
understand why my parents were accused by the other people for mismanagement of
funds. I had seen that many people respected my parents before the I.M.F
crisis, but after the event, my family experienced three effects or lessons:
when money speaks, the truth keeps silent, doubting is safer than being secure,
and forgiveness is better than revenge.
The first lesson was that when money speaks, the truth keeps silent. In
1997, my mother was preparing for a mission to evangelize
in Kenya. In 1997 when the I.M.F’s programs came
to Korea. During this time, my mother was accused by two people who had donated
money for mission. Their reason was very simple. They lost a lot of money at
that time, so they wanted to get the money back which they donated to my
mother. They did whatever they could to get the money. One day, when my parents
were not at home, people who accused my mother came to our home and yelled to
me and my younger brother. They ordered us to persuade my mother to get money
which they donated my mother. We were afraid, and they made us feel
uncomfortable. After they visited, I thought that money was like the devil because
money first looks like happiness. However, it finally created a corrupt society
and degradation of character.
The second lesson was that doubting is safer than being secure. My
family did not believe other people anymore after the crisis. Of course, it is
not that we did not have friendships or relationships. We just had to put
distance between people regarding money. When my mother was accused by people,
my brother and I did not understand why they accused her because they had been
friends with my mother for ten years, and they sometimes gave me some gifts,
food, or money. I did not believe that they accused mother. However, now I
understand them because the I.M.F policies made them lose money and prestige. One
woman even got divorced from her husband because of I.M.F policies. So they
needed people to whom to pass the buck and they found my mother. Finally, our
belief was broken by them and we realized we had been naive.
The final
lesson was that forgiveness is better than revenge, which is now my strong
belief. My mother did not want to have a battle in court, so she sold our home
in order to pay them. When my parents gave them the money, I was angry and I
resolved I will get revenge one day. However, my mother told my brother and me not
to think about revenge. She said that Jesus taught forgiveness, so you also
have to forgive them. Two years ago, some people who accused my mother came to her
to get forgiveness, and she forgave them. Now my mother has a good friendship
with them. Sometimes they ask me that if I still want to get revenge and I say
“I already forgave to you”.
Many
Koreans have made great efforts to forget the I.M.F program. We want to let
bygones be bygones. However, many people could not and will not forget those
terrible years. My family also does not forget this memory, but it is not a terrible
memory. Rather, my family thinks we got good three lessons and we sometimes
remind each other of these. Actually, my parents feel sorry for me and my younger
brother because they think that it was hard for us to have this experience.
Although we had a hard time during the I.M.F period, we learned important
lessons earlier than other people who are the same age, and it still helps me
to live contently.
Hi Nathan,
ReplyDeletewhat a sad story that happened to your family Nate! I like the end of your story, that your family declined a revenge and forget the whole story with the I.M.F program and came back without having a fight with somebody :-)
Amazing essay Nathan :) you write really well. Your parents taught you a huge lesson of life: forgiveness. Even the path was difficult, they just did. Oh and you put a picture of one of my swiss coin :)))))) It's like 5 dollars ;)
ReplyDeleteI have read your essays which have really good lessons and touching. You are a good writer to give a good lessons to others. I'm very impressed about your essay. Thank you for writing this good essay.
ReplyDeleteThis is a sad story, but we can learn a lot from here. Sometimes I would think about the money, is this a positive or negative? Then can kill someone because of the money, but money can do anything in our life.
ReplyDelete