To my children
It was when my sister was in middle school. I wanted to earn some money by tutoring English, but it was not easy to find students. Most tutors were college kids. I was not in college. Matter of fact, I had no formal education.
Finally, my sister found a student, her friend. She also found some to teach the math class. His name was Soo Ahn Chae. (I think that was his name, but not 100% sure.) For few months, I taught English and he taught math. Sometime after that, my sister’s friend quit the tutoring and that was the end of it. Even after the tutoring ended, Soo Ahn continued to come and see me every once in a while. We played the board game, ‘Go,’ together.
Formal certificates to show higher education were very important in Korea then. I had nothing to show for and that bothered me. I learned English and thought maybe I could go to the United States to further my study. One day, I looked up the phone book and found the number for Fulbright Scholarship Foundation. I called the number and asked for a counselor. And I asked her to help me.
Her name was Greer. She introduced me to the Educational Center for American military personnel in 8th Army in Yong San. There, I prepared for ‘GED’ test. The test included English, science, social study, and math. I could study all except the math by myself. I needed the tutoring for the math.
I could have asked Soo Ahn to help me. But my pride did not allow me to contact him. I decided to find a math tutor from the wanted ad in the paper. I thought a female would be better than a male.
I found a girl who was studying nursing at Yonsei University. (I have forgotten her name long time ago.) I learned math from her for few months. And thanks to her, I passed the math test.
I think I was hoping to develop a romantic relationship with her. She was not against the idea, either. It was around the time the math tutoring was ending since I passed the exam. Soo Ahn showed up one day when my math tutor was there. He was not happy that I never mentioned about my math tutoring to him before. (Or maybe I made this up.)
Three of us were around the same age. He and she had common subjects to talk about. They talked about their colleges, campus life, clubs, and etc.
He came to play the board game, Go, and he would have stayed for dinner. But when my math tutor was about to leave, he wanted to leave, too. I knew the things were not going where I intended, but there was nothing I could do. They left together, and that was the last time I saw them. (That’s how I remember it.)
I did not hear anyone was abducted by UFO in my neighborhood that day. Therefore, I assume they both went home safely. I am sure Soo Ahn worked hard to earn her heart that day. Knowing that they never came back to see me again, I believe they started a relationship.
I have no way of finding out what happened to them. Then, I learned that there was a destiny. And I also learned that we could not change it.