Mindy Kim and the Lunar New Year Parade

by Lyla Lee

  To my parents, who always kept me connected to my Korean culture

  Chapter 1

  My name is Mindy Kim.

  I’m almost eight years old, or at least, that’s how old I am in the United States. In Korea, though, I’m nine! That’s what Dad told me as he drove me to school.

  “Korean people calculate age differently,” he said. “You’re already one year old when you’re born, and then you get one year older on New Year’s Day, instead of getting older on your birthday.”

  I got really excited, since it’s been eight years since I was born. One plus eight is nine, and nine years old was definitely old enough to get a puppy. And even better yet, Lunar New Year was this Saturday!

  “Does this mean that I’ll turn ten this weekend?” I asked, throwing my backpack in the back seat.

  Dad laughed. “No, silly. People only age up on the first of January or on Lunar New Year, not both.”

  I sat back into my seat with a big huff. “What’s the point of two New Years if you can only age up on one?”

  Dad shook his head as he pulled into the school’s parking lot. “It’s an important part of our culture, Mindy. It goes way back to the times when our ancestors in Korea used the lunar calendar to tell time. Tell you what, why don’t we go to the Lunar New Year parade in Orlando this weekend? I saw an ad for it the other day. It looks like it’ll be fun!”

  Dad smiled at me, but I was unconvinced. The last time Dad said something would be “fun,” I ended up watching a boring show about really slow slugs all by myself because he fell asleep in five minutes.

  Plus, so much has changed since the last time we celebrated Lunar New Year. Last year, Dad, Mom, and I celebrated with the other Korean people in our neighborhood. We played really fun games like yutnori and jegichagi, ate so many yummy rice cakes, and even sang karaoke! There was no way that we could have as much fun this year as we did then.

  Not without Mom.

  Now the only other Korean family in our neighborhood is Eunice’s, and they were going to Seattle to visit their relatives for the holiday. It was just going to be me and Dad.

  “The parade will be fun,” Dad said again. “It’ll be good for us to leave the house.”

  I sighed. Dad really wanted to go to the parade! And I didn’t want to make him sad by saying I didn’t want to go.

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll go to the parade.”

  Dad beamed. “Great! See you after school, honey.”

  “Bye, Appa,” I said, using the Korean word for “Daddy.”

  I headed toward the school, my shoulders slumped. I was not looking forward to Lunar New Year. Not anymore.

  Chapter 2

  After school was over, Eunice picked me up like usual. But since Dad was working super late today, she took us to her house instead of going to mine.

  “So, Mindy, are you excited for Lunar New Year?” Eunice asked while we were doing homework in her room.

  “Not really,” I said. “We’re not really doing anything. Just going to a parade in Orlando.”

  “Ooh, parades are fun, though! I heard the Orlando one is really good. It got so popular that they had to move it to a larger location to fit all the people!”

  “I wish we were going on vacation, like you,” I said. “It’s gonna be really lonely with just Dad and me. Even with all the people at the parade.”

  Eunice stopped writing in her notebook for a second. And then her face lit up with a smile.

  “Hold on, I have an idea. Why don’t you take a break from homework to play with Oliver? I’ll be right back.”

  I shrugged. “Okay.”

  After Eunice left, I looked underneath the desk, where Oliver the Maltese was sleeping. He was making cute little huffy-puffy sounds. I guess that’s how dogs sound when they’re snoring.

  “Hey, Oliver,” I said softly. “Do you want to play?”

  Oliver’s ears twitched, but he just kept snoring away.

  I sighed. That was probably a no.

  Instead I went back to my homework. We were doing long division, and it was pretty easy, although sometimes the teacher threw in things called remainders, to be tricky.

  “I’ll get you, remainders!” I muttered to myself as I scribbled down my answers. Soon my paper was full of numbers.

  Eunice finally came back into her room, and when she did, she was grinning from ear to ear.

  “Come down to the kitchen, Mindy!” she said. “I have a surprise for you.”

