English Reading) "To Learn Chinese as an Engineer" free audio book, online, story, study Mandarin
To. Learn Chinese, is an engineer. Prologue. There. Has been no doubt that it was difficult to learn Mandarin Chinese, as an engineer, and even as an Asian boy. This. Book is to show you how I prepared, moved to Beijing and studied, Chinese, for over, one year. The. Result, was that I started as, a beginner, and eventually, finished as an advanced, Chinese, speaker, in II level at Beijing, language, and culture, university, relatively, faster, than the other people. This. Book describes, what the motive to begin learning Chinese, was in what kind of environment could, be good for linguistic improvement. Meanwhile. You will have a second, hand experience. To travel, to many places in, China Inner Mongolia the, borders, of North Korea and China and, Tibet with good friends I. Like. To be called Korean, gypsy travelling, like a nomad, singing, and dancing with the free song I. Carry. A portable speaker time, to time to sing with friends, in open areas such as a park or mountains. Whenever. There is a party, my friends, don't forget inviting. Me because they remember me as a Korean, boy singing, with a shouting, voice and with bad vibration. Even in a sober state I. Just. Like singing with friends, although I know I am NOT good at singing. Now. Here, in Europe I am looking at the world covered, with white snow. And meanwhile. I am editing this insane. It. Already has been six, years and a half since I moved to Europe. Wow. Time, flies and. This. Essay, was written exactly, ten, years ago. Ten. Years ago I wrote this essay on Christmas, Eve in Toronto, Canada I, am. So lucky to have lived in Asia America, and Europe. Where's. Next. Why. Did you hate engineering. Students. After. Finishing a language, course at VLC, you and, about. A half year passed now I am hitting the keyboard at one night in Christmas, season. Was. The laptop, silver, or black then. My. Memory also becomes, it's fainted, silver. Did. I leave the laptop, at home or at my brother's I. Will. Find it in the future. There. Are lots of photos, of happy, memories, that I made while travelling as a gypsy. Are. You a traveler. Oh well. Are. You a linguist. Absolutely. Not are you a sports, maniac. Kind. Of I like sports. Don't. You want to settle down I want. To do. My. Major in university. Was electrical, engineering, I. Graduated. From the University in. The ninth semester, although other friends, graduated. Normally, in eight semesters that. Time. I was happy to graduate in the ninth semester. Because I loved and wanted to study engineering more. I. Liked. That joy when I found a cause of the semiconductor, malfunction. In the small quality, control, lab or when I fixed, a programming. Bug overnight, and came back home, with the chirping, sound of morning birds. There. Were two senior, friends, who majored in liberal arts, every. Dinnertime, or whenever they drank beer they always called only engineering. Students, to their room and ignored it's like dirty dogs. They. Look down on us because they said that engineering. Students, had a low level of conversation and. Language, ability, and sometimes, even abused, us. Even. Though there was the same age of students, of liberal arts at the boarding, house they forced the engineering. Students, to do trivial, and dirty works. Ah what. TF I insisted. That the economic, growth of Korea for a long time had been based on engineering. And the manufacturing. Industries, which were the main source of the cash cow for Korean, business, contemporarily. Were also, based on engineering. Nevertheless. They, rather cursed, me intensely, that I was impolite and ill-mannered, as a stupid, engineering, student. Since. Then I started reading. Books as, randomly, as I could like mat regardless. Of genre such, as novel, essay arts, music history, philosophy psychology.
And, Etc. Whatever I saw at. The. Same time I began to catch up with English books in order to prove that these senior, friends, were totally, wrong having a prejudice, about low language, skills, of engineering, students. When. It comes to studying a language I memorized, and memorized, English, vocabulary and. Grammar again and again at the library, and. I. Studied, hard at home according, to the existing, way of studying, English disciplined, by previous, teachers, and professors. But. My English ability, had not been improved vividly. Something. Seemed to be wrong, unfortunately. There. Was nobody who could advise me on my 4 language, level. Then. One day I got a fresh shock when I accidentally. Read the book do not study, English, at all I, was. Totally awakened. At the moment. This. Is right, there. Are a lot of things for me to say about language, study but let me save some words here in the prologue for later. There. Will be a serious, criticism. Of the wrong education. System, in Korea somewhere. In this essay, I. Have. Not seen those senior, friends again, there. Will be rare chances, to meet them but I would like to argue with them. Why. Why. Why. Did you ignore and, scold the engineering. Students, that time I, would. Say go to hell. Anyway. Thanks, to these senior, alumni, I got angry so that I have read lots of books furiously. And started, to seriously study, English, and. By. Chance I incidentally. Read an impressive, book written my role-model and went to China across the West sea and. I. Was brave to move to Canada for another challenge. Currently. My brain and body are mixed in verbal and cultural, aspects, and. I. Am happy to have a European, girlfriend. She's. Wonderful. Back. To the time in Toronto I received, a movie ticket and a pair of gym pants, as gifts for Christmas from, homestay, family. I, ate. Plenty, of sweets for a dessert, and was having time to recall the whole past years lying on the bed peacefully, in my room. Happy. Times in China and Canada ran, well like a movie, film without buffering I. Got. Up from the bed suddenly. Well. What about writing a book about the journey in China and Canada I. Thought. It would be good to make a memorable, recollection. With pictures, and writings, and to produce an outcome that could recall memories, for me possibly, for other people, to read at any time and anywhere I. Got. More excited than seeing read movies. What. Could be the title. What, story should I write I, started. To think about essay, materials, I, turned. On my laptop, and, ran the Excel program I. Listed. Up the title candidates. And articles, it. Was, really convenient, to use the laptop computer for writing. Being. Born in the digital age is so lucky. Then. I stood up overnight designing. The structure of the book and greeting Christmas. Hi. Santa. Merry. Christmas. Study. In China plus, study in Canada, this choice was a silent, but valuable hit, like in baseball, I. Was. Safe, at the first base. Since. I was safe at the first base people, paid attention to, me and started, cheering for me. Even. The opportunity to, steal the second, base was given I got. A chance. We. Who were born without a gold spoon silver. Spoon or bronze spoon, are super, busy paying the monthly rent the banking, interest living expenses, and so on. It. Is a glass wallet, that our salary, which we receive after working hard at days and nights disappear. Very quickly just, leaving, a record that the salary, entered, and went out all after, paying tax bills, and mortgage loan. However. In order not to live as a dirt spoon permanently, we should do something but it is still not easy to do.
