IN ORDER TO LIVE by Yeonmi Park

With twenty-four years between the author Yeonmi Park, and myself, I feel that we share specific childhood memories, which to me is extraordinary. I would not have imagined that being born in Romania in the year of 1970 during the communist regime would be similar to being born in 1994, North Korea, a communist country up to this date.

“When I was four and five years old, my only adult ambition was to buy as much bread as I liked and eat all of it.”

Looking back on my childhood during communist Romania, I remember that we were provided with coupons that allowed each family to buy a ration of bread according to the number of family members. The memory of having to wait in long lines to get our rations is still very vivid in my mind.
To this day, bread is my weak spot, although now I can buy as much as I want. As a habit, at the end of every meal, I still eat another piece of bread before I can say that I am full.

“You had to write down everything you had done in the previous week. Then it was time to stand up in front of the group and criticise yourself. After we finished our public confession, it was time to criticise others.”

I had almost forgotten about the endless meetings we had either as pioneers or members of the Communist Party in which we had to perform self-analysis and criticize each other. I recall that during these meetings, all we did was mimic each other, and it was as if we were role-playing in a performance that was not even that good.

“In North Korea, children do more than study. In the fall we were sent out to pick up the rice or corn.”

Similar to North Korea, communist Romania also had students ranging from middle school up to university levels of study, work at least one week each autumn during the school semester. The work implied picking tomatoes, grapes, corn, and potatoes. The students were not paid for this activity, and at the end of each day’s work, searches were conducted to make sure nothing was stolen.

“I had asked my mother how I was born, but she only told me that I would find out when I grew.”
I grew up knowing that the stork was responsible for delivering me to my parents. In fact, I was part of the generation that knew this “secret”. 😆 

“I had never been taught to use the”critical thinking” part of my brain.”

When I was a student I was supposed to almost recite the entire lecture that the teacher gave, as well as memorize my textbooks word for word. We didn’t dare question what were taught.

I don’t know how people who have never experienced hunger and constant fear from their government may perceive this book. For me, this book is about acknowledging the fact that a communist country is neither Great nor Perfect, only because there is a tyrant in charge who uses propaganda in his favor. Presently, I have reached a point in my life where I can say that a capitalist country is not Perfect either but, at least in my case, living in Romania, I am not afraid to speak out against our government.

I love and cherish our freedom and do not take it for granted.

Kindle, 2015