Byun UKyoung(Naymo) Autobiography

This is Byun, UKyoung and I am also called Naymo. I can write UKyoung in Chinese characters and they mean ‘happy things occur’. My mom gave me this name. She used to say if Chinese character ‘Kyoung’, which means ‘happy things’, is not good to consist a person’s name. So she tried to changed my name, however, I like my name. I like it because it may have been the first thing I got after I was born. And I love it for my mom gave me the first thing. And Naymo is my English name which has been a nickname sine I was a child. Naymo means square in Korean. When I was young, my face shape looked like a square. So my friend called me Naymo. I did not like friends calling me that nickname. However, as time goes by, I liked the nickname. Friends made fun of me but it meant they feel comfortable with me. And it is very unique name and it can be a memorable character that people can remember me easily. I know that it is one of my own characteristic and I love it now.

I was born in Dae-gu, on January 25th, 1991. Dae-gu is one of the biggest cities in Korea. After 5 years, our family moved to Sang-ju, a small city. In the small city, I lived in a rural area. In Korea, discovering young children or teenagers in rural area is hard. When I graduated the elementary school, the number of students in my class was nine, and my middle school had less than thirty students total. Until then the number of my friends was not big. However, I liked that all of my friends were very close. I think it is definitely luck that I have been friends with them, such kind and good people. They always make me keep a warm heart. When I feel that I am becoming mean and cruel in urban city, memories with such good and genuine friends make me regret my selfish behavior.

Because the region I lived was rural, houses were isolated from one another. For a young girl, it was not easy to visit her friends’ homes often. In school, I could play with friends. After school, I usually spent time with my mom. When my mom was busy with her house chores or farming work, I played by myself. I have not had any siblings since I was born. Until now, that is why I felt so lonely. Looking at me like this, my mom always emphasized that I should know that the most precious thing to me is friends, people around me. Because I am the only child and she gave birth to me at relatively old age, now I think she worries I need people who will help me when I am left alone in the world. For many reasons, I am unconsciously influenced by her words. So I like meeting new people, making friends, and getting along with them. I do not think I am good at it, but I enjoy it to be with people.

At the same time, my mom taught me a lesson to keep faith between people. She told me with things like money, time, and works, I should be a person who people can trust. She never overlooked my lying and trained me always to be on time. Until now, I always try to keep time exactly. I think keeping time is to respect other people’s time. People usually say ‘Korean time’ that being late is acceptable in Korea. Being late is one thing that bothers me.