There, Are a lot of thing binding, is entangled, I don't. Want a homerun I, just. Want to step on that first base after a small hit I. Walk. Into the batter's box with, nervousness, it is. Very scary. Standing. Upright at the box I look at the pitcher with a sense of vacancy, a. Fastball. And a slide came, the. Balls took all my soul out and it is already two strikes. What. Am I supposed to do, the. Pitcher, bravely throws, a ball in the middle of the box to make three strikes. It's. A chance a chance ball. I. Swing. The bat with full energy. Swift. Hit the ball passes, between first and second, base. It. Seems to be a hit a hit by a dirt spoon and a hit by a poor gypsy. There. Will be no regret, even if I run and die at the first base I. Run. To the first base to the death I, step. On the base and look at the umpire to check the sign. He. Spread his arms vertically. Calling, safe, it. Is a hit by a dirt spoon. Now. I'm writing a story of this dirt spoon, in Korean, gypsy, who has traveled, to many places in, China Inner Mongolia near, North Korea, and Tibet by himself, and. All. Write a story, about the positive, possibility. That anybody, can be happy although he or she has suffered from trouble and agony, in life, I've. Never. Expected, a big hitter jackpot, in lotto. However. I presume, that traveling, with fun is much better than doing gambling, in an enclosed, casino. The, dream of a Korean, gypsy begins, in a dormitory, in, Gyeonggi, province Korea. Gold. Spoon a top class of people who inherited. A big amount, of fortune, from parents, metaphor, they were born with a gold spoon in chopsticks, given, by their parents, in their mouth. Silver. Spoon a middle class of people who inherited. A proper, amount of fortune, from parents, in their mouth bronze spoon, a low class of people who inherited. Almost, nothing, living fine. Dirt. Spoon a poor and miserable class, of people with debtor poverty. Korea. The. Beginning of change. Books. Prohibited. For workers. I started. To read the non-possession. Written, by a monk beep Jane. It. Was a book that anyone, must have read in high school in Korea. For. A long time the words of the book still give a lot of enlightenment, to me I. Was. Reading a book quietly, in the living room on Sunday, morning, when a roommate, asked, me what book are you reading ah. It is non-possession, by the monk beep Jane. Really. Be. Careful, that. Book is prohibited. For workers from reading. Ha. Ha ha a. Book. Prohibited. For workers from reading I laughed at it loudly. According. To the friend when readers read this book they might feel the fact that they possess excessively. Too much and their motivation. To work with likely, to deteriorate. No. Possession, no possession. My. Roommates, saying was right, I was. Possessing, too much more than I needed. As the. Company was located in, the south of Gyeonggi, province there. Were many opportunities for. Me to read books on buses, heading to and from Seoul the capital of Korea on. The. Way to meet a friend in Seoul I often, dropped by a bookstore, in Gangnam, I, used. To wonder there like a hyena desperately. To look for food in. The. Bestseller, list I found a book written by an actress, kim hyeyeon do, not be children even with flowers. Flower. Means, beauty, and beating is an activity for punishment. It. Seemed to be an inconsistent, phrase, but this unique title, already captured, my attention. There. Were a lot of parts in the book here and there to be pathetic and. The. Book helped me to understand, the global poverty, issue which was not known commonly before. The. Photographs. Were too much realistic. I. Purchased. The book without hesitancy. I, started. Reading the book from the scratch again in a subway. It. Was so addictive, that I couldn't stop I. Continued. Reading it on the subway going from Gangnam, today Achra i. Already. Had a blush on my face by sadness in. The. End drops of tear fell through my cheek, I was. Busy wiping, my tears on, the subway, fully packed with the crowd. The. Lives of refugees. Couldn't be such miserable. Compared. To them I was so lucky and happy to have something more. If. You had something to eat in your refrigerator clothes. To wear and a house to block the rain your living would be better than 75%. Of, the people on the earth I. Realized. That I had been living in over luxury. Flowered. Mercilessly. Beaten my heart again and again to wake me up from greed I, bought. A book written by an activist, Han via a long time ago, on. New. Year's Day I visited, my hometown, and took the book with me whose title, was travel, log in China. When. I was in college I was attracted, by that book and also heard about some people who went to China impressed, and motivated, by the book I. Think. Handia has a wonderful. Ability, if. You read her book your courage will rise and the blood of your enthusiasm.
And Passion will, boil in your body I. Recall. The language course, of liberal arts which was of three credits, in college. One. Professor mentioned like this. You. Would cry in and laugh out if you learn German. You. Would laugh and cry, out if you learn French. What. About Chinese. You. Would cry in and cry out to in. Some. Ways Chinese, had similarity. To Korean, so you might laugh at the beginning. But. Once you started studying you would be frustrated. By many Chinese, characters. Even. If you memorize Chinese. Characters. And Chinese intonation, harm, but after a few days your brain would be reset, and initialized, because, humans memory is innately volatile. And while. Rushing, toward the intermediate, and upper level of Chinese language, you would fall in despair because, of the difficult, ridden Chinese, and countless dialects. You. Would get depressed and generally, give up learning Chinese, at that stage I. Got. Three strikes struck out by three books non-possession. Do not be children even with flowers, and travel. Log in china which were metaphorically. Banned for salaried, employees. One. Spring day I quietly, submitted, my resignation, letter to, my boss and told him I wanted to go to China also, wanted to learn different cultures I. Needed. To be brave and courageous but, I was still a beginner to do well to say goodbye. It. Was hard for me to say goodbye to my colleagues, and couldn't help but feel sorry for my colleagues, who were the smiley, angels with hidden wings. They. Always cheered me up and treated me as a valuable, person, although I didn't, deserve it. They. Gave me a gift box with a postcard. With cheering messages. It. Was. A pair of high-quality black. Sneakers. The. Pair of shoes meant that I wore them and walked on the world bravely, and energetically. My. Face was blushed and a farewell dinner and I tried to hide my tears for, the gratefulness. Because. We give a meaning, to somewhere, somewhere, becomes, a place of our own memory. That. Postcard, in sneakers, already, gave me the strength to begin my journey I. Carry. Them all the time in my bag I, tighten. The straps of sneakers, and get ready to start the first step on the journey with. My. Short and short legs, I will walk across the ground of world until the sneakers, bottoms, get worn out. Let's. Do what I want to do. Even. If I know I would regret sometimes. I'll try first and then regret it later. Isn't. It already Pleasant, that I can leave for somewhere while other friends, are hesitant, to do ah. My. Heart is pounding.
