One trivial day during the winter break, I was lying on my bed reading a book (I cannot actually remember what book I was reading. Was it Romeo and Juliet or Emma?). Everything was so peaceful that day; the weather was sunny, my bed was cozy, and the only thing that I could hear was me flipping through the pages. Everything was so quiet that I was about to fall asleep. But before I could drift off, my little brother burst into my room yelling out my name. “Hey Jiyeon, you know what? One of my friends asked a girl out!”
This was such a trivial subject to discuss on a trivial day.
“He also gave her an 18K golden ring and asked her to marry him.”
“Okay… What’s the big deal there?”
“Duh, we are only 12 years old. We are still in elementary school! Do you seriously think this situation makes sense? You think he truly ‘loves’ her? You think a 12 year old boy knows anything about love and marriage?”
“Well, the golden ring part, that is sort of funny. Where did he get the money to buy the ring?”
“Jiyeon! That is not the big issue! 6th grader, who knows nothing about love, proposed to a girl giving 18K golden ring!”
“Then, what’s the big issue? I don’t get it. Even babies know about love.”
“What? Babies? Yeah whatever! Of course they love their mother. Never mind… Never mind! It’s me who’s dumb trying to talk with you! Oh god, she’s driving me crazy!”
Maybe it was the weather that made me react so dully. I, however, was not fooling around joking with my brother. Romeo and Juliet, they were 14 years old, only two years older than my brother. I thought the proposal was bit funny, but the action itself was the boy’s pure, sincere love. I closed my book and searched through a box where I keep all the letters I’ve been receiving since I was a baby. It took me a while to find the letter that I was looking for; a Valentine’s Day card from a boy whom I’d had a crush on.
When I first went to America in the winter of 1999, I was only 5 years old. I knew nothing about English or the American culture. All the kids in my class were friendly enough to let me in to their own little society. But, the problem was that I could not talk with any of them. They started to look at me as if I were a weird person from outer space. I felt like a monkey in a zoo. I was a weird stupid Asian girl who only knew how to say “hello” and “yes”. I hated going to school; I fought with mother almost every morning. The fights, however, soon ended when I met this boy named Louis.
One morning, I got on the school bus as usual. I used to sit in the second row of, but that day, the bus was too crowded, so I had to go to the back. There, I saw a boy sitting alone, shining because of the sunlight coming through the back window. I do not know where the courage came from, but I and sat next to him. It was too obvious that I could not say a word to him for the next 20 minutes on the bus. I could not even figure out what his name was, but that boy mysteriously slid into the school with the other bunch of other kids as soon as the bus arrived at school.
It was during Spanish class that I figured out the boy was in class 2, sharing the same period and class with my own. Unfortunately, I had to take the ESL course instead with two other Asian kids. I asked my ESL teacher if I could move to the Spanish class. She said if I finished the ESL course, which would take a whole full year, I could. I asked again if I could finish the course earlier and go to the Spanish class. The teacher said it would still take about six to eight months. I could not think of anything else but taking the same class with that boy I’d met on the bus.
I studied hard. The last thing that I wanted was to do so, but I tried my best. After my hard work, I finished the one year course in only 4 months. I memorized 500 essential vocab in a week and solved all the practice question in our work book in a month. I also memorized all the lines in the Disney animation movies; such as, Lion King, Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Tarzan. In few months, I was able to have a good command of English. I was as fluent as the other students. I was so eager to talk to the boy that I had fallen in love with.
The first day I attended the Spanish class, I got to sit next to the boy. That was when I got to know his name, Louis. Every Spanish class we sat together and had some meaningless nonversations. I felt sorry to my Spanish teacher; her words did not actually reach my ears. I was too busy talking with Louis. I was motivated by his existence; I wanted to show him that a stupid Asian girl, who did not even know about English, could do something.
At last, we were dating. Looking back at the time, what we did was just child’s play, but at that time I was very serious. We played in the playground together pushing each other on the swing. We made snowman together when it snowed. We were always together during school field trips to: Johnny Appleseeds Park, Goodell Family Farm, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Sea World, and Six Flags. We made chocolates together on the next Valentine’s Day. I was too excited to go to school every day. I was too happy to cry while watching a sad movie.
On Valentine’s Day I received a card from Louis, the card that I still keep in my letter box:
“Dear Jiyeon, I like your Corean? like things. You are pretty. I love you. Happy Valentine’s Day! From Louis”
These short sentences took up all the space of the tiny card; Louis’s handwriting was humongous. The alphabet “J” was written right-side-left. It might have been too difficult for a 6-year-old boy to use the word “atmosphere” instead of “things”. He did not know the spelling of “Korean” he spelled it “Corean”.
I remember how I just laughed crazily after receiving this card. I studied so hard to satisfy the standard of American kids to get the title “smart girl”. My boyfriend, however, was not that smart; he did not even pay attention to his or my grades and processes. He liked me because I was “Jiyeon Kim”, not because I was a super smart Asian kid who had overcome her difficulties. He did not care if I mastered the ESL course in just four months or could memorize all the lines in Disney animations. I just laughed and laughed and laughed reading the card over and over.
Even now, after more than 10 years have passed, I sometimes read this card and laugh at how foolish I was. Children, especially younger ones, do have the feeling of love and their love is more sincere that of adult’s. They do not have any reason for liking someone. They just like others because it is the other him or herself. Adults care about a person’s social and political status, but children only care if they truly like one another in their heart.
I had to come back to Korea and that was the end of our relationship, but this relationship between Louis and I would last forever as a good memory.
I closed the card that I’ve been reading. It folded into a shape of heart. I smiled. I was about to put that Valentine’s Day card back into the box. But before I could place it back, my little brother burst into my room yelling out my name.
“Jiyeon, sorry that I lost my temper. I didn't mean it.”
I did not care if he apologized to me or not; I was not mad at him. I thanked him that he burst into my room right at the moment, because I was ready to tell how little children love each other.
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To Mr. Garrioch
I couldn't find Louis on Facebook since I do not know his last name (a tragedy) T,,T
And the Valentine's Day card is in my home not in my dorm, so I couldn't take a picture of it
