Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business

by Lyla Lee

  For all the new kids out there. You’re not alone.

  Chapter 1

  My name is Mindy Kim.

  I’m seven and a half years old. That’s old enough to ride a bike around our street, but not old enough to have my own puppy—or at least that’s what my dad said.

  I don’t really agree with him, but our old apartment in California wasn’t big enough for a puppy anyway. I looked it up, and the experts on the Internet say that puppies need lots of room to run outdoors.

  Now that we’ve moved into a house with a big backyard, we can really get a puppy! I just have to convince my dad that it’s a good idea first.

  So far, no such luck. Dad wants me to prove that I can be “responsible” enough for a puppy first… and then he’ll “consider” getting me one.

  I decorated my own room to show Dad I’m “responsible.” I’m trying to be more grown-up, so I only put three dog stuffed animals on my bed. There are ten more under my bed, but Dad doesn’t need to know that. They’ll just have to take turns.

  After I finished, I was looking through a website on huskies, one of my favorite kinds of dogs, when I heard Dad say, “Mindy? Can you help me with these boxes?”

  CRASH!

  “Dad!” I ran downstairs to see him standing over a box of broken dishes.

  “Oh no!” he said. “These were your mom’s favorites.”

  He looked so sad, like he was about to cry. I wished I’d brought one of my stuffed dogs with me. I’d even let him hug Snowball, my favorite white husky.

  I miss Mom, but I know Dad misses her a lot more. She died a few months ago because she was really sick for a long time.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “It was an accident. Mom wouldn’t be mad.”

  Dad smiled. “No, she wouldn’t. She was nice like that.”

  Dad and I finished unpacking and cleaning up the kitchen. The kitchen in our apartment in California was way smaller, so our things only filled up half the cabinets in our new house.

  When we were done, Dad ordered pizza. He remembered to ask for pineapples on top, just the way I like it.

  We waited for the pizza in our new dining room. Sitting at the table felt weird. All our stuff looked strange and small in this new, big house.

  “Dad?” I asked. “Why did we never live in a house like this in California?”

  “Everything is a lot cheaper in Florida than in California,” Dad explained. “Plus, I got a big raise for transferring out here.”

  The pizza finally came. And it smelled so good that my mouth watered before we even opened the box.

  Dad handed me the largest slice.

  “So, are you excited for school on Monday?” he asked.

  The pizza dropped from my hands and right onto the floor. Oops.

  Dad cringed. There was a large greasy, pizza-shaped stain on our new rug. “It’s okay, honey. You eat, and I’ll clean this up.”

  But I wasn’t hungry anymore. Dad mentioning school had made me lose my appetite. Monday was only two days away. I’d never gone to a new school before. I didn’t even know what the kids here would be like! And what if the teachers were mean?

  I liked my friends and teachers in California. I wished we could just go back.

  Dad returned with some cleaning supplies and frowned when he saw that I wasn’t eating any of the pizza.

  “Mindy,” he said, “this move is going to be better for both of us! We could both use a fresh start.”

  Then I got a brilliant idea.

  “Appa?” I said in my most innocent voice, using the Korean word for “Daddy.” “Do you know what would really help us have a fresh start?”

  Dad shook his head. “I already know what you are going to say. And we can’t get a dog right now. You and I have to get settled in first.”

  Well, dog poop. He read my mind. It was worth a shot.

  I was still pouting when Dad picked up the pizza box.

  “Do you really not want any of the pizza? I guess I’ll just have to finish it all by myself….”

  “No!”

  I grabbed a slice before Dad could walk away. He smiled and put the pizza back on the table.

  “Thanks for the pizza,” I said. “But I’m still not looking forward to school.”

  “I know, sweetie, I know,” said Dad. “But can you at least try? Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think.”

  I hoped he was right.

  Chapter 2

  The more I thought about going to school, the more nervous I was. I couldn’t even sleep! By Monday morning I had decided I just wasn’t going to go.

