My project in Children's Novel Writing for Beginners course

Korea to America

By Anniegurumi

“In su ya! Breakfast is ready.” I heard mom from the kitchen.

“Morning, umma.” I took a seat, ready to eat.

“I made some rice and soup for your breakfast, hurry and eat. You don’t want to be late. Appa has gone to work already, he said good luck today.” She said as I look down at my food but I wasn’t hungry.

“I wish we were back in Korea,” I sighed and stared at my soup.

“You might find you really like it here, In Su. Everyone is nervous on the first day of school.”

“But, it’s not Korea. This is America. What if they don’t like me?”

“Everyone feels that way no matter what country you’re in.” She gave me a very big hug, that I didn't refuse.

The warm soup reminded me of home. A seaweed soup that is normally served on your birthday, miyeok gook is a favourite of mine.

“It’s not my birthday, umma.”

“It doesn’t need to be your birthday to have miyeok gook. Hope it doesn’t make you fart too much.” I couldn't help but laugh so hard my belly hurt.

“Umma!” I couldn’t stop laughing.

“I’m kidding, seaweed won’t make you fart. You’ll be fine, In-su ya.” She held my hand on the table and a wide smile appeared on her face.

I finished my meal and got ready to go. It’s a big day today, I stared at my green converse and wished I had new shoes to wear but they are the best pair I had. I grabbed my backpack and did a small wave towards my mom as I headed out the door.

“Bye! Have a great day!” said my mom as she closed the door.

I arrived at school. I felt very small standing in front of the massive doors. I went to my homeroom classroom and quickly found an empty seat to sit in.

“Good morning class and welcome to grade 6 friends! My name is Ms. Mitchell and I am your homeroom teacher for the year.” She smiled and looked at each of us as she continued on.

“I would like each of us to take turns and introduce ourselves. How about we start by saying our name, and something you like. I’ll go first! As you know, I’m Ms. Mitchell, this is my tenth year… Oh my goodness, ten years now, here at school. Something I like is baking. I make an amazing molten chocolate cake.” Some of the kids said yum and others nodded in agreement. Ms. Mitchell pointed at the student a few seats away.

“Hi everyone! My name is Mia, and I love drawing. I’m quite good at it too.” She laughed, I liked her already.
“Hey all, my name is Liam, I like video games. I play all the time. I wish I could play now instead of being here.” Liam made the funniest face I had ever seen. The entire class laughed.

Ms. Mitchell pointed at me, I stood up quickly and my backpack fell to the floor. My face felt hot, a few students giggled and I quickly placed it on my desk.

“Um. Hi, my name is In su. I also like video games and playing my cello.”

“In what?” someone from the back asked.

“What kind of name is that? Where are you from?” Liam tilted his head to the side.

A flurry of questions came and I shrunk into my seat and I felt embarrassed.

“It is so nice to meet you! In su is from Korea! How lovely. Class, we can ask questions later. Let’s get back to the introductions.”

I am relieved that Ms. Mitchell saved me from answering questions.

As I walked from class to class, it seemed everyone has their own set of friends. I saw a teacher hanging up something on the community board and he smiled at me. Missing the open locker in front of me, I ran right into it. Kids laughed and the teacher came over to see if I’m ok.

“Oof, are you ok? That was quite a hit,” he checked my head.

“I am so clumsy.” I tried to laugh it off.

“I am too, buddy. It’s all good. I was just hanging this up, we have a talent show coming up! Any talent is fine you should sign up!” he said with such excitement.

“I can play the cello.”

“Great! We are looking forward to hearing you play. Here’s a pencil. I am Mr. Garcia by the way. What’s your name, young man?”

“My name is In su.” I quickly wrote my name and my homeroom down on his sign-up sheet.

“Hi, Mr. Garcia! I’m going to sign up too!” It’s Mia from my class, I hoped I didn’t have a bump on my forehead.

“Mia, that’s great! What will you be doing for the talent show?”

“I think I’ll show people how to draw anime characters on a projector.”

“Awesome, Mia. We look forward to it!”

“Hi In su. That’s your name, right? Are you signing up for the talent show too?” Mia pointed at my name on the sign-up sheet.

I nodded my head.

“Cool. I’ll see you around. Nice chucks.” she kicked my shoes with hers and I noticed they are the same shoes in red.

The next thing I know, it is time to go home. The moment the door opened, I heard a rapid firing of questions.

“How was your day? Did you make friends? Do you like your teacher? Do you have homework?” I could not answer any of mom’s questions, I looked at the ground and slowly walked over to the sofa to sit.

“It was ok. Some kids laughed at me, I dropped my backpack, I think they don’t like my name.” I grabbed the Nintendo Switch, turned it on and slumped on the sofa.

“Our names sound strange to them. Don’t take it personally, In su ya.” She rubbed my shoulder but I just stared at my game.

“I signed up for the talent show, a girl from class also signed up too.” I didn’t look up from my game, my voice went a bit squeaky.

“A friend!” she clapped.

“Not a friend, umma.” I frowned.

“Ah, anyway. Don’t forget to log in for your cello lesson. Don’t keep your teacher waiting.” Mom placed the computer on our coffee table. I forgot that we had agreed to do video lessons until we can find a cello teacher here.

“Ok, umma.” I quickly unbuckled my case and took out my cello and bow.

“In su ya,” I heard a familiar voice from the screen. “How was your first day of school?”

