Lesson 4 This is Korea
Haenyeo, Female Divers of Korea
For the past several years, the underwater ____ Zin Kim has promoted the culture of Jeju haenyeo worldwide.
Haenyeo are Korean female divers who harvest seafood ____ any breathing devices.
Their culture made UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural ____ list in 2016.
At her studio last ____ Zin Kim was interviewed about her experience of taking pictures of haenyeo.
Q. How did you become interested in taking photos of haenyeo?
One day, I happened to ____ pictures of a haenyeo.
I was surprised to find that she was enjoying ____ job.
Until then, I ____ only seen black-and-white photos of haenyeo who looked very tired.
However, she kept laughing even ____ she had been in the water for over five hours.
I ____ then that I should take pictures of haenyeo.
Q. You take beautiful pictures of them, but isn’t it difficult to take pictures of haenyeo?
At ____ they didn’t understand why I wanted to take their pictures.
They didn’t think they looked ____ in their wetsuits.
I said to them, “You’re ____ special.
____ want to show your culture to the world.”
They opened ____ to me then.
Of course, I also promised them that I would make them ____ beautiful in my pictures.
Q. Could you tell us more about haenyeo?
____ so special about them?
I ____ tell you three things.
First, haenyeo are a symbol ____ strong women.
Jejudo, which is a volcanic island, is not suitable ____ farming, so many haenyeo have become the breadwinners for their families.
Second, haenyeo form their own ____ and help each other.
For example, ____ haenyeo train less-experienced haenyeo.
Third, because they stay in the water without any breathing devices, ____ can’t catch a lot of seafood.
____ is good for the underwater environment.
Catching too much marine life at one time ____ one place can destroy the ocean.
Q. Lastly, please tell us what you’re planning to do in the future.
I once ____ an overseas exhibition with a couple of haenyeo to give a talk about their lives.
When I finished my talk, ____ of the haenyeo held my hand tightly.
She said to me, “Thank you so much. I’ve never ____ in my whole life that I was such a special person.”
____ was crying with happiness.
Everyone in the audience was deeply ____
I can never forget that moment, so I’ll ____ to take pictures of haenyeo.
I want to tell more ____ stories about them to many more people in the world.