No sooner had they been liberated from the hands of their enemy then they started complaining to God that they happened to be in difficulties. They all rebel against God and Moses. They began to grumble at him and God, saying that in Egypt there were a lot of things – watermelon, garlic, meat, but there is nothing but manna from heaven. They stated that they want to return again to Egypt. Less than a few days after the release, finding themselves in difficulties, they all pounced on Moses, and began to murmur against him and against God. How come quickly they forgot that they were in bondage, where they were treated like low-class people.

After all, God knew that they would want to return to Egypt. He knows us better than we do ourselves. Although there were many paths leading to the land of Canaan, but God chose this path- through the Red Sea-there is no turning back. Therefore, he chose this path, don’t you think there is similarity between the people of Israel and of the Soviet Union. Prior to this, we have had abundance of food in the Soviet Union, such as meat, sausage and so on, but after the collapse of the country, there is nothing. So we have forgotten that during the times of the S. Union, there was not what we had had after its collapse – freedom of speech and free movement abroad. Freedom is a gift from God that we are freed from political dependence.

Chance for citizenship

During the period when Stalin was in power of the Soviet Union, back then the Koreans were given the chance to take USSR citizenship. A large number of Koreans took the opportunity to be naturalized as soviet citizens. However, my parents, out of special feelings of motivation, basically preferred to hold on to statelessness persons, hoping that someday they would return to their homeland. According to the parents, every day they lived with the hope that someday representatives of their country would come to take them home. As time went by, the children were born to them, but no matter how much they waited, their expectations have not been met! Although their dreams did not come true, they continued to hope for the best that someday there would be a chance to repatriate to Korea.

Then the relationship between the two countries deteriorated sharply after the passenger plane was shot down en route from the United States to Korea. More than 200 passengers have been killed in this tragedy. My parents constantly listened to the Korean news on the radio, and said that they would soon allow Koreans living on Sakhalin to repatriate to Korea. They said that the establishment of diplomatic relations between Seoul and Moscow is about to .

As time went by, the leaders of the country changed, but there was no warming in relations between the two countries. Soon after Gorbachev came to power, the Sakhalin people were allowed to move freely around the Sakhalin Island. Prior to coming a new leader to travel across the Island a permit was required from a Visa department. Along with this, finally, the long-awaited day came, which had been expected for so long. While waiting for this day, many have grown old, and some are no longer alive. Before the new leader came to power in the country, life had been very harsh on Koreans. Because of the refusal to accept citizenship, it had been difficult for my parents to move around. This problem extended to us, we inherited this problem from our parents.

. Although we lived in Soviet Union and studied in a Soviet school, we were deprived of many rights to be used. Many of the benefits did not apply to us and we could not do what other people could have done it. In a word, we lived like foreign guests. Without the permission of the passport department, it was strictly forbidden for ethnic Koreans to freely move from one place to another, it was possible only within the territory we were registered. Even when I went to the summer camp, I had to take permission of the passport department whereas other children could freely do it without it.