I meet new NK defectors quite often, but I don’t always connect with them even when we spend a lot of time together and see each other consistently.  Today I met a girl, however, with whom I felt a natural and almost instant dynamic.  She was as interested in me as I was in her, and that, my friends, is not a common attribute for new defectors.  They are so used to being questioned and probed that they know only how to answer questions, not ask them.  She entered South Korean society in June, just four months ago.  For a 17yo girl three years behind in school, she’s pretty brave: She decided to attend a regular public junior high school instead of an alternative one for defectors.  I held her hair when she vomited on the bus from motion sickness.  She told me how much she hates taking selcas (self-shots on camera phones), which reaffirmed my instinct that we could be friends.  We added each other on KakaoTalk. 11 hours later, we hugged goodbye. One hour later, when I was sitting in a bar drinking the most delicious gimlet ever to enter my mouth, I received a Kakao Talk message from her: Thank you so much.  Rest well tomorrow.  I hope to see her again.
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I meet new NK defectors quite often, but I don’t always connect with them even when we spend a lot of time together and see each other consistently.  Today I met a girl, however, with whom I felt a natural and almost instant dynamic.  She was as interested in me as I was in her, and that, my friends, is not a common attribute for new defectors.  They are so used to being questioned and probed that they know only how to answer questions, not ask them. 

She entered South Korean society in June, just four months ago.  For a 17yo girl three years behind in school, she’s pretty brave: She decided to attend a regular public junior high school instead of an alternative one for defectors. 

I held her hair when she vomited on the bus from motion sickness. 

She told me how much she hates taking selcas (self-shots on camera phones), which reaffirmed my instinct that we could be friends. 

We added each other on KakaoTalk.

11 hours later, we hugged goodbye.

One hour later, when I was sitting in a bar drinking the most delicious gimlet ever to enter my mouth, I received a Kakao Talk message from her: Thank you so much.  Rest well tomorrow. 

I hope to see her again.

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  1. lilianlee posted this