  “A surprise?” I clapped with excitement. I love surprises!

  Eunice’s mom greeted us both with a big hug when we came into the kitchen.

  “Mindy! You came just in time! I just finished making tteokguk.”

  “Tteokguk!” I exclaimed. “Really? But it isn’t Lunar New Year yet!”

  Tteokguk is a special soup with cute, oval-shaped pieces of rice cake that everyone in Korea eats during Lunar New Year. Mom used to make it every year, because eating the rice-cake soup is supposed to give you a fresh, clean start for the new year ahead.

  I was wondering if I’d get to eat tteokguk this year, but I hadn’t mentioned it to Dad. I didn’t want to make him sad by reminding him of Mom.

  “Eunice told me that you and your dad are going to stay in Florida for the holiday,” said Mrs. Park. “So I wanted to give you a little taste of home. I’ll pack some leftover soup for your dad so he can eat some when he gets off work too.”

  Eunice’s mom is so nice! I gave her a big hug and sat down at the dining room table.

  The soup was nice and hot, with strips of egg, beef, and dried seaweed arranged prettily in the bowl. It was so good! Almost as good as Mom’s.

  To make things even better, Oliver the Maltese came to sit next to me at the dining room table. The food smells must have woken him up! He stared at me with big puppy eyes, pretty much asking me to feed him.

  I snuck him a few pieces of beef. He’s lucky he’s cute.

  When we were done eating, Mrs. Park brought us plates full of cute, colorful rice cakes.

  “Both Eunice and her dad really like rice cakes, so we always end up buying too many. Why don’t you take some to share with your classmates tomorrow? It’s not like we can finish them all before we go to Seattle.”

  I thought back to the seaweed business I started several months ago. I guess sharing was okay as long as I didn’t ask for anything back. My teacher, Mrs. Potts, said only trading snacks was banned, not just giving them!

  “Okay, thank you!” I said with a big bow. Dad always said that I should bow to Korean adults in two different scenarios: one, if I was seeing them for the first time that day, and two, if they did something really nice for me.

  Mrs. Park smiled. “No problem. Hope you and your dad enjoy the food.”

  I was feeling a bit better about Lunar New Year. Yummy food always makes everything better.

  Chapter 3

  Every Friday, my class does “What’s New with You?” show-and-tell, where people who have exciting things going on can share with the class. When it was my turn, I showed everyone the plastic container of rice cakes that Mrs. Park had packed for me to bring to school.

  My teacher, Mrs. Potts, frowned. “Mindy? What are those?”

  “They’re rice cakes!” I explained. “Tomorrow is Lunar New Year, so I wanted to share them with the class.”

  Priscilla, the girl who always sits in the front of class and asks everyone questions, raised her hand.

  “Yes, Priscilla?” said Mrs. Potts, giving her a small nod.

  “What is Lunar New Year?”

  “That’s a very good question.” Mrs. Potts smiled at me. “Mindy, would you like to explain to the
class about Lunar New Year?”

  Oh boy. I tried to remember everything I’d learned about Lunar New Year in Korean school back in California.

  “A long time ago in Asia, people used the moon to tell time instead of the sun. There’s a whole separate calendar based on it,” I began. “Some people still use the lunar calendar, and the New Year on that calendar is called Lunar New Year. People from all over Asia celebrate it! In China, Vietnam, and Korea, too! So Lunar New Year is New Year’s Day but using the moon.”

  “That’s so cool!” said Priscilla.

  And then more hands shot up. There were so many that I couldn’t possibly answer everyone’s questions. I answered as many as I could before Mrs. Potts said, “All right, then. That was very educational. Thank you, Mindy. Are you going to share those rice cakes with everyone in the class?”

  She gave me a look.

  “Don’t worry, Mrs. Potts, I’m not gonna try to trade them or anything. They’re one hundred percent free!”

  A few kids giggled. Operation Yummy Seaweed Business happened months ago, but people still know me as the seaweed-business girl.

