Age of Unity

 “ARGH” I fell from my bed, this incident made me wake up, and I should let my nice dream disappear. Then I brushed my teeth and looked at the mirror until I realized, “where am I?...” “Oh ya, this is Belle Toque, that grandma’s house.” 

Today was my first day in South Korea, and also my first time far away from my home and my beloved country, Indonesia. I came here to continue my study. I live in a beautiful boarding house named Belle Toque, and I do not know why it has a European name when the ow, and Ir is a pure Korean. There should be three other girls in this house, and I do not know why they have not come yet. 

Ding Dong

Immediately I opened the door and saw a white woman standing upright in front of me. Without any smile and only saying “hi,” she passed me over and went to her room. 

“What, she’s so rude,” I thought to myself. 

Later, the bell was ringing again. This time, I saw a Korean woman. She smiled at me and shook my hand. 

“Annyeonghaseyo... Ah, I’m sorry. I mean, Hi!” 

‘She is so kind,’ thought me, and without any doubt, I replied to her greeting. 

“Annyeonghaseyo. It is okay. I a little bit understand the Korean language because I like K-POP.” 

“Oh? Which group do you stand for?” 

“I like Seventeen and Mamamoo. However, because I like music, I listen to other groups and other genres,” replied me.

“Wow, so you must be a Carat and a MooMoo! Yeah, it is difficult to pick one among many groups in that industry, and I like IU the most. She is so talented, right.” 

“Yes, she is. What is your name? I’m Ajeng from Indonesia” 

“I’m Eunji from Korea, of course, Busan is my home town. Nice to know you, Ajeng!” 

“Nice to know you too, Eunji-ssi. You must be tired. Let me help you bring your luggage.” 

“Just take the formality down. You can call me Eunji or Eunji-ya for cute hihi. Thank you, you’re so kind, Ajeng.” 

After helping Eunji to her room, I went back to my room, and without taking any break, the bell rang again. I guess this was the last person who will come today. This time, I did not want to open the door because I already had two other people in this house, so I think it’s their turn to do it. However, a few minutes later, the bell was still ringing, and nobody opened it.  

“Argh. Why should it be me? Am I the only one who has responsibility in this house?!” grumbled me. 

Even though I was annoyed, I should keep a smile on the others. Then,  I opened the door and saw another white woman. She smiled at me and said, ‘Hi.’ At first, I thought she was as rude as the first white woman, but she was quite different. I asked her name, and her name is Saoirse. 

“If you find my name is difficult to pronoun, you can call me Sasha. I’m from Finland, but my name is Irish because my half-blood comes from there,” explained her. 

“Ah, I see Sasha. My name is Ajeng, and I’m from Indonesia. Your room is next to my room because it is the only room left. May I show you the room?” 

“Oh my pleasure, thank you, Ajeng. You’re so kind. And nice to see you,” replied Sasha. 

After that, I spent almost my entire day in my room, doing my favorite activities.

The next morning when I woke up, I came to the pantry and made some breakfast for myself. I bet I was the first person who woke up in this house. Eunji went out of her room, and she greeted me. 

“What do you want to eat for breakfast, Eunji-ya?” asked me. 

“No, Ajeng. Thank you. I’m not usually taking breakfast. I’ll have my brunch later.”  

Then Sasha came to the pantry and greeted me. I offered her a sandwich for breakfast, but she refused it. She said that she did not like a sandwich. I think before it that all white people like sandwiches, it’s wrong actually. 

So, I ate breakfast alone, and I went to see around. When night came, I only ate dinner with Eunji. I do not know why the two other girls won’t eat with us. Moreover, I still did not know her name and where another white woman came from. 

For a week, I still have this kind of situation, ate breakfast alone, and ate dinner only with Eunji. 

This situation did not match my expectation. I thought that I would have a good and fun relationship with the folk in this house. Even though we all are from different backgrounds and cultures, I believe it’s not a problem to become closer to strangers. 

After a week, I could not stand for this kind of situation anymore, so I decided to collect all of us together in the living room in one night. As usual, I knocked on each of the doors, and the mysterious woman came up from her room late. 

“What are we going to do?” the mysterious woman said. 

“I want to know. All of you, especially you (I pointed at the mysterious woman’s face)” 

When I immediately pointed at her face, she looked a bit annoyed, or maybe I made her blood boil. 

“Just that? Oh my God, I think you will say something more important than this. I’m Hailey from Brooklyn, USA. What’s more?” she replied to the point.

“Why are you so rude to me? It is a basic introduction that we should do in the previous week,” said me to her.

“What?! The rude one is you. Don’t you know it?!” Hailey replied

“Okay... Calm down, girls. Please, just chill out,” said Sasha 

“Uhm. Can I ask your age? All of you?” asked Eunji. 

Hailey and Sasha look a bit confused why Eunji asked them about it. I became the first who answered the question. Sasha and I are the same age, and Hailey is a year older than us. 

“Hailey... I am the same age as Ajeng and Sasha. So, you are the oldest here. Can I call you unnie?” Asked Eunji again  (unnie is when a female speaks to an older female). 

“What? Just call me Hailey. Age does not matter in a conversation. So, don’t call me with that name,” replied Hailey immediately.

“Ah... Okay, Hailey, I’m sorry I did not know that,” Eunji replied.

I became more hateful when she answered Eunji’s question like that. I have never met someone as rude as before this. ‘argh she is so arrogant,’  thought I.  

