ADaptation by 18th waver Woonha Kim

18^th waver Woonha Kim

This is an adaptation of the 2nd chapter of the original text. The place-set is changed to a typical KMLA environment with a typical KMLA student and teacher. Most of the sentences are based on the original text, with some spices and descriptions added up.

Mr. Kim had his own room and all. He was around forty years old or something, or even more than that. I mean, you can never know how old they are unless they tell explicitly, and most of teachers don’t. His door was open, but I sort of knocked on it anyway, just to be polite and all. I could see where he was sitting. He was sitting in a black leather chair, and looked over when I came in. “Who are you?” he yelled. “Woonha? Come in, boy.” He was always yelling, both inside and outside class, especially when he was hunting down for EOP violators in the lobby of 충무관, shouting out “EOP Violation!”. It got on your nerves very much.

The minute I went in, I was sort of sorry I’d come. He was reading the morning Kendo attendance sheet, and there were bamboo swords and wooden swords and real swords all over the place. It was pretty intimidating. I’m not too crazy about athletic people, especially kendo people, anyway. What made me even more intimidated, old Kim had on this very sad, ratty kendo uniform that he probably didn’t washed for a month. It felt like I had to run to the gym right now. “Hello, sir,” I said. “I got your note, Thanks a lot.” He’d written me this note asking me to stop by and see him before vacation started, on account of I wasn’t coming back To be honest, I was never thankful or anything. I just wanted to get the hell out of here as fast as I can.

“Sit there, boy,” old Kim said. He meant the ragged couch on the wall.

I sat down on it. “How’s your freshmen, sir?”

“M’boy, if I felt any better I’d have to make them do Burpee test about a hundred times.”

That knocked him out. He started chucking like a madman. Then he finally straightened himself out and said. “Why aren’t you down at the Rock Festival? I thought this was the day for boys to go crazy.”

     “It is. I was. Only, I just got back from that special training,” I said. Boy, his couch was like a rock.

     He started getting serious as hell. I knew he would. “So you’re moving out?” he said.

     “Yes, sir. I guess I am.”

     It started, all right. “What’s the matter with you, boy?” Old Kim said. He said it pretty tough. “How many subjects did you carry this term?”

      “Seven, sir”

      “Seven. And how many are you failing in?”
      “Five.” I moved my ass a little bit on the couch. It was sure the hardest couch I ever sat on. “I passed English and Math alright.” I said, “because I only had to write a few essays in months or so for English, and Math, you know, Calculus is nothing for a Korean student.”

      He wasn’t even listening. He hardly ever listened to you when you said something.

“I gave you about 60 penalty points since you didn’t even attempt to show up at morning Kendo sessions for a month, even though you are a junior.”

“I know that, sir. Boy, I know it. You couldn’t help it.”

“Absolutely not giving a damn,” he said over again. That’s when he drives me crazy. He would say the same thing over and over again, and secretly, when it is a 1:1 situation, he would secretly swear in the middle of his words. When people say the goddamn same thing forever with swearing, that’s what drives me crazy. Then he said it again. “But absolutely no damn. I doubt very much if you ever remember how to wear your Kendo uniform.”

“Well, I sort of know you should wear the top part first and then the bottom part.” I told him. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, and more importantly, hurt myself. He was mad about kendo anyways and you never want to upset a kendo guy.

“You know it, eh?” he said – very sarcastic. “Your, ah, attendance sheet is over there on top of my desk. On top of the pile. Bring it here.”

It was a very dirty trick, but I went over and brought it over to him – I didn’t have any alternative or anything. Then I sat down on this cement couch again. Boy, you can’t imagine how sorry I was down here in Mr. Kim’s lair, not with those kids in the Rock Festival.

He started handling the attendance sheet and looked down for my name. “You flunked the morning kendo session from October 4^th to November 7^th,” he said. Would you care to say why you did so?”

“No sir, not very much,” I said. I don’t feel like it in the first place, anyways.

Adaptation by Sehee Jung

This adaptation is based on chapter 22 when Holden returns to Phoebe’s room and eventually gets her to listen. He tries to explain why he fails his classes and tells her all the things he hates about school. She responds by accusing him of hating everything. He tries to refute her claim, and she challenges him to name one thing he likes. And Holden starts saying what he actually did like.

