Cozmopolitan Sunkyoung

When it comes to the issue of human rights, I haven’t done much but being angry at some cases of the violations of human rights. But when a friend of mine called for a petition for Troy Davis, who had been on death row for 20 years in Georgia State, several months ago, I signed up for news from Amnesty International. I have since participated in some of their campaigns, one of which made me want to spread further.

Yesterday (10 December) was Human Rights Day and what I did to celebrate it was simple: pick up a pen, several sheets of paper and envelopes. I do this – most of the cases are cards nowadays – when I want to give friends congratulations for their birthdays, weddings and babies. But this time the recipients were quite different from the usual. They were, among others, President of Azerbaijan, Vice-President of Yemen and President of Mexico.

For the month of December, Amnesty International runs a campaign, “Write for Rights“. There are 10 persons and organisations for this year’s campaign and you can choose any of them for whom you would like to give support (I couldn’t really decide whom I want to help or not so I wrote for all of them).

While writing the letters, which caused me to be unable to hold a pen in the end because of a pain in my fingers, I came to realise why it is more powerful and impactful to write a letter rather than sending emails. The first impact occurred in myself. Although I only used set mails provided by Amnesty International, writing the messages myself on the paper was a sort of experience of embodiment. It was similar to the process that happened when I was trying to memorize English words back in school days: when I learned new words, I wrote them on the blank sheet of paper numerous times until I felt like it stayed in my head.

Those presidents, ministers or police chiefs to whom I addressed may or may not read my letters. And it’s also totally up to them how to respond  to them, if at all. But what I learned can hope is that these letters show them there are people who are concerned about the cases and matters. And if these people even bother to write letters for those in need, they can’t be simply ignored.

So, add your support. A simple thing can bring a change to a hard thing.

UPDATE: Jabbar Savalan, who had been imprisoned by the Azerbaijani authorities because of calls for protests against the government he posted on Facebook and who is one of those for whom I wrote petition letters, was released on Sunday 26 December 2011.

한국 갑니다.
12/18 ~ 1/6

연초부터 시작하여 몇 달간 지속된데다 최근에 절정을 이룬 과로에다 시차증까지 겹쳐 어제, 그제는 내 생애 처음으로 병가를 냈다.
Due to the non-stop hard working for months since the beginning of the year, the peak of workload last month in addition to jet lag, I was on sick leave, for the first time in my life, for the past two days.

그 마저도 첫 날은 아침부터 자정까지 꼬박 일을 처리했는데 덕분에 어제는 제대로 된 휴식을 취할 수 있었다. 그러면서 가족과 세계 곳곳에 있는 친구들에게 나의 고장을 알렸는데 생각해보니 위치가 참 다양하더라. 내 상태를 직접 봤기 때문에 가장 많이 걱정해준 동료들이 있는 싱가폴부터 시작하여 부모님이 계시는 한국, 같이 16th ASEF University 프로그램 진행한 동료들이 남아 있는 폴란드,  장기간 여행 중인 S가 현재 머물고 있는 터키, M이 현재 있는 대만, T와 D가 있는 아일랜드까지 내 소식은 두 대륙간 7개 국가에 전해진 것이었다.
Even on the first day of sick leave, I had to work from the morning till midnight. However, because of that, I was able to take a real rest yesterday. Being at home, I managed to talk to my family and friends in different time zones and I realised that all the locations were quite many. Starting from Singapore where my colleagues are, who saw me in such a sorry condition in person thus worried most, the news of my body engine’s broke-down was spread to my parents in Korea; colleagues – both company and local – who ran the 16th ASEF University programme together in Poland; S in Turkey, who is in the middle of her seven-month journey; M who is currently in Turkey; and T and D, respectively, in Ireland. These were seven countries across two continents.

가장 마지막에 이야기 나눈 D가 채팅을 마무리하며 던진 한 마디가 나흘 밤을 꼬박 새우고 기운이 없어 밥도 제대로 못 먹는 나에게 큰 힘을 주었다.
D, with whom I had the last chatting, said the below sentence as his last words and it gave me a huge strength, who had not slept or four nights and eaten properly.

