A Summer Duet in Korea

The valet in the lobby hailed a taxi for us, and in no time we were out of the downtown area and arriving at the airport. It turns out Hye-Jin was right; we got to the arrival gate well before Mom's plane deboarded, so Hye-Jin and I grabbed a coffee near the arrivals exit.

"Are you excited, Ella?" Hye-Jin asked while taking a sip.

"I am!" I beamed. "I'm also a little nervous, I suppose."

Hye-Jin was silent for a moment. "I'm nervous too. Are you...going to tell your mother about...us?"

I took a deep breath. "I figured it would come up at some point. And I do really want to tell her. I don't think it will be any issue at all, but I'm still nervous about coming out to her. I just want to pick the perfect moment, you know?"

Hye-Jin simply nodded. "Well, it will be your lead. I'm here for you, Ella."

"I know, Hye-Jin," I replied, squeezing her hand. I glanced over at the exit and gasped. "Wait, I think I see her!"

And sure enough, my mom stepped through the doorway, pulling her suitcase behind her. Her short brown hair looked a bit frazzled from her long flight, and she immediately saw me as I sprinted over to her. We practically crashed into each other and hugged.

"Oh Ella, it's so nice to see my baby! You wouldn't believe how grueling that flight was!"

I laughed. "Oh, it was just as bad for me last summer. I can't believe you're finally here!"

Mom squeezed my cheeks the way she always does. "Well, it's not every day a famous violinist comes to meet me at the airport!"

As Mom fussed over me, Hye-Jin quietly came up from behind me, shyly and politely waiting for me to introduce her. I broke away from Mom and pulled Hye-Jin forward.

"Oh, Mom, this is Hye-Jin."

"So this is Hye-Jin! I'm so happy to finally meet you, sweetheart!" As quick as a flash, Mom gave her a warm hug as Hye-Jin stood awkwardly smiling. Koreans were not big huggers, but Hye-Jin went with it.

Hye-Jin led us to the taxi stop as Mom and I chattered away at each other like no time had passed. Once we were back in the city, we decided to have dinner after Mom dropped off her suitcase in her room, so Hye-Jin found a nice samgyupsal restaurant nearby. Jet lag didn't faze Mom a bit, and as a result she spent the entire meal peppering Hye-Jin and me with questions. She wanted to know everything about Hye-Jin and our musical adventure, and about Hye-Jin herself.

Mom hit a wall around ten, so we headed back to the hotel to help Mom settle into her room where she quickly passed out. We left her quietly and went down the hall to our own room, with the night skyline shining at us through the window. We got ready for bed, while wordlessly deciding to sleep nude in our big comfy hotel bed. We lay on our sides facing each other with our feet tangled as we drifted off to sleep.

The next morning we met up with Mom for the Korean attempt at a Western continental breakfast and plotted the day together. The three of us started by wandering the shopping areas around Gangnam, and then making our way up to Gyeongbokgung Palace. We had lunch in the Insadong art district, and later took a tram to Seoul Tower to get the best view of the city. Hye-Jin acted as guide and translator, and I was happy to note that it seemed Mom liked Hye-Jin very much. Then again, Mom seemed to like everybody.

When we got back to the hotel in the early evening, Mom inquired about what we were going to do for dinner, but Hye-Jin surprised us by saying she had made other plans for the evening. I was a little confused, but then Hye-Jin quickly explained that she had made reservations for the two of us at a bulgogi restaurant nearby, and that we should enjoy some time alone. As I realized what Hye-Jin was doing, she winked at me and said she would see us later.

As we headed over to the restaurant, Mom was chatting happily while I was quietly becoming very anxious. "This is it," I thought to myself as we were seated across from each other at this very nice restaurant. I fidgeted in my lap as Mom pored over the menu.

"Oh, this is nice," she mused, flipping through the pages. "They have English translations on the menu. Though I have to say that 'pork belly noodles' doesn't sound too appealing."

"Mm hm," I mumbled.

Mom peeked over the menu. "Are you okay, dear?"

I wrung my hands in my lap and took a deep breath. "Before we order, Mom...there's something I want to tell you."

"Oh, okay!" Mom said with a smile. "Are you okay, Ella? You suddenly look so serious."

I stared down at the table, my heart threatening to beat out of my chest. "Mom, there's something I have to tell you, but I don't know how to tell you, and I'm freaking out a little."

