I remember

 

I remember me dozing off in astronomy class yesterday. I remember joining 25^th waver’s graduation ceremony last Saturday. I remember riding a bicycle along 안양천 last month, January. I remember practicing basketball every 2 hours a day last year. I remember entering KMLA with lots of congratulations 2 years ago. I remember Covid 19 first started in the first month of 2020. I remember going home with my bestie in the middle of the night when I am a middle school second grader. I'll tell you about the last memory.

I remember we were talking about Tom Holland. I remember we were arguing with each other about whom Tom Holland will marry. I remember I said he will marry me and she said he will marry her. I remember we chatted about the romance of studying abroad in America. I remember we both imagined a prom party with Tom. We envisaged a handsome captain of American football who plays football in the school stadium with the sunset and also imagined about shopping near the fashion store after school. I remember while chatting, we were aware of our legs were getting numb. I remember we stopped nearby the playground and sat on a swing side by side. I remember while we were envisioning our romantic American life, we made a comparison between our harsh reality of South Korea and the “romantic” American life. I remember we were complaining about our Korean reality which is based on academic factionalism. I remember we concluded that Korea’s educational system destroys students’ romance. I also remember we shouted in the air that Korean teenagers' "romance" should be regained. I remember we pledged to each other to change Korean life based on academic elitism into a more chocolate-box, dreamy life. I remember at that time, the emotion and passion we felt with our own bodies was more than just excitement and thrill.

I now realized that American life is not always romantic. I now know there is almost zero possibility of marrying Tom. I now know football captains will not always play football with the picturesque sunset. I now also know I cannot go shopping every after school. I now know the reality of international American life. I now know America also has a strict educational system and academic factionalism with its own standard for instance GPA, AP exams, award performance, etc. I now faced the stark reality that the Korean institutional problem will barely change with our pledge. But when I recall this memory, I now understand the passion and heat which we showed to attempt to change society was invaluable.