Yoshii, Ones rooftop, is my private stage. Shower. Rooms, and toilets are mostly shared. The. Room size is 3 to 12 square meters generally. I. Ate, country, boy moved, to Seoul the capital, of South Korea, for an academic purpose. Some years ago I. Was. Proud to live in a capital, whose population. Was over 10 million, I. Sometimes. Boasted. Of my living in Seoul to my hometown friends. I. Wanted. To be a city boy I, used. To make up to look like a sophisticated. City man. But. I couldn't, avoid having an aura of a country, boy I packed. A cosmetic, mask sheet, and I tried to put BB cream on my face to, look like an urbanite. It. Seemed, not much effective. Currently. I feel fine to be called a country, boy and moreover I sometimes, asked, my friends, to call me country boy. Thanks. To my itchy feet, I have wandered a lot of cities in the world. Wherever. I go I feel like home I said. Already, the second, hometown in the third hometown, and I. Am looking for the fourth hometown, a. College. Friend asked, me. Isn't. It time to settle down you should be good to my parents by, settling, down I replied, to him. Can. I just postpone, it for a while I, will. Settle down someday. However. There are too many things to do so, the. Priority, to settle down is constantly. Pushed back in the list I. Did. Not own a house in Seoul, so I had a thought that I might temporarily, stay, at friend's house. However. I suddenly, changed, my mind to stay in goshiwon. I just. Had two months before going, to China and I didn't want to disturb my friends. In. Addition, I had well lived in go she won before. Furthermore. It would cost a lot of money to study abroad so it would be nice to save, in advance as much as possible. It. Was just a coincidence, that I chose a shilling, dong ware was famous, as an examinee, district. While. I was worrying, about where, to stay for two months I saw a map of Seoul Subway and simply, went to shillin dong I. Walked. Out of shil and dong subway, station, and selected, one room of a goshiwon, where the indoor facilities, looked fine, in, the. Narrow goshiwon, room a very tiny, space remained, for me to lie down after I unpacked my, luggage. Wow, it's so small. But. My dream was much big instead. Whenever. I return to goshiwon after, Chinese classes, at Gangnam station, in the morning I headed straight to the roof of the goshiwon. The. Reason, was like this. Due. To the poor environment. Of the goshiwon, I couldn't, practice Chinese. In the room. I easily. Heard, the sound from the next room I, could. Hear all of the sounds such as bed creaking, slipper, dragging, computer, keyboard, beating, kissing, with a girlfriend, and also, air breathing. It's. Better to study on the rooftop, without being sorry for other people, I. Felt. Comfortable to, make a loud sound freely, on the roof I. Shouted. And repeated, Chinese sentences. I learned that day. You. Can imagine the view from Seoul Shin Lyme dong a go she won a rooftop, and a young boy who's shouting and singing alone towards, the sky desperately. Can. You draw a picture. Daily. Reading Chinese books loudly turned, into big fun. The. Rooftop, of goshiwon, had become my own in private, stage. Furthermore. A spectacular view. Of the springtime with cherry blossom, in a nearby park, was an additional, gift while studying. It's. So beautifully. White in pink the, warm, wind blowing, on the roof always, smiled at me. China. One minor, league as. Always. Like the first time. My, favorite phrase was always, like the first time, it's. A title of a song and, it's also a phrase written on the cloth in calligraphy, which my previous, company president, gave me as a gift when his company got bankrupt, as. Always. Like the first time I. Remember. Clearly the first day of leaving, for Beijing.
The. Tension, caused by a new challenge, gave me positive, energy I, could. Feel the relativity, of the length of the time when I was in a tense and difficult, moment. Although. It took about two hours to get to Beijing Airport I felt like a full day had passed because, of a lot of thoughts plans, and anxieties, came up to my mind as. I. Stepped out of the arrival, exit, of Beijing, Airport, I looked for a signboard which, was supposed, to be held by my agent an. Uncle. Looking man who might be in his late 40s, was holding a signboard in, Hong Kong I. Approached. Him he was. Holding the signboard upside. Down it, was. Fair for him not to know anything, about Korean, language, as a native, Chinese person. I. Helped. Him to flip the sign over. The, agent, looked like a country, farmer. He. Was the first civilian, who I met in China I, tried. To talk to him in Chinese. Firm. Erm um um. It. Was difficult to understand. What he said I, listened. To him again with full concentration but. I failed again. Don't. Give up I tried. To talk with him with the help of an electronic. Dictionary about. The economic, effects of joining WTO, and, the Beijing, Olympics, which were contemporary. Issues, that time I. Wondered. How to say the Olympics, and WTO. In Chinese, oh. No. It. Was my fault, I chose. To difficult, conversation. Topics, which were far beyond my ability. There. Had been nobody who, mentioned, to me there were countless dialects. In China I. Was. Shocked by the fact that even Beijing, the capital of China had a dialect. If. You consider, the size of Chinese, territory. You would think it is natural that there might be multiple dialects. In China. China, covers, one quarter of Asia's area and one 15th of world's area positioning. The world's, third largest land. Area. Yes. It was like that, there. Exists, a variety, of dialects. In China. Haven't. I experienced. I felt strange, when talking to a person coming, from another province in Korea. If. You are a Chinese, learner the existence, of various dialects. Will be a part of the frustration for, listening comprehension in. The near future I. Had. A chance to talk with the locals, in a small city located, in three hour driving distance. Only. A short sentence, came and went between us and I found out it was almost impossible to, communicate. We. Had a miserable, conversation. That. Time I sensed, there'd be a long way to study Chinese, I. Should. Buy a drill and drill my ears to help accelerate, my listening, skills. It'd, be good if the drill could be the solution for understanding. Plenty, of dialects. Unlike. Other days only, one student through that agent, arrived in Beijing today which was me solely. It. Seemed, he drove his private, car. While. He's driving I was surprised, by the size of the roads. The. Width of the roads heading to the city of Beijing, with really wide. Billboards. With advertisements. Of Korean, companies, were often, caught in my eyes. The. Sunshine, was very strong, and, it. Was so hot I heard. That in China there's a regulation, that workers, should stop working and rest if the temperature, exceeds 40 degrees.
While. I had been living in China, even on a hot summer day the high temperature. Was forecasted. As 39, degrees, I. Had. Not seen 40 degrees at all. Isn't. It a cheap ki. 39. Degrees of summer at Beijing language, and culture, university an. Exam. Is always thrilling, I had. No information about, the level test in, what. Kind of form would the test be, would. There be a written test. What. Questions, could I be asked if there'd be an oral test, I, should. Have investigated. Beforehand. Before I came to China. Laziness. Was always a problem on, the. Way to the exam, place I saw people from dozens, of countries. Wow. If. You looked at the different, hair colors, and the different skin, colors, you'd realize the craze for learning, Chinese, all over the world. It. Was interesting, to hear Chinese, spoken by Westerners, it. Was. Awkward. One. Day a Mexican. Friend asked, me. Do. You know what a banana is. Isn't. It a tropical, fruit. No. Look, at that, those. Friends over there are bananas who are different, in appearance and, the language, he said we had to peel the skin to know the inside. There. Were a lot of bananas. The. Number of imported, bananas, can be an example of the craze for learning Chinese. The. Exam, supervisor. Asked, me I. Didn't. Know that the studying, period, was an important, factor in the decision for levels, I. Got. B-plus class. There. Were eight b c, d e and, f classes, so my level was just above the beginners, level I. Was. Happy that I got B+ level, in spite of the short period of studying. The. Teachers, were great, one. Grammar teacher and one conversation. Teacher were in charge of my class. The. Grammar teacher was a professional. Teacher and the conversation. Teacher was a graduate, student of the same College. Especially. The grammar teacher was example, bomber. Many. Examples, were given in detail. Generally. Beginners, can't easily understand. Chinese grammar. However. If you listen to her explaining, repeatedly. With a lot of examples, you'd become to understand, it eventually. She. Must have been one of the great masters, in grammar. No. Matter how good you are there's always someone. Better. Running. Man greater than walking man flying man greater than running man and enjoying, man greater than greater than flying, man if. You. Enjoy the speed to master, a language can be much accelerated. I. Can. Say I enjoyed, a lot regarding, Chinese, I, was. Like a person, who was drugged up. Daily. For hours of from 8 a.m. to. 12 o'clock was, happiness recharge, time. Especially. Every. Moment, that I got understood, by Chinese, teachers, was extremely. Exciting, to me. Sexual. Pleasure couldn't, be compared. Whoa. It, was. Fun to be there. Even. If Chinese language, virus, dominated. The classroom, the classroom, for 10 minutes of a break turned into another world of another language. It. Was. An English classroom. More. Than half of my classmates, were, english-speaking. Although. We were in Beijing to learn Chinese, we couldn't ignore the importance, of English in. Addition. There were many multilingual. Speakers I. Envied, them I, couldn't. Help envying them. Would. The day of being multilingual, also. Come to me, I'd. Like to believe it. After. The class the Sun became my good friend in the 39, degrees, of weather. My. Skin was dark enough but the Sun might have wanted me to have darker skin. It. Was, a feeling of being cooked by heat in the oven. However. The refreshing, feeling of going home after a good class made my footsteps, light. The. Energy of positive, thoughts was my comeback homebody. It. Was a cool summer for me in happiness despite, the high temperature. Inner. Mongolia frog. When's. The last time, I saw the stars, in the sky I, didn't. Know until I arrived, in Mongolia, that the skies full of stars. We've. Been busy every day without any moment, seeing the sky. What. Are we so busy. Let's. Catch a star. Inner. Mongolia is. A land of high latitude, and also a high altitude it is cold even in summer when the Sun Goes Down and, it gets really cold by 90 I. Wanted. To get ready for the cold before, departure, for Inner Mongolia. It. Was not easy to find winter, clothes in the summer of 39, degrees I.
