Discovering Laguna Woods
Welcome to My Home
Laguna Woods Stories
The Thrive Show
The Write Now Show
DISCOVERING LAGUNA WOODS – Wednesdays at 9:30 am, Sundays at 9:30 am – Host: Video Club Member Cyndee Whitney – Produced by Village Television
A playlist of “Discovering Laguna Woods” segments is available on the Village Television YouTube channel.
September finds Cyndee in the Clubhouse 5 Fitness Room observing a “Cardio and Strength” class.
NOTE: Cyndee tells us that “Discovering Laguna Woods” will be visiting the Video Club in the near future.
WELCOME TO MY HOME – Mondays at 9:30 pm, Thursdays at 10 am – Producer: Video Club Member Susanne Savlov – Produced by (Video Club) Video One Productions
In September, interviewer Steve Savlov visits the Laguna Woods Village home of Yung and Pearl Lee, who grew up in South Korea to find out what it was like growing up there and what it was like coming to the United States.
Born much later than Yung, Pearl grew up in Daegu, south of Seoul, where communist guerillas hid in the mountains, coming out at night. One of them caused the death of her father when she was a small child. Pearl remembers that other children lost parents to the communists during that “very confusing time in our history.” When she was small, every family had a sad story of loss from WWII. Also, she had many friends who had fled from the north and had to leave their homes, some of them without families.
Later, her family moved to Seoul where she and her sister could get a better education. To support them, her mother worked as a public health nurse. For six years, Pearl attended a residential school run by British nuns, where she learned English. Living there “was like living in a foreign country,” she recalls. Like her mother, Pearl became a nurse, one of the few careers open to women.
Yung remembers growing up with several siblings and a longtime housekeeper who referred to the young crew as “puppies.” They had a small house, so the children played in the street, where it was “a little bit rough — but there were four of us (little kids), so we would gang up and nobody would touch us.” He had an older brother who also helped care for the younger ones. His father worked for the City of Seoul.
Yung was born and raised during the Japanese occupation and attended a very strict Japanese school where “you had to speak Japanese from day one when you entered the school and you were not allowed to speak Korean anymore.” As a third-grader, he was assigned the job of mending military uniforms, sewing on buttons.
Other childhood memories for the Lees were New Year, a major holiday, when people dress in traditional costumes, visit relatives, observe rituals to worship ancestors, eat special food – and when children are given money, an especially happy recollection. At Thanksgiving in Korea, they recalled visiting the tombs of ancestors. This often involved travel for Koreans. Special food was also served.
Pearl recalled that “the country was very, very poor for a long time and at celebration times we would have a feast.”
“Korea was an agricultural country, so most of our ancestors were from the countryside, so it was a good time to go visit them,” she said, adding that today things have changed. “Families are small with one or two children. They live in the city and the children are very busy — but they still try to observe those two holidays.”
Pearl came to the US with the help of her sister, who was already living in Chicago. She attended the University of Illinois, where she studied hospital dietetics. Yung came here in 1959, when Korea was still recovering from war.
After both had immigrated to the US, they met in Los Angeles – at Yung’s high school reunion. They have three grown children and three grandchildren. One son lived in Africa for eight years, and the Lees visited him there four times. “Nairobi reminded me of old Korea, the 70s and 60s,” Pearl recalled, “all the kids playing in the unpaved streets.”
Bringing viewers up to date, the Lees shared many more memories with Steve — along with some delicious Korean food served by the Lees.
LAGUNA WOODS STORIES – Wednesdays and Sundays at 12 noon – Host: Video Club Vice President Tom Nash – Produced by (Video Club) Video One Productions
A playlist of “Laguna Woods Stories” segments is available on the Village Television YouTube channel.
In September, in honor of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 and mankind’s first steps on the moon, Tom interviews Village resident Michael Mantonti, who was involved in Apollo 11 among other space shots.
THE THRIVE SHOW – Thursdays at 9:30 am, Sundays at 10:30 am – Produced by Video Club Past-President and Instructor Scott Marvel
A playlist of “Thrive Show” segments is available on the Village Television YouTube channel.
The show’s topic for September, reports Scott, is “Having Fun With Aloha (Saxon) The Thrive Poster Child For The Village.”
THE WRITE NOW SHOW – Hosts: Video Club Members Charlie Redner and Judy Saxon – Produced by Village Television
A playlist of “Write Now” segments is available on the Village Television YouTube channel.
Charlie and Judy are back working on “The Write Now Show,”but you won’t see the results until next month. They’re interviewing veteran The Old Pros director Shiela Bialka — who recently joined the Video Club and is much involved in The Old Pros’ new Podcast Project (which uses the Video Studio as its production location).
In September, we’ll be seeing a “Write Now” re-run.
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