A childhood memory in the Seomjin river

I realized I hadn't thought for a pretty long time about a family vacation I went on as a child. I've planned many oversea trips myself and left for all over the world alone since I grew up. Even now, I'm in a foreign country which my parents don't know very well. Suddenly, something makes me sad. I don't know what it is.

I know some of my friends who have never had a vacation with their family. However, I have uncountable travel experiences with my family thanks to my father who did his best to have enjoyable time with his children.



The place where I went on trips to the most is the Seomjin river, located in the south part of Korea. It took over 1 hour from my house by car. Every summer vacation and every weekend, I used to go there with my family.
What we did first on arrival was put up a tent on a riverbank which was usually father's job. Then, mother started to organize all the stuff. While my parents were busy preparing, my brother and I changed into a comfortable shirt and pumped all the tubes up except for an inflatable dinghy that was too big for us.
On walking into the water, I felt cold although it was a very hot summer, because the water comes directly from Mt. Jiri, one of the highest mountains in Korea. I was always the first one to begin swimming. That was my favorite time! Then, my brother, then father joined me, but mother mostly stayed in the tent. When I was child, I thought mother didn't want to swim, but looking back on it now, someone had to mind the tent and it was just her all the time. When one got tired among us and came back to the tent, she could go swimming.
I loved snorkelling! My father taught my brother and me how to find clams at the bottom of the river. I don't remember now, but at that time I knew exactly where clams hid. Can you believe that my family were able to dig out clams as much as a half of my height for one day?! Mother made clam chowder with the clams we had dug out for dinner. Frankly, I didn't like the chowder. I only liked gathering clams.
It got dark quickly. My mother had to hold me back not to swim again, but I wanted to go back to the river! There were lots of things I liked at night such as listening to chirping and croaking, watching bright stars, feeling the warm wood fire and talking with my family, but I got into the tent soon, because I couldn't stand the mosquitos' buzzing!

I was only 7, my brother was 3, and my parents were in their 30's. I thought I would be a child forever, my brother would be a toddler forever, and my parents would be in their 30's forever. Time flies like an arrow. I'm 23 now, my brother is 19, and my parents are in their 50's.

What has changed in the last 16 years? My parents have dedicated their life to me and they have always been supportive of me. What about myself? What has become of me?

Thanks, father and mother.
I miss my parents and my brother a lot.