Mindy Kim and the Lunar New Year Parade Read online

  We could hear the loud thumping of drums all the way from our car as we pulled into the parking lot. Everything else was drowned out by the loud chatter of the people outside.

  “Wow, that sounds exciting!” said Sally.

  Dad, Sally, and I got out of the car and walked toward the edge of the sidewalk, where we could get the best views of the parade.

  Red Chinese lions danced with their mouths and eyes flapping open and closed, while long red and green dragons floated above everyone. People from many different parts of Asia came down the street wearing their traditional clothing. A lot of them smiled and waved at us as they passed, while others carried banners and flags.

  I gave everyone a big smile as they walked by.

  As I looked around at the other people watching the parade, I was glad that I wasn’t the only one wearing traditional clothing. I didn’t see anyone else wearing a hanbok, though!

  “Hmm,” Dad said. “Looks like there aren’t any people representing Korea yet. The parade is still really interesting! Look over there at the taiko float, Mindy! Aren’t those drums cool?”

  Kids my age were walking down the street with taiko drums strapped across their chests. They were so good! The beat made me want to dance. Sally and I bounced up and down to the music.

  It felt weird to see so many Asian people here. Even though there’d been a lot of Asian people back in California, here in Florida I’d only seen a few. In the last couple of months, I’d become used to being the only Asian kid in my school.

  “This is so cool!” Sally exclaimed. “I never knew there were this many different Asian cultures.”

  “This isn’t half of it!” I grinned. “We haven’t even seen the Korean stuff!”

  We saw more dancers, musicians, and other performers. And we kept waiting for the Korean group to come.

  “I’m sure there will be someone representing Korea at some point,” Dad said.

  Finally, after the last performers went by, it was pretty clear that we weren’t going to see any Korean performers today.

  Last year, at the Lunar New Year festival in California, there was a group of samulnori people playing Korean drums, flutes, and gongs. There was also a K-pop performance, where lots of pretty girls danced onstage with their supercool moves! Dad said the performers were college students who were in samulnori and K-pop clubs in school, and I remember hoping I could be one of them someday.

  But no matter how much I waited, I didn’t hear any Korean flutes or gongs this year. Nor did I see anyone dancing to K-pop. It made me kind of sad that there wasn’t anyone Korean in the parade, even though seeing Lunar New Year traditions from other Asian countries was pretty neat.

  Dad must have seen the frown on my face, because he said, “It’s okay, Mindy. We can have our own Lunar New Year celebration back at home after the festival. I think we still have our yutnori board somewhere.”

  That made me feel a little better. Yutnori is a fun Korean board game that my parents and I used to play every Lunar New Year. Maybe I could teach Sally how to play!

  Suddenly, Sally tugged at my sleeve.

  “Look, Mindy! It’s Pikachu!”

  I whirled around and saw a huge Pikachu balloon pass by us in the parade.

  “Wow!” I said. “It’s really Pikachu!”

  “Hmm, I’m not sure how Pokémon is related to Lunar New Year,” Dad said, sounding really confused. “Maybe they just have it for the little kids.”

  “Let’s go take a picture with it!” Sally said. She pulled out her phone from her pocket and started running into the crowd, toward the balloon.

  I turned to Dad. “Can we go take a picture with Pikachu, Appa?”

  “Um, sure. But wait—”

  I didn’t hear what else my dad said, because I started running when he said “sure.” I was too excited! Dad was much faster than me, so I was sure he was close behind.

  Sally ran toward Pikachu and I tried my best to catch up. It was kind of hard to run in my hanbok, and I had to hold my skirt up so I wouldn’t trip on it.

  The Pikachu was moving slowly enough that we could keep pace with it while taking pictures.

  “You go first, Mindy!” Sally said. “I’ll take lots of good pictures with you and Pikachu.”

  I smiled really big and put up the peace sign as Sally took pictures of me.

  “Cute!” said Sally. She sounded like one of the moms who come to volunteer for our class. “My turn!”

