An excuse for a miser immigrant

'Why are you so cheap?'

Whenever I went to Seoul Korea, I heard from it my father. When I was under my parents, I could have what I wanted by twisting my body in the middle of Myeong-dong. But hard marriage and immigration made me a cheapskate.

In the early days of marriage, whenever I was tired, I went to my parents' house and ate some delicious food and relaxed. But as time went by, I was shivering with a few bucks, but they were wasting a lot of money. Life was in contrast to me. I was no longer the place to visit. 

After my mother's death, a new family member, sister-in-law, and my father's girlfriend, who pretended to be the owner and congratulated each other's mother's wealth and treated me as a stranger. My parent home turned into the stage of others who could not intervene any more, and they turned away to bitter memories.

The idea that I should live well has made me more cheapskates.

Whenever I hear acquaintance that says, “Untie some money. You have to spend money and contribute to economic development." I don’t hesitate to say, “There is nothing I want to buy. I am going to take it when I die." But in fact, whenever I buy something, I think that the first thing that comes up in my head is to buy something rubbish.  And then I put it down.

I often hear "Is not it inconvenient to live without furniture in the house?" Rather than filling up with heavy objects, I enjoy a quick peek at a bank account where I can always buy things anytime I want. But when I die, who will take the money what I leave? My daughter-in-law or who? Make me rush off to travel to spend money.

Why are my acquaintances so interested in my money? What makes it easy to borrow from people around and parent after losing jobs finally end up being homeless overnight in immigrant life?

A long time ago, an old monk was washing his face in the water of the Taedong River in Korea while accompanied by a young monk. Old monk said “You bastard. Save water.” "Is this a lot of water? Young monk said and old monk replied. “I mean to be careful when you have it, you're sparing it.” It's a piece of the old story that my husband often admires.