  “I don’t want to go to school!” I yelled, and slammed the door of my room.

  “You have to, sweetie,” Dad said. “It’s the first day! Why don’t you give it a chance? You’ll be lost if you don’t go today!”

  I groaned but came back out.

  Dad was right. Moving to a new neighborhood on the other side of the country was confusing enough. The last thing I needed was to be even more confused.

  “Okay, fine,” I said. “But I get to eat ice cream when I come back.”

  “I’ll have a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream waiting for you on the dinner table,” promised Dad. “With chocolate syrup and sprinkles! Just the way you like it.”

  I sat in the back seat and didn’t say anything the entire way to school.

  Dad made funny faces in the mirror.

  I didn’t smile.

  He told a funny joke.

  I didn’t laugh.

  He said, “Look, Mindy! A cute dog!”

  It was hard, but I didn’t look.

  I was too mad at Dad for making me go to a new school. For moving me here. Even though I knew why we moved here, that didn’t mean I felt any better about it.

  We finally arrived at Wishbone Elementary School. It was pretty for a school, and right by the beach too. But it wasn’t enough. It didn’t have Diya, one of my best friends. And it didn’t have the big hills that we could roll down during recess.

  I watched as the other kids got off the school buses. My old school had kids of many different colors. But here, no one looked like me.

  I was almost out of the car when Dad said, “Don’t forget your lunch!”

  The only thing that was the same was my lunch. Dad had packed me the same rice, kimchi, rolled eggs, and dried seaweed snacks that I had eaten for lunch in California.

  Lunch was my favorite subject already.

  Chapter 3

  My new teacher’s name is Mrs. Potts. It’s easy to remember, because it’s just “pots” with another t. I asked Dad if I could ask her where the extra t came from, but he said it would be rude.

  “Welcome!” said Mrs. Potts when I walked into the classroom. “You must be… Min-jung.” She frowned as she tried to say my Korean name. “Do you have an English name?”

  “I go by Mindy,” I told her, like Dad told me to do.

  “Oh, Mindy! What a pretty name!” Mrs. Potts smiled. “Have a seat wherever you want.”

  I didn’t like Mrs. Potts. I missed Ms. Lin, my old teacher in California. Ms. Lin said my Korean name was pretty too.

  The only empty seat was by a girl with blond pigtails and pink glasses. She was so pretty! It was hard not to stare.

  “Hi!” she said when I sat down in my seat. “My name is Sally. What is your name?”

  “Mindy,” I said. “How old are you?”

  “I’m seven. I just had my birthday.”

  “Nice! I’m seven and a half. My birthday is in February.”

  “Cool! Are you new?” Sally asked. “Where are you from?”

  “I’m from California,” I said.

  “W
ow, that’s really far away!”

  I wanted to talk more with Sally, but then class started. Mrs. Potts told us the classroom rules. There were too many rules to remember.

  Soon, it was lunchtime. I wanted to sit with Sally, but her table was full, so I had to go sit somewhere else. I found a table that had a few extra seats and sat at the very edge.

  Back at my old school, I always sat with Diya and Izzy, my two best friends. With them by my side, I never felt lonely. But now, with no one to call my friend, I felt really alone, like the lost penguin in a nature show I had watched with Dad. The little penguin was all alone, a black speck on the white ice, with its friends and family miles and miles away. I cried when I watched that episode, and I kind of felt like crying now.

  I took out my lunch box, which had a golden retriever puppy on it. It always made me happy, because the puppy looked like it was smiling.

  Well, I thought. At least my lunch box is cute.

  I opened it and took out my seaweed, kimchi, rolled eggs, and rice.

  “What is that?” asked a girl at my table. She pointed at my dried seaweed packs.

  “Dried seaweed!” I said. “It’s yummy.”

  “And that?” She pointed at my kimchi.

  I blinked at her. How could she not know what kimchi was?

