June - Ho-yeon-ji-gi
Wednesday, 1st June
After school I went to the dentist with Hee-jeong. Her father gave both of us a check-up. While I was lying there with my mouth wide open he teased me. ‘So you’re my daughter’s boyfriend are you?’ The assistants burst out laughing too staring at me. He said our teeth were in excellent condition.
To celebrate we bought ourselves a chocolate each.
Thursday, 2nd June
This Saturday we’ve decided to grill meat and sausages in our garden. A small simple garden party. Dad rang Hee-jeong’s family and Dong-wan’s family himself and invited them for dinner. Aunt Jeong-su and Uncle said they already had plans and might arrive a bit late. Dad said that was fine.
I prayed to God that it wouldn’t rain on Saturday. It seems faith comes to me all by itself.
Friday, 3rd June
Jong-gu was absent. Our form tutor said he was ill. After school Dong-wan and I went to visit him. Just as we were about to ring the bell we heard angry shouting from inside. We ran away at once. Please let it be nothing serious…
Saturday, 4th June
I got up early. The sky was overcast. Luckily not pouring. I was sweeping the garden and tidying the flowerbeds when Dad told me to hurry or I’d be late for my lesson.
Today even maths went well. My conversation with Mr Jamie was fun. He’d had a car accident and can’t use the lower half of his body anymore. He showed me his wheelchair. He speaks very slowly and clearly so I can understand. When I told him I liked ‘April’ by Deep Purple he sang the opening bars for me. I think we could become good friends.
Uncle says Mr Jamie works from home as an English teacher because of his disability. He teaches people online in Korea, Japan, France, Spain and other countries. Mr Jamie is really impressive. But he should probably lose a bit of weight.
When I got home Mum had made the house spotless. Dad came back from the supermarket with both hands full. They’d both changed into their ‘special garden-party outfits’. Well garden or not we only have a tiny patch of green but still it counts. Today I even found Dad rather elegant. No belly modern haircut. Mum too looked slim and pretty. We’ve been so busy lately we hadn’t really looked at each other.
Dong-wan’s family arrived first. His mum brought a bottle of wine. Hee-jeong came with her parents. Her big brother didn’t come. He says he hates it because there’s no one his age. Her dad brought a bottle of ‘top-shelf’ spirits. Aunt Jeong-su and Uncle arrived about an hour later.
The dads cans of beer in hand grilled meat and sausages in the garden. The mums sitting under the parasol chatted ‘elegantly’ with glasses of wine.
We discovered that Hee-jeong’s father was actually three years senior to my dad at university. They say they never even crossed paths back then. Which makes sense. The chances of a philosophy student meeting a dental student must be close to zero.
The dads talked about Flash Girl and True Colors without noticing time pass. The mums went on and on about the children’s maths and English lessons. In the living room Deep Purple kept playing.
Around midnight the mums ‘collected’ their drunk husbands and took them home one by one. We shouldn’t have talked about politics. The moment that topic came up the dads started drinking twice as fast.
Sunday, 5th June
Early in the morning while I was cleaning the garden I greeted the man in the attic room. The neighbour who moved in recently. He introduced himself. His name is Sisina from Sri Lanka. Since I don’t often see foreigners I couldn’t guess his age. He was so handsome you could fall for him at first sight. Honestly he could be an actor.
He used to work in a factory in Ansan but recently changed jobs and moved to Gugil-dong. The factory in Ansan went bankrupt.
‘So you were paid all your wages properly? I’ve heard some bosses don’t pay…’
‘You know a lot. Yes I got everything. My boss was a good man.’
‘That’s good. My grandad says there are lots of bad people.’
‘Yes. But I’m lucky. This furniture factory in Gugil-dong was introduced to me by my old boss.’
His eyes were full of trust.
‘Sir one day you’ll tell me about Sri Lanka.’
‘Alright. Otherwise I’ll be late. See you.’
He spoke Korean unbelievably fluently. To the ear you couldn’t even tell if he was Korean or foreign. It reassured me. I don’t know why but I felt relieved.
