2nd draft_yongsun hwang

1st Draft of CH3_YongSun Hwang

 

Incredible man

 

His name is Hun-Young Lee. We have been known each other for 15 years now. He’s from Busan and he was a little short boy when I first met him. He was only 165cm tall. And he looked like a baby monkey, not just his appearance resembled monkey but every gesture he made was just like a little monkey. He always wore red training outfits, walked like a monkey, and ate lots of bananas. But I remember that he was really good at playing sports. Actually, he was a famous swimmer before starting playing golf. He told me that he won the National Sports Festival in swimming. I didn’t trust him until I see him swimming but after saw it, I was very surprised. He dived into water and cut through the water just like a dolphin. He was also good at playing table tennis, pool, and etc. There was only one sport he couldn’t play well. When playing basketball, his playing was as bad as man playing jump rope. In my point of view, he’s only good at playing sports which definitely have nothing to do with height.

 

He and I went to same middle and high school and were also in same golf team. We were good friends out of golf course but there was a keen competition between us when playing golf. And we had quite different characters, too. I liked to get along with other friends so I practiced golf with others. Unlike me, my friend Lee practiced golf alone by himself. As a result, he won many tournaments while I kept making bad results. As I mentioned above, he won many competitions so he became quite famous among golfers in high school. In Korea, you must qualify some tournaments hosted by Korean Junior Golf Association to get a player card. If you have a player card issued by them, you are admitted into a university without any other examination.

 

He got an admission from Korean university as well as American university. I don’t remember name of the university but I’m sure it was one of prestigious universities in the U.S. A night before he flies to the U.S., we had a few beers and had some conversation.

“You know what? I really wanted to hang out with others just like you. But I always kept suppress that desire and kept thinking about my goal, I was so lonely.” he said. What he said after that sentence was quite shocking. He said “I usually practiced every shot for about 5 hours a day. You know we practice so hard to reduce just one score for all day long. But if we miss one shot, everything is gone. And all our efforts become nothing. Next day, we re-start same thing for the next tournament. So I decided to do it this way. If I practice golf for 5 hours, I spend same amount of time for studying” I thought his excellent background as a golfer was the only reason for being accepted by a university in the U.S. But actually on top of his golf career, he also had good academic grades. I was so ashamed of myself after having conversation with him.

 

He went to the U.S next morning so I didn’t see him for a while since that day. He phoned me after 7 years. We had a little bit of conversation just like what we had after graduating high school.

“How was America? You still play golf?” I asked.

“Don’t ever ask me that again. I was totally pissed off when I got there. It was a new world. You know what’s the cut score for every tournament in the U.S.? You must shot at least 6 under par to qualify. After that, you also have to qualify another one to play main tournament. Damn it! I stopped playing golf when I was a sophomore. I felt I had hit the wall.” he said. “I changed my major to economics and played golf as a hobby” he added. After graduating from the university, he worked as an analyst who analyzed stocks in a securities company. He worked in the U.S. for about 1 year and 2 years in Australia. But unfortunately he got the blues because he worked too much. He didn’t do anything except working. He told me that he was just having a rest and will get a job in Korea.

 

As always, we didn’t see each other for another 2 years after that meeting. I knew we will meet someday. And surprisingly, we met in one of our friend’s drinking party. No matter how long we missed connection with each other, we never feel awkward every time we meet. “So what are you doing nowadays?” I asked.

“I got a job in Korea Investment Co., Ltd. It’s in Yeouido.” He said. We talked about each other and I was surprised again after hearing his working hours. He said that he goes to work at 7 in the morning and finishes at about 11 at night for six days a week meaning that there is only one day off in a week. What a workaholic! More surprising was that he likes his job. God bless you!

 

Nowadays, every time I meet him, he reminds me of an energizer or a superman. I know it’s really hard to do both study and golf at a same time but he did it. And suppressing one’s desire especially in one’s early childhood is difficult but he did it, too. Moreover, he still puts all his efforts to achieve his goals actively. I’m so proud of my friend and admire his passion towards his goals.