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July 4th
Dear diary,
Innie is in France now. I hope he’s having a really nice time there but I miss him a lot. He’s going to be there all of winter break which is two whole weeks. I hope he won’t forget all about me while he’s gone, but I don’t really think he will since we’re best friends.
I tried to read Macbeth today. It’s really difficult and I have to use the dictionary a lot, but I think sophisticated people read Shakespeare. Three witches prophesy that Macbeth will become the king of Scotland and then his crazy wife makes him kill the current king. She is very ruthless and ambitious and unhinged which is a new word I learned. It’s similar to crazy but I think it sounds funny because it’s like a door can also be unhinged.
I think it’s interesting sometimes when stories are about people who do bad things. I don’t want to do bad things but sometimes I also get jealous or angry even though I try not to. I guess Shakespeare wrote this because he wanted to show that it is good to be ambitious but it is not good to kill.
I want to read at least three Shakespeare plays by the time Innie comes home. I think I can manage because I have a lot of time now that I’m just home all day. I’m also doing a lot of word searches and crossword puzzles but I’m still bored without Innie here.
Chris came over in the afternoon and Dad made us all hot chocolates with whipped cream and cinnamon and we played Monopoly and Dad won. Dad always wins Monopoly but I don’t mind too much.
Dad asked me if there’s anyone from school I would like to play with during the break. I told him no because Innie is my only friend and the only person I like to play with. At school I guess sometimes I talk to other kids but they are not my friends the way Innie is my friend. Innie is my best friend in the world. I don’t know if it’s weird or bad that he’s my only friend, but I also don’t care. I don’t want anyone else except Innie.
Your best friend,
Kim Seungmin.
PS: When I am done with Macbeth, I think I will read Antony and Cleopatra.
July 7th
Dear diary,
Today I went to the Sydney Bus Museum with Dad and Chris. It was really fun to see all these super old buses. The oldest bus there is from 1924 and has a Hercules 4-cylinder side valve petrol engine which Chris told me all about. Most of the buses are fully operational, even the ones from the 1940s and 1950s, which I thought was so cool!
Chris said he would’ve loved to work on restoring some of the buses and he talked lots about engines and brakes and Dad kept staring at him like he’s the smartest man in the world or something.
I guess when you love someone a lot you stare at them like Dad stares at Chris. I don’t know if anyone will ever stare at me like that and listen to me talk about history and other things I like. I also am not sure I want that because I don’t want a boyfriend or a girlfriend because then you have to kiss. Dad and Chris kiss a lot and they even use tongue sometimes which makes me gag.
When I’m big I might want to drive a motorcycle just like Chris does, but I’m not completely sure because it also seems kind of scary.
I think Dad thinks it’s ‘hot’ that Chris drives a motorcycle. He probably also thinks it’s ‘hot’ that he’s a mechanic and can fix cars. ‘Hot’ is a funny word to describe something you like about someone because it doesn’t actually have anything to do with temperature.
Innie says he wants a motorcycle too but his mum says he’s only allowed when he’s 48 which is ANCIENT. I think Innie would’ve liked all the old buses too so maybe one day we can go again.
Your best friend,
Kim Seungmin.
July 11th
Dear diary,
I FaceTimed Innie today! You can see the Eiffel Tower from the window of his hotel room. It’s really weird that he is eight hours behind me. I like it way better when we are in the same time zone.
I told him about the bus museum and he thought it sounded really cool and he asked if we could go together. Then he said he wants to be a bus driver one day but I thought that’s a terrible idea because I bet he’s just going to drive like he does in Mario Kart. I guess that’s why his mum doesn’t want him to get a real motorcycle hahahaha.
I also told him I’m reading Shakespeare and he called me a huge nerd and asked if it’s fun. I didn’t want to admit that I think it’s more difficult than fun so I kind of lied and said yes. I don’t think it counts as a real lie though because it is also kind of fun. It’s like a challenge and I like when I prove that I can do something difficult. It’s just like how swimming was REALLY hard at first but then I kept trying and now I can swim.
Then he told me all about how cool Paris is. Yesterday they walked the entire length of the Champs-Élysées and went to see the Arc de Triomphe and today they’re going to the Musée d’Orsay and Montmartre. At first he pronounced it how it’s written in English like ‘Champs’ but then Hyunjin was like ‘it’s SHOHNZ-EH-LEE-SE dummy!’ and Innie threw something at him and told him he’s not a dummy just because French is stupid.
He said he thinks I would like a lot of things there because I like history so much. It made me really happy to hear that he is still thinking about me because I am also thinking about him all the time because I am so bored and miss him so much. I also like spending time with Dad and Chris obviously, but it’s not the same. Two weeks is a really, really long time to not see your best friend.
He showed me a new T-shirt he got and he said he’s eating macarons and they’re the best thing in the world. He likes vanilla and raspberry the most, but he said I would probably like chocolate even more.
Your best friend,
Kim Seungmin.
July 14th
Dear diary,
I was thinking about how it’s been a whole year since I met Chris. Back then I called him Mr Christopher which seems kind of silly now. A lot of things have changed in a year and some things are just the same. Chris is my stepdad now which is new (and AWESOME!), but he is still teaching kids how to swim which is the same. I guess maybe one day he can even teach Dad how to swim.
Chris was here for dinner and we had Carbonara. He asked if we can try to speak more Korean when he’s around because he said he wants to get better at it, so we tried to speak Korean during dinner. Dad and I always speak Korean when we’re alone, but for some reason it felt kind of weird to speak it when Chris was there? I guess because I’m used to speaking English with him.
The first time I met Chris’ family I was a little bit surprised that they all speak English together. I mean, I also speak English all the time in school and stuff, but Innie’s family speaks Korean at home too just like Dad and me. Innie and I sometimes speak English together and sometimes we speak Korean. Sometimes we just mix it and I guess most of the time we don’t really think about it that much. Whenever we’re in school and want to talk about secret things we always use Korean though, because most of the other kids don’t understand it.
Chris told me his grandparents immigrated to Australia when they were young so even his parents are born here. That’s why they don’t speak Korean at home and also why Chris and Felix don’t have Korean names. Dad was born in Korea and only moved here when he was eleven, so I guess that’s why it’s different.
It made me think about identity which is a kind of sophisticated word that describes who you are and how you’re different from other people and also how you’re similar to other people. For example: being Korean is part of my identity and being Australian is also part of my identity. And I guess I am both at the same time, but sometimes I feel more Korean and sometimes I feel more Australian. I think I want to ask Innie if he has ever thought about this stuff before. I don’t know if he feels even more Korean since he has a whole big Korean family and I just have Dad? Or maybe he has never thought about it at all.
I also asked Chris about it and he says he just feels Australian, but sometimes he feels a bit Korean too. Dad says he feels both.
I guess it is a really complicated topic!!!
Your best friend,
Kim Seungmin.
PS: Dad called Chris Hyung at dinner and he looked very surprised and his cheeks got red. It’s funny because technically Innie should call me Hyung when we speak Korean, but he never does.
Dear Seungmin!
Today we went to the Louvre and Hyunjin was very excited. I don’t understand art so much but I liked this painting called ‘La raie’ by a painter called Chardin. That’s why I bought this postcard and I hope you like it too. I think it’s kind of creepy and also cool.
I’m eating lots of croissants but I refuse to try snails. Ew. I saw a dog today I thought you’d like. I miss you a lot and wish you were here. Hyunjin LOVES it here. He says he was supposed to have been French. He downloaded Duolingo on his phone hahahaha.
It’s really hot here. I hope you are doing well!!!!
Hugs from Innie 