“Hello, Mr. Park!” I took the deepest bow. “It was ok, I don’t have friends though.”

“I don’t think anyone can make friends on the first day! I never did.”

“I’m the only Korean here at school. I don’t think anyone will want to be my friend. I’m too different.” I hugged my cello and buried my face in my arms.

“The key in making friends is finding something you have in common.”

“Well, one of the kids likes video games and another likes to draw.” I hugged my cello a bit tighter.

“Every kid loves video games,” He smiled. “Let’s play some music. Do you have your Bach Suite ready? No. 1?”

“Yes, I have been practicing a lot. I want to be like Yo-Yo Ma! And… you.” I scrunched my eyes, many wrinkles appeared above my nose.

“Always polite,” Mr. Park chuckled, “Let’s play through the Bach suite now.”

I closed my eyes and played through the entire piece. Each note, saying everything I wished I could. How excited I am to be in a new place, how difficult it is to make friends, will I like it here in America? For a second, I forgot where I was.

“In su ya, you are very expressive, your playing is coming along. It seems you’ve grown a bit. Time for you to get a full-size cello soon. I remember the day when I got my full size. Do you know who this cello belonged to before me?”

“Me. Can I have it back?” I bursted into laughter. I’ve always wanted his beautiful old cello.

“Ah-ha! You have always been a funny one, In su. This cello was gifted to me by my cello teacher when I was just a bit older than you.” Mr. Park patted the body of his cello with a big smile.

“That is a special gift, Mr. Park. I… I signed up for the talent show at school, I said I would play the cello for it.”

“Great! Do you want to play Bach? Or try something else?”

“Do you think the Super Mario theme would be possible to play on the cello? It’s from a video game.”

“In su, of course, you can play anything on the cello.”

Over the next few weeks, Mr. Park and I had our lessons online and while it was challenging at times, I must admit how excited I was to play a song from a video game on the cello.

“How about you dress up as Mario as you play, In su?” Mom peeked into my room with her eyebrows raised.

“No! Umma! No!” I shook my head furiously at her.

“Just think about it! I’ll just buy it online in case you change your mind.”

And just like that, it’s the day of the talent show and everyone who signed up is backstage. Mia saw me and waved. She came over, looked at what I was wearing, and giggled. I instantly regretted my outfit.

“Hi In su. Nice chucks.” She kicked my shoes.

“Oh! Same colour!”

“I like your green ones! Now we match. Good luck today.”

“Thanks, Mia. Good luck to you too.”

Mia was first, she used a projector to show how to draw an anime character. Everything she did was on a giant screen behind her. The audience clapped as she took a big bow.

The next kid did a very impressive magic show. He took a cup of water and poured it into another cup. He turned both cups upside down, no water fell out! The audience cheered and clapped. As he came backstage he showed me both cups, one had a diaper rolled up in it. Clever.

A group of kids sang a rock song. Electric guitar, electric bass, and a drummer, the singer took the microphone and the audience got up and danced. I felt my breathing getting faster and I looked down again at what I’m wearing.

“Next, we have In su who will be playing on his cello. Let’s give him a warm welcome.” Mr. Garcia said and I stepped onto the stage.

The crowd started to laugh and pointed at me. I wore the Mario costume my mom bought. I sat in my seat, adjusted the endpin, and placed it on the floor. I put the cello on my chest and the bow in my right hand. I closed my eyes and reminded myself how much I love the cello, how much I love music.

It was so quiet I thought the audience could hear how loud and fast my heart was beating.

I thought to myself: Mario.

The familiar tune came from my cello, you know the one: “dun dun dun… dundunda…dun…” It happened so fast, I finished my song, my eyes still closed.

I heard the sound of muted cheers, I slowly opened my eyes to see people on their feet clapping. I am in shocked at what I see and suddenly the roar of the audience came full volume into my ears.

I moved my cello to my left side, took a very deep and long bow. I ran backstage and I felt that I’m floating, everything was blurry and suddenly I felt a kick on my shoe again.

“In su! That was so cool! Everyone loved it!” Mia was jumping up and down and almost screaming at me.

“I know! I mean, I don’t know!” I was also jumping and then I realised it was probably a very bad idea with my cello and bow in each hand.

“The costume,” Mr. Garcia has now appeared behind me, “was the cherry on top!”

“My mom made me.” My cheeks hurt from how much I was grinning.

“It’s perfect, In su!” Liam is outstretched his arm with a fist towards me.

“You know my name!” My mouth dropped.

“Yeah! In su, come on, Don’t leave me hanging here. Fist pump.” Liam was still holding his fist towards me.

“In su, like this! you make a fist and tap his.” Mia showed me a proper fist pump.

I carefully put the bow onto my left index finger and gently held my cello with the same hand. Curling my right hand into a fist, gently tapped his fist, and then Mia’s. My parents have now found me and they have wrapped me in a group hug.

“The costume was a good idea wasn’t it?” Mom showed me two thumbs up.

“We are so proud of you, In su” dad said as he showed Mr. Park, on video chat. He saw the whole thing! I felt a rush of warmth all over my body. Mr. Park said something but I couldn’t hear with so many people around. Mr. Garcia gave me a big wave from across the crowd of people, I gave him a big smile back.

Mrs. Mitchell came over and congratulated me and introduced herself to my parents. She looked at me and asked, “How do you feel, In su?”

I saw Mia and Liam across the sea of people, motioning at me to come over. I took a deep breath.

“I feel like this is going to be the best year ever”