My First 'Good Luck'

"Should I go? Do I really have to? Well, maybe it's for the best."

After graduating from college, two of the three close friends I used to hang out with got married. Even the last remaining friend became busy meeting someone to marry. While my friends' lives moved forward quickly with happy, cheerful sounds, I felt completely frozen in time. I felt like a person left alone in an elevator, staring at the panel, not knowing which floor button to press.

If anyone had held my hand and asked me to stay, I might not have gotten on that plane to New York—a place where no one was waiting for me. On a bright, late summer day, right after my last friend’s wedding, I finally boarded the plane wearing a denim skirt and a white blouse. I had cried the entire way to Gimpo Airport while holding my mother's hand tightly, and my tears wouldn’t stop even after I sat down in my seat.

I was the kind of person who got terrible motion sickness just from riding in a car. But suddenly, the thought struck me: “An airplane is my first time flying. What if the sickness is much worse than in a car?” Curiously, that thought made my tears stop instantly. I needed to ask the flight attendant for motion sickness medicine, but I was on an American airline (Northwest), and I couldn't remember the English word for "motion sickness." As the pressure to speak English hit me, my stomach actually started to turn, and I began to feel sick.

I quickly flipped through my Korean-English dictionary and found the words "feel vomit." I called the flight attendant over and said what I found, but she couldn't understand my accent. In the end, I pointed to the words in the dictionary and drew a line under them with my finger. Finally, she handed me a single pill. Now I needed water to swallow it, but when I said "Water," she looked confused again. Just in case, I tried saying "Orange juice," but I couldn't get water or juice. Feeling too embarrassed to point to the dictionary again, I just put the pill in my mouth and chewed it before the sickness got worse.

“I’ll just sleep, and I’ll be there when I wake up,” I thought. I tried to fall asleep, but the medicine I had chewed without water started to affect me in a completely strange way. My tongue began to feel numb, losing all sensation, and then my throat became painfully numb and tingly. It was absolutely terrible. I couldn't call the flight attendant back and explain this long story in English. Helpless and completely drained by the medicine, I closed my eyes and drifted in and out of consciousness.

Then, I woke up to a gentle tapping on my shoulder. The flight attendant was motioning for me to follow her. To my surprise, she led me all the way to First Class. In that space, I didn't have to force myself to speak difficult English anymore. She brought me soft slippers and an eye mask, and kept bringing me juice, gesturing for me to rest comfortably. After eating, drinking, and lying down for a while, the numbness in my mouth slowly disappeared.

Finally, the plane landed in Seattle for a layover. As I stood up to get off, the flight attendant came over and told me to wait for just a moment. Then, she personally walked me all the way through immigration. Thanks to her, I got through the complicated process smoothly, and she even made sure my luggage was safely transferred to my connecting flight to New York. Before I boarded my next plane, she sat me down on a chair in the waiting area, took both of my hands in hers, and began to pray. She prayed in fast English, so I couldn't understand the words, but I clearly heard the word "Amen" at the end. So, I softly whispered, "Amen," too.

Right before we said goodbye, she looked down at my face with deep worry, and I could see tears glistening in her blue eyes. As I stood there, deeply moved and overwhelmed, she pulled me into a tight hug. Then, with a warm wave, she said, "Good Luck."

The very first English phrase that truly touched my heart after arriving in America was that "Good Luck" from a stranger—a flight attendant who acted like an angel to a lonely international student. Looking back, during my long life in America, so many people have helped me and wished me well. It is all of those warm "Good Lucks" gathered together that made me who I am today.