Visited. Three large stores, and I ran through every corner of stores. Later. Than I could find only a long sleeve of shirts. But. An overall code their jacket, wasn't seen, how. Could I do with the cold in Inner Mongolia I, was. Worried I took. A group bussed to Inner Mongolia. Meadow. Yellow, Hill came into my eyes, the. Scale got bigger in, the. Daytime the land was heated with the strong sunlight and in the evening the land went cold drastically. Below zero like a metal pot. After. The dinner party, we went out of a Mongolian. Tent grabbing, a bottle of beer. I paused. For a moment and watched the sky. It's. Awesome, the. Stars glittered beautifully. The. Stars look very big, and seemed to be right in front of my nose I. Thought. It would take a lifetime to count the stars one by one. We. Had been watching the sky together for, a while and then we started, chit-chatting, in sets of two to three people. The. Wind blew cold. Unfortunately. I was wearing shorts without any jacket. Girls. Started, crying out for the cold. The. Nice view was the nice view but nobody wanted, to die of the cold. We. Came back to the tent in a hurry. We. Began to sit around in the tent and talk and talk. The. Laughter, didn't stop, the. Topic, covered from a simple, thing to a complicated. One such as a life plan and dreams. We. Didn't recognize how, the time flew that night, my. Skin felt the cold air if, there's. No alcohol I'd, freeze, to death. Alcohol. Is beneficial, time, to time in life, the. Next day dawned bright. The. Sun shined all over the place. The. Horizon, was far away there, the. Color of the horizon changed. From green to lime-green and to white and to gray. The. End of the horizon, was like the line, the. Early morning air was very refreshing. Clean. Air poured into every, corner of my lung and made my somatic, cells happy. It's, a clean oxygen tsunami. Some. Friends, went riding, a horse. Meanwhile. We headed to the nearby lake, as we. Got closer to the lake the smell of horse discharged, attracted, us more. Our. Nose, was amused by the smell of goop as, the. Surrounding, area was a wetland, so frogs ran randomly, around here. David. Emmett my roommate, Kay and I went on a hunt for a Mongolian. Frog I. Had. Never expected, to hunt frogs in my life, even. In Inner Mongolia. I searched frogs hiding, under the stones. At. First I tried to catch them without any tool but I found out that it was not easy to grab them. We. Were so fat, we're. Homo sapiens, descendants. Let's. Use a tool, we. Found some plastic, bottles and we cornered, Mongolian. Frogs by making, noise from all directions. When. The frogs approached, the target point we captured, the frogs with the plastic, bottles. Success. I got. Two frogs. Wow. So ugly, the frogs whose skin colour was mixed with green lime, green and red were mysteriously. Ugly. Were. They fashionistas. Or individualistic. Trendy, frogs. We. Proudly, showed the frogs to our female, classmates. We. Acted immaturely, like little boys, after. Show off for a while we released the frogs. Thanked, Mongolian. Frog, we. Appreciated. It to you for playing with us on a boring morning. Bye. Salute. If you, saw the prairies, of that vast Inner Mongolia you, might have had an urge to run. You'd. See the natural running, tracks, over the prairies. Four. Of us decided, to run, the. Starting, point was the hilltop, and the finish line with near the lake.
It. Was well over 100. Meters. Three. Two one go. Have. Those friends, run fast before. They. Ran like athletics, oh and. There were poops all over the place, I was. Busy avoiding poops, and jumping over wet spots. You. Can guess it was a messy, game I did. My best to catch them up but I wasn't good enough I. Was. The last, it. Was the running race sponsored. By Mongolian. Frogs. Shrine. Baked do mountain in the first meeting with North Korea. One. Month of summer semester. Was over. Some. Friends, continued, another summer, session, in the following month some friends, planned traveling, and the other friends, immediately returned. Home I. Always. Get indecisive. To decide where to go because, there are too many places to visit as. A. Nomad, and a gypsy I couldn't, miss such a good opportunity to, travel. The. Destination. Was a challenge, I, picked. Up some cities. What. Could be the route. Heading. To north south west or, east, the. Answer, was easy I had. Had a dream to go to one specific, place in China since the time I came to China. It, was mountain bait dude it's. The holy mountain, which appears, in the lyrics, of our national, anthem. Donkey. Mogilev baked us a nine I got. To go there, it's. My destiny to, be there I, was. So excited. First. Things first I, needed. A train ticket I, went. To a sales booth at a train station to buy a ticket to a city near Baek do mountain. She. Said I went. To another booth but wherever I went I just heard. That's. Still two weeks before the departure. How. Could be sold out, it. Didn't make sense. Since. I felt unusual, I talked to one of my Chinese, friends, and asked why. Dammit. He. Said tickets, for famous tourist attractions. Were generally, purchased, by travel, agencies, on the first day of ticket, selling. They. Bought the tickets, and resold them with agency, fee oh. Dear. I couldn't, compete with the local agencies. There's. Only one solution for that, When. In Rome do, as Romans do. I. Contacted. An agency and, asked to buy ticket. Their. Profit, was about one-fifth of the original, ticket price. Anyhow. I wasn't, sure when I would have that kind of opportunity again. Let's. Be positive, I, grabbed. Some cash, for the ticket that time. I was expected, to travel alone again. I'd, love to protest, that I also had many friends who could travel with me, I, wasn't. A loner. Here's. One question. Would. It be lonely, if you travel, alone. The. Lone does not mean lonely, I. Left. Beijing, and took a couch at. After. Then I transited. To a seated train running for about seven hours. Chinese. Passengers. Who I met in the same partition, didn't, stop giving, me food and beer although I was a stranger, to them I. Kindly. Refused, to receive but those Chinese, friends, passed any food to me with a nice smile. The. Warm-hearted people, are everywhere. What. I had in my bag that time was just one roll of bread and one cup of instant noodles, I. Felt. Sorry but I had nothing to give to those friends in return I. Arrived. In a village called herd, alpha hey at, the. Exit, to the train station, a Korean, Chinese took, a glance at me and talked to herself in Chinese. When, she saw my baggage, in my style, she might have recognized, that I was Korean, and she approached me to advertise her accommodation. Of course regarding. Me as a rich Korean, who couldn't understand, Chinese. Let's. Be grateful that at least she figured, out that I was a Korean, although, I was exhausted because, of the long term train trip and looked like homeless, with the gray beard. She. Smiled at me as if nothing, happened and told me in a very good standard, Korean. We. Have a good place to stay. Please. Come. It's. Disgusting. She. Said a moment ago that I was ugly in Chinese, but welcomed, me as a potential. Client in Korean. One. Month of Chinese, summer semester. Was complimented, at least by understanding, some basic, expressions. I. Decided. To live calmly those days not causing, any issue. Just. Passing, by her with no comment, was the best solution I, was. So tired and I'd collapsed, soon I, got. A cheap hostel, near the train stop and took a rest for a while I. Got. Hungry so that I went to a restaurant I, chose. A menu of Korean, barbecue coming, with miso soup, my. Stomach, became warm thanks, to the normal Korean, food, I'd. Go to Baek new mountain the next day I would. Go, my. Eyes would be happy to see Mount, big. Goose soon. Nevertheless. Excitement. Couldn't disturb fatigue. I fell. Asleep drastically. Unfortunately. 1/2 of 8 new Mountain belong to China, it's. Also called, chang dai-chien, in chinese it.