  Sally handed me her phone, and I took pictures of her. She looked so happy! I hoped I looked happy in my pics too.

  “That was fun, Appa!” I said. “I think we can go home now. . . .”

  I trailed off when I realized that Dad wasn’t behind me like I thought he was.

  “Wait,” I said slowly. “Where’s my dad?”

  “I’m not sure,” replied Sally. “Wasn’t he right behind us?”

  We looked around, but Dad was nowhere in sight.

  “Maybe he’s still walking by Pikachu!” Sally suggested.

  But by then, Pikachu had gone way ahead of us. And we couldn’t find the balloon again because there were so many people around us. And there was still no Dad.

  We were lost!

  Chapter 6

  No matter how much I looked, I couldn’t find Dad. Everyone was laughing and having fun, but I just wanted to cry. It was almost exactly like my nightmare, but instead of being alone, at least I had Sally with me.

  I held it together, but barely. I didn’t want Sally to see me cry and be scared too.

  “Let’s hold hands so we don’t get split up,” Sally said. “It’d be really bad if we lost each other, too.”

  “Good idea.” I tightly grabbed Sally’s hand. It made me feel better that no matter what happened, at least we were in this together. “It’s okay,” I said. “I’m sure we’ll be able to find my dad soon.”

  “Let’s try going back where we came from,” Sally said. “Maybe he just got lost in the crowd somewhere along the way.”

  Sally and I started walking in the opposite direction of the parade. But no matter how much we walked, we couldn’t find Dad, even when we reached the beginning of the parade.

  “Maybe we can’t find him because he’s walking around looking for us, too.” I tried my best to not sound scared, but my voice still quivered. I really hoped we wouldn’t be lost forever.

  “Maybe we can call him?” Sally suggested. “You know your dad’s number, right? You can use my phone!”

  I looked down at my feet. “No, I don’t. I knew his California one, but he got a new phone after we moved here, and I haven’t memorized that one yet.”

  “Okay, then, we can call my mom! She can get us, and then your dad can just catch up with us later. No problem.”

  Sally got out her phone. But instead of dialing her mom’s number, she glanced at her screen and looked at me with wide eyes. “Oh no. We’re doomed!” she wailed.

  “Why?” I said. “What’s wrong?”

  “My phone ran out of battery. It won’t turn on!”

  “It’s okay!” I said, trying to remain hopeful. “We can just ask to borrow someone’s phone.”

  Sally shook her head. “I don’t know my mom’s number either. She’s just speed-dial one. This is really bad.” She sniffed. “I really want my mom.”

  “It’s okay!” I said again, tightening my grasp on Sally’s hand. “My dad is still looking for us. If we look for him, and he looks for us, we’re bound to run into each other, right?”

  We walked and walked and walked, but Dad was nowhere to be seen. Eventually, the parade ended, and everyone in the audience moved toward the end of the street, where people were performing on a big stage.

  My stomach growled. I had no idea how long Sally and I had walked around to find Dad, but I was really hungry! And scared. What if we were lost here forever? Did Dad know we were still here? I wanted to find Dad. And I wanted food!

  “I’m hungry,” I said. “Do you want to get something
to eat?”

  “Sure, do you have money?” asked Sally.

  “Oh… no, I don’t.” I was so worried about being lost that I totally forgot that you needed money to pay for food! Dad always bought food for the two of us, so I never carried money with me. My heart started beating really fast. Sally was right. We were doomed!

  I was about to cry when Sally said, “It’s okay! I have an emergency twenty-dollar bill in my phone case. You can pay me back later!”

  Sally fished the money out of her case. She was a true hero!

  “I don’t know if twenty dollars is enough for both lunch and dinner, though,” Sally said with a frown. “Maybe we can share something now and get something else later!”

  She looked worried, and I bit my lip. I really hoped we could find Dad soon!

  “Don’t worry,” I said, even though I was scared too. “My dad would never leave us here. Maybe he just got hungry and stopped to eat something!”

