My Home
Skyscrapers with bright night lights and Buddhist temples dominating the Bangkok city, this was the first scene that I had of Thailand. Visiting a foreign country for the first time, I didn't expect much. Training to become a competitive dancer, I had to put my dream aside and leave Korea. I was worried and disappointed that we were going to Thailand. I was even complaining when we arrived.
"What's this smell?" My sister and I said it at the same time, before we got into what looked like our dad's car. Normally, we would call out "I said it first" or "stop following me", but we were too tired and annoyed to say anything. No one could tell what the smell was. It was a new kind of scent that we never encountered before. It was a combination of spicy, musky and salty. Later we found out that it was part of exotic spices like cilantro, used in Thai cuisine that we grew to love.
Coming from a cold winter in Korea, the humid December of Thailand was too much for me to bear. I was still wearing long blue jeans and holding onto a pink winter coat from Korea. To overcome the humidity, I took a sip from the water that my dad handed to me. Right after taking the first sip, I gave it to my sister. Water which suppose to taste like nothing, tasted like iron, kind of like rain water. Maybe I was being a bratty nine year old, but it really did taste like a rain water.
Weather, scent, taste, nothing made me happy. Instead, everything irritated me. I made a pouty face to show my frustration to my parents.
However, getting onto what it looked like a highway, my lips which was out due to my pouty face, went in and formed a '0' shape. I was mesmerized by the tall buildings shining bright lights. In between I could see what it looked like a palace or a temple. With car radio blasting oriental Thai music, it was obvious that we were in Thailand. Even the advertisements written in Thai alphabets and Buddhist temples told me that I was in Thailand, but somehow reminded me of Seoul city and Gyeongbokgung.
Of course it wasn't easy for a nine year to adapt to a new foreign environment. But from the first car ride from the airport, it gave me a hope. A hope that maybe I could get use to this place. It gave me a sense of promise that Thailand won't be bad.
Time went with a blink of an eye. It came to the time for me to leave Thailand. I was no long just a nine year old scared about her new life in a foreign country. I was a high school graduate, leaving the place where I grew to call my home. The strong spices of Thai food, taste of water and even the sight of lizards on our bathroom wall were no longer foreign to me. They all became part of my life.
On the taxi going to the airport, it was also at night. Even until the last day, we couldn't escape the crazy car traffic of Bangkok city. I noticed that we were going through the same highway that we first came through 10 years ago. Looking at the opposite direction with cars lined up for the traffic jam, it reminded of my first car ride in Thailand. It was odd to think how scared and worried I was back then. I never expected myself to have such a hard time leaving. Inside, I secretly thanked Thailand for giving me the best childhood years I could think of.
It has been about four years since then. With my younger sister graduating high school in May, our family is planning to visit our home after four years.
I can't wait to go back home.
1. There was an obvious contrast between the first and the second half of the writing, which emphasized each other. With all the sensory details, it really helped me to vividly visualize what the writer had felt in Thailand.
ReplyDelete2. I think the writer described the place quite clearly. I liked that the writer fully described the smell and feeling, in addition to what she had seen. But I could not understand clearly that the writer saw not only skyscrapers but also Buddhist temples while on the highway, because it is hard to imagine that Buddhist temples are visible on the highway.
3. Yes. The writer used various sensory details such as visuals, smells, feelings, and even tastes. I liked parts like "With car radio blasting oriental Thai music, it was obvious that we were in Thailand." or "The strong spices of Thai food, taste of water and even the sight of lizards on our bathroom wall were no longer foreign to me." because those parts described what the writer had felt in Thailand vividly. It made me feel like I'm in Thailand, even though I've never been there.
4. As mentioned above, the first and the second part of the writing makes clear contrast. So the mood of Thailand, to the writer, changes from gloomy, irritating and foreign to homelike and familiar.
5. The writer seemed to have spent quite a long time of her life in there, Thailand, and thus has many good old memories.
6. I really like to know what changed her attitude towards Thailand that dramatically. I think it would have been better if the writer included what happened during her stay in Thailand.
Moses Choi
1. The thing i liked most about Hyun Jee's essay was how she was able to emphasise that this place, Bangkok, was very important for her. It was her new home that she needed to adapt too, and although very unfamiliar in the beginning of the essay, she uses the same sensory details to show the change to the readers very clearly.
ReplyDelete2. I think as of smell, I was able to clearly understand what to expect if I do ever have a chance to visit Bangkok. However, as of descriptions of her surroundings I think she could use much more sensory details pertaining to sight to illustrate this place much more clearly. Also, i would like to maybe know more why you would think that it reminded you of Seoul.
3. She did use many different sensory details but I personally liked the details pertaining to smell the most. This is because of the strong emotion felt by the author in the beginning. The smell was unfamiliar but had the components of musk, salt, and heavy spice. Later to learn that it was a smell familiar to cilantro make the depiction much more clear. Another detail I liked is the lizard that you saw in your bathroom wall which you became accustomed to.
4. By reading this essay, I think the atmosphere is very metropolitan, filled with people on the streets selling street food and music blaring out the people's car.
5. This was definitely a place of importance to her. Her first real home because she basically grew up there. Thailand is a unique place, unfamiliar to many people, so her experiences is worth sharing to other Korean students who have not a single clue to what to expect as a new Korean immigrant in Bangkok.
6. Maybe she can help ease the transition from her younger days to the latter half of the essay to give us a better picture of her stay in Thailand.
Kim Young Woo 201203937