Trend in Korea: Get Nailed into a coffin as part of classes in "well dying"

Parent Cafe
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<p>I think this sounds interesting, if one assumes that those who are mentally fragile would not be allowed to do this. I also think that 15 minutes of being nailed in a coffin isn’t enough time to reflect on one’s life.</p>

<p>What do you think?</p>

<p>"CHUNGJU, South Korea (AP) – After solemnly reading their wills, seven perfectly healthy university students climb into caskets in a dimly lit hall.</p>

<p>Student Hwang Yun-jin lies in a coffin during a mock funeral in Chungju, South Korea, in November.</p>

<p>“I want to give all of you one more day to live, but it’s time to be placed into coffins,” a man in a black suit says in a resounding voice. “I hope your tired flesh and bodies will be peacefully put to rest.”</p>

<p>Workers nail the coffins shut, then sprinkle dirt on top as the lights are switched off and a dirge is played. Muffled sobs can be heard from some of the coffins. About 15 minutes later, they are opened and the five men and two women are "reborn…</p>

<p>The students donned a traditional garment for the dead, made from hemp. One worker wore a black robe and a wide-brim cylindrical hat, the outfit of a death messenger in Korean folklore.</p>

<p>Participants take a class on the meaning of life, pose for portrait photos to be used at the service and write wills as if they have three days to live…"</p>

<p>The mock funeral, which aims to get participants to map out a better future by reflecting on their past, is part of a new trend in South Korea called “well-dying.” The fad is an extension of “well-being,” an English phrase adopted into Korean to describe a growing interest in leading healthier, happier lives…"
[Mock</a> funerals give ‘dearly departed’ new outlook on life - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/01/13/mock.funerals.ap/index.html]Mock”>http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/01/13/mock.funerals.ap/index.html)</p>

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<p>No thanks. Been there,done that… Having a closed MRI during a scare involving possible brain tumor. Not an experience I’d like to repeat, or recommend. Except it was for almost two hours- it’s amazing what can go through one’s mind.</p>

<p>Where do people come up with these dumb stunts? If anything, it trivializes issues. Sort of like the time our school ‘raised awareness’ of teen suicides but announcing a different student’s name every 10 minutes, putting a sign on them saying “I’m dead”, and forbidding them to speak (or be spoken to) the rest of the day. Most kids were chuckling about who got ‘knocked off’. Stupid ideas.</p>

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<p>Will ask a Korean student and get back to you. I’m guessing that role playing is becoming a recreational fad in Korea. Faux weddings are also popular. Getting together with a friend, and going to a ‘wedding cafe’ where they dress up as brides and have photos taken.</p>

<p>I had the thought that this might be a great idea here. Enjoy the drama and fanciful prettiness of a wedding, without the more serious lifelong commitment that goes with it. </p>

<p>In regards to the above, sounds as if it comes from a serious attempt to replicate the life lessons learned in a brush with death. But in 15 minutes…you’d have to be quite the fast learner.</p>

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<p>“Will ask a Korean student and get back to you. I’m guessing that role playing is becoming a recreational fad in Korea. Faux weddings are also popular. Getting together with a friend, and going to a ‘wedding cafe’ where they dress up as brides and have photos taken.”</p>

<p>Hmm. Given how trends seem to be moving now from East to West, I imagine that within a couple of years, those fads will have moved to the U.S.</p>

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<p>There’s no way I’d do this - I’m too claustrophobic. I’ve also seen too many “Night Gallery” to do something like this.</p>

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<p>Am also way too claustrophobic, though I did have the same MRI experience (with the same fears) as doubleplay (no tumors, but you should see the size of the cyst on one side of my head–all that empty space probably explains a lot…)</p>

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<p>Considering that the actual experience of dying usually does not include being conscious in a confined space, I don’t see the point.</p>

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<p>This is about the only thing American employers haven’t yet subjected their people to, in the efforts to “increase productivity”. Let’s hope itd doesn’t catch on here.</p>