Mom tilted her head slightly, gently set down the menu, and folded her hands under her chin. "Ella, I'm your mother. You know you can tell me anything." And then, she simply waited.

I summoned one final breath. "Mom...I'm gay."

Mom blinked and said nothing, she simply sat with her hands together to let me talk.

"I met Hye-Jin a couple of months after I arrived in Korea and we started playing music together and...and I fell in love with her. We've been dating ever since, and she's wonderful. And I'm so happy with her. And I know that it's maybe sudden and unexpected, but --"

"Ella, sweetheart," Mom said softly. "Honestly, I've always had a hunch."

"You...knew!?"

"Well," Mom laughed, "you never brought a boyfriend home or even talked about boys, but I never wanted to assume."

"How could you have known!?" I stammered. "Even I didn't!"

"Well, I didn't know," she explained, "but I suppose I suspected. And then of course spending the day with you and Hye-Jin today. Maybe random people wouldn't see it, but I clearly saw that you two were such a couple! And I must say, dear, she is a lovely girl."

Oh, Mo-o-o-m," I sobbed, the tears just pouring out of me. Mom quickly stood up and rounded the table to throw her arm over my shoulder as I cried into it. She patted my hair as I sobbed into her blouse, and once I had calmed down she sat back down across from me, taking my hands into hers.

"Ella, dear, I love you no matter what. You know that, right?"

"I know, Mom. I love you too," I sniffed.

'Now then, since we're safely out of the closet," she smirked, "perhaps the waiter can explain exactly what pork belly noodles are?"

After a lovely dinner, where Mom felt obligated to ask me every embarrassing detail about my lesbian relationship, we went back to the hotel. I explained to Mom that tomorrow was the day that we were filming the segment, to which Mom was very excited about coming with to the filming. With one final long hug and an exchange of 'I love you's,' I left Mom at the door to her room and walked down the hall to my own.

"Ella, dear?" Mom called out to me.

"Yes, Mom?"

"You realize it's also very obvious considering you're sharing a room with Hye-Jin, right?"

I rolled my eyes. "Goodnight, Mother."

She merely laughed in response before entering her room. I shook my head, and inserted the keycard into the door. The room was dark as I went in, and Hye-Jin was laying in bed with the TV blaring. She was clearly naked under the covers as she smiled at me, her hair spilling onto her bare shoulders.

"How was it?" she asked, muting the television and sitting up with the sheet pressed against her breasts.

I sat on the bed, stroking her hair behind her ear. "It went very well. I am, like, totally and officially gay."

Hye-Jin grinned. "Wow, me too! Now come to bed and tell me all about how it went."

The next morning was a flurry of activity. Breakfast had a distinct shift in tone, and my mother started doting on Hye-Jin as much as she usually does to me! I even saw her whisper something in Hye-Jin's ear, and whatever it was it made her smile brightly. Shortly after we ate, a driver from KBS picked us up to drive us to the studio. They helped load our garment bags containing our outfits, though I carried my violin case personally.

The day was a roller coaster of sound checks, meetings with the director, and staging for the actual performance itself. We were able to rehearse on the grand piano they had for Hye-Jin, and we also went over blocking and camera work. Performing on camera was a question of making sure we were always facing the proper angle and had the correct lighting. Very different from being on stage. Mom stood off-stage or in the empty audience stands content to watch all of the hustling of the crew.

After we had our makeup done, we did a brief sit-down interview with the host which would be run with the shots they did weeks ago at our Children's Day show. We mostly talked about our music and what we performed. They also gave me an earpiece, explaining that there would be a translator speaking in my ear for the entire show, which I thought was pretty neat. Hye-Jin would be doing the majority of the talking for us.

The show aired in the evening, though it was pre-recorded and actually filmed during the day. We were backstage while the audience filtered in, and we met a bunch of the celebrity panelists who filtered in. I had no idea who any of them were of course, but Hye-Jin was a little enamored with some of them. I found it strange that Korean shows had half a dozen celebrity commentators, but I just went along with it. Mom wished me luck before she was escorted to the family seating area, leaving Hye-Jin and I in the green room. I kept telling myself it was just another performance, but I was most definitely nervous.

Eventually, they showed the segment about us which contained the interviews from back in Wonju, to Hye-Jin talking about how we met and started performing together, and I found it funny how we were defined as "really close friends." I kind of smirked at the sheer naivety of the cast and crew, and was most definitely fine as leaving it as just friends. No need to bring up all the wild sexy stuff; it was a family-friendly show after all.

