As I walked downstairs to interview my dad, I saw him working on his laptop and my dog lying beside him. I used to see him working in the same spot everyday. As I pulled and sat down on the chair next to him he closed his laptop and looked at me waiting for me to interview him. I handed him a printed copy of my poem in both original text and in translated text. While he is reading the poem, I glanced at my notes to remind myself what questions to ask. He handed me back the paper and I saw my dog yawn; the interview started.
I interviewed my dad because he has a very different background than my background although we're families. My dad, born in a countryside of Korea had lived all his life in Korea until I was born. Although I speak Korean, the native language of the poem, and understand Korean culture, I only lived half of my life there so I thought my dad would understand the poem in a different perspective; and yes he had a very different view from what I had. First since he was grown in a Buddhist family, he had more Buddhist knowledge than I had. During the interview, I asked what lines reflect Buddhist believes and he said "Since it is human to love, I, alert, dreaded a/ parting to come when we met" (Han 13-14), is full of Buddhist ideas. My dad explained "coming together and parting is one of the core teachings of Buddhism." I knew the poem is somehow about Buddhist ideas from the research, but I had no idea what beliefs they're talking about. My dad help me find those specific examples.
We had different ideas on the poem too. I thought since the original poem, in Korean, doesn't identify neither the poet's nor the lover's gender and the translated poem does, maybe some meanings are behind on it. However my dad thought it's just what the translator chose. Also we had different views probably because the fact that he's more than twenty years older than me. He said his favorite line of the poem is "I remember his poignant first kiss and its memory/ has wrought a complete change in my destiny,/ the withdrawn into oblivion" (Han 9-11). He said he likes it because like the first kiss from the quote, there are moments that change one's life completely. Although I get what he's referring to, I haven't experienced that life changing event yet, I didn't fully understand the lines as deeply as he did.
From the interview with my dad, I was able to see the poem in a deeper perspective. Unlike me, who analyzed the poem line by line and word by word, my dad saw the poem in a whole picture. I found out that I was too focused on little details that I missed the whole feeling of the poem. The interview was very unique and helpful.
I interviewed my dad because he has a very different background than my background although we're families. My dad, born in a countryside of Korea had lived all his life in Korea until I was born. Although I speak Korean, the native language of the poem, and understand Korean culture, I only lived half of my life there so I thought my dad would understand the poem in a different perspective; and yes he had a very different view from what I had. First since he was grown in a Buddhist family, he had more Buddhist knowledge than I had. During the interview, I asked what lines reflect Buddhist believes and he said "Since it is human to love, I, alert, dreaded a/ parting to come when we met" (Han 13-14), is full of Buddhist ideas. My dad explained "coming together and parting is one of the core teachings of Buddhism." I knew the poem is somehow about Buddhist ideas from the research, but I had no idea what beliefs they're talking about. My dad help me find those specific examples.
We had different ideas on the poem too. I thought since the original poem, in Korean, doesn't identify neither the poet's nor the lover's gender and the translated poem does, maybe some meanings are behind on it. However my dad thought it's just what the translator chose. Also we had different views probably because the fact that he's more than twenty years older than me. He said his favorite line of the poem is "I remember his poignant first kiss and its memory/ has wrought a complete change in my destiny,/ the withdrawn into oblivion" (Han 9-11). He said he likes it because like the first kiss from the quote, there are moments that change one's life completely. Although I get what he's referring to, I haven't experienced that life changing event yet, I didn't fully understand the lines as deeply as he did.
From the interview with my dad, I was able to see the poem in a deeper perspective. Unlike me, who analyzed the poem line by line and word by word, my dad saw the poem in a whole picture. I found out that I was too focused on little details that I missed the whole feeling of the poem. The interview was very unique and helpful.
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