“You’re okay on your own from here?” Your father asks you as he stops the scooter in front of the school. He said that since it was your first day, he would drop you off. But eventually, you would have to learn how to take the subways and buses on your own.

“I… hope so.” You let out a shaky sigh as you take off your helmet after stepping off the scooter. Handing it back to your dad, you thank him for the ride, “Thanks for dropping me off, dad. I hope your first day at the museum will run smoothly.” He was an exhibition manager. The one who organizes all the new incoming exhibits and manages the museum regulations. But why in the hell he was asked to try out a change in setting for his career is beyond you. He’s been transferred to a sister museum in Seoul from your original hometown in Hefei.

Why would he do this to you? You were up for new experiences, sure. But as in vacations and exchange programs, not… anything that permanent. Technically, this change in setting wasn’t confirmed to be permanent but he’d be here until further notice, which usually meant that you’d be staying here for a good 3 years or so. You’re praying that the students at this school don’t look down upon newcomers like yourself. Because, in all honesty, you didn’t have much of a care for Korean culture. You loved Korean food though! You liked listening to a little k-pop. You liked watching a drama every now and then. But your heart was always more into sports and art.

But now, now you were on your own. You might as well practice getting into new situations just to help your world experience. You weren’t new to world travel, so this was just another way for you to learn. Learning, yeah, that’s the major goal of this new life of yours. You’re here to learn. You remind yourself that when you see your dad drive off and you’re forced to face the intimidating large white building of the school. Classes didn’t start for another hour, so you had plenty of time to get your schedule and walk around to try and familiarize yourself with your new school.

Luckily, the main office isn’t too difficult to find because it’s right next to the large bulletin board that holds all sorts of school announcements and club memos and such. But once you step inside and hear the secretary chatting into the phone tucked between her ear and shoulder in Korean as she types away at the keyboard, your eyes widen and you freeze a little. But quickly, you recompose yourself and step forward, giving her a friendly wave when she turns to face you. She smiles back at you and holds up a finger to ask you to wait for another moment. You nod politely and just stand a couple feet away from the desk she’s sitting at until she hangs up the phone.

“Hello there. Is there something I can help you with?” she asks.

You clear your throat before giving her a bow, “H-hello, my name is Lee BoYun.” You introduce yourself by your Korean name shakily, “I’m a new transfer student from China.”

“Ah! Yes! We’ve been expecting you.” She snaps her fingers with a smile before pulling up your files on the computer. She starts getting into a quick explanation of the school regulations, class schedules, the different buildings, and general activities the school participates in throughout the week, month, and year. You listen intently with a slightly overwhelmed gaze as you try to understand what she says. Luckily, she speaks slowly for you, and the papers she hands you have a Chinese translation she courteously printed on the back for you. You sigh gratefully at the sight of the familiar characters and bow to her again before you take your leave from the office with her words of encouragement and reminders to ask her for help if you need it. “And welcome to SIS.” She adds quickly.

Once outside, you look down at the freshly washed school uniform you were wearing before looking up and scanning the large buildings around you. There was a cafeteria on the other side of the building across a large tile floor. Looking up, you counted up to seven floors above you that probably held all the different classrooms in the school. If you walked down either end of the large rectangular quad of the ground floor with the administration office and cafeteria, you would make your way down a concrete hill that would lead to a wide pathway towards the school entrance gates. On the left side held a several basketball court while the right was a large grassy footfall (soccer) field. It was just next to the windows that revealed the cafeteria behind them.

Checking the printed schedule in your hands, you were glad to see that you wouldn’t have to move around during the day and get lost since most of your academic classes would take place in the same classroom. The only class that required you to run around the school was your physical education class and your elective art class. Your homeroom was 3-B, so you would be on the third floor for the majority of your day. Your art class was on the second floor, and as you checked the map in your other hand, it seemed that it was above the auditorium. Or you believed it to be the auditorium, you still didn’t know Korean. And your gym class would meet outside on the concrete pathway between the school gates and the school buildings. And since you were a newcomer student, you had to stay after school to take an extra hour of class to learn Korean. That was reasonable enough.

