Children of Joseonins living in Japan

The documentary our school made me think about national identity and identity in general. Although i was born in Korea, as i lived in many different countries since i was young, i often contemplated about what it means to be Korean living outside of Korea where I was not exposed to Korean culture as much as Korean students in Korea. I felt the students quite admirable after watching the students try to maintain their Korean identity- by wearing joseon uniforms -skirts-  for girls even when it was extremely cold. One male student in the documentary said that for Koreans that live in Korea, national identity can be something within their minds and can be passively kept, however, for them, who strive to keep their national identity while they were not even born in Korea and live outside of Korea, they must be more active in portraying their national identity, or else it will fade away. This point very well summarized why “our school” exists, and the extreme significance in keeping the national identity. Also, Oryusil, one of the students in the upper years stated her experience with our school and indicated the helpfulness of ‘our school’ in keeping their identity. Before she went to the school she was quite embarrassed by the fact that she was Korean, but after she learned Korean culture at the school and how important it is to keep her national identity, she became more proud. Furthrmore, it was interesting to see that the students worked more as a group and as a society than as individuals, which made them focus on the fact that to achieve this proper national identity, they must work as a group than to work individually. Overall, with the use of its proficient documentary filmic techniques and interesting answers answered by the students, this film allowed viewers to get a sense on how the lives of Josun-ins living Japan.