Talking to ghosts:Hyo Jin Lee (1983-1996)

I talked to a ghost last night. All right. Fine. To be more accurate, I spoke to a departed soul. Sure, I might be crazy. No, I'm not mystical. But I absolutely agree that I'm a little strange. I go into the cemetery at night, for I have absolutely nothing to fear, other than fear itself.

Do you want a little background?

Ten years ago, on October 7, 1996, a 13-year-old Korean missionary kid was killed in a car accident about five hours from here. I was 14 at the time and didn't know Hyo Jin very well. But for some reason - I can't explain - her death made a tremendous impact on me. Whenever I'm in Miango, the village in which she's buried, I visit her grave and just have a short one-sided conversation with her. It's something I've done for ten years now.

I wonder what she would have been like today if she'd lived. Would she be finished her first year of med school? Would she be vibrant and energetic, or studious and quiet? Would she have sent her younger sister long letters about life and making wise choices? Would she be married to an incredible young man who shared her goals and dreams? I wonder. Obviously, these are thinsg I'll never know, for her life ended all too soon.

So I will continue to kneel by Hyo Jin's grave and talk to her ghost.

Last glance at America

I leave the U.S. tomorrow, and this time I don't know when I'll be back. When I was a child, I always knew I'd be back in the States within four years. It was a given. This time... Who knows? It could be a year; it could be ten years. So far this doesn't seem to bother me. But there are things I'll miss, each of which can be "traded" for something Nigerian:

--Ice cream for Kunu (a ginger drink)
--Cheese for Groundnuts (peanuts)
--Chedder-wurst for Suya (spicy grilled kebabs)
--Burger King fries for Kosai (fried spicy bean cakes)
--Vanilla yogurt for Coke in a bottle
--Pears for Mangos
--Driving on the freeway for driving through an African rainstorm
--Wearing shorts & trousers for Wearing fancy Nigerian outfits
--Sunsets on the beach for Sunrises through the dust
--Post-It notes for Cellotape
--LOST for Real Football (you might call it "soccer")
--Traffic laws for Laughter over cows in the street
--Hot showers whenever I want them for Sumptuous bucket baths when the power's out

Hmm, I think I'll do just fine. :) And it all begins tomorrow when the plane leaves Los Angeles. (No liquids!) I should be excited. I should be sad. I should be going out of my mind with frenzied packing... Oh wait, I am going out of my mind! But tomorrow that part is over. Yes!! Tomorrow I'll be on my way to becoming an immigrant. (Never give up; never surrender your U.S. passport!)

Okay, my brain is fried, and I stopped making sense after I said I'd miss ice cream. I think that thought caused a nervous breakdown.

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