I felt lightheaded as I got off the plane and scanned the crowd for someone that looked like my grandmother. It seemed like I walked around for hours until I came across a women with long black hair and smooth pale skin wearing a blue turtleneck. I hadn’t seen my grandma for so long I wasn’t sure how she looked. But I had a feeling that about this somehwhat familiar woman so I tried to position myself in front in hopes that she would notice me.I vaguely herd someone call my name, a second later I was embraced in a warm hug. After we released I was met with eyes almost exact replicas of mine. I hadn’t seen my grandmother for years but I still felt close with her. We took the subway home and my grandmother started on dinner.

“Where’s mom,”

“You know how she is” my grandmother said

“I guess she heard I was back,” I said regrettably sighing

My grandmother and I talked about all the time we lost together, and the college I wanted to go to and how she knew the perfect place that was hiring. Tomorrow I would go job searching but for now I had to sleep off the 14 hour flight.  

I woke up to the smell of some rice dish being cooked and headed to the bathroom to get ready.

A few hours later my grandma and I were on the metro, and I was praying that I would find a job that paid well. I felt bad just freeloading off my relative forever. We strolled down the streets of Seoul and passed a coffee shop. My grandmother abruptly stopped and said that this was the place she was talking about earlier. I intended to ask the cashier how I could apply but he handed me a flyer on some audition for an upcoming movie. “They’re holding open calls for anyone that’s interested- you look like you’d be a good fit.” I scanned the sheet, uninterested and showed my grandmother. She excitedly read it out loud “I think you should really go for it, you’d get enough money to pay for at least a whole year of college!” I guess it was a good opportunity but it wasn’t like I had a chance. My grandmother read outloud that they were holding auditions today at a studio right around the corner.

I was reluctant to go in and audition and my grandma practically had to beg me to go. All the girls were beautiful and I was just me, an average looking girl with brown skin. The other actresses had designer purses that probably cost more than my whole college tuition and lipstick that was probably customized just for them. When it was my turn I read my lines nervously and it was obvious my whole body was shaking. My whole aura probably reeked with self depreciation and doubt. I’d never get a callback, but at least  I could tell my kids that I auditioned for a movie.

The audition had taken almost all day and I just wanted to get some sleep. On the way back home my grandmother pestered me with different questions pertaining to the audition. I told her it wasn’t much and I wasn’t very good so I was still going to apply to the job at the cafe.