9
ACCEPTED
The school was not as bad as I thought it would be, even now that I
had Legumasaurus Rex to contend with. I was warmly welcomed by
some Korean students who became my good friends. This made me
long to see South Korea and try all kinds of food there, maybe videoing
it for posterity. I grew to love living in Qingdao because of my Korean
friends. When I first heard them speaking in Korean, I thought, “What?!
There’s another language that isn’t German?!” Of course Rex tried to
convince me that they were saying mean things about me in this new
language, but a few minutes later I had the language nailed and was
able to tell them all about my life in Catering as an astonishing child.
When I got home that day, I couldn’t wait to tell my mother and
father about what had happened.
“What happened in school today?” Mother asked.
“I met a friend. His name is Dongjun.”
“Dongjun?”
“Well, he said I can call him by his English name, Andy. He is my
new friend, and he is Korean. Koreans seem to be pretty cool.”
It pleased my mother that I wasn’t moping around mopily like a
mopey moper anymore. My mother insisted we invited Andy and my
other friends home on a weekend. Mother had gone overboard, making
her famous banoffee pie and two dozen bakewell tarts. I was a bit
nervous, which made me sweat tremendously. But who doesn’t love
banoffee pie? Only morons and Legumasurus Rex. Thus my
friendships with my Korean friends grew stronger, and I yearned to
know more about Korean culture.
We spent the holidays in Qingdao’s glittering row of PC Bars,
playing Starcraft until the early hours. We went to each other’s
houses, and I loved to try Korean foods. I wished I’d had a camera to
make yummy noises into. Before long, I realised I wasn’t missing
England quite so much. Andy, his sister Rosemary and my other