It was the second mandatory studying time of Friday. No homework to do for tomorrow, no quiz to prepare for tomorrow, and no more morning exercise. With refreshing minds feeling comfortable, my roommates, Jiwon B, Jinju, my friends and I all gathered in my room and started enjoying our Friday night by feeling joy of having no morning exercise tomorrow. It meant we could wake up at 8 o’clock not 6:17. The talk went on to complain about morning exercise.

Morning exercise is useless and it just made us physically and mentally tired. Morning exercise’s main purpose was to strengthen our physical strength but the reality was it just made us sleep during classes. It is phony. Jiwon B, Danbi, and I took Taekwondo and Jinju, Meekang, and Euna took Kendo. We complained about how Taekwondo is tiresome with frogs jumping up and down on the basement of the gym. Kendo kids wined how Mr. Kim could be so childish ilke an elementary kid enjoying teasing the students. Few days ago, they were doing KMS exercise and Mr. Kim told them to do 50 sit-ups. They thought it was the end. But he started saying 40, 30, 20, 10, and went up the number again to 40. Our conversation reached a conclusion that morning exercise is phony.

But the day after, there were Kangsan and Hyeonjin who actually loved morning exercise. They tried to explain how morning exercise makes us refreshing and healthy. I started to get brainwashed by those people around me who praised morning exercise. I felt that morning exercise actually may have made me stronger and healthier. And it also made me wake up early in the morning which I could never imagine when I was in middle school. I used to wake up at 8:15 while the school was starting at 8:30. That night, our room gathered up again and ironically started saying about the bright sides of the morning exercise.

The catcher in the rye Hyun Seung Ryu

It was a gloomy Friday. All students, except me, went outside to enjoy the end of the boring classes. My friends asked me for playing basketball. Then, I answered, ‘yes’ in powerless voice. Today was the last day that I played basketball with my friends. Just yesterday, my father told me that our family had to move again. We had moved almost 5 times because of my father’s so great, respectful, and enormous jobs. I couldn’t stay at one school no longer than 2 years. Even I stayed one school only 5 months in the past. That’s why I sometimes find myself that I was such a ‘school-less student’. It implied that there was a lack of time to make friends, adapt to new environment, and even played sports with unknown seniors. My father had merely announced our movement and my parents had already packed whole stuff. Fortunately, I had been in this school for 2 years. My father said that it was the last moment that I moved to a new school before entering this school. Then, my father became a liar again and did same action again and again.

“Hey Ricky, Look at the ball!”

Brandon waked me up from such panic condition. I forgot myself that I played basketball with my friends. Actually, I was afraid of telling the event to my friends that I left the school. Of course, I was also depressed to perceive the situation which I confronted. Furthermore, my friends seemed to bury me under the playground if I told my situation.

 After the basketball match, my friends approached to me and said “What is happening to you? Does your great father told you such trash nitpickings again?” My friends also noticed that my father was a guy who was totally unnecessary to me.

 He sometimes lost his temper in front of my friends. One day, he threw a bunch of papers to my friends for making noise in my room. At the moment, Brandon stood up and yelled to my father. At first, it was uncomfortable that my friend swore to my father with rude attitude. On the other hand, as the time passed, I swore to my father with Brandon. Father was shocked by my disobedience. I had always obeyed my father’s laws and believe myself that his words were always rational and fair. However, at that time, I couldn’t suppress my anger. When my friends left the house because of one eccentric old guy, I was treated as abandoned dog by my kind father. He relieved his stress by spanking me.

After a long period of troublesome time, I finally determined to tell the fact.

“Well, guys…… I have to move to neighboring school.”

“Don’t make us such a group of fools. It is unbelievable!

”

When I started telling the situation, two strong men suddenly grabbed my arms and pushed into a car. My family was inside of the car and my friends vigorously hit the windows.

“Ricky! Get out of the car! What’s the matter with you?”

 “Hey Father! What are you doing right now! ”

 “It’s late to go to the new house. You would have a time to meet your friends later”

My father spoke in a quiet voice and let the driver leave my hometown. There was no mercy in my father’s mind. He was used to bringing me without any indication of his arrival. Although he realized these friends were only friends left to me, he didn’t care my friendship and sincere memory

And then, it was the last time that I ever saw my sincere friends. Our new house was located in 100 miles away from the past town. It was impossible to visit my past hometown by myself. And then, my father was satisfied with this terrible condition. He desired to make me focus on only studying. Therefore, he brought me to such an extreme rural town. Even though my father’s decision succeeded to help me enter in good school, I lost my friends.

