Reporter Column: Travel into One's Life
Reporter Column: Travel into One's Life
  • Reporter Choi Jong-hyeok
  • 승인 2016.09.07 17:28
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People say traveling widens one’s view about his/her life. I have traveled several times, and every time I ended the journeys, I thought “Is there anything I feel I have grown up?” Unfortunately, the answer was always “No”. However, through the journeys going to Russia, my view about journeys is changed. I have traveled three times to Russian which is not a favored country Koreans want to go. Surprisingly, I participated in a festival that participants are only Russians except for me and my friend. From the trip, I could conclude that what travel gives to us is understanding on myself, and distinguishing other people, which meets people including myself.
The city in Russia I went to is, actually, only Ulan-Ude (UU) in Republic of Buryatia for three times. There was no direct flight to UU when I and my friends went there in January of 2014. Choosing to take train, although it takes 24 hours for arriving, we went to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. At the beginning, I regretted not to using plane since it was so narrow and stuffy. Moreover, after time passed, my friends tried to sleep, which was the beginning to find the meaning of travel. When the friends sleep, I could have free time to think about myself watching the stars. I arranged myself, and was trying to know who I am, and what I want to be. The time was so worthy that even though many people say “You should try to know yourself,” I could not think and understand myself in normal and ordinary life.
The second and third times of travel to Russia were the opportunities for meeting Russians. I and my friends participated in a festival called Buzan which means the youth is ours. Most participants of the festival were Russian except for us. Gratefully, they saw us with curiosity and some of them spoke to us English, which made us talk with them. Obstinately speaking, what I obtained from them is Russian culture, places that tourists would never know, and etc. However, what made me immersed into travel is the memory with them, the relationship beyond nations, and people themselves. After the end of travel, I often felt tired and empty. By the two cases, however, the trips help me to recognize things that I want to do: to me, about physics, and studying foreign languages.
The goals may look somewhat tiny to think about. However, contrasting to the travel with only photos, and nothing changed, even they are tiny; the travel was successful to me. So if you have an opportunity to go anywhere, even in Pohang, I hope you to try to meet people including yourself.