Chapter 1: Karuta

My dad named me Karuta after a japanese card game he likes but I would describe myself as a set of karuta cards he forgot about and that just sits in a box. He works A LOT, he is a novelist and is constantly writing or drawing covers for his books. I didn’t know he was shipping me to an exchange student program until I was 9 when I overheard a conversation my dad was having on the phone. “I want to enroll Karuta in an exchange student program, I heard it takes students to a new country every two months,” My dad said. As any 9 year old being taken away from her friends for 2 months I screamed that he was abandoning me, he felt guilty about it afterward but I still had to go to the exchange student program.

That meant I had 2 months to hang out with my friends before I got shipped off to some other country, I have no mom since I was adopted by my dad, and we aren’t super rich, dad’s publishing company robs at least half our money from the books he writes. So when I became 11, I started to understand why he couldn’t afford to take care of me as much anymore.

I actually had fun in the first few countries I got shipped to, except for North Korea that one wasn’t as nice, it was a hassle since youtube is blocked there. But the other countries I got to travel to, Japan, Norway and Sweden were fun, but those adventures are for another time.

2 years later….

I was excited and wondering which country we were going to go to, the other kids kept interrupting the teacher and were asking a zillion questions. “Hold on, I can’t tell you all which country we are going to if you keep being so loud,” the teacher said. The students quieted and then the teacher announced which country they are going to “We are travelling to…GERMANY!!! Did you all know I met my husband there?” The teacher stated. “We don’t care,” a kid said, the teacher ignored him and continued talking.

“It is a beautiful country, you all will be attending a private school there for 2 months,” The teacher said. Yes, just because we were exchange students didn’t mean we got to ditch our studies. “The private school has a school uniform,” the teacher said, immediately all the students groaned except me, I actually liked school uniforms and was excited for this trip.

I then was talking to Angela, my best friend. “You are leaving AGAIN? The two months you are here go by so fast,” Angela said, wrapping her arms around me. “I will miss you so much too!” I said. “Send me pictures and text, okay,” Angela requested.

“Of course bestie!” I said, I was holding my luggage by her side since she was leaving today. I went on my phone and texted my dad,

Karuta: I am leaving, I will miss you so much 😘 I love you!

I waited for the few dots to pop up, signaling he was writing a response, but they didn’t. I then went on the plane, We sat in economy class and the kids were rowdy during the announcements, especially Jared, he was the class clown. While everyone was yelling I pulled a novel named The seeker out of her backpack, I was on chapter 3 and was excited to read it.

The seeker was about a young girl who loves exploring but the problem is…she has no money for plane tickets, so she needs to seek a way to get money and achieve her dreams. Then a girl named Kate plopped down next to me. I wanted to say hi but I felt shy to. 11 hours later we all arrived in Germany.

“We will be landing shortly,” The pilot said. “AAHHHHH” kate screamed, her ears were hurting from air pressure. I could tell this was her first time flying as an exchange student. I has experienced the air pressure so many times that she started to not notice it anymore. Then all the students walked out of the plane and were now inside the airport. It was the Berlin Bradenburg airport.

“That was TERRIFYING!” Kate shouted. “It’s okay,” said Jared, Jared was rebellious but he was quite kind to students when he wasn’t breaking rules. The airport was large and cool, it wasn’t as great as some of the other airports I have been in but it was still good. I saw a sign that read wilkommen, I understood it, it meant welcome, I took some german on Duolingo to help me speak to others in this country.

We went on a train to our hotel and I fell asleep, I felt Kate tap my shoulder when we arrived. I stood up and thanked Kate for waking me. Then I stepped out of the train and saw a grand building looming in front of me, it was the hotel. Kate was smiling, she found the building as beautiful as I did probably. We went inside and the teacher checked in with the lady at the check in desk, The lady smiled at all of us and took us to our rooms.

We were all sharing rooms with other kids in Germany, not just ourselves, I went in my dorm praying my dorm mate wouldn’t pour toothpaste on the counter. I went inside and saw the opposite of what I was expecting, clean beds, nothing on the floor other than fluffy rugs and organized desks.