Was, Said the half of the mountain was sold to china for political, purpose. But. It wasn't proved officially. Anyhow. I'd be a mountain, climber today, I. Accompanied. Three Korean, female college students. Who stayed in the same hostel an. SUV. Brought, us to the entrance of Chiang Mai falls. It's. Time to go up through stairs and a tunnel next to the steep Chang by Falls. It. Usually, took the average person, about 40, minutes to climb out but the speed to climb up with those students, chit-chatting. Was quite slow. Since. I was with young and pretty girls I wouldn't mind if I went up more slowly. It's. Worth walking slowly. Haha. As. Soon as we got to the top of Chiang Mai Falls the sound of the waterfall, suddenly, disappeared. And the surroundings, became, quiet I. Could. Only hear the sound of streams. Cliffs. Were seen on both sides a. Thousand. Years ago lava, might have flowed through those waterways. It's. A. Superb, in Grand View like the landscape, of the Lord of the Rings. The. Flow of the stream flowed, so elegantly, in tranquillity. Thanks. To the great scenery on the way to chunji. The view was just noble. Because. I was Korean it might be my heart was beating more and I was more emotional, there. My. Shoes were all wet with minced rain and all my body was so let that I felt a chill, a. Monument. Ridden is chunji, came out remotely. Wow. It's. Chunji, Lake it's. Right there, when. I reached, chunji was cloudy and gray I. Waited. And waited for about two hours. Blessed. Are those who wait. Clouds. Slowly moved, out. Literally. The sky was open, the. Clouds were gone and it was clear enough to see the opposite, side. It's. North Korea. I could. See North Korea, very closely. North. Korea, was right in front of me, how. Many people, in the world might have chances, to North Korea in their life. Miraculous. A. Korean. Chinese who was next to me kindly, explained, things to female, college students. I. Kept. My ears open, it's. A free lesson, he. Provided, some advanced, and useful, information. He. Explained, what kind of peek it was what meaning and with what that was and what that was. The. People over the world are always so kind to female college students. It. Seemed, true I, envied. Them I. Was. Staring at the North Korean territory for, long, if. There had been a high-speed, train I might arrive here from Seoul in five point six hours, on. The. Contrary, in reality. I took an airplane from, Seoul to Beijing, took an all-night, train for about 26. Hours and took an agent car to come here chunji, I. Need. To heard too far, it. Seemed there was an air route from Seoul to youngji, and buses, were running from Yan ji to Baek do mountain. It's, sad to detour, and detour not coming, directly, from South, Korea although North Korea, and South Korea were the one country I. Grabbed. The water with both hands. It's. Pretty cool. Many. Thoughts came and went, my. Brain also got wet with much meditation. One. Of the college, students, asked the Korean Chinese, about the stones floating, in the water she. Said, she heard about them from somewhere, and wanted to bring the floating, stones to her parents. Stones. Float, in water the. Korean, Chinese grabbed, a handful, of stones, in his hand and threw them at changi lake. Then. The stones floated, in the water. What. How. Was that possible. Was. It a new physical, phenomenon. It's. Mysterious. New. Stones float, in that shrine lake I, stared. At the stones oh. When. The volcano occurred. The air entered, the lava and buoyancy, for stones increased. That's. Why I, also. Grabbed, some stones and threw them at the water I. Imagined. I would boast those stones in front of my family when I got back to Korea. Because. I enjoyed a. 2744. Meter high cold weather in the rain too much I started, having the runny nose. Not. Before, long cold, throat joined in my body began to be out of control and fever. Because. I carried, only summer, clothes, I couldn't, do much about keeping, my body warm. Although. I took quite much cold medicine, I didn't, see much effect a. Trip. To Northeast, three province, had begun with the troublesome, flu and muscle pains in my body tragically. Goguryeo. Old castle, and the princess, tombs of boeheim. After. I finished, my trip to bake new mountain I draw a counter, close wide circle, and decided, to go around the northeast of China a. Korean. Friend I met at Baek do mountain handed, me a piece of paper which had some data on the excavation. Site of, Goguryeo, and the sites of princesses tombs of Boeheim. This. Friend had traveled, clockwise, as opposed, to my travel, in the Northeast, region, starting, from Baek GU Mountain.
