After a short trip to Korea, Mr. Kuroda went back to Japan and prepared the online class for the students, but he had too many problems from the start.
The biggest problem was the connection was interrupted too often. It looked as if Mr. Kuroda turned to just a picture every other second. Because of that, his voice was also interrupted often. If he was a fluent Korean speaker, the kids at the alternative school could understand him, but he was not. Worse, the education method at the school was not one-sided teaching but discussion-oriented. The kids would ask questions whenever they were in doubt about what they learned, but a discussion-oriented class was almost impossible on the internet. It looked as if there would need to be a huge investment for this kind of online education to be successful.
The kids, as well as Mr. Kuroda, were at a loss for what to do, but Mr. Kuroda couldn’t give up. The more he proceeded with the classes, the more ambitious he became. When the students asked him questions, Mr. Kuroda felt as if his hair stood up upside down because of the quality of the question.
How can a middle school boy ask such a question?
For example, when he was explaining the role of oxygen in the combustion of fuel in the engine, a student asked, “How about artificially boosting the rate of oxygen?” and proposed a concept of a new type of fuel. Another student proposed the application of a waterwheel as an engine.
Of course the practicality of such proposals was low, but what was important was not their applicability, but the fact that middle school boys like them were thinking about such new concepts. If they had deeper knowledge of engines and fuel, some of them could create great inventions.
The more online classes Mr. Kuroda taught, the more his heart pounded. He seemed to know why Mencius said that teaching talented students was one of the three great pleasures of a scholar.
Mr. Kuroda wanted to keep teaching the kids. He wanted to hear them saying ‘I learned a lot from Mr. Mr. Kuroda’ when they grew up as important guys in the world, but the reality was different. The teacher in charge made an extraordinary decision when he saw the limit of online education.
“Sorry, Mr. Kuroda. I watched you teaching our kids on the internet, but it didn’t help a lot. I would suspend the class until we could find a better way.”
Mr. Kuroda was so disappointed to hear the decision. He couldn’t focus on anything, as if he fell into lethargy. He was deeply agonized by this.
How can I teach them again?
The only way was for him to fly back to Korea and teach them directly. That meant he had to move to Korea. The first thing that came to his mind was Haruki. It was Mr. Kuroda’s biggest happiness to see her growing up day by day. As she was in her adolescence, he saw less of her, and her reaction to him was kind of indifferent, but he regarded her presence as the most valuable to him.
His research on the new concept engine also bothered him. Of course he could continue to do research in Korea, but he had to move all his research materials from his house. Such as it is, it was a valuable collection of his research across his lifetime.
Loneliness and strangeness in Korea also made Mr. Kuroda hesitate.
On the other hand, he had one clear reason to leave Japan. It was because of Haruki’s mother and his daughter-in-law Yoko. She has been dating a man for two years, two years since her husband died. Mr. Kuroda could not blame her. It was a foregone deal that she would get remarried.
The reason she couldn’t get remarried was that she found it difficult to talk to her fiance about living with Mr. Kuroda. She couldn’t let Mr. Kuroda live alone, either.
In some respect that’s why Haruki sometimes treated him coldly. She might have felt he was a stumbling block in her mother’s way.
When he thought as far as that, Mr. Kuroda suddenly got his own head screwed on.
Yea, let’s go to Korea, the homeland of my country where I was also born. Let me spend the rest of my life there. Maybe this is my destiny.
Mr. Kuroda called the teacher in charge at the School of Dream and told him about his decision.
“Let me come to Korea to teach the kids.”
The teacher expressed thanks, but at the same time said something negative, “In fact, the financial situation of our school is very bad. We can offer a vacant room to you, but no financial support of your accommodations here.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not coming to make money. I will pay for my own lodging, so I would appreciate it if you can let me stay in the room in your dorm until I find my lodging.”
After the call, Mr. Kuroda called Hyunwoo. When Mr. Kuroda explained his situation, Hyunwoo replied with a welcome voice, “Welcome. I’ll help you to the best I can, and you don’t have to worry about Haruki. Korea and Japan are very close. If you want to, you can visit Japan anytime.”
Mr. Kuroda felt relieved to hear that. He felt that if he could find lodging near Hyunwoo’s house, he might not feel that lonely.
