He was a friendly boy…

Always smiling, laughing, joking around…

He was always quick to help others, putting them before himself

Kind of short this guy was, he had the most innocent eyes and jet black hair.

The guys would always , never really letting him join in during sport games, during lunch they barely pay him any attention

If you ask the girls what they think about him they either respond with “Who?” or “Aww he’s like a little brother” even though he was older than some

Sometimes after school I would see him sitting by himself, thinking; wondering why he wasn’t good enough.

How do I know this? Because I heard him say it himself…

He thinks he’s nothing special, no cares…

He thinks he’s unattractive and not talented…

From a person on the outside looking in… I truly think my classmate Yang Yoseob….is one of the best… I think

He’s Beautiful…..

“Jae unnie!” I heard someone calling my name. I turned around to see my friend Kyoung In better known as Joy trying to catch up to me. “What’s up” I gave a slight smile as I threw my school bag over my shoulder. “Did you…f-finish last night’s assignment..?” she asked kneeling down a little as she tried to catch her breath. I gave a frown and started to walk off. “Oh so you want to use me Kyoung In? For cheating” I said trying to sound mad. “Unnie I’m sorry but I had piano lessons a-” I turned around and stuck my tongue out at her. “Just kidding” I laughed a little now digging into my bag for the homework she needed. I handed it to her and she bowed. “Thank you unnie, I owe you one” she smiled. “Yes you do and that would be an order of Ddeokbokki after school, k?” I gave a cheesy grin. “Um how about tomorrow I have lessons right after school today” Joy said. “Deal” I said, we pounded our fist together and started back walking to school….

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I’m Jae Wy, 18 years of age….

An African American girl who attends an international high school deep in Seoul, South Korea. How did I get here?

By scholarship like many other international students attending did.

During my freshman year back in Atlanta I applied for an international art scholarship and surprisingly enough I was one of the chosen (along with a few others) out of thousands of applicants. During the time I applied I didn’t know exactly where this scholarship would send me. But I hoped in was somewhere in Asia and now look… I’m here in Seoul and have been here for almost two years.

You’re probably wondering how my Korean skills are, right? Well let’s just say I understand it more than I can speak it… and that I’m barely passing my Korean course as we speak :P

 I had to say I was scared out of my mind when I first came here. I felt homesick and was ready to forget everything and hop back on a plane to the U.S but after the comforting from my host mom and the nagging from my real mother about how “Something like this only happens once” I calmed down.

My host family is the best. Normally these scholarships & exchange programs only last a year but it’s different with SIH. International students attend permanently until their year of graduation. Host families will host a child until then as well, helping to pay for uniforms and school activities. You basically become a member of the family, living as if you were their own…

My family here is the Lee family. My mother Lee Sooyoung, my father Lee Taekun and my maknae brother Lee Taemin. When I first arrived to this family I often used Mr. Lee or Mrs. Lee… but they seemed to get annoyed and told me to just call them “umma & appa”. Still having the habit of using their surnames. I started calling my new parents “Lee umma & Lee appa”…….

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 “Oh My God Jae watch out!” some yelled coming up behind me and grabbing my shoulder. This action came as a surprise to me, leading me to grab my chest before my heart fell out. I heard loud laughter now as Joy and I slowly turned around to see who it was. “Yah!” I yelled now staring at the face of the culprit. I hit him with my bag. “Yah, you stupid pigeon!” “Ow okay… I’m sorry” he said in between laughs. “I sighed to myself putting my hand on my head. “Eli why are you so annoying?” I said gritting my teeth. “Am I really?” he grinned as he started to walk ahead of us now. “I swear that kid…” I mumbled to myself. I looked at Joy who stood there staring after that dumb bird. “Um you okay?” I asked with a raise of my eyebrow. “Ne, who was that unnie,?” she asked. “Oh...that’s Eli Pigeo- I mean Eli Kim, my classmate” I said. “Why?” I asked. “Oh nothing” she said as she started back walking. (Okay….)

We arrived on school campus soon enough and once we did the bell started to ring. “Okay unnie see you during lunch, I’ll give your homework back then” Joy said waving me goodbye. “Okay, see you! Oh and tell Hero that she forgot her cell phone charm at my house, I’ll give it to her tomorrow” I said. Joy nodded and we went our separate ways…

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1^st period: Physical science…

 I was almost asleep when our teacher Mrs. Kwan stopped her boring lecture and said that we needed to partner up with someone and work on a few questions in our text book together. Everyone got out their seats and immediately chose their partners. I looked around the room at the friends I had in the class. They were already paired up. “Yah, don’t you see I already have a partner!” someone said annoyed. I looked to my left to see Sung In (one of the jerks of the class) staring at another boy as if he was truly irritated. “Mianhamnida” the boy bowed. I could hear slight snickering from a few other students in the room. After bowing this other classmate of mine went to take his seat. He opened his text book. Everyone had their partners except me and him. I stood up and straighten my skirt a little. Grabbing my text book and bag I walked over to him pulling a seat over from another desk and sat down. “So Yoseob shii, you want to be my partner?” I smiled at the boy who was now giving me a surprised look. “Uh, sure” he gave a slight smile back…

That was the day I first spoke to Yang Yoseob

It was also the start of a new friendship….