something different and forgetting about the problems of these people. I didn’t see how I could change things, anyway.’
‘You’ve changed your mind about that, have you?’ I asked.
‘When I started working with Kyonga Sonsaengnim I faced the fact that I must do something to help or always feel bad about myself. She’s the first person I’ve ever met who does something for these people – apart from Angela, that is.’
She looked at Kyonga who smiled encouragingly and said, ‘You had already been doing a lot, Sunny … helping Angela to find her friends for instance.’
‘Angela insisted from the start …’ she started to say and then realised that I needed to know who they were talking about.
‘Angela came to work in our office about six weeks ago. She is a Filipina, too, but she is a university graduate and came here under a different arrangement. She has the same salary as I did, and Yuri the other office girl does, and she keeps her passport … much different from the factory workers’ conditions.’
Sun-Hi paused and Kyonga told me more.
‘Angela could have an easy life here but, on the plane coming from the Philippines, she met some older women, Filipinas. She worries about them a lot and, even though she knew that the two managers were not happy, she found out where they were and goes to see them when she can. They work in another branch of the company. It’s quite a distance away so Sunny has gone with her to help.’
I wanted to hear more about Kyonga’s part in this.
‘How do you go about helping these people, Kyonga? You must be busy with teaching. Do you go to the factories after hours?’
‘I can’t just go and ask who needs help. It’s a huge problem throughout Korea these days and the factory managers don’t want any interference. We have to be very cautious. In the first place there needs to be someone who is a friend or relative of one of the workers – like Angela, to introduce us and then, if they request help, we do what we can without drawing attention to ourselves.’
‘We? Do you mean you and Angela?’ I asked.
‘No,’ She took her eyes from the road momentarily and smiled, ‘No, I haven’t met Angela yet. I know about her and what she is trying to do from Sunny. I mean the group I have connected with recently from all over South Korea. It can sometimes be hard – fitting in work and meeting with people – sorting out problems.’
Traffic lights held us up for a couple of minutes.
Kyonga explained further that it was only since Sun-Hi had been observing her classes that she had learned about Angela and the women she was so anxious to help.
‘It was difficult for Angela to make contact with these women for the first couple of weeks. As new employees they were under restrictions at first, and then the gatekeepers would only allow us to come to the gate to speak with them there – Sam and Yuri, our work-mates, came with me to help Angela,’ Sunny added.
‘They talked to Angela about their problems through the gate, but were not allowed out. We’re hoping that will change very soon,’ Kyonga said.
‘But you have made arrangements to meet Angela though, have you, Kyonga?’ I asked.
‘I needed a reason to contact her. Now, since Sunny has been away for a while, I can use the excuse of driving her to see her old work-mates. I hope to make a time to talk to all three outside of work.’
I wanted to know more but we were nearing the institute and the road was narrow and winding. Kyonga was silent as she concentrated. Pulling into the parking area she turned to me and said, ‘Angela needs a lot of support herself. She’s putting herself in a dangerous position. I wonder if you could spare some time to come with me to meet her if you’re not busy on Friday – tomorrow evening. But maybe I’m asking too much of you. I’m sorry.’
I told Kyonga that I would be happy to join her after Friday’s sessions.
‘Thank you. I know you’re busy but I’m worried about Angela. There’s something she’s not telling us. She has a nasty wound on her face, Sunny told me, and she doesn’t talk about it. She might open up to you.’
We made arrangements later that day.
Seven
Friday went quickly. Class lists were given out and we moved to the classrooms where we would be working after Chuseok. Kyonga was to be in Marilyn’s class and Sun-Hi was with Amos. I enjoyed getting to know the group I would be teaching. They were a friendly lot who were looking forward to the class and were prepared to work hard.
Marilyn came looking for me at morning tea time.
‘You won’t be joining us at Friday’s’ tonight I heard,’ she said.
‘Did Kyonga tell you?’
She nodded.
‘She told me this morning … something about meeting a girl who works in a factory where Sunny, her trainee, worked.’
I let Marilyn in on what we were doing and asked her if she would be coming to my place as usual on Saturday. She suggested that we meet later in the day and have some dinner in the city before going back to Myong-Ai’s.
‘I’m going house hunting in the afternoon. One of the teachers at my school offered to help me with that. He said I need to get my principal to write a letter to the Minister for Education recommending that I have a place of my own. If I have already found somewhere it will make the process quicker. He will help me draft a letter, too. The principal will take forever to get around to doing it otherwise, it seems.’
Kyonga drove straight from the institute to the office where Angela was working. Angela was expecting us, but we would go in together to invite her and the other office girl, Yuri, to join us for dinner, as if it was on the spur of the moment.
‘Won’t it seem odd if I come too?’ I said, feeling a bit awkward about it.
‘No. I’ve never been there before either,’ said Kyonga, ‘And we won’t stay long. It will seem natural that we were passing through and Sunny wanted to see her old friends.’
She went on to tell me that she was hoping to get the others involved with helping the factory workers. Angela’s former work-mates had already helped her and it would be good to foster that connection at that main branch of the company.
Sun-Hi introduced Kyonga and I to Angela. She was alone in the office, setting up folders, and told us that Sam was working at the other branch today, supervising the unloading of trucks. Yuri was in the manager’s office. Angela hugged Sunny and looked happy to meet us.
We didn’t want to interrupt their work for too long so Kyonga and I left Sunny to talk to her friends for a bit longer while we waited in the car. When Sunny re-joined us she said that both Yuri and Angela would be coming with us to the hotel for dinner.
‘There is a new manager now,’ Sunny said. ‘Yuri is busy reorganising his office with him. She came out to say hello but she couldn’t spend much time with me. This new manager, Mr Liu, is not as friendly as Mr Jiang was. I don’t think they like him much.’
When
