One
of the assignments for my English class was an interview. The interview was
supposed to be about food in someone’s life. I really wanted to interview my
father because I heard a lot of times that he had a hard childhood because at
that time the damage of the Korean War still remained. I was able to compare the
difference in diets during his childhood and now. Let’s explore!!
Hangil:
“What
kinds of food did you usually eat when you were young?
Hyogyu:
“The only food I had was vegetables such as
lettuce, and Kimchi. We were only able to eat meats once or twice a year on
Korean thanksgiving days and new year”
Hangil:
“What was the reason for that”
Hyogyu:
“As you know, the damage of the Korean war
still remained terribly. Majority of us didn’t have enough money to buy meats.
In addition, the vegetables we eat were all from the home garden.”
Hangil:
“What was your favorite food?”
Hyogyu:
“It used to be grilled pork but not anymore,
now my favorite is seaweed with chili paste.”
Hangil:
“How often did you go outside to eat”
Hyogyu:
“I am not sure but I guess once in a year” I
can’t remember since we hardly had any chance to go outside to eat.”
Hangil:
“I know that you suffered from hypertension
when you were around 40~45 years old, what was the cause for that?
Hyogyu:
“As you know, I used to eat only vegetables
and that was the only foods we could eat. At that time, I really wanted to eat
hamburgers, beef, pork, and some other delicious fast food. However if I think
of it now I guess the vegetarian diet made my body really healthy. After the
economic status of Korea has developed, our generation could afford other types
of food apart from vegetables. I used to be really healthy but I guess the
drastic change in diet caused me some health problems.”
Hangil:
“What do you think is the cause
for teenagers having adult disease?
Hyogyu:
“I am sure that it is because of diet. It
was impossible to see any teenagers having adult disease during my childhood. It
is good to eat fast food, meats, and some other meat type dishes. However, the
real problem is they stopped eating vegetables.”
Hangil:
“Do you think there is relationship between
economic status of a country and people’s diet who live in the country?
Hyogyu:
“I guess it is pretty much related. When
they have no money they tend to eat vegetables. But when they have money their
diet entirely changes into more oily diet like meats. But one ironic
relationship between economic status and people’s health is that it is inversely proportional. Some people might this it is a prejudice from me. But even
statistics about teenagers’ adult disease prove that it is getting worse and
worse.”
Hangil:
“What types of food do you like meat or
vegetable.”
Hyogyu:
“I like both but the balance is really
important.”
Hangil:
“The new diet called “Well-being” is getting
really popular in Korea, what do you think about it”
Hyogyu:
“I think it is a good idea. Try to eat more
vegetables and having balanced diet to become healthy. However, the majority
fans of well-being diet are people in my age. I guess even they experienced some
kind of health problem like me and trying to change. However the next
generation is also important. They will be the one who will lead this country
in a very close future. I hope that well-being becomes more popular.”
Hangil: “Don’t you find anything ironic between diet
and economic status? I found it really ironic that some people try to change
their diet like how you used to eat during your childhood.”
Hyogyu:
“Yes it is kind of ironic that people
changed their diet from vegetables and meat types and again trying to go back
as they got richer. Maybe they want to live longer as they got richer. Anyways,
being healthy is really important. Even you used to have hypertension and some
liver problem. I always used to tell you to eat a lot of vegetables. I hope now
you understand why I said that. You should be the one who control food.
Hangil:
“Thank you for your interview!!! Good
night!!”
I
always wanted to know how economic status of a country could affect one’s health. This was because when I went to army I had a medical check-up and I was notified
that I had a liver problem. The doctor who checked me said it used to be really
abnormal for a person in my age to have liver problem like this. But it often
occurs these days. According to him, the reason was because of inappropriate
diet. My father was really upset when he heard about this result. I was only
allowed to eat vegetable type food for 2 months. Surprisingly, my liver was
cured completely. After this, I started having a lot of interest in diet. I
came to know that as the world entered 21st century the living
standards became much better than before. However the health standards have
gone down because of too much intake of meats and fast food such as hamburgers and
fried chicken which were unaffordable during 20th century. I was so
interested in this topic when I heard that we will have an interview
assignment. I thought my father would be a perfect interviewee since his life
during his childhood and now is totally opposite. As I expected I could find
out a lot of useful information I expected. I can’t mention too much about my
essay here but my theme will be relationship between development of a country
and people’s health status who live in that country. I will write about my home
country Korea since I know about it the most and Korea had developed rapidly
during 1960 to 2010 so we will also be able to read the real case. I will
upload my essay here if anyone is interested in this topic after reading my
post!! Have a great week!