  “It’s kimchi,” I explained. “It’s spicy cabbage.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “It smells.”

  “Wait,” said a boy sitting next to her. “Did she just say that she was eating seaweed? Like, from the ocean?”

  He laughed, and a few of his friends joined in too. By then everyone at the table was staring at me. My cheeks turned bright red.

  Suddenly, I wasn’t hungry anymore. I wanted to run far, far away. Or go hide in the bathroom somewhere. But we had to go back to class soon, so it wasn’t really worth the trouble.

  From across the room, Sally frowned at me but didn’t say anything.

  I thought at least recess would be fun, but being the new kid was boring. Everyone else, including Sally, already had friends to play with. I ended up sitting on the swings by myself. I have always loved swinging, kicking my legs super fast to see if I can go over the top of the swings. But it’s not as fun if you’re swinging alone.

  I hated being the new kid.

  Chapter 4

  Finally, my very first day ended. Eunice-unni came to pick me up after school. Dad usually works late, so he hired her as my babysitter. Unni means “big sister” in Korean. She’s not really my sister, but I have to call her that to be polite. Yeah, it’s pretty confusing for me, too.

  Eunice-unni is in high school. Dad and I met her over the weekend so we could make sure she was okay. I asked her the important questions like, “Do you think puppies are cute?” and “What is your favorite type of ice cream?”

  She agreed that puppies are cute but then said that her favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla. One out of two is better than nothing, I guess.

  Eunice-unni said I could meet her dog when she picked me up from school. I ran when I saw her car in the parking lot. It was easy to find because it was blue.

  “I like your car,” I said. “Blue is my favorite color.”

  “It’s mine, too!”

  That was almost enough to make up for the fact that her favorite ice cream flavor was vanilla. Almost.

  “Can I really meet your dog today?”

  “Yes!” Eunice-unni beamed so I could see her braces. “You can play with him at my house. He’s a little Maltese named Oliver. I’m so excited for you to meet him!”

  I was excited to meet Oliver too! I’d only seen pictures of Maltese dogs, and they looked so fluffy! I bounced up and down in my seat.

  Eunice-unni drove us to her house. Her mom was there and so was Oliver!

  Oliver jumped up and down when I walked into the house. I got down to my knees, and he started licking my face. He was so cute and looked like a soft little cloud. I wished I had a dog like him. “Maltese” was now officially on the list of my favorite dog breeds.

  Mrs. Park, Eunice-unni’s mom, came over to say hi. She was wearing plastic gloves covered with red pepper paste. I could tell by the smell coming from the kitchen that she was making kimchi.

  “Hi, Mindy, it’s so nice to meet you!” said Mrs. Park. “I’ve heard so many things about you!”

  I hate when grown-ups say that. You never know if they’ve heard good things or bad things. I smiled big and wide, just in case.

  “How was school?” Mrs. Park asked.

  “School was okay,” I said.

  I didn’t tell them about what happened at lunch. I was still too embarrassed.

  “Can I go play with Oliver until my dad comes?” I asked Eunice-unni before Mrs. Park could ask me any more questions.

  “Sure! His box of toys is in the living room.”

  I ran to the living room, with Oliver following close behind. My day was better already.

  How could I be sad with a cute dog nearby?

  Chapter 5

  The next morning, Dad packed me the same thing for lunch: rice, dried seaweed, kimchi, and rolled eggs. I meant to tell him that I wanted something different, but we didn’t have time. Our toaster had caught on fire, so Dad was already late for work.

  “I didn’t know you were supposed to clean the toaster,” Dad said as he drove me to school. “Your mom must have always taken care of it before she got sick.”

  I didn’t know that either, but I was surprised Dad didn’t. Dad is a grown-up. Aren’t grown-ups supposed to know everything?

  The second day of school was less scary than the first. But I was still nervous about lunch. What if everyone laughed at me again?

