SunMi's point of view:    

     My first year in California and I had already made a ton of friends! Americans were definitely more social and welcoming than I expected. When I first got here, I imagined myself being exiled and a loner for the rest of my life, but no, it was the complete opposite. However, I did notice that kids in my new school were more ually driven then most. They took things like boyfriends, girlfriends, dates and kissing way out of proportion. In Korea that kind of stuff was more discreet, and taken seriously. I was still a pure child who hadn't even been kissed before! That had surprised my new friends the most.

"What?! Like never, ever?" My new friend Jia asked when I had told her I had never kissed a single soul.

"Yes, really. It's normal not to have kissed at this age, isn't it?" I said.

     It was normal right? At least in Korea it was.

"Maybe? If you're a nun!" She laughed.

     I couldn't help being offended by her last statement. Was it really that bad to be pure? I was internally confused, but I let it pass this time. Jia never let it go of course, she called me her "nun" up until our sophomore year. Eventually, I got annoyed by it and wanted to erase that pure image I had kept up until now.

     One night at a school mates party we started playing, seven minutes of heaven. At first I didn't understand the point of the game until I saw the first couple come out of the closet blushing. The point of the game was for a girl and a boy to be locked in a closet for seven minutes to do as they pleased. Hmph, sounded easy enough. Now that I understood the game, and it's lame purpose of a simple seven minute make out session, I wanted to do it too.

     I took a chance to get my first kiss over with. I walked into the closet with a boy I'm sure I have seen at school before, but I wasn't sure of his name at the moment. The kiss was nice I suppose, he took the lead. (Thank God) He slowly leaned in before kissing me, making the suspense that much greater. Once our lips touched, he lifted his hands from his sides and placed one of his hands just behind my neck, guiding the direction of the kiss, while his other hand rested on my waist. Seven minutes felt like an eternity.

     In that moment I understood why it was such a big deal to Jia. It felt amazing to be held in such a way. It was a rush, and honestly I didn't want it to end, but of course it did. After seven minutes of making out and heavy breathing, Jia knocked on the door and we pulled away. We came out of the dark closet and I could tell by the look on Jia's face that I was blushing. So that was how I experienced my first kiss.

     Jia instead of teasing me of being a nun, now teased me for they way I had blushed. After that day Jia started calling me her "blushing nun." I'd forever be known as a nun. I was kind of sad that I never saw or heard from that guy again. Either way, I was grateful to him and he'd forever hold a special place in my heart. I seriously took this kiss too seriously.

     Finally, graduation day was just around the corner. Jia and I had become so close at this point, I was devastated when she announced that she was going to school in Japan.

"You're leaving me?" I asked surprise.

"Sorry," she said as she hugged me.

"You know you'll always be my best friend. We'll keep in touch! Oh and you can come visit me in Japan. It'll be fun yeah?" She said with a hopeful expression.

"Yeah, I suppose." I wasn't all too happy.

     Long distance friendships don't last, me of all people should know.

     I was going to miss her for sure. It didn't even bother me when she called me her "blushing nun" anymore. At this point I let her have her fun and call me whatever she wanted for the remaining time we had together. After hearing Jia out as to why she was leaving me, I went home in a depressed mode. My best friend was leaving. I wondered if this was how Myungsoo must have felt when I left. As I got home my parents were already sitting at the dinner table and asked me to come eat.

"SunMi-ah, how about moving back to Korea?" My mother asked. I looked at her with a surprised look.

"Are we moving back to Korea?" I asked confused.

"No, but would you like to?" My father asked as he stabbed his fork in the salad he was eating.

"To do what?" I said still confused.

"Go to school." My mother stated.

"Go live with your grandparents, go to school and re-unite with Myungsoo." My father said.

     I had nothing special to do in California anymore. I mean I was older now, and I didn't need the constant supervision of an adult. When my father mentioned Myungsoo, I was more than ready to leave. I agreed to go live with my grandparents in Seoul and agreed to apply to Ewha Woman's University. It was an all woman school my dad had researched before, of course guys were still out of the question. I didn't care, it's not like I was boy crazy. I was known as a nun for God sakes.

Graduation Day:

     The dreaded day was finally here! Graduation day, the last day of our high school lives. After today, we were to set foot in the real world. It made me nervous, the thought of "growing up", but I was excited to do so in Korea.

      I wore a plain black dress and blue high heel pumps, and I let my naturally wavy hair down. My hair was too long for me to style it in any way. I was at least an hour way too early for graduation, so I walked around the school on my own. I walked down the long halls of my high school only hearing the sound my heels made as I walked. So many memories had been made in this one hall. I walked towards the library and sat on one of the benches right in front of the building. I sat and thought, thought about when I first arrived here, meeting Jia, my first kiss, my teachers and all the dreaded school work they assigned.

     I would miss all that now. I would miss walking these halls, I would miss the new friends that I made with such difficulty, I would miss California for sure. Thinking about leaving California reminded me of how I felt when I first left Korea. The thought of starting new was as scary now as it was back then. I wondered about what had changed and hoped that it was all still as I remembered.

     The true reason behind my decision to move back was obviously because of Myungsoo oppa. I missed him, I wanted to see him again.

Is he still the same?

Is he doing okay?

     My train of thought was interrupted when I heard Jia's voice.

"SunMi! I knew you'd be here." She yelled out as she walked over to me.

"Oh Jia! Wow, you look great." I said.

"Don't I?" She smiled and twirled around to show me.

"Yeah." I rolled my eyes.

"Let's go. It's time to form a line for the big entrance." She said as she pulled me up from the bench.

     Our graduation ceremony was simple, but depressing. Most of the girls started tearing up when the song, 'Break Away' by Kelly Clarkson played.

"I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes till' I touch the sky
And I'll make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love
I'll take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway"
 

     Even I cried along with the rest. The lyrics truly spoke to me. I was taking a chance moving to Korea, It was another change and I was definitely breaking away from the life I had made here in California. I was never to forget the people here, I was forever thankful for them, but it was time to break away.