A Step from Heaven Chapter 19 Summary

Making Sure

  • Apa's leading Young Ju into the Department of Immigration and Naturalization Services building.
  • Apa is clearly confused by all the English around him, so Young Ju and he switch places and Young Ju leads.
  • The bureaucracy is ridiculous—they have to bounce from window to window and wait for a really long time.
  • Finally they get called up to a window, where the service person gives them another number for another window (if you've ever been to the DMV, then you know this process all too well).
  • When they get to the right window, the guy tells them that they have to fill out more forms for the green card renewal—the reason they're there—but that the forms can be mailed in.
  • But Apa doesn't understand, and all he sees are more forms, which to him means that he has to take more time to fill out stuff he can't read and possibly return again to the office—all of which would mean another day off of work.
  • Young Ju tries to explain that they can mail the forms in to him, but Apa doesn't really listen to her and manages to make a scene at the window.
  • Eventually Young Ju gets Apa to understand that he doesn't need to go back to the building on another day.
  • Clearly, though, the whole day has drained Apa; he tells Young Ju to "make sure" that he doesn't have to return to that building again.