  Mrs. Potts laughed too. “All right, Mindy, if you say so. Would you like to go around and give everyone a rice cake?”

  “Sure!”

  I started walking around the class with the rice cakes and some napkins I’d brought from home. I first gave a rice cake to Mrs. Potts, because Dad says that I should always give things to adults first. It’s Korean manners! She put it in her mouth and smiled.

  “That’s delicious, Mindy!” she said.

  I gave her my biggest smile. I was so happy that Mrs. Potts liked the rice cake!

  The first kid I gave a rice cake to was, of course, Sally, my best friend. She took a pink napkin from me and then used it to carefully grab one of the rice cakes.

  “Thanks, Mindy!” she said.

  But not everyone was that nice.

  “Ew,” said Melissa, one of Sally’s friends. She wrinkled her nose. “Why is it so squishy? And what’s in it?”

  “Red bean! It’s really sweet and yummy,” I explained.

  “Beans?” Melissa exclaimed. “Yuck! Get it away from me!”

  A lot fewer people wanted to try the rice cakes after that.

  But they didn’t bother me much. They were missing out! It just meant there were more rice cakes for me and everyone else who actually liked them. The people who did like them really liked them and kept asking for more!

  “Mindy, you have the best taste in snacks!” said Sally.

  I beamed. Sally was so nice! What she said gave me an idea. I wasn’t sure if it was going to work or not, but it was worth a try.

  During recess, I asked Sally, “Hey, my dad and I are going to the Lunar New Year parade in Orlando tomorrow. Do you want to come with us? I heard it’ll be really fun, and there’s gonna be a lot of yummy snacks.”

  “Oh yeah!” Sally said. “I see ads about it every year. Sure! I have to ask my mom first, but I think I can go.”

  “Great!”

  I was really excited. The parade would be much better with Sally by my side.

  Lunar New Year just got a lot more fun.

  Chapter 4

  Dad was really happy that I asked Sally to come with us to the parade.

  “That’s great, Mindy!” he said as he tucked me into bed. “The more the merrier. I’m so glad that you and Sally are such good friends.”

  I hugged Mr. Shiba, my favorite Shiba Inu plush, close to my chest. “Do you have any friends who might want to come, Appa?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “I don’t really know my coworkers that well yet, and I’m not sure if they’d be interested in coming. I’m glad you were able to find someone to come with you, though!”

  That made me sad. It had been several months since we first moved to Florida, and it didn’t look like Dad had any friends. I was glad that I at least had Sally.

  “You should make friends with the people you work with,” I said. “Bring them food! It worked for me.”

  Dad chuckled. “Okay, Mindy. I’ll take that into consideration. Thanks for the advice.”

  “No problem.”

  After Dad went back downstairs, I pulled my blanket over my head. I’m not scared of the dark—not anymore, anyway. But sometimes it still gets really lonely. Plus, even though I was excited, I was still worried about tomorrow. What if the parade turned out to be really boring? I’d feel bad for dragging Sally along with me.

  I reached down under my bed and got out Mr. Toe Beans, my soft corgi doll. I usually sleep with only one stuffed animal to show my dad that I’m all grown-up, but tonight called for two.

  Sandwiched in between Mr. Shiba and Mr. Toe Beans, I drifted off to sleep.

  * * *

  That night, I dreamed that I was back in our apartment in California. Everything seemed normal, but no matter how much I looked, I couldn’t find Mom or Dad! I ran outside to see if I could find them there, but I got lost in a big crowd of people.

  It was a really scary dream!

  “Mindy, wake up!”

  When I opened my eyes, I saw Dad standing beside my bed. He was holding up Mr. Toe Beans with a concerned look on his face.

  “Are you okay?” he said. “It sounded like you were having a nightmare. Mr. Toe Beans is here for a hug if you need one!”

  I reached up and took Mr. Toe Beans from Dad. Usually, I didn’t want Dad to see that I still liked hugging my stuffed animals, but today was a special occasion. My face still felt wet from the tears I cried during my nightmare, and even though the real Dad was right in front of me, I still felt really sad. I squeezed Mr. Toe Beans tightly.

