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공존, 그리고 나눔

어렵게 돌아온 고향, 편안하게 지내셨으면 하는 마음이지요

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어렵게 돌아온 고향, 편안하게 지내셨으면 하는 마음이지요

사할린동포후원회 오창석 회장

취재 최창원 사진 홍성훈

“사할린 분들은 고국을 떠나서 젊음을 거기서 다 바친 사람들이에요. 낯선 타국에서 그렇게 고생하다가 돌아왔는데, 외롭게 떠나시는 게 안타까웠습니다.”

경기도 안산시 고향마을, 사할린 동포 840여 명이 모여 사는 곳이다. 안산에서 장례식장을 운영하는 오창석(63)씨는 이분들에게 ‘참 고마운 사람’으로 통한다.

고향마을이 형성된 것은 지난 2000년 2월 일제 강점기 때 사할린으로 강제 징용을 당했던 분들에게 고향에 돌아올 길이 마련됐다. 하지만 영주 귀국 대상자를 1945년도 광복 이전에 출생한 사람으로 제한했기 때문에 자녀들은 모두 사할린에 두고 올 수밖에 없었다. 그러다 보니 대부분 고령의 분들이었고, 한두 달도 안 돼 돌아가시는 분들이 생겼다.

하지만 세상 떠나는 길 배웅할 가족조차 없었다. 이를 안타깝게 여긴 오창석씨가 직접 수의를 입혀 드리고, 염을 하며 장례식을 치러드리기 시작했다.

2002년에는 아예 ‘사할린동포후원회’를 만들어, 설날이면 떡국을 끓여드리고 5월에는 어버이날 잔치도 해드렸다. 마을 회관 짓는 것도 돕고, 11월엔 김장을 해서 나누어드렸다.

“어렵게 찾은 고향에서 조금이나마 편안하게 지내셨으면 하는 마음이지, 특별한 건 없어요. 진짜 뭐 한다고 하기가 부끄러운데….”

 

쑥스러운 듯 목소리를 낮추는 오창석씨. 하지만 주변에서는 이미 그를 ‘삶 자체가 봉사인 사람’이라 말한다. 사할린 동포뿐 아니라 평소에도 나누고 사는 게 일상인 사람이라는 것.

그가 이렇게 나누고 사는 걸 당연하게 여기게 된 건 어린 시절 경험 때문이라 한다.

오창석씨는 1948년, 한국인 아버지와 일본인 어머니 사이에서 태어났다. 14살 때 아버지가 병으로 돌아가시고, 어머니마저 일본으로 떠났다. 그 이후 고생은 말로 다 할 수가 없다 한다. 그는 “나중에 잘살게 되면 나처럼 배고픈 사람들을 도우며 살아야겠다”고 결심했다.

고기잡이, 야채 장사, 노동일…. 닥치는 대로 일을 했다. 영어 한마디 할 줄 몰랐지만, 외제 물건 장사를 할 만큼 수완과 배짱도 있었다.

생활이 자리 잡히자 젊은 시절의 약속대로 그는 주변을 돌아보기 시작했다. 무의탁 노인 시설을 만들어 17년 정도 운영을 했고, 13년 전부터는 장례식장을 운영하면서 어려운 분들의 장례를 무료로 지내 드렸다. 21년째 많은 양의 김장을 해서 양로원, 고아원 등에 나눠주고, 생면부지의 학생에게 신장을 기증하고…. 그의 나눔은 일일이 열거할 수 없을 정도다.

“가족들도 처음에는 반대를 많이 했어요. 남들한테 해줘야 소용없다면서.
뭐 소용 있으라고 하는 건가요? 그런 거 생각하면 아예 주지 말아야죠.”

앞으로의 계획은 ‘사할린동포후원회’를 전국 단위로 넓히는 것. 그리고 ‘만원의 집’이라는 무료 급식소도 만들고 싶다 한다. 만 명이 모여 만 원씩 내면 1억, 1억이면 1년 365일 무료 급식을 해줄 수 있을 것이다.

“남을 돕는다는 게 어려울 거 없어요. 있으면 있는 대로 없으면 없는 대로 나눠주고,
어려운 사람 옆에 같이 있어주는 거예요. 그런 생각을 품은 사람들이 많아졌으면 좋겠어요.”

오창석씨의 선행을 알고 찾아온 분이 그가 운영하는 장례식장에 벽화를 그려주었다.

빼기는 생활이다 외국어

The generation of completion is the generation of subtracting the human mind

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Disconnecting the Link between Money and Job

Newly Defined Concept of Money (3)

Summary Jin Jung Moon

According to a recent poll, 6 out of 10 employees think their jobs are something they do only for money. However, ‘a job’ refers to all activities one does to achieve the precious values in one’s life; not just to maintain one’s life financially. There must be a job where one can devote his life out of a sense of duty, or for self-actualization, even though he may not earn much money.

However, having an ‘occupation’ to earn money is much more prioritized than a ‘vocation’ in the current society. As a result, many high-paid professionals are not sure what their goal in life is, although they are successful in society. They have spent most of the time in their life earning money, but they have not had a chance to think about what they truly value.

