Draft Of Diary Entries

Changing Of Names
Today, my name was changed. It was from the Korean name of Rhee Jae-Sun to the Japanese name of Kaneyama Nobuo. I felt so angry because of this. The Japanese get everything they want from us like nobody's business and makes us suffer all day long, day and night. They never, never, never stop. Those incorrigible Japanese soldiers treat us like slaves, making us do things they command. I hate this and I hate the Japanese for what they had done. Changing my name, to Kaneyama Nobuo is horrible. I can only think of it as a name but not as my name. Even though I am forced into their cruel laws and orders, I know that in my heart, I will forever be a proud Korean and stand tall.


Sharon Tree Being Taken Away
Today, Omoni's beloved Sharon trees in the backyard were chopped down and burnt, as she was forcefully commanded by the Japanese soldiers. She looked so upset as they gradually witnessed her Sharon trees burnt into ashes as it raged in the fire. Although she stayed calm, I know that, judging by her body language, she was crying in despair and wanted to break free from her spot and rescue her trees that she had grown and nurtured for years. Now it was all gone like that, in just one fire. I felt a sense of anger chilling down my spine. Furthermore, the Imperial Majesty ordered to replaced the trees with Cherry blossom trees, their national flower. Fortunately, before I was able to chop down the smallest Sharon tree, also the last one standing, Omoni asked me to transfer it to another pot. She kept it in the workshop and covered it with a burlap sack and other junk in the workshop. It was now the only Sharon tree left.


The Metal Being Taken Away
Our metal was taken away by the Japanese soldiers. We had to give any metal we had to them, except for basic utilities like a knife, an axe, scissors, needles and basic cooking tools. Omoni had to give her dragon pin, which was her most prized possession, as well as Sun Hee's favourite pin. She loved its pearl in the dragon's claw. It shines beautifully, with lots of unnamed colours flashing brightly. Instead of putting it into the sack of metal that are to be given away, Omoni felt unbearable to give her dragon pin, and so she slipped it into her underwear and held her head high, keeping calm so that she does not alert the suspicions of the soldiers. Abuji then brought the sack outside the house and handed over our metals to the soldiers.

Americans Dropping Paper Leaflets From The Sky
Today in school, there were papers falling from the sky. I thought it had started snowing in Korea. I stared dreamily as I admired the beautiful scene. As I was daydreaming, there was an object that caught my eye. As i widened my view of the sky, I realised that there were many objects of that same kind. It was not snowing, it actually paper leaflets! I heard some rumbling noise from above and saw airplanes hovering about the sky soon after. They were American airplanes! They were the ones releasing those leaflets! I looked at the planes in awe, and at their beauty of its swivering. In the midst of daze, I started to wonder what the leaftlets are all about. I sneaked out of class and picked one that just landed on the ground and slid it in my waistband, looking right and left to see if anyone was looking at me. At home,I opened the leaflet to find that it was written in Korean. Although i understood Korean, I was unable to read it as our school did not taught us how to write in Korean as the Japanese took over and education changed to Japanese. I was only able to speak Korean. I gave it to Abuji, who was shocked upon receiving it, but read it anyway. He wore a quizzical expression on his face, and went to the kitchen to burn it after that. He then told us that it said that the American general said that the Americans were not going to attack Korea because they know that Korea were not their enemy. At that moment, I only thought of two words. "Thank Goodness"! I was relieved as the Americans knew how to differentiate between the Japanese and Koreans. We would not be innocently harmed!

Bicycle Being Taken Away
Today was very, very horrible! After being released from school, I got on my beloved bicycle and cycled my way home. As I cycled, thoughts raced wildly in my minds. I thought about what the Japanese had done to me and all the other Koreans. How could they commit such acts of cruelty? Hadn't their elders taught them values?! Without realising as I was into the world of my thoughts, I began speeding as my anger reached its limitation. Unknowingly, two Japanese soldiers came out of nowhere. They started walking towards me. They gave me the expression like as though they were more superior than Koreans. Furthermore, they started mocking at me and my bicycle. They claimed that the bicycle was useless, old, rusty and other things that I did not listen. I just closed both my ears. Abuji came out of the house to find out what the commotion was about. The soldiers requested for my bicycle to help out in the war efforts. I could not believe my eyes. After all the things they had done to us, they still wanted to take more things away. Now they want my precious bike. Finally, Abuji allowed them to do so. I pulled my bicycle and so did they. We tugged back and forth, till I shouted at them. What a slip of my mouth. My father pulled me swiftly away from my bike, prying my hands open from the handles. After they took my bike and left, I turned away, crying silently. I hated that Abuji did not care. I really do. Why didn't he do anything. He knew how important the bike was to me.

War Is Finally Over
Finally! The war is over, the Americans have won the battle and the
Japanese have surrendered. The Americans dropped two bombs on Japan. One that had wiped out half the city of Hiroshima and half the city of Nagasaki. I was amazed at the huge power and impact of the atomic bombs. I had no idea how powerful the Americans were. The war that had been going on for years had ended in just less then 2 months. It seemed unbelievable that it had been over so quickly, in a blink of an eye. We had gotten back what was rightfully ours, our name, our language, our rice and every other thing. Even though Korea was free from the clutches of Japan, I felt sorry for the Japanese. I could almost imagine how horrible the scene would be if my city was partially destroyed. I could feel the agony and pain of the victims and the deceased. At the same time, I felt that they deserved it because they had started the war due to their selfish cravings for power. Korea is finally free! We danced, cried, hugged, screamed and shouted out of overwhelming joy. The feeling could not be described by words. I was elated.