We got the cue for places, and after a quick hug, we made our way to the stage entrance, One of the stage hands passed my violin to me, and we walked on to stage together. The audience gave a polite applause, while the host and the panel blabbered away in Korean. I mostly stood politely while I listened to slightly delayed English translations piped into my ears. They mostly asked Hye-Jin questions, and I was impressed at how composed she was. My eyes wandered towards the audience as the host asked Hye-Jin about her music.

I noticed Mom was sitting wide-eyed in the front row, desperately resisting waving at me. Next to her, however, was a shock: Mr. Lee sat there, leaning forward in his chair in interest. I had no idea that Hye-Jin had invited him, or even that he would come at all, but there he was. There was then a point where the host asked a question about our families, and of course the camera turned to the audience to show Mom and Mr. Lee. Mom waved and smiled at the camera, and even Mr. Lee gave an embarrassed smile and bowed his head. If I didn't know any better, I would have said he was thrilled to be there!

At this point in the show, Hye-Jin and I were to perform after a commercial break. We had chosen our song weeks ago: a song called "Arirang," a well-known Korean folk song about two lovers who were separated by a river. It was a wistful song, about the sadness the lovers felt at being divided by the water. Hye-Jin was adamant in the choice, and in all honesty, the duet arrangement that she had arranged was quite beautiful.

The studio was silent as the lights were dimmed, as Hye-Jin played the intro of the song which eventually turns into the harmony. The melody was played by me, and on my cue I raised my bow to play. I made no sudden movements, merely trying to keep my notes as smooth as possible. At a certain point I closed my eyes to focus on the sound, as the melancholy notes flowed from my strings. I lost myself in the music.

As I played the last, quiet notes of the harmony and Hye-Jin finished the outro, I could sense a distinct silence that struck the studio, and just as suddenly, the audience erupted into applause, with even the host and panel joining in. I smiled modestly, completely not understanding what was being said around me, as the earpiece was switched off for my performance. The host loudly led the show as Hye-Jin and I, hand in hand, took our bow. The rest of the show was sort of a blur, but I was high on the excitement of the performance.

After the filming, many people shook my hand and a few of the Koreans, in varying levels of English, expressed how much they loved the song. After thanking at least ten thousand times, Hye-Jin and I eventually were led to the makeup chairs to de-beautify ourselves. We were both breathless as we came back to Earth, and while Hye-Jin mingled with some of the panelists, Mom and Mr. Lee were led backstage to meet us. Mom immediately threw her arms around me.

"Oh my darling Ella, that was simply beautiful! I am so proud of you! Aren't you happy that I convinced you to bring your violin with you?"

I grinned ear to ear as I hugged her back, wordlessly agreeing with her. As we broke apart, Mr. Lee approached from behind. I noticed him clearing his throat. There was a brief pause, and very quietly he spoke up.

"It was a very good song. Very touchful. Congratulations," he said politely, as he extended his hand. I slightly bowed my head as I took it.

"Thank you, Mr. Lee," I said modestly. It was all that needed to be said.

As she usually does with people, Mom seemed to have become fast friends with Mr. Lee when they were sat together for the show, though I am not sure if Mr. Lee was used to women who were as bubbly as my mother. Hye-Jin joined us minutes later, and she received similar words of congratulations from them.

The four of us were invited to an after-party with the cast and crew, with assurances that our outfits and my violin would be sent by courier to our hotel. It was a bustle of activity; Mom and I had literally no idea who any one was at the party, which was in a rooftop lounge not far from the studio, but humorously enough Mr. Lee was absolutely star-struck. He was on air as he was introduced to them one by one by Hye-Jin, and there was a particular beautiful actress that he looked as if he would faint upon seeing her. Mom did her best to mingle, and happily chatted away with anyone in earshot.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel, and Mr. Lee graciously offered to drive us all back to Wonju. The mood in the car was surprisingly high, and Mr. Lee invited my mom to stop by the school on Monday, to which she accepted. After making good time, Mr. Lee dropped us off at our apartments. Mom loudly assured Hye-Jin and I that she would be fine sleeping in my bed to "let you two have your privacy," at which Mr. Lee awkwardly shifted and quickly said goodbye. I think even Hye-Jin was embarrassed at Mom's candor.