Monday, 6th June (Memorial Day)
In the morning Hee-jeong suggested cycling along the Han River. Obviously better than watching the ceremony on TV. We rode as far as under Dongjak Bridge. Sitting on a bench we ate the inarizushi her mum had made. They were the best inarizushi in the world.
Hee-jeong took a smartphone and a Y-jack out of her pocket and plugged them in.
‘I bought it yesterday. A couple’s jack.’ She smiled a bit shy. ‘Get your earphones out.’
I plugged mine in she plugged hers. She pressed play and adjusted the volume.
‘It’s Beethoven’s Violin Concerto…’
Her voice was swallowed by the melody.
Clear gentle pure sound. The first movement ended then the second then the third. I felt as if electricity was running through my whole body.
‘Apparently Beethoven only wrote one violin concerto in his entire life.’
Hee-jeong looked slightly euphoric as if drunk on music.
‘It’s incredible. So this is Beethoven’s Violin Concerto?’
‘Yes. My brother plays it all the time.’
It felt as though time had stopped. Even the wind seemed to have stopped.
Tuesday, 7th June
I stopped by Kyobo and bought a CD of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. When I put it into the old stereo in my room it was exactly that piece. The one I’d heard with Hee-jeong. I turned the volume up. Caught by excitement I grabbed a pencil and even pretended to conduct. Mum called me for dinner but I didn’t hear a thing. She opened the door. ‘How many times do I have to call you?’ I had to stop conducting.
Rummaging through Dad’s shelf I found a music book with a funny title. When Do You Applaud? Apparently in classical music you don’t clap just any time.
Wednesday, 8th June
From When Do You Applaud? I picked out a few quotations. My diary gained a bit of authority.
- ‘Music tells its own story. All one needs to do is give it the chance.’ — Yehudi Menuhin
- ‘The most wasteful form of expenditure is undoubtedly music.’ — Mauricio Kagel
- ‘To believe one must understand music in order to enjoy it is a great illusion.’ — Manuel de Falla
- ‘In this soundless world like a world of ghosts what we need is precisely music.’ — Ingeborg Bachmann
- ‘He who has little curiosity makes few discoveries.’ — Goethe
- ‘Music is the vibration of the universe and we are a part of it.’ — Ferruccio Busoni
Mauricio Kagel… no, actually, that one really won’t do.
Thursday, 9th June
If I ever go to a classical concert I’d better not applaud. I feel like I could ruin the whole thing.
This evening we had dinner at Grandad’s. After washing up I went for a walk with him. He says he has a problem these days. Grandma keeps nagging him to sign up with her for dance classes. In my opinion that really is a very serious problem. Soon they’ll actually go to dance school!
On the way back I ran into Mr Sisina. Some kids from the neighbourhood were following him teasing him. I shouted ‘You lot of hooligans!’ and chased them off. Mr Sisina just smiled. He must be used to it. I felt unnecessarily guilty for him. Those kids…!
Friday, 10th June
English listening test. I have ears so I can hear. But I understand absolutely nothing.
1st. Go Dong-wan
2nd. Kim Hee-jeong Lee Jong-gu
Dong-wan is good in class good at sport and the most popular. If he runs for class president next term he’ll be elected.
But I have Hee-jeong.
Saturday, 11th June
Hee-jeong’s dad called my dad. He wants us to go to Dobong-san tomorrow. Dad pulled out the bad-back excuse saying he couldn’t. I’ll go as the family’s representative.
I lent Hee-jeong When Do You Applaud? By Daniel Hope. I’d like to go to a classical concert with her one day.
Sunday, 12th June
For the first time in my life I climbed up to Ui-am on Dobong-san. I understood the true meaning of ho-yeon-ji-gi.
07.40 Wake-up.
07.50 Hee-jeong calls to check I’m up. Says not to eat breakfast and come straight over.
08.10 Dad drops me off at Hee-jeong’s.
08.15 Her mum serves breakfast. I eat my fill.
08.20 She prepares inarizushi for lunch.
08.25 Hee-jeong’s dad secretly steals two.
08.26 Hee-jeong takes two and gives me one.
08.28 Hee-jeong’s big brother stuffs three into his mouth at once.
08.30 Her mum says there won’t be enough. We’ll have to buy kimbap at Dobong-san.
08.35 Her dad goes to the toilet.
08.40 We’re also given Choco Pie, water, chocolate.
08.45 Her dad is still in the toilet.
08.50 He finally comes out.
08.55 He sets the GPS.
08.57 Departure at last!
09.40 Arrive at the Dobong-san park-and-ride. He pulls the bag from the boot and slams the door too hard. Everyone jumps. Especially him.