  “Thanks, Appa,” I said.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Dad asked.

  I shook my head. I was afraid that if I told Dad about my dream, it’d make him sad too.

  “Okay, well. Why don’t you go ahead and change out of your pajamas? We need to go pick up Sally soon.”

  Dad went back downstairs, and I sighed. Thanks to my nightmare, now I really didn’t want to go to the parade, even with Sally coming along with us. It was a pretty bad start to the Lunar New Year.

  I went to my closet and changed into my high-five T-shirt. Dad and I call it that because it’s a cute periwinkle T-shirt with a golden-retriever puppy giving a tabby kitty a high five. It made me feel a bit better.

  When I sat down at the dining room table to eat my toast and cereal, I asked, “Appa, what’s the zodiac animal for this new year?

  My favorite thing about the lunar calendar is the fact that every year has its own special animal from the Chinese zodiac. Last year’s was a cute pig. But I didn’t know what came after that.

  Dad thought for a moment before replying, “Hmm, it’s 2020, so it’s the Year of the Rat!”

  “Aw,” I said. “Rats are so cute!”

  I thought about Mr. Ratowski, the classroom pet rat that my old teacher had back in California. He was really small and cute, with his gray fur and black, beanlike eyes. Some people think rats are gross, but I don’t think so at all. They just have a bad reputation!

  “Hey, Mindy,” Dad said suddenly. “Do you still fit into the hanbok that Mommy bought you last year? If you do, why don’t you wear it to the parade since it’s Lunar New Year? I know how much you love it.”

  A hanbok is a traditional Korean dress that people wear on holidays and special occasions. I wore my cute pink one last year, but I hadn’t worn it ever since Mom died. Maybe it was time for me to bring it back out!

  “That’s a good idea, Appa!”

  I ran up the stairs. I hoped that it’d still fit. My hanbok is really adorable, with pastel rainbow sleeves and a bright pink skirt. Mom and I spent a really long time in the hanbok store picking just the right one.

  “Wait up!” Dad said. “Let me help you.”

  I rummaged through my closet until I found my hanbok. It was still wrapped in plastic so it wouldn’t get dirty or wrinkled.

 
; Dad helped me put it on. It was a little tighter and shorter than I remembered it being, but it still looked okay in my book!

  “Hmm,” Dad said. “Are you sure you’re still comfortable in it? We’ll have to get you a new one… somehow. I don’t know if there are hanbok stores in Orlando, though.”

  “I can still wear it!” I said. “I don’t care if it’s a bit small.”

  Dad scratched his head. “If you’re sure. I’m going to have to see if we can go up to Atlanta at some point later in the year so we can get you fitted for a new one.”

  I didn’t want a new hanbok. The new one wouldn’t be from Mom.

  “This one is fine with me.”

  “Okay, I think it looks fine for now. Ready to go pick up Sally?”

  “Yup!”

  “All right.” Dad smiled. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 5

  When Sally got in the car, the first thing she did was tell me how pretty I looked in my hanbok.

  “You look really nice!” she said. “Where did you get that dress?”

  “It’s a hanbok! And I got it in California,” I said. “My mom bought it for me last year. It’s a traditional dress that Korean people wear on special days like today.”

  “Cool!”

  We headed straight for the parade in Orlando. While we were sitting in traffic, Sally took out a phone in a sky-blue case.

  “Wow!” I said. “Is that your phone?”

  “Yup! My mom bought it for me in case of emergencies, but I mainly just use it to play games. I’m not allowed to take it out at school, though. Wanna play?”

  “Sure!”

  Sally and I took turns playing a racing game that was super fun, even though Sally kept beating me by five hundred points.

  “It’s okay,” said Sally. “You’re really good for a beginner!”

  When we were almost there, Sally put away her phone.

  “I only have thirty percent battery left, so I’d better save it,” she said.