Obligations and Aspirations
A Memoir of Growing Up in Korea and an Unexpected New Life in Canada
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Korea was a distinct country, having its own language and alphabet. Keeping Korea as a unified country was very important for its people throughout her history. Dividing this land would be an unthinkable tragedy for Koreans, but this happened in my lifetime.
"I carried him on my back just like a mother carrying a baby. My father was a small man, still be was a grown man and I was a little girl of fifteen."
While evacuating from Seoul City during the Korean War, the author's father was wounded and she had to carry him on her back.
Born a second daughter in a society where sons were very important, Jai grew up feeling she had failed in her duty to her family and tried to fulfill her obligations to society. She experienced Japanese subjugation and later lived through the Korean War. In her early life, she set a goal to live her life as a responsible and worthy person. Her father’s advice when she left home became the guiding principle in leading her life in the new country.
Obligations and Aspirations is the story of Jai’s journey through her life in Korea and later in Canada.
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About the Book
Kim Jai Sook Martin entered the world in 1935, during the Japanese occupation of her native Korea. She was the second daughter of an ordinary family, born to parents who had hoped for a boy; they dressed her as one until she was three, when her brother was born. By the age of six, she had already learned the price of her fierce independence: refusing to acknowledge the Japanese flag as the Korean national flag, she was denied entrance to her first year of school.
This early conflict set Kim Jai Sook on a lifetime quest to understand her obligations to her family, her culture, her country, herself, and, ultimately, to God. Hers is a story of perseverance, turmoil, and love, as she fought to maintain balance between duty and her own desires.
She set her goals high. As the survivor of Japanese subjugation and two wars, she committed herself to living as a responsible and worthy person. As an adult, in pursuit of her deep desire to become a teacher, she left Korea and built a new life in Canada, where her father’s advice on dealing with people became her guiding principles.
This is her story.
About the Author
Kim Jai Sook Martin was born in Seoul in 1935, during the Japanese occupation. After the Korean War, she was educated in Canada. She originally intended to return home to teach war orphans, but decided instead to stay in Canada with her family. She and her husband, retired teachers, have two children and four grandchildren.