10.00 We look around the food market. We haven’t even reached the entrance yet.
10.10 Purchase. Jokbal and kimbap. He drools over the makgeolli but doesn’t buy any. He looks as if he’s seriously considering hiring a driver. But I’m not sure.
10.20 We pass the market and head for the gates.
10.25 We study the map to find Ui-am. Walk a long time then reach a fork. Hee-jeong and I are right but her dad insists he’s right. We follow his path. Soon we discover Hee-jeong and I were right. He mutters it’s impossible that the map must be wrong.
10.45 He’s puffing up to his chin. Break.
12.00 Arrive at the top of Ui-am. It’s a bit steep. I hold her hand. Suddenly my heart starts beating 3.14 times faster. I think I’m having cardiac arrest. She’s perfectly fine.
12.05 Souvenir photo.
12.30 Lunch. Her dad grumbles ‘jokbal on its own is dry.’ He looks jealously at people drinking makgeolli.
12.55 We dip our feet in the stream. Her dad calls it a ‘foot bath’. Freezing.
14.40 Finish descending.
14.50 Set off for home.
15.50 Arrive at Hee-jeong’s. Mum and Dad are waiting there.
16.20 Both families go together to the jjimjilbang.
Back home I put on Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and collapsed.
Monday, 13th June
Mum says the travel agency is short-handed. She’s hired two new employees. Every morning it’s war before Dad goes to work. He really must hate it. According to Mum his neck and back hurt badly. An occupational disease. Sitting in front of a computer all day.
I think our sofa shares some of the blame too…
Tuesday, 14th June
Mum granted Dad a one-year sabbatical. Dad says he’ll hand in his resignation tomorrow and leave the company before the end of the month. Mum asked if he didn’t need at least a month for handover. Dad replied ‘Handover of what?’ That tells you how much he mattered at his company.
Dad declared he was transferring all his powers as head of the family to Mum. As if he had any powers to transfer in the first place…
Wednesday, 15th June
Dad submitted his resignation letter. In two weeks he’ll officially be unemployed. So Mum is the boss, Dad is unemployed and I’m a student. What a dynamic family.
If anything happens I’ll side with Mum.
Thursday, 16th June
Dad’s face is glowing. What if his back pain wasn’t just an act?
Grandma rang Mum after hearing the news. Mum reassured her. The agency is doing well. She said Dad had worked fifteen years without rest so a year off might not be such a bad thing. Mum really is classy.
But Dad isn’t going to rest for more than a year right…?
Friday, 17th June
Dad called Hee-jeong’s dad. He wants to go back to Dobong-san. I asked Dong-wan if he wanted to come but his family is travelling to Byeonsan-bando this weekend.
So we’re repeating last week’s team just adding my dad. I’m worried. Will he manage to climb? He doesn’t even walk five hundred steps a day.
Saturday, 18th June
I sweated trying to explain last week’s Dobong-san hike to Mr Jamie. When I said ‘mountain climbing’ he looked shocked. He asked if there really was such a high mountain near a big city. So I said ‘Seoul has many many mountains.’
It was the first time in my life I’d strung five words together. Well. That’s not the most important part.
Mr Jamie kept pulling stunned faces while talking about ropes, bivouacs and so on and I didn’t understand a thing. He must’ve been so surprised he forgot to speak slowly.
Later Uncle explained. I should’ve said ‘hiking’ not ‘mountain climbing’. Over there ‘climbing’ makes people think of rock climbing. Walking for a few hours is ‘hiking’. And ‘trekking’ is hiking over several days.
Sunday, 19th June
My dad and Hee-jeong’s dad decided to stop hiking for a while. In my opinion that really is the secret of good health.
