Xia of Tumen

Chapter 3

When Xia had finally learned to speak Korean, she started going to school. School in North Korea was different. Everything they told her was hard to believe. They said American's were evil, the Chinese and South Koreans were starving. She knew she hadn't been starving there. But, she wasn't exactly starving here either.

So Xia listened to what the teachers were saying and learned the songs, the whole time struggling to decide what was true and what wasn't. Finally it was lunchtime and Xia could take a break from all that school that made her brain work so hard.

Xia walked outside and sat on a bench near the playground. She pulled out a bowl of cold rice and a little fish. Her lunch. Another girl came and sat next to Xia.

"Hi. I'm Dasom. What is your name?"

"I'm Xia."

"You have a funny accent. Where did you come from?"

"I came from China. I only just now learned Korean. I guess that's why I have a funny accent."

Dasom's eyes got big, "From China? I've never met anyone from China!"

"Really?" Xia was surprised also, "But you live so close!"

"Yes, but we aren't supposed to go over there. Besides why would we ever want to?"

Xia had never really thought about that. "I don't know. I guess I just like it over there because that's where I came from."

"I guess. But you won't want to leave now that you have a friend! Right?"

"I guess not. I wouldn't ever be able to find my way home anyway!"

"Since you are done with your lunch now, Do you want to play a game?"

Dasom didn't even wait for an answer. She just grabbed Xia's hand and dragged her over to some other girls.

"This is Xia! She came from China! But now she lives here, and she loves it! Right?"

"Oh, uh... sure." Xia really only loved it as much as anyone could without their family. She could love any place with her family, but without them, she wasn't so sure. But one thing she was going to learn soon, was that to say she didn't like it, would be giving herself her own death sentence.

"Well Come on! Let's play! Kim-Il-sung gave us a playground so we could play in it!"

The bell rang for school to start again much too soon. But school didn't seem so terrible with a friend to do it with. Now it was time for the next subject. Ahh... Math. That was hard but simple in a different way.

Eventually, she did what any seven year old would have trouble not doing, she started to believe what she was being told, and China started going to the back of her mind.

But China was still there. Sometimes Xia would think of her mother and stare across the Tumen river into China. She would go back someday. But for now, she has a new family, Chung-Ae. She had new friends, though the one she was the closest to was Dasom.

Life in China was good, but was it better? What if the better life in China was a dream? Maybe Kim-Il-sung was a wonderful loving shepherd. Maybe. Maybe America was planning an attack. That was the easy part to believe, the hard part, was North Korea being the envy of the world. But maybe it was better here. Sure, everything is old fashioned, but what if the other stuff was a dream all along?

When lunch time had just begun, Dasom had walked outside from the school carrying her lunch. There was the strange new girl, sitting there all by herself. She looked so lonely. Maybe the new girl was from a different town, maybe even the capital, Pyongyang! They would be able to learn what it is like in other towns. Plus, she had the reddest hair Dasom had ever seen!

Of course Dasom was surprised when she heard Xia was from China, but she was less excited now.. She couldn't ask questions about China. She would be in big trouble! But the red hair was still interesting, and the accent! Xia didn't talk normally, and she was going to need a lot of help with the pronunciation! Xia was stumbling over every word. Still, she would make a good friend. Dasom could just tell.

Meanwhile, Xia was slowly believing more and more of what the Korean teachers told her, but still remembered China. Was her life there a dream, or was it really how she remembered? Everyone told her she was fortunate to be here.