A very special date with my dad at Ewha

No matter how big or how old we are, we are always little children to our parents. Parents constantly worry if we are doing well in school, if we are eating properly, and even if we are getting along with our peers, even when we are old enough to go to college. To help parents understand and experience the college life that their daughters go through, the Ewha Voice prepared a date inside the Ewha campus for an Ewha student and her father. Shin Ji-hae (International Studies, 3) invited her father, Shin Mun-chul, for a one-day experience as an Ewha student.

Shin has been living alone since last year inSeoul because her house in Il-san is too far away to commute. Despite her regular visits home on weekends, Shin found it hard to spend time with her family since all of her family members were caught up in their own lives. Her father, a professor at Hansei University, was especially too busy to give her a warm welcome home.

“Ever since my daughter moved out, it has been hard to catch up with her life. I had a vague idea of her life, but was not really aware of the small details,” said Shin’s father. Without a moment of hesitation, Shin’s father took a day off from work and came to Ewha to discover the facts of his daughter’s daily life.

On the day of their date, Shin and her father wore matching black jacket, and denim jeans and headed toward their first destination, the International Education Building. As soon as they reached the building, they hurriedly headed to audit the International Law Foundations class taught by Professor Jasper Kim.

Shin’s father said he felt awkward at first to be the only man sitting in class. However, the creative teaching method taken by the professor made the classroom atmosphere so active that, by the end of the class, he too felt very involved. He said he was impressed to see his daughter taking notes and presenting her thoughts in a logical manner. “I didn’t know that my daughter wanted to pursue a career in this field, but seeing her in this class, I can now imagine my daughter being a lawyer,” said Shin’s father. He added that it was good to know his daughter’s interest, but that now he feels a greater pressure to earn more, to support her at law school.

By the time class was over, both Shins felt their stomachs rumbling, but they had to visit the Welch-Ryang Auditorium before having lunch at Ewha Sarang. The two reached the notorious stairs near the auditorium and faced each other and smiled without saying anything. Pushing and pulling each other, they finally reached the top of the stairs. During their journey Shin was telling her father how she would always be late to chapel services because of these laborious stairs.

As a chaplain at Hansei University, Shin’s father was interested in visiting the Welch-Ryang Auditorium to see how it was different from the one at his school. He was mesmerized by the massive size of the auditorium. He said, next time, he would like to join the chapel service with his daughter.

Finally, the two headed to Ewha Sarang to fill their empty stomachs with the famous tuna kimbap (rice wrapped in seaweed). Sitting outside under the shade, they ate kimbap and took pictures. Then they got busy sharing current news from their lives, since they did not know much about each other’s schedule. It was time for the two to not only fill in their empty stomachs but also to fill the gap between them.

After lunch, the two went to the Ewha Archives and Shin’s father once again grabbed onto his daughter to climb the endless stairs. However, when they finally reached the Ewha Archives, they forgot about their tiredness and went on a short tour, discovering the past and present of Ewha Womans University. In the last part of the tour at the Archives, they went inside a small letter room and wrote down a long list of wishes and hopes.

             By the end of the date, the two seemed more connected. They said that they discovered many things about each other, such as their daily routines, their common dislike for walking and climbing stairs, and their visions for the future, through the activities they did together. But they also said that they learned more about each other through encountering other people.

“I did not realize my father looked so young compared to his age before an underclassman told me,” said Shin. Shin’s father added, “Seeing my daughter’s interactions with others and looking at her doing work as a student council member, I felt that she had become very responsible.” Both Shins were happy the day’s date had given them an opportunity to learn about the differences and the changes in each other, tightening the loosened bonds between them.

By Hong Jee-won