All Because of a Seat in the Front Row

When making a crucial decision, one usually considers all possible circumstances beforehand to avoid regretting the choice in the future. However, when I was in the 2nd grade of elementary school, I made a life-changing decision based on a seat in the front row and a four day ticket to Disney World.

I had been living in Dallas, Texas for about 3 years when my father received a job offer from a company in Korea. Weighing both the advantages and disadvantages of accepting the invitation, my father concluded that he should go. He then asked my mother and me if we wanted to stay or go back to Korea with him. My mother said that she would respect my choice, and handed over the burden of deciding whether my family would live together or apart to me.

What first came to mind were my friends and family living in Korea. It had been three years, and I missed them. It just seemed reasonable for me to go back. Besides, although I would definitely want to see the friends I practically grew up with, spending my first years of school with them, my neighborhood, the gymnasium I had so much fun in, and even the sidewalks where I did cartwheels, I reckoned I could always come back.

Furthermore, the timing was somewhat right; I was having a fight with one of my best friends when my father told me about this choice I was allowed to make. My friend and I were having a conflict concerning the roles we received in the school play, that year’s theme being the animals of jungle. The students in the 2nd grade were divided into four groups: elephants, giraffes, monkeys, and hyenas. For each group of animals, three students were assigned a line, an answer to the question of the “Kings of the Jungle.” My friend and I were chosen to be the speakers of the monkey clan, and the situation was as the following: when the Lion King asked “Would you like these bananas?” my friend, as Monkey 1, would say “Yes. We love bananas!” and I would continue her reply by exclaiming, “But when it comes to playing video games, bananas don’t matter!” My friend, obviously, was upset at the fact that my line was twice as long as hers and she simply could not understand why the music teacher did so. I did not know how to relieve her anger, and I did not know what exactly I had done wrong… I just could not figure out how to deal with the confusing situation. So I thought that moving back to Korea might be a solution, referring to the Disney shows I had watched, such as “Lizzie McGuire” and “That’s So Raven,” where all of the grudges the characters held against each other seemed to dissolve into thin air when one left for another school, town, or country. I figured that in this case as well, if I announced my decision to return to Korea, my friend would stop being frustrated and we could reconcile, promising each other to keep in touch.

The key factors in my decision, though, were the almost once-in-a-lifetime presents that I would be able to receive if I chose to leave America: four-day tickets to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and the seats in the very front row of the airplane. Actually, it was a present for both my parents and I, but I was the only one who was really excited about the advantages, given that I had always dreamt of going to all four lands of Disney World. The offer was even more appealing when my mother informed me of the services exclusive to the First Class customers on an airplane, and that the seats were so expensive that I might not be able to take that seat again before long if not then. Listing down the pros and cons of leaving America for Korea, the pros suddenly outnumbered the cons. The rarity and specialty of the two benefits I would be gaining for deciding to return to Korea were the two substantial factors that lured me into clearing up my answer for the question, a yes. Yes, as in I would like to go back to Korea and also stay together as a family.

If I were to be asked the same question now, I probably would have contemplated about the outcomes of each choice for days, but back then, I was a 9 year-old. I was naïve, far from thoughtful, and well, a child. I did not realize the fact that I would be unable to come back to America and see my friends, just like I was not able to do so with my friends and family in Korea during the three years I spent abroad. I could not process backwards, and plus, I often think, nowadays, that my mother implicitly talked me into answering yes, and my father’s determination to go back influenced me; I guess it is just amusing how I based the foundations for my reasoning on airplane seats and Disney World tickets, considering that my one-worded answer would turn, and did turn, my life 180 degrees upside down. I mean, who would I be if I had chosen to stay in America in 2003? What would be my interests? What would my plans for the future be? For what I know now, though, I am who I am right now due to my choice to return to Korea, finalizing the dilemma by accepting the temptation of a seat in the front row.