  Sally looked kind of doubtful, but she didn’t say anything.

  Together, we wandered over to the food stalls. There were so many options, but only a few were “within our budget.” Sally explained that her mom says “within our budget” all the time during important business calls with her company. “It means that we have enough money for something!” she said excitedly. But then Sally’s bottom lip began quivering. “What if I never see my mom again?”

  I almost started crying too, when I heard Dad’s voice.

  “Mindy! Sally!”

  I spun around. It was really Dad!

  “Appa!” I yelled.

  Dad ran to me and picked me up, squeezing me into a tight hug before snuggling his face against mine. His face was wet, like he’d been crying for a really long time. Seeing Dad cry finally made me cry too.

  “It’s okay, Dad,” I said. “You found us! I’m safe.”

  “So, you were right about them being where the food is!” a lady said then.

  I looked past Dad’s shoulder to see a pretty Asian lady with short black hair. She looked happy to see me, even though I had no idea who she was.

  “We were walking all over the place to find you… but then we got hungry,” I said to Dad sheepishly.

  He laughed and then smiled at both Sally and me. “Well, I’m glad we found you two in the end. You scared me!”

  “Sorry we ran off,” I apologized. “Being lost was really scary, so I promise I won’t do that again.”

  “I’m sorry too,” said Sally. “I was the one who ran after Pikachu first.”

  Dad patted both our shoulders. “It’s okay, girls. I think we all learned a very important lesson today. Thanks for the apology, though.”

  “I tried to call you, but I forgot your number,” I said.

  “And my phone ran out of battery, so I couldn’t call my mom,” added Sally.

  “Oh dear,” Dad said. “Let’s make sure you girls know all the important numbers when we get home. And next time, when you get lost, be sure to stay in one place so you’re easier to find.”

  “Okay, Appa,” I replied.

  He then let go of me to gesture at the lady still standing behind him.

  “Mindy, Sally, I want you to meet Julie. She’s one of my coworkers, and I happened to run into her while searching for you girls. I kind of… panicked when I couldn’t find you two, and she helped calm me down.”

  Julie waved him off. “It was nothing,” she said. “Your dad looked like he needed help, so I helped! Anyone would have done it.” She then waved at us with a big smile. “Hi, Mindy. Hi, Sally. It’s so nice to meet both of you. I’m glad you two are safe.”

  I shook Julie’s hand. “Pleased to make your acquaintance,” I said, like they did in the old black-and-white movies I used to watch with Mom.

  Dad coughed, and a mysterious look appeared on his face. “Well, Julie, if you don’t have anything else to do, we’d love it if you’d join us for the rest of the festival.”

  “We would?” I asked.

  Daddy shot me a nervous glance, like I’d said something I shouldn’t have. He laughed, but instead of his usual booming laugh, his voice sounded weird and squeaky.

  “Of course we would, Mindy! Don’t be silly. Maybe we can all go grab lunch together? With the girls in very close proximity, of course.”

  Dad was acting very strange. I was about to ask him what was wrong when a man on the stage behind the food stalls announced, “Welcome to the Lunar New Year festival! We hope you enjoyed the parade. It’s always so nice to see the traditions and festivities of the many different cultures we have here in Orlando. But don’t leave yet! We have a lot of performances lined up for you here onstage today while you enjoy the delicious food. You’re all in for a treat!”

  “Quick,” Dad said, gently pushing me toward a food-truck line. “Let’s go get food now so we don’t miss the show!”

  “Okay,” I said, narrowing my eyes. He wasn’t off the hook yet!

  Chapter 7

  We ended up getting some yummy egg rolls and dumplings. Being lost definitely made me super hungry! But I still wanted to have our usual Korean New Year food too, so I mentioned it to Dad.

  “Let’s stop by the Korean supermarket on our way home and buy lots of our favorite food there!” he suggested.

  It was the best idea I’d heard all day.

  Carefully holding our paper plates of food, we walked around until we found enough seats for all four of us. It was really hard to find empty seats. By the time we sat down, our food had all cooled down.

