Story

This summer is one that I'll never forget. One that will stay vivid in my memories and become a story to share with other people. For the first time in my life, I moved to South Korea. Being here several times before to visit, I wasn't completely clueless of the lifestyle here, but I never expected to be living in this land. It was a huge culture shock for me that I couldn't adapt to easily. The diverse culture, people, and location was just too different from America. I was used to big land, clean air, peaceful nights and limited traffic, whereas here, there was small and cramped land, polluted air, heavy traffic and the constant sounds of cars honking at night. While I did experience much of what was expected, awaiting me at Korea was also the very unexpected as well.

As I boarded the plane that was to take me seven-thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean to the southern tip of Korea, I felt a sense of mixed emotions. I was mainly curious. After all, I was living halfway around the globe from where I grew up. But aside from being just curious, I was fearful and anxious. Having being born and educated in the states my whole life, I had little knowledge of the Korean culture. What worried me the most was the language. Being a fluent English-speaker, my Korean was no way near the same level. I could understand and speak some of the language, but it was never to the level of a native speaker. I was fearful of appearing unconvincing to other people's eyes and having to put up with stares of shameful looks upon their faces.

The plane ride was a dreadful 14 hours. We took a shuttle bus which drove us to our new home: LG Metro City. This would be my new address I would use whenever I would have to fill out applications, mail letters, or invite friends over to. It would become a place where I would spend lonely nights doing my homework or studying for the SAT's.

That soon changed, however. This whole time, I was always thinking that I would attend Busan Foreign School. But hearing upon the poor academic level and college acceptance this, I knew I just could not trust this school to prepare me for college. Hearing that the international school in Daejon was a much better place, my family and I took a trip to the school. Getting a positive first impression of the school, I decided to enroll. However, if I wanted to enroll at this school, that meant that I had to stay in the dormitory.

The idea of staying at a dormitory for an entire school year didn't sound convincing one bit to me. Living together with my family for the past thirteen years, I couldn't just live separately from them so suddenly. A day before entering the dormitory, I cried my heart out. All the tears I've been hiding inside me this whole time finally poured out. I refused to leave. The thoughts of living alone and not being able to see my family for several weeks haunted me. After all, I was only thirteen. I was too young to live my own life. It was too late to turn back now, but I wished that I had never enrolled to this school. Education's important, but what can beat family?

The next morning we drove to Daejon. Normally I hated long car rides, but this time I hoped that it would never end. Each minute we were closer, I felt the tears building up inside me again. I managed to swallow them back and crack a weak smile. After finish registering and listening to the orientation, we unpacked my belongings in the dorm. I took a glimpse at the ticking clock and constantly reminded myself, only fifteen more minutes, only fifteen. Ten minutes had past and the unpacking was just about done. There was a silent pause among us, but a knock on the door had broken it. As I slowly opened the door, a woman I have never seen before smiled brightly. She introduced herself as Mrs. Midkiff, one of the dorm parents. After having a short greeting with the rest of my family, she notified us that I had to leave in 5 minutes for the student orientation. It was time.

I exchanged my final goodbyes and hugged each of my family members tightly. As I was in their arms, the tears started streaming slowly down my cheek. I wiped them with the sleeve of my already damp sweater and waved goodbye. The muscles of my fingers felt weak as I slowly waved my hand left and right. I took a step out of the room and smiled, saying goodbye for the last time.

The student orientation brightened up my mood a little bit. The games and humor lightened up the tense mood of mine and allowed me to laugh. I talked with many new people and even made new friends on the first day. I decided that dorm life wouldn’t be as terrible as I thought it would be. I would have many friends to replace the loneliness of being away from my family and even though I may be apart from them, I knew that they would always be with me in my heart.

Exposition: The first 4 paragraphs.

Rising Action: 5-6 paragraph

Climax: 7 paragraph

Falling Action: 8 paragraph

Resolution: 8 paragraph

The conflict in my story is that I had to enter the dormitory. I wasn't prepared, and I wasn't

ready, but for the sake of my education, I came to the conclusion that that would be best.