In the middle of silence, Sasha started with a neutral question.

“So, you're all studying at Yonsei University, right?”. All of us nodded harmoniously. 

“What major do you take?” Sasha asked again. 

“I’m studying psychology,” said Eunji.

“I’m in the chemical department," Hailey answered.

“And I’m studying architecture. How about you, Sasha?” replied me.

“Thanks for asking me, Ajeng. I’m studying art,” Sasha replied.

Due to the time being late, we decided to come back to our rooms. Even though that’s only a short communication between us, we became closer after that night. We also exchanged telephone numbers.  

A week later. I met Hailey at the faculty. I’m so happy we can meet outside the house. I approached her, and I touched her shoulder. Her reaction was under my expectation, and she looked at me like there was something odd. Next to her, there was a friend of Hailey, and her friend asked who I was. So I replied, “I’m Hailey’s friend!”. But Hailey disagreed with that.

“No... no. She is not my friend. She is my housemate,” argued Hailey. 

“Ooh. That’s why I’ve never seen her before,” replied Hailey’s friend 

I Heard Hailey's response made my heartbreak, and I just can't give them a fake laugh and smile. 

Meanwhile, in the house, there were Sasha and Eun; they did not have class today. They spent time in the seating room while watching a TV program.

“Sasha. What do you think about Korea? Is it your first time here?” asked Eunji.

“Yes. This is my first time here. I think Korea is a beautiful country, but I’m a little bit afraid of the education system here. I read news and some articles that say Korea has extreme education. I still cannot imagine that,” Sasha replied. 

“Ahaha. Yes, it is. We should be familiar with it since elementary school. How about the education system in Finland? Is it different?” 

“Yes, it is different, Eunji. In my country, I rarely get assignments, and we do not have a ranking system. Because people in my country, especially the government, believe that every child is smart in their way. So, don’t compare other people’s skills with you,” explained Sasha.

“What a great system. I’m so envious of you,” replied Eunji

“You do not need it, Eunji. Every country has its plus and minus. I want to go to my room.”

“Can I visit your room?” Eunji asked.

“For what?” Sasha replied. But Eunji could not answer that because she only wanted to visit Sasha’s room without any purpose. Sasha smiled at Eunji, and she went to her room. 

In the night. Eunji visited my room, and she told me that Sasha would not let Eunji see her room. After hearing Eunji’s story about Sasha, I remembered today's incident between me, Hailey, and her friend. I told her that Hailey did not recognize me as a friend. 

“Ah, maybe that’s why. She does not accept my request on Twitter. She also does not follow me back on Instagram,” Eunji nodded her head after hearing my prejudice. 

A month later. Yes, we have already lived together for a month. But, I thought there was no difference from a month ago. We still never ate together, smiled, and laughed together. “I do not know why. Maybe Hailey hates me,” said me to myself. 

Today morning was different. All of us were out of our room. I tried to reach Hailey.  

“Hey. You come from the USA. So, you must know a Hollywood artist, right? I love Shawn Mendes. Have you ever met him?” asked me to Hailey.  

“But Ajeng. Don’t you like KPOP instead of Western?” Eunji interrupted. 

“I like music and films. It can be Korean, Western, and also my country, Eunji-ya,” answered me to Eunji.

“I have never met him before. And he is not a Hollywood actor. He is a Canadian singer, though. I do not know about the entertainment industry,” explained Hailey. I could not answer her because I did not know how to react to that. 

“Where are you going? You look a little bit neat today?” asked Sasha to Hailey.

“I want to visit my friend's house,” answered Hailey.

“Are you alone?” Eunji interrupted.

“Yes”

 “So, you must be careful,” interrupted me.

“I go,” said Hailey shortly. 

Today was the weekend, so as usual, we did not have lots of activities. I chose to spend my whole time in the living room, watching dramas non-stop, with Eunji next to me. 

“BRAK” suddenly, the sound of falling objects interrupted our focus on the television monitor. It was Sasha who dropped a vase. 

“Sorry girls, hihi,” grinned her.

“You should be careful, Sasha,” Eunji and I said together. 

Not long after the dropped vase incident, there was a call from Hailey to me. “This is not usual. What happens to her,” thought me.  

A second later, after I picked my phone up, I was surprised. I did not hear Hailey’s voice but a policeman. Quickly, I told Eunji and Sasha. Then, the three of us went to the hospital. 

After we arrived there, we can see Hailey in the ICU room. She looked weak, like a robot. All of us were crying, looking at her. Finally, we were allowed to enter the room and approached Hailey. I could not leave her alone. So, I stayed beside her. I hope she wakes up soon. 

“Hailey. Even if you hate me, I still want to see you. Please wake up,” I prayed beside her while holding her hand, and without realizing it, my tears fell. 

“Who hates you?” Suddenly I heard Hailey’s voice. 

“Hailey. I thought you were dying!!” I cried and hugged her quickly. 

Sasha and Eunji approached us and smiled and saw us like that.

A few days after Hailey's condition got better, she went back to the house. 

We sat in the living room. Hailey thanked us. In this chance, all of us told our complaints toward each other. After this quality conversation, we all know that for this whole time, the main reason for our crash was ‘misunderstanding.’ We come from different backgrounds and cultures. At the first beginning, we should have asked or sought our friends or housemates’ cultures to not happen misunderstanding and prejudice. Therefore, we should respect other cultures.