We spent the rest of the weekend in Wonju, as I introduced Mom to the Wonju ex-pats that evening. There was a little gathering that was planned by Maretha and Richard at Blues Sanjo, and Hye-Jin and I were the guests of honor. Apparently everyone was watching the show the previous evening, and even my co-workers Lukas and Elsie had a viewing party at their apartment. Mom was excited to meet everyone, and would talk anyone's ear off who let her. There was even a point where she thanked Maretha for taking care of her daughter during the year. Mom also adored Richard, and as they proved later while we went to the karaoke room they had the same taste in music. Their drunken rendition of "Islands in the Stream'' was the stuff of legends.

Sunday was spent touring Wonju and even more drinking and eating, and when Monday rolled along Mom accompanied me to school. Once again, the staff and the students excitedly congratulated me about being on the show, peppering me with questions about everything. I even heard Mr. Lee boasting about how he had gotten to meet the celebrity panelists; you'd think he was the one who had performed! The students were also excited to meet Mom; I made it an activity for them to ask her questions about the United States, though they were more fascinated by the fact that we had the same blue eyes, or that Teacher Ella had a mother and didn't pop out of a hole somewhere!

Mom's flight back home was on Tuesday evening, and though Mr. Lee offered to let me have yet another day off to bring her to the airport, Mom assured us that she would be fine getting to the airport on her own. "I'm no stranger to traveling in foreign countries!" Mom assured us, though as far as I knew she had only been on a few European cruise lines. I did however escort her to the bus station that morning before I went to work to make sure she got the correct ticket to the airport. Hye-Jin and I saw her off as she boarded the bus.

"I am so happy to have met you, Hye-Jin. And Ella, my dear Ella, I love you so much!" Mom cried as she squeezed the life out of us.

"Goodbye, Mrs. Anderson. It was nice to meet you," said Hye-Jin.

Mom took her cheeks into her hands just like she always did to me. "Such a sweet girl. Oh! The bus!" she cried as she leapt onto the stairs leading up.

"Good bye, Mom! I'll call you as soon as you get home."

"Goodbye, my girls! And Ella, I will see you in July!"

I shifted uncomfortably at the reminder that my visa in Korea was ending soon, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Hye-Jin frown slightly. Mom found her seat and was still waving as the bus drove off, leaving Hye-Jin and me standing in the parking lot. It was distinctly quiet as we quickly kissed each other goodbye and headed to our respective jobs. By the time I got to my desk at work, I was already missing Mom when suddenly there was a tap on my shoulder.

"Guten tag, Ella, I have some good news!" said Lukas as he took a seat next to me.

"Oh, hey Lukas. What's up?"

"My aunt loved that video I sent her of you. You know, the clip on the television show."

"Your aunt saw it?"

"Right, remember I told you of her? She said you were quite talented. In fact, she would like to set up a meeting with you, when you have time."

"Hold up," I interjected, suddenly coming to life, "she wants to meet with me?"

"She does! I told her that your contract ended in July, and you might be looking for opportunities after you leave Wonju."

"You told her I was looking for a job? I don't even know what I am doing in July!"

"Oh," he frowned, "I thought you would be leaving Korea like everyone does once they get their contract over with. With all the music you were doing I thought you were not renewing your contract."

"God, I wasn't even thinking about my contract ending. I mean, of course I'd like to chat with her. I didn't even think about...no, please tell her I can meet with her!"

"No problem. She can probably do a video chat after work; Hamburg is seven hours behind, so tonight for us will be morning for her. I'll let her know!"

His aunt worked quickly, because before I got home, I had an email from Lukas' aunt and an appointment to call her around 10:00 my time. I excitedly told Hye-Jin about the opportunity, and she insisted on fixing my hair and makeup to make me look nice for the camera. Lukas' aunt was a pleasant woman named Greta with excellent English despite her thick German accent. We talked about my music education, my background in performing, and my time in Korea. She asked me about my styles and techniques, and she was impressed when I was able to blind read a piece she had attached to the chat.

She mentioned that a more formal audition cycle could be done in the next few weeks, but to my luck they were in need of a third chair for the upcoming fall season, and Germany in general had a much higher demand for orchestras than the US did. In fact, she was hoping that I would be able to perform "Arirang" again when the conductor and the concertmaster sat in on the next round. She assured me that she would be in touch, and as soon as the video call ended it took every effort not to pass out from the excitement.