  I decided to be a little brave and make goals. Dad says he always has to “make goals” at his job. Things that you want to happen. Goals sounded like something adults made, but I was trying to be more grown-up now.

  At my desk, I flipped over to a new page in my Shiba Inu notebook and wrote down my goals in sparkly blue ink.

  1. Don’t get laughed at during lunch again.

  2. Try to make a new friend.

  3. Convince Dad that a puppy would be the best idea ever.

  It wasn’t going to be easy, but I did feel kind of better after writing everything down.

  Class passed by really quickly, and soon it was time for lunch. Before Sally left, I took a deep breath and said, “Hey, Sally. Can I sit with you at your lunch table?”

  I was scared that she’d say no, but I reminded myself to be a little brave.

  Sally looked surprised but smiled. “Okay, sure!”

  Phew! I smiled back. That wasn’t so bad! And now I had someone who actually wanted to eat lunch with me!

  Sally and I walked to her table. But instead of feeling glad that I was sitting with Sally, I still felt super nervous. What if Sally and her friends made fun of my food too?

  I slowly opened my lunch box and all my containers. Everyone at the table stared, just like they did yesterday.

  I was prepared to be laughed at again when Sally held out her hand. “Can I try some of the seaweed?”

  “What?” I asked, surprised.

  Sally shrugged. “My mom always says I should try things out before I decide I don’t like them.”

  I handed her the packet of seaweed. It was the spicy kind that you can eat as a snack without rice.

  She opened the packet and put a little piece of seaweed in her mouth.

  She chewed, her eyes wide.

  I was worried that she didn’t like it, but then she exclaimed, “Hey! This is really good!”

  Everyone looked at Sally. Then, a boy from our class—Charlie, I think—asked, “Can I try too?”

  “Sure!”

  Charlie ate the seaweed. But the moment it touched his mouth, he spat it back out. “Ew! It feels so weird! Like paper!”

  Sally rolled her eyes. “You didn’t even eat it!”

  “Let me try!” another boy said.

  “You bett
er actually eat it, Dill,” said Sally. “Don’t spit it out like Charlie.”

  “I won’t!”

  Sally nodded at me, and I handed Dill a piece of seaweed.

  Unlike Charlie, Dill kept the seaweed in his mouth and chewed. “Wow, this is actually good!”

  “Well, of course it’s good!” I replied. “If you didn’t know what dried seaweed was for all this time, you’ve been missing out!”

  Soon everyone at my table was asking to try the dried seaweed. Before I knew it, I didn’t have any left for myself.

  I ate the rest of my lunch, but it wasn’t the same. I was happy that no one had teased me today, but I was sad I didn’t have any seaweed left for me. My plan had worked well—too well!

  “Sorry everyone ate your seaweed,” said Sally. “You should have asked us to trade something with you!”

  “I can do that?” I asked.

  “Sure, why not? You gave us something. Shouldn’t you get something in return? It’s only fair.”

  She had a point. I looked around. Everyone else was still enjoying their lunches. They all had cool snacks too, like Oreos, Pringles, Nutella bites, and fruit snacks. We always just got Korean snacks, because Dad only had time to go shopping at the Korean market. I love Korean snacks, but eating the same snacks over and over again gets kind of boring.

  My mouth watered. I was surrounded by these yummy snacks, and all I had for lunch was boring white rice and side dishes. And I still didn’t have any friends except maybe Sally.

  I kept on thinking as I ate the rest of my sad lunch.

  Suddenly, I had a brilliant plan. A very yummy seaweed business plan!

  Chapter 6

  When Dad picked me up from Eunice-unni’s house later that evening, I asked, “Can we stop by the Korean market?”

  Dad frowned. “What do you need to buy? We already have a lot of food at home.”

  “It’s for school,” I said. “It’s important!”

  Dad looked confused, but he drove to the Korean market without any more questions. There aren’t a lot of Asian markets in Florida, and the closest Korean one is an hour away, in Orlando. And that meant we were super close to Disney World!