You had the school exercise uniform tucked in your backpack, so that should be fine. Gym was near the end of the day, so you wouldn’t end up sweaty for the entire day. Since your art classroom was only on the second floor, you decided to walk up there to check it out first. Winding up the stairs, with the walls painted a bright but somehow gentle white color, you make your way down towards the windows that have shelves of books behind them. The door was open, but there weren’t many students inside. You decided to walk inside to check it out quickly. You smile and bow to the student librarian behind the counter organizing the books onto a wheeling cart and she smiles and bows back.

After exploring near the back sections for about two minutes, you stumble across the Chinese section. You look at them sadly, as if sending them a message to say that you’ll come here for sanction in case you ever need it. Then next to that shelf is the English section. You didn’t have much of a problem with English, since you had studied in Hong Kong for a couple years as a child before moving back home to Hefei. So you’d say that your Cantonese and English were pretty acceptable. And finally, you come across a shelf of manga. You scan the shelves until you find one written with Chinese on the side. You don’t recognize the series so you make a note to check it out later.

You pull out the school ID they had printed out for you with a picture that you had sent with your application previously. This would work as your library card. Hopefully, you wouldn’t have to use it too much. You liked reading, but you were more of the type to frolic and play outside. With the exception of drawing, of course.

For the last 50 minutes of your self-tour around the school, you think you have it down. There isn’t much to familiarize yourself with besides a couple of little hangouts with benches or tables at random ends of the school on each floor. Your art room was closed off, and it didn’t have any windows on it, but the room number displayed itself clearly to you. There was a greenhouse on the rooftop, and you spotted a couple of the solar panels that collect energy for some of the devices in the school.

When students start filing into the school, you’re leaning against the ridge on the third floor near the staircase. You observe the different students and how they act with each other. Most of them tend to stick with at least one friend. Barely any of them arrive in cars or scooters, but those that ride in through the gates on bikes continue riding until they reach the racks set up between the two hills that lead to the school building. Maybe you should get a bike too. After you know how to navigate through the streets without the fear of getting killed, that is.

You’re not sure if there are stares coming your way as you just stand there, staring into space as you watch the other students live their own lives. You look fairly similar to any other girl in the school with your ponytail and uniform. You would wear some black framed glasses when you were in class and had to look up at the board, but you didn’t look too different. But once you opened your mouth… Who knew what you were in for.

You hear the warning bell sound, telling all the students around campus that they have five minutes to get to homeroom. You make your way back to your classroom, where you see a teacher organizing some papers around her desk. You walk up to her, bowing and greeting her regularly in Korean, “Hello, I’m the new student, Lee Boyun.”

“Oh yes!” she smiles, taking the schedule and student information from your hands, “So you’re Baiyun, right?” she asks you in Chinese. You’re slightly caught off guard when you hear her slight Shanghai accent, but you smile nonetheless, hearing familiarity in the words she speaks.

“Yes, my name is Baiyun. Is everyone in this class Chinese?” you ask, taking a glance at the small classroom on your left.

“More or less,” she smiles at you, “But there aren’t very many. Including you, there are about seven students in this class. Next year, assuming you’ve learned enough Korean, you’ll be switched into the regular classes.” She explains to you, “But for now, we’ll be teaching your classes in Chinese and English. You seem to be okay with Korean so far, though.” She finishes her last sentence in Korean.

“Oh no, not very much.” you shake your head, “I just tried to cram some in with a little tourist book before coming here.”

“Okay, then. How about we do a quick introduction when homeroom starts and then you can just let yourself get settled in your new seat?” she offers with a smile, and you agree whole-heartedly.

The bell rings and your teacher, who you are to refer to as Chang Sunsaengnim, introduces you to the handful of students in the room. You scan the room and notice three boys and three girls, an even split between them. You address the class politely and with a kind smile, bowing and introducing yourself in Chinese, since that’s what the teacher spoke in. “If you want to address me by my Korean name, Yun will do just fine. Thank you, and I hope we can work well together.” You end your introduction.

After that, you’re free to choose your seat in the room. So you take one in the middle, between the boys and the girls in the room. The boys are seated closer to the back on the left near the windows while the girls are scattered between the middle and the back on your right. You feel like a nice, middle ground. Who knows what’s in store for you as the year goes by?

here is a little map of the school i envisioned for SIS. i know, i'm hella pro with paint -.-V