So let’s put aside money and think about which job will fulfill your values. If you did not have to worry about money for the rest of your life, how would you want to live? You could travel, devote your time to helping others, or you could live a simple life in the country writing and farming. Or, you may find out that your current job is your vocation.

You may still have to work in a different field other than your ‘true job’, because it may be difficult to manage life by only working at the ‘true job’. However, it will still make a great difference when you start to earn money and plan your life for your ‘true job’, your true vocation. Your internal values and physical outcome will be in harmony, and you will be able to live your life pursuing what you value.

                                If You Disconnect the Link between Money and Occupation…

1. You will have a broader choice of jobs.

If you consider money-making work separately from the vocation that fulfills your values, you can arrange and use time much more freely. For example, you can work for money as a janitor during the daytime and work as a playwright at night;, or you could work at a convenience store for six months, then work as a disaster relief volunteer for the next six months. This will enable you to focus your time on the work you truly want to do.

2. You start to respect unpaid work.

When money and work are not related, you may realize the importance of a job is irrelevant to a high income. Look back at whether you considered taking care of a baby, or working as a volunteer disturbed your work; or whether you disrespected housewives who work without pay. Inexperience or unemployed people are not incompetent. In fact, those who perform unpaid work such as housework or work involving human relations tend to be very creative, respectful and focused.

3. You can enjoy your job like a hobby.

The only difference between a job and a hobby is whether or not you receive a salary. Except for that, a job involves everything (such as competition, cooperation, concentration, technique and satisfaction) just as a hobby does. If you consider your work as a hobby, you will enjoy it more. This way, you can have fun and as a bonus get paid at the end of a month too.

4. Your life after retirement becomes more energetic.

If you relate retirement to negative words which remind you of the end of life, such as “incapability” or ”separation”, it is because you consider one’s financial capability as the measure of success. Yet retirement means retirement from salaried work. Just as you still have your value and talent even though you are not paid, the ‘true work’ continues as long as your life continues. Retirement is not as bad as you think. Look at retirement as a new start where you can spend more time doing what you want.

Reference Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez.

[Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence]. Penguin

Blow off the Flight Phobia

So-Hee Shin

When I was a college student, I had to take flights a number of times every year because I studied in China, but flying in an airplane was my greatest fear. The minute the front wheels of the plane left the ground, my hands and feet grew cold and my whole body broke into a cold sweat.

A few years later, my sister got married and moved to the USA. Whenever I visited her, I was overwhelmed with apprehension for the ten long hours of the flight. Later, even looking at an airplane gave me a fright, and at last I gave up going abroad at all.

The following year I started Maum Meditation. A guide at the center said ‘we take pictures with our eyes, ears, nose, mouth and our senses, and these pictures controls our every behavior and thoughts. As I heard that, I could see the cause of my phobia. In fact, I remember that I enjoyed flying until I was in high school. Then one day my cousin told me that his plane almost crashed while he was returning from a business trip.

“My plane was flying and it suddenly dropped for about three seconds. I almost died!” He vividly described his fear at the time. From that time on, I started to relate flying to a frightful ride on a rollercoaster, and my joyful plane trips changed to my greatest fear.

When I started Maum Meditation I finally found hope. ‘I could be changed.’ I discarded all pictures about airplanes in my mind, what I heard and saw, and even what I felt. When I was actually onboard, I continuously threw away the thought that ‘I am on an airplane’; and then I could stay calm as if I was just riding on a bus. My fear about death was another cause of the phobia. After I saw my father pass away from a stroke when I was seven years old, I began to think obsessively that the world is full of danger and I must not die. I discarded those pictures as well.

Now I can go anywhere and face any challenge. I am free of those invisible shackles which had bound me.

The Void I Tried to Fill with Alcohol,

I Discarded Both the Void and Alcohol

Jae-Joo Noh Vice-President of ICHJ co.

In my entire life I had never been confident. When I had something to say, the thought that I could be wrong kept me from speaking up. So I relied on alcohol.

As I grew older, life became very lonely and empty. I was not satisfied at all even though I had my own house and a beloved family. To fill this void, I called my friends to go drinking with me seven days a week. As a result, in my fifty’s I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism from stress and drinking.

One day, in 2000, an acquaintance of mine introduced me to Maum Meditation. As I meditated, I found out what held me back were my childhood memories and my feelings of inferiority: when I was young I could not eat what I wanted, as much I wanted; and I was embarrassed by my level of education.   I always had been a slave to the past, and had been trying to cure myself with alcohol. As much I discarded the fake mind, that much I came to know the infinite universe was my original self. Nothing lacks in the mind of the universe. Whether how much money I have or whether my life was well-off were not important. Once I realized this, I became confident. I could be easy and composed no matter who I met. There was no need to rely on alcohol anymore.

Since I have a business, there are still times I must have a drink, but I can control the amount I drink naturally by saying “I don’t drink much these days”. Three to four months after beginning Maum Meditation my illness was completely cured. What would I be like if I had not practiced Maum Meditation? I’m just so grateful to this miracle.