07.00 Wake-up. Check the weather. Cloudy but fine.
07.15 Dad doesn’t get up.
07.20 Dad says he won’t go. Even Mum gets up to wake him. He still refuses. So Mum threatens to cancel his sabbatical. Dad jumps up.
07.25 Dad dozes on the toilet. We wake him.
07.30 Dad calls Hee-jeong. We’ll arrive at 8:10. Hee-jeong says come at 8:20. Her dad isn’t up yet. She’s waking him.
07.40 Breakfast prepared by Mum. Dad barely eats. Mum insists. He finally drowns the rice in soup and swallows without chewing.
08.00 Mum packs water and fruit. She says we’ll buy lunch at the market below Dobong-san.
08.20 Arrive at Hee-jeong’s. Her mum prepares inarizushi.
08.25 Dad steals two.
08.26 Her mum tells him to stop. It’s for the lunch box.
08.28 Hee-jeong’s dad goes to the toilet.
08.35 He comes out.
08.45 Hee-jeong’s dad sets the GPS.
08.48 Departure for Dobong-san!
09.30 Arrive at the car park.
09.40 Purchase. Jokbal, four rolls of kimbap and four cucumbers.
09.50 Argument about the route. Both dads want to climb up to Sinseon-dae. Hee-jeong and I say that’s too much. Ui-am is enough. Her dad insists heavily. Today it’s Sinseon-dae.
10.05 My dad is puffing up to his chin.
10.10 The other dad too.
10.55 After Dobong-san-jang people are resting. Hee-jeong’s dad says this is Madang-bawi. Hee-jeong and I share a cucumber. Dad takes out a folding knife to peel it. But we’re already eating it with the skin. He puts the knife away embarrassed. Hee-jeong giggles.
11.10 We reach the real Madang-bawi. So the cucumber place wasn’t Madang-bawi after all. Hee-jeong and I decide to call it ‘Fake Madang-bawi’. On the real one the view suddenly opens and ho-yeon-ji-gi is cultivated to the full. On the climb I hold her hand. My heart goes thump thump.
11.20 From Madang-bawi we set off towards Jaun-bong. The real hike begins. Both dads bathe in their sweat.
12.30 Arrive at Sinseon-dae. The last part is a bit scary. Hee-jeong isn’t scared at all. Too many people to stay. Seoul spreads out in panorama. Souvenir photo.
12.35 Up there Hee-jeong gently takes my hand. My heart beats a million times faster.
12.40 Someone says it’s 32°C in Seoul. Both dads at the same time have a serious dizzy spell.
13.00 Lunch. Inarizushi, kimbap, jokbal, boiled eggs and cucumbers. Both dads recover a bit of colour. They desperately want a glass of makgeolli. At the start of the valley foot bath. Feet frozen head frozen. But what bliss.
15.00 Descent finished. Photo in front of poet Kim Su-yeong’s stele.
16.30 Traffic jam. Arrive at Hee-jeong’s thirty minutes late.
17.00 Everyone to the jjimjilbang. Both dads go to the sleeping room and snore. It’s so loud other men flee. Someone says ‘Double cannon.’
20.00 My dad declares he won’t go to the mountains for a while. Hee-jeong’s dad joins the declaration. The mums applaud.
I fell asleep thinking of the touch of Hee-jeong’s hand at Sinseon-dae.
Monday, 20th June
End of happiness start of misery. The final-exam timetable is out.
- Tuesday, 5 July : Korean, Social Studies, Ethics
- Wednesday, 6 July : English, Music
- Thursday, 7 July : Science, Chinese Characters
- Friday, 8 July : Maths
After school I went to study at Dong-wan’s. There are eight subjects. I don’t know where to start. Dong-wan told me to lock down Korean-English-Maths first then do the memorisation subjects more calmly later. So this week I’ll focus on maths.
Korean and English scare me.
Tuesday, 21st June
Again at Dong-wan’s after school. I wanted to focus on maths but worrying about Korean and English stopped me from making progress.
The ‘rote-learning’ subjects worry me too.
Wednesday, 22nd June
Aunt Jeong-su rang the house. This week ‘maths only’ she said.