“그렇게 힘 없이 주저앉아 있기에는 네가 너무 아까워 / You are Too Precious to Feel Down.”

비단 이 친구만 아니라 진심으로 나의 회복을 빌어준 이들이 있어 오늘은 회복이 조금씩 되고 있다.
Not only D’s cheering words but also all the sincere well wishes I have received from my people are indeed helping me recover slowly today.

P.S. 1 – 아래 사진은 폴란드 출장 가기 직전, 싱가폴에 연수받으러 온 세진과 뎀시 힐에서 브런치를 한 후 찍은 사진. 이 때까지는  그나마 상태가 좀 나았다는.
Before taking off to Poland later that day, I had a brunch with Sejin in Dempsey Hill, who visited Singapore for her company’s training. I was okay until then.

단란한 세진이네 – 아빠 재우, 엄마 세진, 아기 백호. 더 많은 사진은 Flickr에서.
Sejin’s happy Family – Daddy Jaewoo, Mommy Sejin, and Baby Baekho. More pictures at Flickr.

P.S. 2 – 핸드폰 번호를 어제부로 바꾼 관계로 이 참에 About 페이지에 주소와 연락처를 올렸다우.
As I changed my mobile number yesterday, I uploaded my contact information on ‘About’ page.

어둠에 잠긴 새벽 모두 잠든 도시를 숨차게 홀로 달려가는 사람과
끝없이 밀려오는 무한의 인파 속에 가만히 눈을 감고있는 이의
A person who’s running alone breathlessly in a city where everyone’s asleep at dawn in the dark
A person who’s softly closed their eyes in a crowd of people endlesely swarming about

쉽게 꺼낼 수 없던 이야기
잊은 줄 알았던 비밀들
낡고 오래된 거짓말들 속에 얘기할 수 없던 것들
Their stories that they couldn’t easily bring up
The secrets that were thought to be forgotten
The things that couldn’t be talked among the old lies

잃어버린 것 무엇입니까?
멀리 사라져간 것들은 무엇입니까?
되찾을 수 없는 것 무엇입니까?
여기 누군가의 big drama
What is the thing you lost?
What are the things that have disappeared far away?
What are the things you can’t get back?
Here is someone’s big drama

이대로 놓칠 수 없는 것 무엇입니까?
언제라도 찾아 헤맸었던 것 무엇입니까?
내가 살아가는 이유는 무엇입니까?
여기 누군가의 big drama
What is the thing you can’t let go as it is?
What is the thing you were always looking for?
What is my reason for living?
Here is someone’s big drama

peppertones – drama (click the title to listen to music)

Sep 2003 – Jun 2004: Maastricht, The Netherlands for M.A. in European Public Affairs at Universiteit Maastricht

May 2005 – Nov 2005: Dublin, Ireland for Internship at Irish Exporters Association (supported by HR Development Service of Korea)

Oct 2008 – Feb 2009: Brussels, Belgium for Traineeship at the European Commission

Yes, I finally made it! This time it has required the most and longest patience ever and therefore I’m so relieved that the waiting is over. The end of this waiting will be continued soon to a new adventure I’m now really happy and excited about.

My sincere appreciation goes to my family and friends who truly wished my dreams come true as much as I did.

여권집이 필요한 사람은 알려주시게들.
‘여행고양이’라는 여행사를 차린 지인이 홍보용으로 다량의 여권집을 보내왔소.
그리고 항공권 예약 시 이 여행사를 많이 이용 바라오.

A friend of mine has started her first business as a travel agent.
For those who like these passport covers that she made for promotional purposes, I’d love to give some to you.
Also, please consult with her about flight tickets when you travel abroad from Korea.

I will be somewhere out there, where dreams come true.¹

나는 그 곳 어딘가, 내 꿈이 이뤄지는 곳에 있을 것이다.² 

1.  Parts of lyrics from “Somewhere Out There”, a song written by James Horner from the film, An American Tail. [↩]
2. ‘아메리칸 테일’이라는 영화에서 제임스 호너가 작사한 “Somewhere Out There”이라는 가사의 일부 [↩]