에세이 track3에서는 Personal Narrative Essay를 공부하게됩니다. 총9개 레슨중에4번째 녹화본 (2022년4월9일)을 수업 샘플 기록으로 남겨둡니다. 사랑스런 열명의 중학생들을 토요일 아침마다 만나는것이 즐겁습니다.
Personal Narrative Essay는자기 이야기를 다루기때문에 아이들의 삶에 대해서 좀더 알게되고, 떼라피적인 (?) 면도 있어서 더흥미롭지요. 지난 주 숙제중에서 한아이의 글이 완성도가 높아서 공유합니다. 6학년인데 이렇게 잘쓰다니! 기특합니다 .
.
The Cage
Haebin Kim (6th)
My stomach leaped in excitement. As I entered the threshold of the wondrous enclosure, I immediately was full of eager energy. I yanked my friend’s hand toward the tables and sat down, mesmerized by the colorful birds filling the space in spectrums of hues. We were at a bird cafe located on the busiest streets of South Korea, and I have been dreaming of returning to this place since forever. However, what I didn’t know was the complete change of mind I would encounter at the end of the day. I have always loved birds when growing up, and petting a parrot was one of my dreams. However, my stubborn parents would never let me keep a bird as a pet, and I would have to admire the dazzling creatures from far, far away, whether on TV or through my binoculars. I always wondered about how soft the feathers would feel and how musical the whistles would be. I imagined and dreamed of perching a parrot on my shoulder or putting a canary on my head. But alas, none of these things were possible, at least until a few years ago when I discovered a bird cafe that would let me pet birds and experience what I’ve always wanted to. So, I started planning my visit a few months prior. I was constantly fantasizing the moment, and when the time came, my experience was just as fulfilling as I would have liked. Therefore, I planned a second visit, this time with my friend. As I mentioned before, this was my second time at the Bird Sori cafe, so I was pretty familiar with the layout. It was a Saturday, so many people filled the tables and we had to wade through the sea of endless children all screaming with joy of holding a bird on their finger. But the amount of people crowding the giant aviary didn’t let me down. I was still as eager as ever, and I beamed when our first bird was brought to us to pet. It was a budgie, with yellow and green feathers, chirping quietly. I inspected the small creature scurrying around us, and perched the bird on my finger. It flapped its wings pathetically and wiggled around, weak and fragile. It was not much later when I noticed its cut wings. The end parts were trimmed so the bird wouldn’t be able to fly. I looked around the whole place, and noticed that almost all birds had their wings clipped, and had to hop around, for their ability of flight had been stripped away from them. “Hey, isn’t that really sad?” I said to my friend, having explained the wing clips. “Yeah, I guess…” She said in return, gazing at the small creatures sympathetically. I tried to brush the feeling of wrongness that racked my mind and tried to enjoy my time, but everything felt different at that moment. As time ticked by, we were getting bored. My friend and I have already been here before, and things felt more and more repetitive as we did the same things repeatedly. Nothing really interesting happened until my friend gasped and hopped out of her chair. The tiny parrot we were petting had fluttered away in a desperate attempt to fly and had plummeted, and it now hopped on the floor frantically, trying to get away. “Oh no, catch it!” My friend yelled, trying to cup the fragile creature with her hands. The bird tried to flutter away, but we finally caught it, even though it was thrashing in the cage of my friend’s hands. It was that moment when I knew: that this was wrong. It was wrong to keep animals confined in tiny cages, to cut off parts of their feathers so they couldn’t fly, to violate their main ability and natural instinct. The rest of my time there, I felt troubled beyond measure and the guilt of supporting such a place weighed down on me. The place that had seemed so innocent and fun at first had revealed its true cruel form, which was a giant cage that trapped such magnificent creatures that deserved something better. Taking away a bird’s ability to fly is like taking away our ability to walk, and I felt so horrible for not realizing that earlier. From that day on, I vowed to never go to a place like that again, and to enjoy the gifts of nature in its natural form, rather than the human-tampered vision that was set before me on that day. I knew I couldn’t save those birds, but what I did know was that I could stay away from supporting places like the bird cafe and spreading awareness. To this day, I still keep my vow, and I plan to until the end.