외국어

-An Honest Relationship Depends on How Much I Open My Mind-SNS: communication by the people and for the people

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1. We Go to the Library Together, Have Lunch Together,

and Share Our Daily Lives

Since I was little, I have had many opportunities to meet friends from different cultures. I lived with a Japanese family for a while, and traveled to more than 20 countries as an exchange student. I met many people, and from this I learned sincerity is the key when starting a new relationship. When I think of them as my second family and open my mind, they too open their mind. Sharing a daily routine is the first and the most important step; for example, going to a grocery store or the library together. For foreign friends with whom you cannot communicate well, visiting their house and preparing a meal they will like are good ways to become closer: perhaps Bibimbab, a traditional Korean dish with assorted vegetables and rice for a friend who likes vegetables, or Gimbap, a Korean style sushi, for those who like salmon. When you start talking while you share recipes, you and your friend’s minds will open up to each other, and you will become a real family.

Jae Young Park (27), University Student

2. Trust comes from the workplace that is more than a place for work;

it can involve the families as well.

A workplace can be more than just a place for work;

by involving the families it can establish trust between workers as well.

Office work is difficult not because of the work, but mainly because of the relationships between people. For the past two years, I have been thinking about what would make people communicate without conflict. The answer I found was ‘take interest in little things first’. When I paid close attention to my co-workers and made a compliment like “you look good today” or “that new shirt suits you well”, it was easy to start a conversation, and there was a lot we could talk about. I would often ask how their parents are doing or what their children’s names are, and after being introduced to their spouses I would also send them cheerful messages. When I train new interns to be reporters I use this method also. The training sessions are very difficult, and about half of new reporters drop out during their training period. However, I find that when I send messages to their parents such as “your child is doing well, my thanks to you for rearing them so well,” the majority of the interns do not give up but finish the training session instead. If our workplace becomes not just a place where we work, but a place that shows concern for our beloved family then our trust between each other will grow stronger.

Yong Tae Yoon (42), Reporter

3. An Affectionate Word Begins a Good Relationship

I run an educational institute, and often some students miss classes. When I call those people to ask for their reasons for being absent, I usually ask how they are doing instead of bluntly asking for a reason. When I ask them face to face if they had any private issues or if they were not feeling well, I feel much closer to them. I learned how to talk to people based on my own experience. I, too, had times when I could not come to an appointment because my work was too busy. In such cases it was better to hear “are you busy”, or “are you having hard time at work? I miss you. Let’s have a dinner some time” than a blunt, accusing question like “why didn’t you come?” When I ask students whether or not they had lunch, or tell them feel free to have something from the refrigerator and treat them with ease, they say they feel very comfortable, as if they are around a family member, and they come to classes more often. And even when they cannot come, they call in advance to tell me not to worry. It may seem like a small thing but a single word said with caring can bring people together.

Ju Sung Song (50), Head of a Private Educational Institute

 

Opening a New Channel

to a Wider and More Diverse Relationship among People

SNS: communication by the people and for the people

Young Dae Song Head of Happiness Management Research Center. @SongYoungDae

Social Networking Services(SNS) are becoming more than a trend;

they are now a central part of our lifestyle.

Many people communicate through SNS such as Facebook, Blogster, and Twitter.

I myself started using Twitter last February.

When I ended my fifteen years of service as an IT engineer

and started the second chapter of life as an entrepreneur, Twitter became a very helpful partner.

I met role models and mentors through Twitter,

from whom I am continuously learning and receiving priceless advice.

Twitter gives an environment for ordinary people to easily communicate, through short messages called tweets, with celebrities whom they respect and want to be close to, but otherwise could not. Therefore, it widens people’s perspective on the world, breaking the wall they have lived behind. It is people who make the world of SNS. So here are a few ways to form a healthy online relationship.

Read and

Respond

When you upload a tweet, you would expect your followers (people who follow your tweets) to respond to your tweet. We, too, should respond to other’s tweets quickly, but first we should try not to teach or criticize, even though the writer has a different point of view. Diverse perspectives will break your prejudices and widen your own perspective.

Learn and

Share

You can find out a lot of information about meetings and seminars on Twitter. Attend these events frequently and upload what you have learned on Twitter. It will give you a chance to communicate with people who have similar experiences, and you can make pleasant relationships naturally. I have made many good relationships with people whom I would have not met outside of Twitter; such as celebrities, entrepreneurs, politicians, writers, and broadcasters. Twitter can be a bridge connecting people in different fields when they need each other’s help.

Make a

meaningful

communication

According to one set of statistics on the usage of Twitter, 40.55% of people use Twitter for meaningless communication, 37.55% for mutual communication, 8.7% for meaningful communication, 5.85% for self-development, and 3.75% of the use is spam or viruses and 3.6% is news.

Although the connection between people tends to not be very strong on Twitter, you could use the service for self-development and actually form strong, meaningful relationships with your new friends, making Twitter into a magic lantern to call on them for their help to achieve whatever you want. But you must remember that sincerity is the key among people even in online relationships.