After growing up in Minnesota and Edmonton until I was 8, my parents decided to move back to Korea. I vividly remember being devastated by the news and charging up the stairs to my room. I loved my school in Edmonton, had a lot of friends etc despite the extreme cold and mosquito filled summers. Kids don’t really notice that stuff, do they.

My parents though, were probably homesick and lonely, as there was only one other Korean family nearby, and worse my moms English wasn’t good to the point we struggled to communicate with each other. It was a no brainer decision for them obviously and I’m happy that opportunity arose.

So we moved back and I sort of had to learn Korean, as it was… not good. Still once you’re immersed in that environment as a kid, its simply a matter of time until you get used to it and become fluent. I even adjusted more or less to living at my stern grandparents place. The Korean education system on the other hand however, as I got to know very soon… holy lord almighty wow. I’m pretty sure one spank with the rod for every one question you got wrong on an exam is… not it. 67 questions I got wrong on my first exam, gee I wonder how I remember that exact number.

Anyway, after some point, my mom realized that I might forget all my English skills, as she had seen happen to other kids that had moved back at a young age. So she then commenced regular book buy sprees despite my dads very modest salary. We’d bus to these places that sold english books and bought them by the multiple bag load. Tons of Choose Your own Adventure books, The Hardy Boys, even all the Tintin comic books series among a lot of other, not exactly Pulitzer Prize worthy, stuff.

So until 11 years later when I returned to attend Michigan, I was a voracious reader, without even speaking a single word basically during those years. I remember on the flight out wondering it I could still speak it, after only reading. And well, turned out you could!

I’m double more thankful at work these days, because words to matter. The exact one, the tone, what you’re trying to convey, in what order. And of course, trying to be as concise and easy to understand as possible, because at the end of the day, what exactly is this persons ask is what everyone is wondering. After becoming an em, I asked my dad for advice, and this gruff, old school guy told me be extremely careful with your words.

So obviously, thanks mom and dad for all the books, even though none of them were exactly Shakespeare or Hemingway!