Slowly opening my eyes, awoken by the loud strong voice of the pilot announcing we will be arriving soon. I turned to see my parents discussing our plans when we arrive. My mom’s name is Elizabeth and my dad’s name is Jonathan. My parents meet in college; they both major in business.  “Why must I have come here?” I thought. A shy bark brought me back out of my thoughts, Chubby my German shepherded puppy with white soft fur. It was his first time in an airplane and he was scared. As I comfort Chubby I remember my best friend Daniela. On my last birthday I received Chubby as a present from her. That day I would have never thought I would be on the other side of the world right now. I could feel my body ach and cramp up from the small space I’ve stayed in for almost 12 hours. The thought of being able to get off the plane and stretch joyed me, but I would be in a foreign country frightened me at the same time.
“We have just landed, welcome to Seoul, South Korea. Today is June 20, 2014, the time is 8:00 am, and its 30 degrees Celsius.” The pilot announced over the speakers as we were landing. As we exited the plane I studied every little thing in sight. Many things here are different than the United States. The language, style, food, and people are all different then back home. On the car ride to our new home I questioned myself  “Why am I here?” An answer I already knew, a week after my birthday my parents were given a promotion but had to go to Seoul, South Korea. It is a great opportunity for them so I could not say no, but I didn’t want to leave my life here. Now I’m here in a yellow taxi in an unknown world trying to understand what is happening outside. I wonder what each different sign that hanged outside of the little shops said and the advertisements said. Although I tried to study Korean the past month before we left Illinois, I was only able to pick up the basics. How am I supposed  to go to school that teaches in a different language.
The taxi pulled up to one of the tallest buildings around, the front side was made up of long windows. Our apartment was beautiful and with a lot of space, there was a master bedroom, my room, and a guest bedroom. The living room was all white and had a white long couch; the kitchen was next to the living room. I finished unpacking all my belongings around 3:00pm; I approached my parent’s room and asked them “Can I go around the neighborhood?”
My mom replied “Yes, just be back before dinner.”
As I walked down the street I observed everything, to make sense of what was happening. Soon I noticed I had no idea where I was. The street was very busy and crowded, so I entered a shop. I guessed it was a café because of the sign with a mug in front of the door. I approached the cash register to order something but had no idea how to order. The casher was boy; he seemed to be around my age. He was tall and had short black hair that was styled down. I asked him “Can you speak English?”
“Yes. How may I help you?” he replied with a smile
I was relieved that he could understand me, and then I ordered an iced tea. I sat down by a big window and watched the people passing by. Then I heard a voice out of nowhere “Can I sit here?”
Turning around I saw the casher and happily responded “Yes, go ahead”
“Hi my name is Kris. What is your name?” he asked as he sat down.
“Hello my name is Valeria.” I hesitated.
We talked for a while and got to know about each other. Kris lived in Florida for 3 years and he moved back to Korea 2 years ago, he is also 17 years old. I turned to check the time and it was already 9:00pm.
“Omg, I’m late!” I panicked, ran out of the shop without saying a word to Kris. I ran the way I thought was right and ended up in front of the building. I slowly opened the front door, trying not to make much noise. My parents were in the living room waiting for me with a worried expression. They yelled at me as they saw me enter the apartment. They told me I was not to leave the apartment by myself.
Mid-August was the first day of school; it started earlier then school back home. On the first day of school I woke up and put on my new uniform which every school has a uniform, a blouse with a jacket and a skirt. I had breakfast with my parents; they wished me luck as I was leaving. I was able to walk to school; my new school is close to my house which makes it easy to walk to school. I entered the office with all the teachers’ desks and was appointed to my new class. My homeroom introduced her and took me to the classroom. I found out before I came that students don’t move to different classrooms, but teachers move around. As I entered the classroom everyone’s eyes were on me, as if I was an alien. From the group of serious faces one person stood out, he had a familiar smile. The same smile I meet about two months ago. Kris was sitting in the back of the classroom next to the windows. I was introduced to my new classmates then given a desk to sit at. I sat in the back, one desk away from Kris. After class ended Kris came over and said Hi. Then a group of students surrounded me. They all asked many questions at the same time, English and Korean. I sat there with a blank expression trying to understand what they were saying to me. Kris then spoke in Korean to them, which I didn’t understand. They quieted down then one asked a question and Kris translated it for me. He asked “What’s your name?”
“Valeria Lopez” I replied.
“Where are you from?” a tall boy next to me asked.
“I’m from Illinois, United States” I stated.
“You don’t look American” a short girl said.
“I’m half American and half Mexican” I answered offended.
“Mexican! So you can speak Spanish” everyone responded shocked.
“Yes” I confidently responded.
Everyone was amazed and asked me to speak in Spanish; they also asked me many more questions for what felt like 3 hours. The next day a girl came up to me during lunch and sat with me. Her name was Suzy she was very nice and beautiful.
The next couple of weeks I got closer with Kris and Suzy. One day a group of girls from a different class came up to me “Stay away from Kris!” they coldly glared at me. I tried to ignore them but they began bullying me. They would write on my desk and make fun of me for being different. One day I exploded and decided to stop talking to Kris, and tried to avoid him. I was never bullied back home, my life is so different here. “I want to go back home” I thought as I played with Chubby.
Suzy heard of the group of girls who were bulling me, she told me to not let them bully me. That I should stand up for myself and tell them to leave me alone. When she told me that I realized that I should tell them to back off, if I want to be friends with Kris I should be able to. Soon I told them that and they were shocked and left me alone. Soon I learned Korean and knew the streets like the back of my hand. I didn’t want to leave to go back to the United States. Although I did miss my old friends I made new friends here, my home.