Mr. Kuroda told Hyunwoo about his necessities in Korea. The first thing was a house with a research room.
“Given the chance, I would like to find a house near yours. I don’t know anybody in Korea. Sorry to ask you a favor like this.”
“Not at all. As you have made a difficult decision, it’s my duty to help you. I’ll check it out and get back to you.”
Soon after Mr. Kuroda packed his stuff in Japan. Yoko and Haruki cried. They felt better with the matter of Mr. Kuroda off their chests, but also felt sorry to see him go.
Mr. Kuroda wrapped Haruki’s face with his hands and said, “You don’t have to feel sorry too much. If I want, I can come and see you anytime. Let me see you every a couple of months.”
“Yes, grandpa. Please take care of yourself. I love you.”
Leaving them behind, Mr. Kuroda boarded the plane bound for Inchon International Airport in Korea.
***
Hyunwoo’s family visited Kumsan, South Chungchong Province on the Korean Thanksgiving holiday, Chusok. It was his father and his father’s elder brother’s birthplace.
Hyunwoo was busy meeting his bosom friends as well as boiling and drying the ginseng his mother bought from Kumsan.
In the meantime, Mr. Kuroda arrived in Korea. Hyunwoo went to the airport to pick up Mr. Kuroda’s arrival. He thought of having his father, who was physically weak and disabled, stay home, but let him come along.
When Mr. Kuroda came outside, Hyunwoo’s father welcomed him ahead of Hyunwoo, “Mr. Kuroda, welcome! I’m glad you came like this.”
“Mr. Jang, thanks so much for coming to pick me up.”
“Of course, I had to come. It’s very cold. Let’s move.”
The School of Dream arranged for Mr. Kuroda to use a vacant room in its dorm, but Mr. Kuroda went to Hyunwoo’s house because Hyunwoo found a house much earlier than expected. Actually it was his father who pressed Hyunwoo to find the house for Mr. Kuroda as soon as possible.
“He doesn’t have any relatives here. It would be very uncomfortable for him to stay in the dorm. Above all, he would be lonely,” said his father.
“Yes, that’s why I’m checking out an available house at the moment.”
“I hear there are many empty houses around here. Maybe some of them are for sale. Right next to ours, there is one that was left vacant sometime ago.”
Mr. Kuroda went into Hyunwoo’s house. His family gave him a big welcome. Only the house dog was barking at him wildly.
When their greetings were exchanged, Hyunwoo and his father showed him around the house right next to their house. It was the house Mr. Kuroda would own in the future.
“This is the house.”
Mr. Kuroda felt at first was the house was shabby. The gate was rusted so much that whenever he touched it, rust fell off. It was sort of an earth house built in a traditional style. What’s fortunate was that the old couple who were selling it had lived there as recently as one month prior, so there was no possibility of it collapsing.
“Well, the old couple who lived here were very old, so their children took them to their house in Seoul. The couple put it on the market at a cheap price, saying they would never come back here.”
“I see. Hope they’re happy in Seoul.”
Mr. Kuroda looked into every nook and corner of the house.
“Though it’s small, it has a big yard. Though the house itself is old, there are no safety issues. I have not signed the contract, so if you don’t like it, I can check out another house.”
“Oh, no. I like this house very much. I see a traditional Korean floor heating system. I heard a lot from my father. I wanted to live in a house like this by all means.”
“I’m glad to hear that. You can use it even now. Let me show you how to make a fire in the furnace. Come here. If you feel it a burden to make a fire, let me bring a stone bed for you.”
“That’s fine. I’d like to feel the warmth coming from the heated floor. If I need a stone bed, I’ll tell you.”
The main room was heated in a moment, and Mr. Kuroda was fully satisfied after confirming the warmer part of the heated room.
“You can sleep here, but have a meal at our house. We wanted to give one of our rooms to you but we have only one room left, so we had no choice but to find a house for you.”
“I just don’t know how can I express my deepest thanks…”
“I think you might be hungry, so let’s move to my house to have a meal.”
Mr. Kuroda went back to Hyunwoo’s house.
As there was no side door linking Hyunwoo’s house and Mr. Kuroda’s, Mr. Kuroda had to go around the wall to get to Hyunwoo’s house.
“I think we have to make a side door in the middle of the wall or pull down the wall.”