Chapter 9

"So how was your first day?" my father asked us soon after saying grace. Since my brother looked like he was bursting to share his exciting day, I rolled my eyes at him to signal for him to go first.

"Well," he began, putting his fork down. "I think most of the Americans attend orientation during the summer because all the people in my orientation class were either foreign students or from out of state."

"Really?" my mom asked, sounding far too interested.

I looked away so that no one would catch the pity in my eyes. My mother was never the type to sit still in one place for long and I'd already seen how antsy she'd been getting the past week even though she'd been busy with unpacking and redecorating. But now that we were leaving her all alone during the day, there was no way she wasn't going to go out of her mind.

"Yeah, Umma." He beamed proudly. "I think I met someone from every single country in the world," he said, obviously exaggerating.

"Really?" I countered. "You met someone from Sao Tome? What about Kazakhstan?" I asked, showing off my ability to store useless information. If someone handed me a globe and asked me to point those countries out, I'd failed woefully.

"No," he replied, scrunching his nose, "but I met someone from Papau New Guinea. Ever met anyone from there?"

"Whatever. I'm sure there are some of them at my school. It's not called an international school for nothing," I replied before sticking my tongue out at him.

Dong Won chuckled before saying, "It wasn't too bad. Some of them were pretty cool and interesting. One girl I met said that she hosted a musical program in India and that she'd be going back to television after graduation. Also, this—"

"Dong Won ah," my father interrupted, "it's nice that you met all these people but don't forget that you have to make friends with the American students. A lot of children with influence attend your school so you have to make the right connections since this is their country. You can't get very far without connections here -don't forget that. Yes, be friendly with all these foreign students but form solid relationships with Americans – that's what will get you far. That's what will enable you to be successful."

From the corner of my eye, I looked at my brother and from the way he was glaring at my father, if looks could kill, 911 wouldn't be able to revive him. I could see his nose flaring and knew that he was struggling so hard to keep his cool and remain civil to my father. He took a deep breath then planted a fake smile on his face. "Umma," he said, facing her, "there are quite a few activities for parents as well. It looks like a lot of parents with kids from out of state also come to orientation so if you're not doing anything tomorrow, would you like to come with me? I was getting a little jealous of them," he joked.

Before my mother could reply, my father quickly dismissed the idea by saying that he was sure my mother would be busy.

"Doing what?" my mother asked without looking at him.

He shrugged. "I'm sure there's a lot to do at home."

"Like what?"

He turned to her angrily. "I don't know. But I'm sure there's a lot to do. Didn't you say that the DSL will be turned on tomorrow? Don't you have work to do for your practice? Since you'll be busy with that, how will you find time to go to his school?"

How typical. While my father discouraged my mother from keeping ties with her practice when she was still in Korea, he was now using it as an excuse in America. What was so special about sitting in the house doing nothing and if it was so great, why didn't he do it himself?

I glanced at my mother and saw that she was staring at him in stunned silence. When she finally recovered, she cleared her throat and said, "Dong Won ah, what time should I be ready?"



***



I walked into the cafeteria discreetly trying to cover up my headlights. With Ali's voice still ringing in my ears, I'd dressed lightly with only a baby tee and jeans but after spending all morning in fully air-conditioned classroom, my nipples were on full alert. They were so sharp that a few minutes earlier, I'd been quite hesitant about covering them with small bits of tissue paper for fear of drawing blood. Although I managed to get through the exercise without any cuts, I realized that the tissue only brought more attention to them.

With my upper arms covering my chest in a very unnatural pose, I scanned the room for anyone I knew. I'd seen Ali in one of my earlier classes but because she'd walked in late, I'd been unable to speak to her. I stretched my neck, trying to see every single corner of the cafeteria but I still couldn't find her. Bummed, I picked up a tray and walked up to the serving counter to get my food. Even though I still didn't know Ali well, it would have been nice to have someone to talk to.

A few minutes later, with tray in hand, I tried to figure out where to sit. Even though it was probably not something students at my school would willingly admit to, the cafeteria appeared to be racially divided with certain groups sitting in specific areas.

I scanned the cafeteria again, hoping to find an empty table but since luck appeared to be spending the day with someone else, I couldn't find one. So I took a deep breath and walked over to the right side of the room which populated by other Asian kids.

"Hi," I said before dropping my tray down. I began to sit, expecting to hear a ring of greetings in return but by the time my butt hit the seat, I hadn't heard a pip from them.

