It was a pretty quiet dinner, except for my parents trying to make small talk.

“Oh Minji, we’re leaving Friday to go to Seoul. I’ve talked with your teachers and they said you can take your schoolwork with you. We will stay there for a few weeks, so you can get to know your fiancé, and then we will be back in time for your graduation. Then we’ll fly back to Korea for the wedding.” My father said trying to break the silence- once again. Why couldn’t they just give it up? I was not going to initiate or take part in, for that matter, an animated discussion of whatever topic they thought I might start. At this point, I didn’t know if I wanted to start yelling at them or bawl my eyes out.

“Fine.”

“Before we leave though I want to take you to get a haircut, get your nails done and go shopping for some new clothes for the trip! We want to make a good impression on your fiancé and his family, after all!” My mom said.

“Fine.”

Finally, dinner was over. I went upstairs to finish my homework. As soon as I was done, I went to bed.

A few days later, my mom took me for the promised make-over. First we got my hair cut. Before, it was long, frizzy and pretty much unruly. Now it was an ultra sleek shoulder length cut that curled at the bottom. Stopping just below my eyebrows were fringe bangs. This alone made me look amazing. Then we got our nails done. Finally, my mom took me to the mall to get a whole new wardrobe.

We finally finished shopping and got home at 9:30.

We pulled into the garage and got out of the car. I went up to my room to check out all my new stuff. As soon as I put my bags down, I looked in the mirror. I really did look amazing. I wonder what JiHoon would think? I wonder what he looks like? Whatever, I told myself, it’s not like you want to marry him anyways.

The next day after I got home from school, I was sent to pack up my stuff. Since I was moving there I had to pack the stuff I wanted to keep. The rest of the stuff I ever had to give away or just get rid of it somehow. I spent the rest of the day and almost half the night doing this. Eventually, I got so tired I passed out.

Twelve hours later we were boarding a Korean Air plane headed for Incheon International Airport. Even though I was really tired when I passed out last this morning, I didn’t sleep very well. So for the flight there I either slept or watched movies- which put me back to sleep.

12 hours later, we were in the Republic of Korea.