  “Wow,” Dad said. “I can see why they had to move locations. This is a popular event!”

  Compared to the Asian food in California, the food was just okay, especially since it was now cold. But the performances onstage were still pretty fun! There was a great group from Vietnam, who came out with parasols and danced. Then a couple of Chinese ladies danced with long, colorful ribbons. Every performance was so good!

  Since there weren’t any Korean floats or groups in the parade, I really hoped there would be someone performing onstage. I was just about to give up when I heard one of my favorite K-pop songs blasting from the speakers.

  “This is it!” I yelled. “Finally, a Korean performance!”

  I glanced at Sally to make sure she was paying attention to the stage. She was. I was so happy to show her something Korean, even though K-pop isn’t exactly a New Year tradition!

  After a few minutes, a group of five girls came onto the stage. But there was something weird about the group.

  Sally squinted her eyes. “Wait… is it just me, or… are none of the girls in that group Asian?”

  “No, there’s one Asian girl in the back,” Julie said. “But you’re right, Sally. Besides her, no one else is Asian.”

  “Hmm,” Dad said. “I guess this is just a K-pop appreciation group. Maybe they’re just trying to show how popular Korean music is?”

  I didn’t know how to feel about the group. They were really pretty and danced great! But I was still sad that during this entire day, we hadn’t seen a single Korean person in the parade or festival.

  I missed California.

  Dad must have noticed that I was sad, because at the end of the last performance, he squeezed my shoulder and said, “Why don’t we go back home and have our own super-awesome Korean New Year celebration?”

  He turned to Julie and Sally. “And we’d be happy for you both to come, if you can? We can stop at the Korean market first to pick up what we need.”

  Sally grinned. “Sure! I’m excited to try some yummy Korean food!”

  I wanted to give Sally a big hug. I was so happy she could come over!

  “Sounds like fun!” said Julie. “And yeah, if it’s really okay with you, Brian, I’d be happy to join.”

  My jaw dropped. Julie was coming over to our house! Did this mean Julie and Dad were… friends? I got really excited. Finally, Dad was friends with one of his coworkers!

  “Great!” Instead of saying “great” normally, Dad y
elled so loudly that the lady in front of us turned to glare at us.

  “Oops, sorry,” said Dad. His face was getting a little red. He was acting so strange today!

  Julie laughed and said, “Okay, well, text me your address and I’ll meet you guys there after we go to the market.”

  While Dad was sending her our address, Sally tugged at my sleeve. She wiggled her eyebrows at me.

  “Why are you acting so weird?” I whispered to Sally when Julie and Dad weren’t looking.

  “Mindy, I think your dad has a crush on Julie. And I think Julie likes him back!”

  “But how?” I asked. “They barely know each other!”

  Sally shrugged. “Adults are weird. Plus, they’re coworkers, right? So they aren’t total strangers!”

  I didn’t know how to feel about what Sally said. But I knew she was definitely onto something. I’d never seen Dad act that way around another person. He wasn’t even that nervous around my mom!

  Adults really confuse me sometimes.

  Chapter 8

  On our way to the Korean supermarket, I asked Sally, “Hey, did you know that in Korea, we’re nine years old?”

  Sally wrinkled her nose. “What? How?”

  “In Korea, you’re already one year old when you’re born. And then you age up whenever it’s the New Year!”

  “Whoa,” she said. “That’s pretty cool! Although I wouldn’t want to be older than I am now.”

  I couldn’t believe what she said. “What, really? How come?”

  “The older you get, the closer you get to becoming a grown-up! And then you have to do scary things like pay bills and taxes! My mom told me that being an adult is the worst. And it looks bad too! She’s always really busy and stressed.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say it’s the worst,” Dad said from the front. “You girls have a lot of fun things to look forward to. But it can be pretty challenging sometimes!”

  Finally Dad found a parking spot. He barely had the car turned off when I flung open the door. I was ready to shop for all the food I’d missed out on today!