What a bad father I am! We
killed our own daughter." Then he fell down and died on
the spot. In just one day, I had to send both my daughter and
husband to the other world. I didn't cry. I didn't have time. I
had to take care of two other kids. I decided not to be stuck
in the house anymore. That's why I came here and why I'm
shouting to sell one more piece of bread every day."
We looked at the other vendors, yelling at the top of
their voices next to us.
"I would sell clothes or shoes like them if I were handy, but
I can't make them." Teacher Oh sighed. "What's worse, I'm
not smart like the other women here, who hang around the
brokers. They get goods at low prices from those brokers."
While she spoke, she kept urging me to eat her bread.
"I'm not attractive anymore, I don't have a smooth
tongue. I know how to handle kids, not adults."
When I was about to leave, she stuffed three pieces of
bread in my pocket.
"But, I'm the luckiest and happiest woman in this place.
My ex-students help me. Sometimes, they bring clothes
from China and give them to me for very little. I never
thought I would be obliged to my little students like this."
Saying good bye, she gave me a wide smile. ` Jia, my
life hasn't been so bad! After you leave, I will smile and
think about those days. How cute you were! What a terrible
teacher I was!"
I bought most of her bread, claiming that I was about
to buy lunch for my coworkers in the market. On that day,
my coworkers had to fill their stomachs with Teacher Oh's
bread.
Sun's Story
un was my neighbor. Her flat was right next to mine,
i in the rusty apartment complex I had been living in for
the past few years. Sometime after moving in, I met her
mother, Aunt Cho, in the hall. She asked about my age, my
job-all the usual questions that arise when people meet
each other for the first time.
"Why don't you live with your parents?"
I answered instantly: "They're dead. I've never seen
them."
"Oh..." She nodded her head slowly, looking ill at ease,
and let me pass by.
Whenever Aunt Cho stopped by my house after that,
she would look around my kitchen and then disappear. Several minutes later, she would come back with dishes in her
hands, and one of them always held kimchi.
"I worked in the Nutrition Department before I had
Sun, so I know how to handle cooking. You can trust my
food, and you should gain at least five kilograms."
I couldn't decline her kindness-her kimchi was the best I
had ever eaten. With each bite of the pickled cabbage, I felt
my stomach grow so clean and cool. I brought any cookies
or snacks I could get in the hotel to her house, and though
I insisted she try them, Aunt Cho always put them aside,
saying, "Sun might like these more than me; she'll be back
next week. I'm sure she'll like you a lot-she always wanted
a sister."
Sun was 19 years old, with white skin and red lips. When
I finally met her, I couldn't believe that she had just returned
from three months of volunteering in the countryside before
graduating from a teaching school; it seemed her skin had
special protection against the sun. She was a giddy girl, and
she followed me around, talking about everything she saw
and heard. We liked to go to the street market to look at
cosmetics. We couldn't afford to buy anything; we just went
to be together and enjoy the uproarious atmosphere.
Sun's favorite topic was her boyfriend, Gun. She had
met him while walking with her friends in the Kaeson
Youth Park, on a Saturday. Sun said the day was brighter
than usual, or maybe the significance of her first encounter
with Gun made her memory of it brighter. She and her
friends enjoyed walking there more than in any other park
in Pyongyang because it was usually full of young people. A
dark-skinned man with thick eyebrows had approached the
group and smiled at Sun. She said she liked his bright and
even teeth. Most young girls didn't like guys with swarthy
skin, because
killed our own daughter." Then he fell down and died on
the spot. In just one day, I had to send both my daughter and
husband to the other world. I didn't cry. I didn't have time. I
had to take care of two other kids. I decided not to be stuck
in the house anymore. That's why I came here and why I'm
shouting to sell one more piece of bread every day."
We looked at the other vendors, yelling at the top of
their voices next to us.
"I would sell clothes or shoes like them if I were handy, but
I can't make them." Teacher Oh sighed. "What's worse, I'm
not smart like the other women here, who hang around the
brokers. They get goods at low prices from those brokers."
While she spoke, she kept urging me to eat her bread.
"I'm not attractive anymore, I don't have a smooth
tongue. I know how to handle kids, not adults."
When I was about to leave, she stuffed three pieces of
bread in my pocket.
"But, I'm the luckiest and happiest woman in this place.
My ex-students help me. Sometimes, they bring clothes
from China and give them to me for very little. I never
thought I would be obliged to my little students like this."
Saying good bye, she gave me a wide smile. ` Jia, my
life hasn't been so bad! After you leave, I will smile and
think about those days. How cute you were! What a terrible
teacher I was!"
I bought most of her bread, claiming that I was about
to buy lunch for my coworkers in the market. On that day,
my coworkers had to fill their stomachs with Teacher Oh's
bread.
Sun's Story
un was my neighbor. Her flat was right next to mine,
i in the rusty apartment complex I had been living in for
the past few years. Sometime after moving in, I met her
mother, Aunt Cho, in the hall. She asked about my age, my
job-all the usual questions that arise when people meet
each other for the first time.
"Why don't you live with your parents?"
I answered instantly: "They're dead. I've never seen
them."
"Oh..." She nodded her head slowly, looking ill at ease,
and let me pass by.
Whenever Aunt Cho stopped by my house after that,
she would look around my kitchen and then disappear. Several minutes later, she would come back with dishes in her
hands, and one of them always held kimchi.
"I worked in the Nutrition Department before I had
Sun, so I know how to handle cooking. You can trust my
food, and you should gain at least five kilograms."
I couldn't decline her kindness-her kimchi was the best I
had ever eaten. With each bite of the pickled cabbage, I felt
my stomach grow so clean and cool. I brought any cookies
or snacks I could get in the hotel to her house, and though
I insisted she try them, Aunt Cho always put them aside,
saying, "Sun might like these more than me; she'll be back
next week. I'm sure she'll like you a lot-she always wanted
a sister."
Sun was 19 years old, with white skin and red lips. When
I finally met her, I couldn't believe that she had just returned
from three months of volunteering in the countryside before
graduating from a teaching school; it seemed her skin had
special protection against the sun. She was a giddy girl, and
she followed me around, talking about everything she saw
and heard. We liked to go to the street market to look at
cosmetics. We couldn't afford to buy anything; we just went
to be together and enjoy the uproarious atmosphere.
Sun's favorite topic was her boyfriend, Gun. She had
met him while walking with her friends in the Kaeson
Youth Park, on a Saturday. Sun said the day was brighter
than usual, or maybe the significance of her first encounter
with Gun made her memory of it brighter. She and her
friends enjoyed walking there more than in any other park
in Pyongyang because it was usually full of young people. A
dark-skinned man with thick eyebrows had approached the
group and smiled at Sun. She said she liked his bright and
even teeth. Most young girls didn't like guys with swarthy
skin, because
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