SEVEN DAYS UNPLUGGED

Unit02_Smart World, Smart Life                                                  p.43

April 13

They say that teenagers use electronic devices seven hours a day. Only seven? I’m a 16-year-old girl, and I use electronic devices about twelve hours a day. I’m really into electronics. I’m always listening to my MP3 player, checking my social networks on my tablet PC, or sending text messages on my smartphone. These electronic devices connect me to the world. It’s a smart world anyway.

I’m just doing what everybody does. My mom is worried about me, though. She says, “Sujin, you spend too much time using electronic devices.” But I think technology is really cool. It can do amazing things. Anyway, she made a bet with me. If I don’t use any electronic devices for one week, she will buy me the concert tickets that I want. Of course, it’s impossible not to use electronics at home. I might accidentally see some television or reply to a text message, so I agreed to go to a mountain camp for a week.

April 16

Unit02_Smart World, Smart Life                                                  p.44

I’m writing this on paper. By hand. I can’t believe I’m here. It’s so boring. There’s no music. No TV. All we do is hike. I usually get 50 text messages a day. What if my friends get angry when I don’t respond to their messages? I’m going to die.

April 19

You know what? I actually had a good day today. It was raining, so we didn’t go hiking. Thank goodness. I thought I was going to be bored in the cabin with nothing to do, but the day wasn’t like that at all. Ten of us played cards and laughed about hiking. I met this girl, Yumi. She said she loves drawing caricatures. She drew funny pictures of everybody. I can’t post what she drew online because I don’t have my smartphone, of course. These people are kind of weird but kind of nice, and I’m sure I can spend a few more days with them without being bored. A little TV would be nice, though.

April 22

Unit02_Smart World, Smart Life                                                  p.45

Today was the last day of camp. We were back outside again. Strangely, hiking felt good this time. The air smelled fresh after the rain. After lunch, Yumi and I got separated from the others. At first, I was a little worried because we didn’t know where we were and neither of us had our phones, so we couldn’t use GPS. But then we started having a great conversation. I told Yumi all about my disagreements with my mom, and she was really encouraging. I don’t have conversations like that every day. I mean, you just don’t talk like that online. Soon we heard the others, and we joined the group again, but I kind of wish we had stayed lost a little longer. I said to Yumi, “I will never forget what we talked about.”

April 23

Today was my first day back. I got up and went to the kitchen, and

mom said, “What? No earphones, Sujin?” I didn’t even notice that I didn’t have my MP3 player. Mom said, “You did well at camp. I’ll get you the concert tickets.” You know, my mom does understand that smart technology improves our lives a lot. At the same time, maybe she was right about me. Maybe I do need to spend less time using electronic devices. Technology is cool, but it’s also important to spend time with nature and with other people. Don’t tell my mom I said that, though.