Sujin interview

Oct. 7th
Interview with Sujin.

J  What is your first impression on these collection?
S Things now would be better than past.
J  What do you mean?
S  No. 5 and No. 9 show that the place looks smaller, but after cleaning up in the room, the rooms look bigger. And, the alley is also small.
J These pictures I have taken would represent you and your family. Do you think they would show your family?
S  Yeah, a little by little

J What is you think the best picture you like?
S This one, No. 8.
J Why?
S In our family, having meal is the best time for us.
J Sharing food is the happiest moment?
S Yes.
J Can you explain what's going on there?
S  Mom made Dokbokgi as a dessert in the kitchen. Suyeon(second girl) wasn't able to pick it up to eat, and failed. We can't not but to face other each. Suhang(first girl) liked to watch TV while eating. Jihun(baby boy) was just looking at us. However, shoes in the picture weren't arranged well. Later, they were all arranged so they looked clean.
J Which one do you think that describes your family life best?
S This one, No. 5.
J Why do you think so?
S It's complicated to explain, but briefly, it's depicting we're eating.(laugh)
J Eating food is important, isn't it?
S Hmm, but more important thing is that talking with family than eating food. My family does seem to talk much.
J So, would you explain all of those 11 photographs one by one?
S  Before Kamchun culture village(a town they live in) was created, it looked grim. But after the culture village was built, something interesting happened and it seemed to become a good town.
J How about No. 2?
S The arrow on the right wall helps us find  a way we want to go. But, the alley is so narrow that I find it inconvenient to go to school. It should be wider.
 For No. 3, even though the front yard is small.. the small front yard caused us to stumble and we fell down on the yard. When a clothesline was cut, we had experiences not to do laundry.
 For No. 4, there was not enough room for shoes so we put them on the top of the box(which encases them). We hope mom take torn shoes away someday.
J  Next?
S We are eating food. My Suyang(older sister) made them?. Jihun(baby boy) didn't eat much so we're worried if he's not enough tall because of it. Because we ate food without him, we are like beggars. (laugh)
J What does that mean when you say you're like beggars?
S Room where we eat food is not clean. That's why.
J How about No. 6?
S It doesn't look like a family because of the absence of Jihun(baby boy). The drawing on the wall constituted this picture is more realistic and three-dimentional.
S For No.7,  I wasn't there but Suyang looked cold and looked at the drawings on the wall.
J Can you explain what happened to the wall?
S Some volunteers from local colleges have drawn some images on the wall of our town to make it look better.
J Next.
S Like I said earlier, the moment we are eating Dokbokgi is the happiest time.  I hope mom makes more desserts rather than it.
For No.9, when Suyun(third gird) went to a kindergarten, this room was too small and messy to sleep in the room. Now, my family, even though my father was not there, conducted a big task- clean the room up and the room is clean enough to sleep there.
J Is it difficult to keep it clean?
S We don't have enough spaces to keep our stuff so we put all of them in the room. So, it's hard to clean the messy things.
S For No. 10, though a lot of tourists make some noise, I do some good things to them when I answer their question of where they are in the town. I think it would be good to let them know the direction they want to know.
J Have you ever thought why many tourists visit here and bother me?
S No, but when I was in fifth grade, I thought so.
J Why?
S When I slept, some of them kept ringing a bell and asked me to give them a bottle of water  and to direct them to where they want to go. It bothered me. I was't able to sleep. I was late to school and I wasn't able to complete my homework. So, I posted a note 'Don't disturb us' on the front door. Mom blamed me about that. After that, I though I shouldn't do that.
J If I challenge you with a difficult question, have ever thought that the tourists who are believed to lead a better life than those in this town just have witnessed things which the underprivileged like you don't want show?  In other words, did you see any negative aspects of their activities?
S I don't think so, but sometimes I feel bad when they see us. I thought so in a different way. The reason I think they see us is that either they think we look cute or they want to take pictures of us. But, to the extent they watch us so far is not a thing we feel bad.
J How about the last photograph? It looked like an alley at night.
S The most scary thing is that we see beggars and homeless people in the alley at night. When I ran errands for mom, I and my siblings always carefully looked around to see if the strangers followed us. The alley is very small and scary. I had no choice but to walk down the alley at night. Because I am weak and small girl,  I am scared whether I could be kidnapped in the alley.
J OK, here are the collection of 11 photographs in front of you. Of 11 photographs, what do you think I miss in terms of depicting your family's life and situation?
S What's missed is that there is no moment my father and mother talk each other. I can't see my father especially because he go to work everyday even on weekend. What I hope to see is the scene where all family members including my father get together and discuss how we can live in the future and make plans for that. I want to have the moment taken.
J Is there anything to add?
S No.