How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Then one day Apa gets a letter that makes him hug Uhmma so tight her eyes cry. Now every time Apa says Mi Gook, he smiles so big I think maybe he is a doggy like Mi Shi. When we are eating our dinner, Apa and Uhmma can only say Mi Gook all the time. No more mean eyes over the rice bowl, and my stomach keeps the rice inside like a good stomach is supposed to do. I hope they will talk about Mi Gook forever and ever. Mi Gook is the best word. Even better than sea or candy. (4.3-4)
We know we don't have to tell you that this vision of America doesn't last. How could it? Can anything really stand up to such high expectations from a little kid? Seriously—"Mi Gook is the best word," and "Even better than sea or candy"? That's a pretty tall order… Young Ju doesn't know it yet, but she's setting America up to fail.
Quote #2
We are going to Mi Gook so you can have the very best education. So someday you will be better than a fisherman's wife. Uhmma holds out her hands. Look at my rough hands. Do you think I always had hands like these? Do you want to end up like this? Uhmma touches my cheek with her cat-tongue fingers and says, Your Apa thought you were too young to have such an expensive hairstyle, but I told him you were old enough now. You can understand how important it is to look like a real Mi Gook girl. Young Ju, are you a big girl who understands? No, I cry. No curly hair. (5.39)
Wow—talk about laying on a guilt trip. So all of a sudden Young Ju's entire future hangs on whether or not she gets a perm so she can "look like a real Mi Gook girl"? It's pretty easy to roll your eyes at Uhmma's heavy-handed logic, but let's try to look at it from the mom's perspective. She's probably worried that Young Ju, who can't speak a lick of English, will have trouble fitting into America, so she's just doing what she can to make Young Ju into a trendy, American girl. Too bad no one breaks it to Uhmma that perms aren't exactly all that American or all that trendy either. Chalk it up to a cultural misunderstanding.
Quote #3
I am a mountain rabbit bouncing, running. Where am I going? I am going to see Harabugi. And when Halmoni comes, I will ask her if she liked the bus that is called an airplane. In Mi Gook, everyone will be happy and filled with love. I am a mountain rabbit bouncing, running, closing my eyes. Waiting for heaven. (6.27)
Note that Young Ju's American Dream has nothing to do with wealth or land or freedom—it's all about the family, and not just her own immediate family, but her extended family too, including her dead grandfather. Her dream kind of keeps things in perspective: maybe kids don't need wealth in order to be happy; maybe they just need family unity and love.