A small white face, round eyes and a shyly smiling mouth. I see an Asian woman serving us, with her long hair pulled back in a bun. Could she be Korean? Probably not, I thought. She's about the right height, slender, and very pretty in a black vest and black pants over a white shirt. Maybe 24 years old?
Over the course of several days of being served by her, we chatted in English. I don't like it when foreigners ask me where I'm from, so I don't ask first. After she was serving us at the restaurant, she glanced over at us and chatted with her boss. The boss came over to our table.
"Where are you from?" he asked. "from New York," I replied.
When foreigners ask me where I'm from, I say, 'I'm from Brooklyn. Or, as a joke, I'm from my mother’s belly.’ If I say, I'm from Korea, things like ‘I did my military service in South Korea,’ or "I adopted a child in Korea.”
"Are you Japanese?" he asks again. "No." "Are you, then, Korean?" "Yes."
"Hello," he said in Korean. It's a Korean pronunciation.
"You must be Korean," I chuckled. He is from Malaysia.
“I heard you are Korean. nice to meet you."
The next evening at the restaurant, she asked us in Korean.
“It is the first time I have met a Korean who works on a cruise. Nice to meet you. How did you get all this far?”
“After graduating from the tourism division in college and applying, I was assigned a month ago and went on a cruise.”
How hard it must be to adapt to food and the people around her on a rocking ship in a foreign country after leaving her parents and friends. I heard at first glance that she can go to Korea once every six months and can go out from a ship once every two months.
I remembered my father-in-law who worked as a crew on a cruise based in Miami in the early 70s. After getting off the ship and looking around Miami, my father-in-law returned to Seoul on vacation and applied for immigration and invited all of his family. Perhaps my husband, who doesn't want to leave home because of his longing for his father, seems to be taking a cruise. He rarely comes out except for meals and continues to work on his drawing in the cabin while watching the waves roll. Could it be regret or gratitude toward his father, who wanted to study painting during the Japanese colonial period?
Her figure is superior to other serving crews. She is a natural beauty without plastic surgery. She is beautiful, like a swallow full of water. She is a person who deserves to be an actress. However, the other serving crew members are smiling broadly, but I feel sorry for her because she talks quietly and shyly. If she smiles and greets the passengers well, she will get a lot of tips. I wanted to hug her. The evening before getting off the ship, I put the leftover cash from the trip into her vest pocket and hugged her tightly. Tears welled up in both of our eyes.
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