I saw a girl with blonde curly hair tucked in a ponytail and fair skin with blue eyes. She wore a plaid pink cardigan over a white tank top, she also wore beige cargo pants, I felt ashamed with my messy hair and unicorn covered pyjama pants.

“Hello, my name is Francine,” the girl said, smiling at me. “H-hi, I am Karuta and woah your engilish is good,” I said shyly. “Yes, I took an engilish class. I am excited to be your roomate,” Francine said. She is so elegant was the only thing I was thinking.

“well, want to eat some food from the buffet?” I asked. “No, I made bowls of eintopf for both of us (eintopf= traditional german soup),” Francine said. “Wow, thank you, you made something for me,” I said. “No problem Karuta,” Francine said, leading me to a small table will both bowls of eintopf on it.

I ate the tasty vegetables in the soup and savored the broth in delight, Francine must have known I have likes it because she smiled at me again. Francine looked to be enjoying it too “Francine, no offense but you seem rich, why don’t you make a more advanced meal for yourself?” I asked, I didn’t want to offend but I was curious. “I always eat very complicated dishes that sometimes it is nice to eat a bowl of eintopf for a change,” Francine said, “good reasoning and this is wonderful, you are a great cook,” I said.

“Thanks Karuta,” Francine said, examining her painted nails. They were medium sized acrylic nails with sparkles on them. “I might take off my fake nails before going to bed,” Francine said. “Okay, goodnight,” Karuta said, hopping on her bed and tucking herself in the covers, she was really excited for tomorrow and happy she made a new friend.

Suddenly me and Francine woke at night to a scream from across the hall. “What is that?” I asked. “The serial killer, his name is Jonah, he is..back!” Francine said, trembling. “WHAT?” I asked. “Haha! Got you, you should have seen the look on your face! No, it is actually Wyatt, he gets nightmares sometimes,” Francine said, giggling. “Wow, you are a great actress that scared act was great!” I said smiling.

“Anyway, g’dnight,” I said, “‘night,” Francine responded.

They next day I woke up to seeing Francine sitting on the floor, wearing her uniform, a red sweater with a plaid skirt. “AGH! Sorry I overslept,” I said, feeling nervous that I overslept.

“It’s okay, there are still 20 minutes until school, I just prefer to wake earlier,” Francine said. I opened my suitcase and pulled out the bag with my uniform, I changed in the restroom and still had time to wear some makeup and do my hair. I pulled my hair into two pigtails and put on some dark pink lipstick I got from the makeup shop in the airport.

We went outside to see a lot of students wearing their uniforms including Kate who looked like she just rolled out of bed. “The bus stop is nearby,” said our teacher, we walked on the sidewalk and I glanced at some orange leaves falling of the trees.

“I am so excited! New students barely come by!” Francine said, skipping eagerly next to me. “I am happy to see you too,” I said, not knowing what else to say. I knew it was no good to get attached to friends in other countries since I am only around them for two months.

Nevertheless I enjoyed being around Francine, although I have only been around her for a day. “Wait, we didn’t eat breakfast!” I said.

“Yeah, we can eat breakfast in the school cafeteria,” Francine said. “Oh ok,” I said. Then I saw the private school, it was glamorous, there was a big staircase in front of the school were students sat, there was even a fountaain in front of it.

I then remembered my dreary small school in California, it was quite small and there weren’t nearly this many students. There wasn’t even such a thing as eating BREAKFAST in the cafeteria, Francine tugged me by the arm and pulled me inside, she showed me to the cafeteria which was like a buffet selling a bunch of dishes.

I saw vanilla pudding and immediately licked my lips. “Oh, vanilla pudding, that one is my favorite dish too!” Francine said guiding me towards it. It looked creamy and delicious. “Mmm! This seems great,” I said. We scooped some on our plates. “Would you like anything else?” Francine asked kindly.

“Hmmm, those pretzels over there look great,” I said. “Yeah, you can also dip them in chocolate!” Francine said.

We got some pretzels and headed to a table, we plopped down on the plastic chairs and dove into our food. “Yum!” I said. “Lecker!” Francine said. “Wh-at?” I asked. “Oh, sorry it means yum in german. Sometimes my german slips when I am happy,” Francine said.

“It’s okay, I can speak a little german but not a lot,” I said.