My. Journey just began, but that friend's journey was about to come to an end. The. Moment I got the piece of paper my, heart started, to shake. The. Travel, book I took originally. From Beijing, was all about sightseeing. With lots of pretty pictures lots, of things to eat in lots of places to check in. My. Mind began fighting, between leisurely. Sightseeing. And visiting, the historical. Sites. Well. I'd go sightseeing next, time, my. Mind and my body had never known of comforts, and relaxation, I, was. Pretty sure that the sights of history must have been more meaningful. The, paper didn't, have any specific, location, information. About the excavation. Sites but only a few names of villages. Wasn't. It to find a needle in a haystack I. Doubted. Whether I could find them by myself in the unknown region. In. Addition I just, entered the beginning stage, to learn Chinese, some weeks ago. Whatever. It is a, brave. Heart can get a beauty. Goguryeo. And boeheim. Goguryeo. Was the country, that the king jumong, established. Over the territory, of Manchuria. He. Don sangguk, I could. Face the history, backed by more than 10 centuries, if I found these historical. Sites. You. Can see and discover, as much as you know I. Regretted. That I had not studied Korean, history Hart if I. Knew more I could have more things to say about. Anyway. It was a total, luck that I could seize an opportunity, to take steps to explore, and probably, stand on the historical, sites later. My. Heart already left, for the sites which pulled me strongly, like a magnet, to iron although, my body boiled, in fever and I had a severe, runny nose I. Had. Dinner with other travelers. At a B&B, the day before leaving for the sites. There. Were several dancers. Of Korean, Orchestra, overheard about my journey plan, of the next day. Then. They told me they would like to join my journey to the history, fields. These, dancers, were touring, in Yanbian province. For the purpose of cultural, exchange, between Korea. And China. Because. Their concert, already, finished, they had considered for a tour in near cities before their returning home. Female. Dancers, were too beautiful to, have that harsh and dangerous journey, a. Glance. At their milky, skin and classy, looks showed that they were foreigners, in. 0.001. Seconds. They. Look like angels totally. Different from me a dirty gypsy. They'd. Be a big burden to me if they joined. From. The time I arrived, in China I had already been, warned that it's very dangerous to, expose, me as a foreigner, especially. In rural areas. What. Should I do, my. Chinese would hit the limit in the shortest time and those people were too beautiful. Tension. Wrapped me up the. Risk to be taken, was too great I, didn't. Give them an affirmative, answer to because I knew the seriousness. The. Dancers, told me again that they wanted to join I took. A time to think again. Him. Whatever. I didn't. Care what would, happen would be what would happen I. Approved. Then. Their facial expressions. Were brightened. The. Time given to us was only one day, we. Left the B&B early, in the morning. On the. Bus we started, asking around about goguryeo's. Old castle, in BO highs Princess Tunes. When. I asked, one or two people the other people, around me got interested, and gave me a piece of advice I. Was. Grateful to them, they. Told me to get off at a very small rural village, a, small. Size, of Transportation. Was needed there I. Negotiated. With a tricycle. Driver. The. Things that I learned at the fastest, speed in China were the vocabulary. And sentences, related, to bargain. Those. Were the most frequently, used in real life. Not. To be ripped off it was compulsory, to memorize, expressions. Related to bargain, if. There. Was an HSK, test only. About bargaining, conversation. Then I'd get the highest score, I. Used. The negotiation. Skills there too I and. The driver started, a tough negotiation. It. Took a while, ping. Pong ping, pong and ping, pong. Him. I better. Use the last hidden card I. Pretended. To give up on this driver and leave the place. Only. Then the driver stopped, the negotiation. And said ok. Finally. The price determined. It's. Time to get set ready. Let's. Go, we. Ask every, person about, the castle, in every town, the. Driver desperately. Behaved, as a soldier, on the battlefield, at. Last. We went into a small village, with few houses.
Our, Tricycle. Seemed to be a fine limousine, there because the village was like a deserted, place. It's. A very underdeveloped, area. The. Villagers, pointed, at a castle over some we're saying it's an old castle I. Didn't. See it well at first glance. It's. Hard to find it at a distance I. Rubbed. My eyes once, again and looked closely. Oh, right. That's. Right, old. Castle. Was disguised, as being covered with ordinary, rice fields. The. Shape of the rectangle. And a regular, interval, with the stones lying in the middle of the rice field, proved that a huge castle, had been there a long time ago. It's. Huge. We. Heard that it had not been long since, the excavation. Began. We. Walked closer to the castle, to appreciate, the seem better but the villagers, told us to leave that village, very soon. We're. Even pushed to leave, they. Said when foreigners, were found in this village, they'd be in trouble. Really. They. Warned us not to turn, our head and leave immediately. We. Put a lot of efforts, to come there so how could we leave in such a short time. My. Feet didn't want to move, the. Villagers, told us to come back to visit the museum, after the excavation would. Finish in the future. It's. Sad to move forcibly, it. Said. That the excavation. Wasn't, the joint work between Korea. And China. Although. I didn't, expect, the excavation. By Koreans, only the excavation. Solely by the Chinese, team was quite surprising. It. Would be a to excessive, concern by old-fashioned. Man but I was worried if it would be a properly, implemented, excavation. Without Korean, archaeologists. It was. Doubtful, whether the information, acquired through, the excavation. Could be used as a part of the history book of our country, on the. Way. Out we passed by the stone monument, written in Korean Goguryeo, old castle, at the entrance of the village. We're. So excited when, we got into the village so that we couldn't notice the monument. Our. Next, target was the princess, tomb of bow high, just. Like the way we searched, for the old castle we hunted the second, target through random, asking, around. The. Repeating, process, makes things easy. We. Saw the signboard of the bow hai genki o princess, and a stone monument. We. Found, we. Coincidentally. Met an orchard owner who had seen the excavation. He. Said that the excavation. Work was almost done. That. One was also solely, done by a Chinese, excavation. Team, he. Said only final, touch was underway that time, he. Helped us to find the tomb. He's. Kind, the. Tomb was located, in a short distance. Because. My heart was pounding too much I felt I got numb. My. Herd kept beating we. Climbed up a rainy hill and shortly reached the excavation. Site. The. Site was already, dug underground deeply. And currently covered, by a black wrapping, material to, prevent from the rain. Oh no. It's. Too messy to be called as a historical. Excavation. Site. Heavy. Rain might damage the site I, got. Upset. Shouldn't. It be maintained, well and isolated. Well to preserve the site is original. The. Rain continued, dropping, since the early morning so that the excavation. Team didn't come to the site and. There's. Nobody to ensure the security of the site. Anyhow. We're lucky to be there at the right time I. Checked. Some articles, about the excavation. Of historical. Sites on the internet, after the trip there are some articles criticizing poor. Management, of excavations. We. Should be more interested. In that kind of activities. Even. By allocating, more taxes, we must do digging our historical. Sites with our own shovels, because Goguryeo. And boeheim. The. Prince of the Bohai touched my heart thoroughly. It's. The sacredness, itself, that I saw the sight there with my own eyes. It's. A good choice to go there on the way. Back we passed through another excavation. Site which was recently discovered. In the cornfield, presumed, to be one of the Bohai royal family. That. Tomb was different, from the underground, tunnel, style of a tomb as Genki Oh princesses. Once. Again my body was overwhelmed. By the korean blood, I am. The Korean, dancers, were breathing, at the site where we probably would, see in history textbooks.
