International Competition

Mr. Byong-man Jo is 98 years old but still strong enough to carry lots of firewood. He is so playful that now and again it makes his wife cry. When he works in the garden, he sometimes throws leaves on his wife. When it snows, he starts a snowball fight. When his wife does the washing in the small stream, he likes to pour water on her. The wife, Mrs. Gye-Yeul Kang is 89 years old. She still cooks three meals a day for her husband and has never fed him a cold meal. They always wear traditional Korean clothes, go to the aged college twice a week, go to the market every five days, have picnics with the neighbours, and enjoy dance parties. They are still young. Recently he has started growing weaker by the day and sleeps a lot. When she wakes him up for a meal, he acts irritated and is mean to her. These changes make her worried, frightened and lonely. She thinks he is trying to make her dislike him because his time to pass away is drawing near. She often looks at the river in silence. Forty years ago they moved here from across the river, and when their six sons and daughters got married, they went back across the river. Her husband will go across the river one day leaving her behind.