"Hello," I yelled. When they turned to me, I grinned and waved. "Hello, I'm new here. Nice to meet you," I said, starting to bow before thinking better of it.

They let out an array of anemic responses then went back to what must have been a riveting conversation.

Disheartened by the reception, I stared at my plate of potato au gratin and tried to decide what to do next. I couldn't believe that at that moment, I really would have loved hearing, "Oh Su Jin?"

I sighed and scanned the room but saw that there still weren't any empty tables. I took a sip of my diet coke and pondered my choices: I could either sit there and remain ignored or go to another table and possibly face more humiliation. I settled on the former and dug into my lunch. Two could play the game – I'd ignore them just as well as they ignored me.

As I sat and chewed, wondering if it would be okay to bring my own spices to school, I curiously glanced at the girls sitting next to me. They all appeared to be around my age even though they were obviously trying to appear much older. Other than covering their faces in what must have been war paint, it appeared that it was a club requirement to wear cleavage-revealing tops that unfortunately, for some of them, only revealed bones.

I was about to look away from them in disgust when I realized that there was something familiar about one of them. I subtly looked closely at her and racked my brain for where I recognized her from till it hit me: she was the ambassador's daughter.

I quickly jerked my head away and tried to ignore the unsettling feeling that was slowly coming over me. She wasn't someone I cared about or someone I'd really planned on becoming friendly with but I couldn't deny that it hurt that she hadn't acknowledged me. A little 'hi' wouldn't have killed her, would it?


I was reaching out for a paper napkin when I suddenly got the feeling that someone was staring at me. I turned around and immediately caught Ali's eye. She looked me up and down in a not too pleasant way, sent me a knowing look, shook her head then turned around. She was obviously annoyed at me but what had I done? I quickly stood up and wanted to chase after who could possibly be my only friend but regretfully stopped myself because I knew that I had to use the rest of my lunch break to email Min Ki.



***



The computer room was pretty packed when I got there and after waiting for a computer for a few minutes, I finally managed to get one next to some rowdy guys who refused to shut up despite numerous warnings from the attendant. I frowned at her and I sat in my chair. Why couldn't she just kick them out?

Blocking the sounds of them arguing about which Olsen sister was more 'bangable', I opened a web browser and quickly logged on to my email account. Amongst about 20 spam messages with weird characters in their headers, I found Min Ki's email.



Date: 14 August 19:08:37
From: "Ha Min Ki"
Subject: Re: I miss you loads!
To: "Oh Su Jin"





My Dearest Jinnie,

You said I reminded you of one of the characters in one of your romance novels? At first, I wasn't quite sure that I liked the sound of that but later on, I warmed up to idea and it's why I called you 'My Dearest Jinnie.' Of course you are very dear to me but saying it is a little sickening, don't you think? But now that I know that I am like one of those characters that women dream about, I think it's only fair that I play the part.

Okay, ignore everything I've just written – I'm just so glad to hear from you! You're going to write a super long email? I am looking forward to it. And I really hope you get your phone soon because I can't wait to hear your voice either.

Everything is fine here and my mother says hello. The last few days have been very strange because there are so many times I want to call you then I remember that you're no longer here. Why do you think I spammed you with so many emails?

School starts next week and I just can't wait till I graduate. Maybe when I do, I can visit you in America then you can take me to Pennsylvania Avenue and maybe we'll run into The President? What do you think? Hahaha… just kidding. Even if I sell all my organs, I still don't think I'd be able to afford a plane ticket. Which reminds me, I hope it's not too expensive to call from the U.S. and if it is, then I'll just do the calling.

Nothing much has been happening here. I've just been getting ready for school, I guess. Oh – you'd be pleased to know that my aunt just had a baby girl so you guys won the pool. My sister says that she'll be keeping your share till you get back but I think she's already spent it at the mall -serves you right for running to America. Na Young and Tae Ran were worried about you but I'll call them and let them know that you're okay but make sure you email them too.

Anyway, I really miss you. Even if you don't get internet connection at home, you can still email from school, right? That should be okay, too. I wish I could hold your hand right now but… oh well.



I miss you loads too,
Min Ki.



P.S.

I am going to ignore that you actually typed out the words "American boys" in an email to me.



I burst out laughing. American boys had nothing on him. With my face still in a huge grin, I quickly logged on to MSN. But as expected, he wasn't on. Damn, I sure couldn't wait till I finally had a working cell phone.