Asa and the Rest of the World

Chapter 2: School

Chapter 2: School

School in France was quite the ride. That's where I learned English. I studied so hard that I thought my brain was going to explode, and there would be brains everywhere. I started studying English at the age of seven, and before I knew it, I was speaking fluent English at the sole age of ten. I am now fifteen with exceptional language skills. There would often be many fights in the school I used to attend over the topics of friendship and relationships in general. I remember always being annoyed and would often wonder, "Why do people act like this? What will fighting solve?" I guess this world will never shift into a utopia. If only it could.

I now attend a school in Korea called "진명여자고등학교" or "Jinmyeong Girls' High School." I can barely speak Korean, so you can already guess that making friends and understanding lessons is difficult for me, but I still manage. I made this really wonderful friend named 수아, or Soo-ah. I could see right away that she has this very bright and bubbly personality. I was so surprised when I found out that she could speak fluent English, including two other languages, French and Japanese! I was beyond happy that we could communicate well with each other. She told me her secrets to learning so many languages at once. Study efficiently and work hard. She has been studying these languages since she was 6 years old! Soo-ah has promised me that she would be willing to help me learn Korean. I only know "Hello" and "Thank you" in Korean so far, which is "안녕하세요" and "감사합니다." Hey, I'm making great progress. Okay, maybe I know more than just hello and thank you.

I sit alone in home room, doodling on my sketchbook cover while my classmates are conversing about the epic movie that just came out a few days ago. Soo-ah is in another classroom, so I always sit alone in homeroom. I'm fine with that, believe it or not, since I'm a major introvert, but can seem like an extrovert sometimes. Usually depends on the atmosphere around me. I finish doodling a cat when the teacher, Mrs. Kim, struts in with a pair of green glasses placed upon her nose. Even though I've been in Korea for about five years now, I know almost NO Korean whatsoever. Strange, right? Its just that my family and I have been back and forth between France and Korea that I can never really put time into studying Korean. Plus, I think it's just a very hard language to learn. I cant even pronounce the words properly yet. I'm not very smart in general, so that also can affect how much Korean I learn. I think it's so confusing how I was capable of learning English so fast, but not Korean. Maybe I'll get it one day, with Soo-ah's help. Mrs. Kim introduces herself, since this is the first day of 9th-grade, but I already know her since I've had her for 2 years before this. She's helped me with Korean pronunciation. She's one of my favorite teachers in this entire building.

While I was working on my class work, I hear footsteps heading in my direction. A pair of heels. No, three pairs of heels. I stop writing, and look up. Three girls look at me from head to toe with disgust plastered on their faces. They must be judging me.

"Excuse me, would you mind making room for us to walk? We can't get through." I quickly move out of their way, but then suddenly realize they could've just walked around me. I actually understood their Korean! I must be getting better at this.

"Sorry, I didn't know I was in your way," I stutter out in English. All three look at me with confused faces, and walk quickly out the room with force. I study there choice of hairstyles. It's the popular styles I always see around Korea. Are they the popular girls in this grade? I don't really wanna get involved with them. I've never seen them around school. Back in France, the popular girls acted like they owned the whole entire world. Hours pass and I find myself waiting for the bell to ring, clinging onto my folder and floral patterned pencil pouch. *RING!* The bell at last rings and I sprint out of the classroom, bumping into two girls, apologizing to both.