Amanda Takes Off...

Today I was walking through the school parking lot when I ran into a first grader on the ground, holding her knee and crying. Her friend said, "I'm sorry," and patted her shoulder, but the girl still cried.

"You're OK," I said in banmal. I stretched my hand out and she took it. She stood up, still sniffling, as her friend apologized again for knocking her to the ground.

She looked at me and purposefully ignored her friend.

We walked very slowly to the school building, her friend eventually going ahead of us.

The girl said nothing as I chattered away in the low form of Korean. "You're OK. That hurt, right? I know, but you're OK now. And your friend made a mistake. But she's your friend. She said sorry."

The girl just kept looking at me, her limp becoming less pronounced as we reached the front doors.

I let go of her hand. I smiled at her. I expected her to just walk away since she hadn't said a single word to me. But she surprised me.

"Thank you," she whispered in English.