The. Accompanied, answers, were saturd to leave the scene than I was. They. Might be impressed seriously. Because they had a vocation, more, related, to Korean culture I. Took. A picture of the surrounding, scenery with my eyes like a panorama, view. It. Took me all day to soothe the sadness to say goodbye to the ancient, history. I don't. Belong to Korea. Hi. North, Korea, again I. Stayed. In Yan ji for a while because of flu. One. Day I plan to, go to Tumen, region I assumed. That the name of the Tumen River, the. Owner of B&B, called at her nephew who had passed the university, exam, having, much time. She. Asked the nephew to be my daily guide, it's. Unusual. To have a date trip with a guy. It's. Okay, at least I became less bored and wouldn't get lost somewhere. The. Owner was Korean Chinese. She's. Worried, and stressed that her nephew could hardly speak Korean, and had no will to learn Korean voluntarily. She. Hoped that her nephew would be motivated, to learn Korean through, the daily trip with me that day. She. Thought it'd be better for the nephew to go out rather than watching TV, all day at home having, nothing to do I. Was. Pretty sure my handsome, appearance and, the brilliant, smile would motivate her to start learning Korean, right away. Him. Sorry. I, made. A crazy comment. I, had. A serious, cold. The. Cold might have damaged, my brain I, called. The phone number given. By the B&B, owner I. Couldn't. Quite figure out what the nephew said on the phone. It. Seems she spoke an alien, language I, wondered. If the drill I ordered, to improve, my listening skill, already, arrived, at home I. Told. Her over and over like that and she said she'd come and find me a. Girl. Appeared, after a while. Aha. You were the one she, was. A small young girl. After. Making a nice greeting we took a small taxi, in front of the train station. It. Rained. We'd. See the raining tumen river'. Duman, gang. Growing. Boatmen, it's. A part of an old song. She. Paid for a taxi, ride. What. I already. Felt, sorry that she gave me a daily, guide today but she also paid for a taxi. It. Shouldn't, be like that I put. A bill in her pocket, she refused, I did. It again she refused. She's. Strong, how. Could I let her pay.
But. It wasn't successful finally. It's. A shame on me, it's. The second, meeting with North Korea. That. Time it was over the muddy water. Over. There was North Korea. Wasn't. It three meters or four meters. It's. Really close a, rural. Village was, there in a visible distance, and white smoke was coming out from a chimney of a village house. North. Korean, people were farming, not really far. Near, DMZ. But. Here on the other side of the Tumen River North, Korea, was not a fancy country, but an agricultural. Country as it was. It's. A typical, rural village. It. Seemed, I could touch it with my hands and could say hello to the locals. There. Across I, was. Curious, about them, the. Guide said oh those were the marks that North Korean, soldiers, were ambushed, and they'd shoot at North Koreans, who passed over the river to flee, it. Said. There used to be many dead bodies floating in the river killed, by North Korean, soldiers, when there was a harsh drought in a severe feminine, in North Korea. How. Poor they were if. Somebody. Dares to do something, considering, a life or death risk, it means the situation, must be deadly, serious. What. Could be more tragic than the situation when, a North Korean, soldier, pulled a trigger shooting, at a runaway who might be his or her friend or family fleeing, because of hunger. There. Could be no excuse. First. We should help them alive by giving rice bread, and potatoes, regardless. Of politics, capitalism. Communism. Democracy. Or socialism. Humanitarian. Support, would be the proper, word and shall be used in that case to make humans, live first. We. Are all humans, in the. Past wasn't, it one nation, here near tumen river'. Kurian. Was the common, language koreans, live here and it was a Korean territory. But. What now I was. Having a Korean, Chinese guide, lose a Chinese, national and I was Korean. We're. Of the same race. However. We, were talking, in Chinese Mandarin, and seeing the North Korean, land where we couldn't cross freely. There. Were three cultures in three countries. It's. Simply, no way I, told. The nephew. We. Have to do something. We. Have to hurry up. What, happened, to the three northeastern. Provinces. I. Left. Yon G and moved to Chun Chun, in. Chun Chun there's an ancient Palace, of Manchukuo. There. I visited, an unexpected. Historical. Site I. Introduced. The story to you I. Went. To Manchukuo, palace, with friends, who were translating. Volunteers, I. Encountered. Them somewhere, sometime. Manchukuo. Palettes with the actual background of, the movie The Last Emperor. It. Said that the Emperor cruelly suffered, an unfortunate fate. Of becoming a puppet, of the Japanese, army I. Had. Seen the last Emperor, several, times I. Walked. Around the old palace where he lived, it's. A good idea for gypsy, tourists, like me to follow a guided, group for free. We. Toured around a few buildings and went into a room without a specific, notice where a book was placed open, on a table, a. Korean. Chinese guide, explained. That. Room was the place where the Emperor of Manchuria. Made an agreement to hand over the three northeastern. Provinces. Of Korea to China receiving. Financial, benefits, backed by Japan. What. What. The hell oh no. That's. Where it was my. Emotion, suddenly, turned into fury, and anger I, couldn't. Help getting, enraged. That's. The place where the unfair, agreement, was agreed in sind. There's, no if in history, but imagine, that if the agreement had, not been signed then the present, size of Korea would be enormous and vast. Isn't. The size of one northeast, province, equal, to or bigger than the size of Korea. How. Might each korean, feel like while passing, through the room I. Couldn't. Stop feeling bitter, our. Country. Must be strong. The. Sovereignty, belongs to, the people and the realization. Of strong self-defense. Is an essential, project that should be carried out in our generation. Can. We regain that land, in the near future. Can. We merge the three northeast. Provinces. In Korea I'm. Dreaming. Of a unified, great Goguryeo. Classroom. Full of flour the first semester, at BN u I. Started. Studying at the flower garden at, Beijing, Normal University. It's. The first half semester of the second grade. Except.
