The Whole Thing

Earlier, I mentioned a project about sharing childhood stories. And I also told you that I sent something in to participate. Actually, I'm not sure what happened to that. I hope Johnny형 forwarded it to his friend, I kind of sent it in last minute, too. Anyways, for the project I had to cut it down to 500 words. I hated to shorten it, because I felt like leaving out a couple of things that I liked. So, here I'm posting the whole thing. If you have any thoughts on it, please let me know.

The Golden Watch

It was the early 90’s and it was one of my first encounters with Korea. I must have been around ten, my brother twelve. One summer we were sent to Korea on our own. We were told by our parents that they disliked our behaviour, that they were fed up with us and that from now on, we had to live with one of our childless uncles. Of course, my brother and I protested, but there was nothing we could do. As a ten-year-old I didn’t have much of an idea of life, but I was sure that something huge was about to happen.

Now that I’m older I understand that our parents couldn’t leave the restaurant unattended for longer than two weeks. They had sent us off during our summer holidays and would catch up with us and take us back home after the vocational trip. Back then, though, I had no idea. For me, life as I knew it would change dramatically. I called my friends’ houses to say good bye, to tell them I was leaving for good. Promises were made to stay friends forever and to visit whenever time would allow so; it was a very emotional thing.

So my brother and I were off to Korea. It was a ruthless deal, but somewhere between Novosibirsk and Beijing we had made our peace with the idea of starting a new life. After spending the first days at our cool uncle’s place in Seoul, we took a long distance bus to the aforementioned uncle, who lived somewhere far away. It wasn’t exactly an incentive ride and we were happy when we stopped at an expressway rest area. Everybody left the bus and while people went to the restroom or had paper cups of Maxim Mocha Gold, I suddenly felt the urge to stand up against the heartless plan that our parents had cursed us with. I had no idea where we were or what to do, but as a young opportunist I was ready to embrace any chance to either get away or make enough money for a return flight. My motivation was put on hold when my brother took me back to the bus, I wasn’t sure whether to let him in on my thoughts yet, so I kept my cool and cooperated.

Back on our seats we waited for all the other passengers to return. Slowly the bus filled with noisy people eating walnut sweets and drinking thin coffee. Suddenly, an awkward looking man came up the stairs. I expected it to be the driver, but it was someone else. He wore glasses and was holding a stack of memos and a golden wristwatch in his hands. As soon as I saw that watch, I knew something was about to happen. To be exact, I sensed a chance to redeem ourselves. I had to get it.

From our parents’ restaurant my brother and I were used to the business side of life: goods were delivered and cash was flowing non-stop. Maybe it was that kind of priceless education that made me narrow my eyebrows. When the man started talking, most people looked up for a moment and then minded their own businesses, but I knew exactly what was going on. With a little bit of luck I’d get myself a gold watch, which I knew from the movies was worth a fortune. I glanced at my brother, I mean, after all he had two more years of hard life experience. Our eyes met and I’m sure he kind of laughed in a funny way, shaking his head. Of course, I misread his gesture as a sign of mutual understanding. Surely approved by my hyung I was confident and ready to take us back to Germany. The guy went to the back of the bus and handed everybody a memo on his way back. Mine had the number 43 on it. When most passengers just ignored the little pieces of paper, I grabbed it like it was a winning lottery ticket.

I remembered something our father told us when we were little. “Sometimes people don’t recognize their luck, even when it is placed right before their eyes”, he said. And that was it, I thought. This is exactly what Pa was talking about. I wanted that watch so badly, wanted to show my brother what I was capable of and prove our parents once and for all that I indeed was able to take care of myself. The man announced something hardly understandable. He looked through the double-seated rows and suddenly shouted a number: “19!” 

Damn it, it’s over, I thought. Everything’s gone. Korea for the rest of our lives. A grey haired man in the front raised his hand, but refused to do business with the man holding the watch. The elderly man waved the guy away, who finally backed off and took a deep breath. That old fool, I laughed, holding on to my own ticket. I closed my eyes and thought about all the money I would get for that ticking chunk of pure gold. And then it happened. "Number 43!" I couldn’t believe it. Luck was clearly on my side again. I looked up and the guy was approaching us. Even my brother got a little excited, he looked at me and nervously moved around on his seat. I took that as a good sign. The watch stopped in front of my face and the guy talked really fast. I thought it was the phenomenon of one sense acting faster, when another one was heavily occupied, which I had also learned from the TV.

The guy looked at me, smiling, waiting for something. I was confused. I searched for an answer in my older brother’s wise eyes. He barked at me: “Don’t you see, he’s asking you to give him money!” Again, I misread his shouting as: “Hurry up, offer him a deal, businessmen don’t have much time”. Overwhelmed by all the action I reached for my Mickey Mouse wallet which contained my pocket money for the whole trip, more cash than I had ever possessed. I handed the guy a 10000 Won bill. He said something else and waved the shiny watch before my eyes. Meanwhile everybody in the bus was watching. That’s what it’s like to be famous, I thought. I looked at my brother, who looked me in the eyes and silently shook his head. Looking back now, I realize that at that point I should’ve known better.

Naturally I yet again thought his gesture said something like: “You call that a deal? A gold watch is worth a lot more than that!” So I opened the hidden department of my wallet and pulled out a good number of green paper bills. Next thing I remember is, I felt something drop on my lap and then a slap on the back of my head. I noticed all my money was gone, and so was the guy. Only then I realized that something had gone terribly wrong. The damned watch in my hands I cried out to my brother: “I only did what you told me to do!” That earned me another slap on the head.

I’ve still got the watch. It never worked, even after another questionable investment of five bucks for a new battery. But when I look at it now, I have to smile. Because now I understand, it's worth more than gold.