Catcher in the Rye – Hosung Kim A

Catcher in the Rye – Hosung Kim A

This is an adaptation from chapter 7. It’s when Holden fights with Stradlater and goes to Ackley’s room to have a talk with him. This remake transforms Holden into a distorted student of KMLA.

A TEENY BIT of light came through the door and I could see him lying in bed. I knew damn well that he was think ‘in about his girlfriend. “Lee?” I said. “Y’awake?”

“Yeah.”

It was sort of dark in there as I stepped on somebody’s damn kendo sword on the floor and almost banged my head off. Lee sortta looked surprised to see me. We are not allowed to visit other rooms after midnight. I really hate this damn school and all. Can you believe that we can’t even move room to room and have a damn laugh with my buddies? This is all because of that phony Kim. This phony, I don’t wanna even say ‘is name, sort of declared to give us all penalty points for just moving around the dorm. What a phony! We can’t even goddam move!

I found the switch and turned it on. Old Lee put his hand up to hide his eyes.

“What the hell’s the matter with you?”

He meant the bruises on my arm and all.

“T‘is nothing. Just had a goddam fight with Park.” I said. I tried to sit down but could not find the damn chair. So I sat down on the floor. They never put a chair in their room. I wonder what they do with those goddam chairs. I sort of felt tired. “Listen,” I said. “You wanna play some tetris?”

“Are you out of your goddam mind? It’s one in the morning!”

I wondered what a phony he was. It was natural for us to play way past midnight. This school never gave a shit in the student’s health and all. They just treat you like goddam study machines as if we were robots. Personally I hated the damn policy and phony Kim poking his nose everywhere. Boy, did that annoy me.

“Listen, I gotta go to morning exercise for chrissake. You know how it’s like.”

“What d’ya mean you have to go? Just dump it for chrissake!” He was being such a phony.

“Ya know how it’s like. The damn teacher gives you penalty points for being late and all.”

That killed me. This school was going further and further into phoniness. What the hell did they want us to do? They make us study late with their goddam tests and all, and want us to get up in the morning for kendo. They don’t give a shit about us. That’s why I’m leaving this phony place anyway.

“You’re an Einstein, Lee.” I patted him on the back. “You know that?” He studied phony physics.

“No, I mean it. I can’t just go wandering off kendo any-”

“You’re a ‘real’ Einstein. You’re a real gentleman and a scholar kid,” I said. He actually was. I wonder how he could achieve such a thing with his phony hairstyle and all. I wasn’t phony but things were goddam different for me.

“Anyway, do you have any chicken?” It was again, a violation of rules if we ate chicken. I mean why does the school even care if we ate some chicken? We ain’t gonna die of the goddam influenza or something. Anyway this school was full of phony rules.

“No, as a matter of fact, I don’t. Listen what the hell is wrong with you anyway?”

I ignored him.

“What the heck is with the bruises?” He must’ve asked me about hundred times. What a nosy guy.

“Ok, I had a fight with goddam Park because of my honor.” Yes, it was better than saying girl issues for chrissake.

“What honor?” The phony asked me again.

“The honor to keep my dignity Rollin.” I said. Now I feel like a phony explaining this stupid situation.

“Ya, kiddin me.” Damn, he was phony smart. It seemed there was only one way to get Lee to stop asking those damn questions, telling the truth and all.

“Alright, it’s about girls. Ya know Jung, right? The girl in your physics class. Goddam Park was trying to make the move and I couldn’t bear his phoniness. If he were cool, I would’ve let’im. But he was a goddam phony.” This was all true. He was being a wimp and all.

“So you fight with him for a girl. HA!”

Now that made me feel like shit.

“It’s none of your business so go to bed you moron.” It was sort of a mistake comin to Lee’s room. A phony is always a phony; I should’ve never talked to him and all.

I felt like jumpin off the window after I talked with Lee. It was a waste of my goddam time. I really should pack my bag for my Journey. Anyway, I went to my room. All my mates were sleepin and all. I packed all my food and poured soda on my bed for good riddance. After I was leavin I turned around and then yelled at the top of my goddam voice. “Study well, you morons!! You’ll never see what hit ya!” I bet I woke up every phony in the dorm. Then I got out. The stupid school mark on the door almost made me puke.