Mum and Dad on the other hand show zero interest in my finals…
Thursday, 23rd June
Dad begs Mum in a nasal voice. He wants just one plane ticket to Europe. He even sings that he wants to go to Europe next month. Dad really has some nerve.
Friday, 24th June
I think Dad has lost his mind. He bought three travel books about Europe and laid them out conspicuously on the table so Mum would see. But Mum looked at the books and scolded me. ‘Byeok once you’ve finished put these away!’
It’s been so long since she’s seen Dad read that she thought I’d spread them all out. I was about to explain but Dad quickly put everything away.
Saturday, 25th June
Aunt Jeong-su kept me the whole day. Maths in the morning then free-talking English with Mr Jamie curry at noon made by Aunt then more maths in the afternoon.
‘Eighty-seven points. But only if you make no silly mistakes.’
Aunt prophesied my maths score for the final exam. I felt like a Greek hero receiving an oracle. Eighty-seven is already enormous!
Dad made me a ‘secret’ proposal. During the summer holidays I should beg Mum to let us go to Europe. And he’ll follow ‘as my guardian’. I quietly put the Europe books Dad had bought back on the table.
Sunday, 26th June
Bombshell announcement from Mum! She’s going to give Dad a discounted plane ticket to Europe at the end of July. She says Dad has worked fifteen years for us and deserves to enjoy himself a little. Dad nasal. ‘Darling I love you.’ Mum nasal too. ‘Sorry it’s not a direct flight.’ Me nasal as well. ‘And me?’ And Dad. ‘You’re studying for finals.’
Dad traitor!
Monday, 27th June
Dad submitted his ‘sabbatical plan’ to Mum. Mum is reviewing the file.
Tuesday, 28th June
Dad’s ‘sabbatical plan’ was rejected at inspection. He’d forgotten the quit smoking part.
Wednesday, 29th June
The plan was finally approved. By a whisker. Phew. Tomorrow Dad goes to work for the last time and then he’ll be unemployed. And yet he’s proud. All thanks to Mum.
- Heo Su-jeong’s Sabbatical Plan -
- Quit smoking.
- Apply for the good health insurance discount and pass for sure.
- Get up at 7 a.m. as usual.
- Take charge of all housework (basic banchan, washing-up, food waste, shopping, cleaning laundry, etc.).
- Never ask his mother to make side dishes.
- Do not watch TV during the day.
- Don’t drink too much coffee. One cup a day!
- Do 30 press-ups a day.
- Get into shape to do more than 10 pull-ups.
- Eat slowly.
- No late-night meals.
- Don’t drink too much.
- Don’t swear while driving.
- Cut toenails properly.
- Be loyal to his wife Min Jeong-ran!
Not a single line about me… I’m not even a child picked up off the street…
Thursday, 30th June
Half the year has already passed. Time flies.
After school I was going to study with Dong-wan. As we were leaving Jong-gu was standing by the gate with an unfamiliar man. Worried we shouted ‘Jong-gu!’ Jong-gu and the man turned round surprised.
‘Off to revise?’ Jong-gu asked waving to us.
‘Yes. Want to come?’ Dong-wan said.
‘This is my brother. Say hello.’
His brother looked about five years older than us. It was the first time I’d learnt Jong-gu had an older brother. I’ve never been to Jong-gu’s house. I don’t think Dong-wan has either. And to be honest I don’t really want to. His parents are frightening.
Thinking about it I don’t know much about Jong-gu. I’ve never been the one to contact him first to meet. When he’s in a good mood he overflows with energy and is expansive. Otherwise he turns gloomy and silent.
‘Well I’m off. Take care of yourself alright? I’ll be back.’ his brother said.
Jong-gu hugged him. His brother patted his back.
The three of us walked without speaking. Jong-gu in front Dong-wan and I three or four steps behind. Jong-gu turned round. ‘My brother doesn’t live with us. Bloody hell.’
I didn’t know what to say.
‘He left home in Year 12. My dad used to beat him like mad. Bloody hell.’
He said that and walked on. Today Jong-gu’s shadow looked strangely long.