For Five men including, me all other 16, students, were female. After. Living in the world of men is in a male middle school in a male high school in an engineering, college in the military, eventually. My life would be fully compensated, with, full of women everywhere, in China. That's. Why the world is fair. Moreover. It's a paradise, of the beauties. It's. A very very good choice to be there. Studying. Environment. Benefited. From the flower garden, doubled the learning speed and efficiency. As good. As it gets. Yay. Yay. Hooray. As, a. Matter, of fact, in linguistics. And literature field. The gender ratio was, shifted, to the female side. I, was. Very okay, with that. Every. Day was a beautiful, day, although. I was a beginner I always, sat on the front seat. Because. Of misunderstanding. That a student, who sat on the front seat might be an excellent, student I was selected as the classroom, representative of. The fall semester of 200, 109, class I. Had. Not become a classroom, representative since. The elementary, school period. It. Seemed I retired, from politics, for a while and then I returned, to the politics, after a long time of thinking and consideration. The. Professor, often called the representative. Especially. When all students, kept silent, on a quick question the professor, always called the classroom, representative. Shamefully. I also, mostly couldn't, answer the questions, and had been embarrassed, many times. Actually. That. Embarrassment, was one of the reasons, why I was motivated to study harder, I. Needed. To study harder, not to be embarrassed, in front of, those beautiful, female classmates. I. Wanted. To show off by answering well to the questions. Haha. I, felt. Like going back to school I, met. Only, good students, in the class. They. Even played with me regardless, of age thankfully. It's. My honor to be with them and our. Class teacher was so great he, had, lots of experience. In Chinese, education with. Unlimited, knowledge, both, in China and abroad. He's. Also an author of one of our textbooks. Every. Second, was more valuable if attending, a class lectured, directly, by the author. Thanks. To the best environment. Of flower garden, and veteran, teachers, I could enjoy my fall semester all. The time. Our. Class, was mostly, made up of students, majored, in either Chinese, literature, or sign ology, I. Was. The only student majored. In engineering. The. Other classes, had a few students, whose major weren't, related to China. The. Percentage, of non Asian, and non Chinese majored. Students, showed that there's a growing interest, in Chinese, in the world. The. Order is like this. First. Of all students. Of language majors, enter a country, to pioneer, and students, of the similar, majors, sequentially. Joined the craze and lastly, anybody, rushes, in I. Belong. To the last group. Its, Shelley's law good. Things continuously, happened. For. The first time in my life I'd have a foreign, roommate. My, roommate, was a Vietnamese. He's. Nice. Let's. See what kind things I knew about Vietnam. The. First thing that came up to mind about Vietnam, was the Vietnamese, war and my sneakers, were made in Vietnam and. What. Else I, didn't. Know much about Vietnam I, was. Ashamed, of my ignorance. Anyway. The roommate, knew how to save cost and, he. Always got along well with his Vietnamese, friends. We. Often, help each other. When. He helped I could see he did it sincerely, expecting. No return. No. Matter what I asked, him he never said no never once and. He. Laughed well, he. Always carried, a smile on his face that. Guy. Was he an angel from the heaven. Seriously. He's an angel. Basket. Ball trio at. About. 3 p.m. the cleaning, staffs were busy cleaning the rooms in the dormitory, building, I. Usually. Left the room empty not to interrupt the cleaning staffs and I sat quietly on, the fifth floor sofa. One. Day while I was reading, a book alone one American, and one Korean, approached, me. They. Also emptied, their room and came to squat beside, me, you. Can take a seat here, these. Seats are all empty. Thanks, our room, is being cleaned. I offered. My hand telling them my name, it's. My sales habit, to shake hands. That's. The moment when I started, hanging out with Alex, and J H. J. H said that his father ran a small business in, Seoul. He. Ran away from Korea because, he didn't want to work or didn't want to study. It. Seemed to be he's born with a silver spoon. Alex. Was a student, at Carnegie, Mellon University in, Pittsburgh, USA. He's. A smart, student enough to receive a scholarship. Wow. Scholarship. He's. Different from us normal, people and the. Reason he came to China was that he wanted to participate, in a project fully, supported. By his school.
He's. Originally expected. To stay in China for a year but he eventually went, back to his country after, one semester. When. He left he told me he had missed his girlfriend, so much. The. String that brought us together with, sports. Three. Of us formed a basketball. Trio team. JH. Was 180. Centimeters. Plus high and Alex was about two meters high. JH. His position, was the center or forward, Alex's, position, was the center and my position, was the guard. Even. If I threw a basketball in, any direction they, caught the ball well and put the ball in the basket scoring. -, were so good at basketball, that I looked playing well -. The. Superpower of strong, rebound, skills, based on high Heights helped, our team successful. Whenever we had a match. We're. A good trio. Could. It be any other thing to make people, more intimate, than playing sports, I. Had. Been just a bookworm in Korea but then I changed to jump into the real fun of the sports thanks to those friends. Trio. Loved playing with other friends. We. Also played our own badminton. Which was long distance power badminton. That we hit the shuttlecock in, an open and white space. It's. Just badminton, to bang out the shuttlecock, far and far away with full power and keep destroying, shuttlecocks. As early as possible. It's. Normal, that two or three shuttlecocks, were shattered into pieces. It's. A stupid game, another. Sport, that we were crazed for with running, the. Dormitory. We lived in with well paved with concrete. The. Distance, from one end to the other end seemed, to be 30 meters. There's. No doubt that three of us were very competitive. Nobody. Liked to lose any game, the. Ranking, of running was usually, Alex I and JH. No. Matter how fast I ran I couldn't, catch Alex's, long legs. He's. One step with my two steps, I should. Have cut my code according, to my cloth. It's. Unnecessary. To feel bitter against, my parents for my short legs. The. Other sport, that Alex taught me was frisbee. Snapping. Of the wrist was especially important. The. Plastic, circular, plate was thrown at each other at a certain, distance. My. Frisbee skill, was a mess when, I. Threw, and received, at a close distance I was still able to cope with frisbee, but it was a different, story when I played, at a long-distance. Frisbee. Headed in any direction I, needed. More training and, when. We played frisbee in a large space such as a playground. Sometimes, Chinese, students, were interested in it and spoke to us. Furthermore. Time to time they asked us if they could play together. Sure. More, friends, more fun. We. Made a lot of new friends from any kind of sports. Playing. Sports, is surely, another universal. Language, regardless, of race age gender or nationality. Million. Yuan baby. That's. The movie titled, at Alec's JH, and I wanted to shoot. The. Characters, were three sportsmen. A boxing, gym owner a boxing, coach a few Chinese friends. And junk food in. The. First scene of the movie three people were eating junk food. There. Are a dozen types, of junk food, they. Ate up but only one piece of pizza left an. Awkward. Silence hung, among them for a while. Then. They started, fighting to get the last piece. They. Pushed and pulled each other and fought like dogs and cats and then one guy snapped, the piece and put it into his mouth.
The. Other two people got angry they, kept. The grudge in their mind and made up their mind to revenge on him someday. One. Day those two went to a boxing, gym filled, with the smell of the stale sweat. They. Begged the boxing, coach to accept them but the boxing, coach declined, them because they were more handsome, than the coach. The. Coach said he'd accept, them when they became uglier, by having, plastic surgery in, Korea. They. Protested. That they couldn't do because they had too many fans of girls. After. They pledged to set him up with three blind dates the coach finally, signed a contract. One. Year passed since, they began the harsh training like in the hell, and, then. They packed bags to leave the boxing, gym to find their enemy who ate the last piece of pizza. It's. A nonsense, story. The. Room of Alex and JH was always, full of chocolates, sweets and junk food. They. Even didn't go to a restaurant, because of the junk food. The. Movie was dedicated. To them in, a. Bus of number 33, which went through my school to go to the boxing, gym I revised, the story again and again. The. Chinese money with yuan so we named the movie as million, yuan baby. In. The. Evening, an international. Call came from my korean girlfriend. She. Wanted to break up with me. She. Told me she had no reason to keep up our relationship. Because the affection, between us, already got cold I, had. Given her everything, that I could do although I was born with a dirt spoon I. Saved. Money to buy gifts for her and I had shown my infinite, affection, to her I. Tried. My best as, a poor boy in. Addition. If she just endured for half a year I'd go back to Korea and we'd have a normal, life back. And besides. That one thing shocked was that she told me that her mother had objected, our relationship. On. Her. Mother's standards, I was deadly for, her. Standard, was that her daughter's boyfriend should. Have lived in Gangnam, where the rich people, lived and should have had an imported, car and a certain, real estate, asset. What. At. My age I, wasn't. Rich enough but I had no debt at all and I had some cash in my bank accounts, which could be used for the future. The. Story was that her mother was married, to a poor man and she spent her youth to save money to buy a car a, house and so on. Therefore. She disliked, a poor boyfriend or, an ordinary, man including me, I, got. Heated up, she. Used to be a dirt spoon and currently, she lo
2020-01-21 16:36
