This is about my early life, where I was still in Germany. Living there for 3 years, I moved to Austria and lived there 2 years as well. Currently, I'm living in the United States. But my life back in Korea before I moved to Germany and my life in Germany is surely a story to tell, since those are the places where my self-confidence grew.

Hate was the only thing she could think at the time. Hate for her parents and her father’s company, and for her annoying big brother. This girl known as Amy, was sad and also, mad at everybody in the world who made THIS happen to her life.

She just got news from her parents that they were moving into a new country. `How can the world be so mean to me?’ she wondered. She was only in the third grade and leaving her school, friends, people you’ve known since the day you were born was unbearable for the young girl who knew little about life.

But who could have guessed that she will move not once, but twice and is going to get used to her surroundings so quickly that people would think that she’s actually from that country?

Woo-Young Cho was born on February 27, 2002, in Seoul, Korea and started learning the piano when she was in first grade.

The day Woo-Young was born, her dad, Seoung-Hyuk Cho, was in the U.S. and just got the message from his wife, Junha Kim, that a new, cute, lovely girl was born. First a boy and now a girl!

The first-born child, Jay-Young, was happy to hear that he became a big brother and had a little sister to take care of.

Amy was Woo-Young’s English nickname. When she moved to Germany, she used it and started learning a new language.

Her dad lived in Japan when he was young so his whole family can speak Japanese fluently and was eager to learn another new one. Amy’s grandparents were from North Korea, but moved to South when the war started.

As a young girl, Amy was very positive about everything. She always smiled even if things didn’t go well for her.

She always sang songs she learned in kindergarten. Her parents remarked how well she memorized all the songs.

She also loved to draw, and paint like a young artist as well. Amy was enjoying her life, going to school and meeting new friends.

One day, it was time for Amy’s brother to go to school. Amy loved her brother more than anybody else that she didn’t want to get apart from him. She cried and cried until there were no more tears to spare.

It’s a wonder how her relationship with her brother went terribly bad.

When it was time for Amy to go to school too, Amy got excited and she made friends so quickly on that day that her mom was shocked.

Amy went to school early, which meant that Amy was learning with students one year older than she was. Obviously, Amy was the smallest in her class. However, that didn’t matter for Amy to make friends.

She knew how to make friends and how to make other people like her. She always acted brave, and that made nobody know that Amy got teary-eyed so often. Nevertheless, Amy was a good hider. Nobody noticed it and her expression gave away nothing.

However, one day, Amy cried.

Scared about death and worried about her great-grandmother.

That day, her great-grandmother died on the night and she was very nice to Amy.

Seeing one of her loved ones die was unbearable for young Amy. She kept asking her mother if her great grandmother went to heaven or hell.

Because we were all Christian, we all believed that we would go heaven if we believe in Jesus. But because Amy was too young and clueless to realize that, it was nerve-wracking.

Everything seemed to go well for Amy at school until a mean girl named Chae-Won took away Amy’s best friend, Jun-Young.

It would only take a while for Amy to make a new best friend, but she thought her previous one was the best one she ever knew.

She wasn’t so sure if there was even a better best friend in the whole world.

A girl named Min-Jung asked Amy how she could act so calm when her best friend is taken away.

Amy answered, “Maybe Chae-Won needs my best friend more than I do,” and smiled to herself as Min-Jung said that she was calm all the time. Actually, inside her mind, Amy was boiling with rage. It’s just that she didn’t show it on her face.

One day, Amy heard very exciting news. She was going to learn piano!

She was eager to beat her brother and tease him with the fact that she was better at piano than him. But, she realized it would take a long time to catch up with her brother.

That didn’t change her mind though. Amy was determined to practice a lot and beat her brother’s skill.

While Amy learned to play piano, something exciting happened.

Before even realizing what had happened, Amy got a new best friend, Eun-ji. They went to piano lessons together and solved problems they had.

Now that Amy realized it, maybe Chae-Won needed her original friend more than she did after all. And maybe there were some people who could replace her old best friend, like Eun-ji.

The fact that they lived on the same apartment made their unbreakable friendship more tightly bounded.

Until something terrible happened.

“Mom! Why are we going to Germany?” Amy asked hundredth time while they were in the airplane.

And, as always, the same answer came back to her, “Amy, I know that it’s shocking, but what can we do? Your father’s company wants us to go there and we have no choice but to cooperate with  them.” 

After that, there was an ugly silence which was broken by Amy’s dad, telling them that they had reached Germany.

Amy peered outside and there was nothing interesting to take the young girl’s full attention. The only thing that was in Amy’s mind was the new school she was going to be in.

The first impression about the school was that it was big. 

As Amy kept observing, she saw many different looking people. Small, tall, cute, pretty, handsome, smart looking, and much more. There was so much to see that Amy’s eyes were moving constantly, taking in her surroundings.

Amy’s homeroom teacher was Mrs. Everest and Amy’s brother, Jay-Young’s homeroom teacher was Mr. Everest.

Amy was a remarkably shy girl and just smiled at the kind-looking teacher who stared at her.

However, Amy realized a while later that she was the best German-speaker in her German class. She even got the ‘BEST IN GERMAN’ certificate at the end of the semester.

She also noted that there was another girl named Kate who was extremely shy. Even shier than Amy. That cheered Amy up. She has never seen anybody else who was shier than her and it was unbelievable.

Amy started to build courage and she spoke a lot in math class (not a lot, but more than any other classes) because that was the subject she was sure of herself.  She also was encouraged by what Ms. Emmons, her English teacher, said to her.

Amy’s homeroom teacher was Mrs. Everest and Amy’s brother, Jay-Young’s homeroom teacher was Mr. Everest. Amy was a remarkably shy girl and just smiled at the kind-looking teacher who stared at her. Amy realized a while later that she was the best German-speaker in her German class. She even got the ‘BEST IN GERMAN’ certificate at the end of the semester. She also noted that there was anothergirl named Kate who was extremely shy. Even shier than Amy. That cheered Amy up. She has never seen anybody else who was shier than her and it was unbelievable. Amy started to build courage and she spoke a lot in math class (not a lot, but more than any other classes) because that was the subject she was sure of herself. She also was encouraged by what Ms. Emmons, her English teacher, said to her. 

“When I was young, I nearly never talked. I was probably the shiest girl in the world at that time. But now, I’m the most talkative teacher anybody could ever know. Amy, people change many times in their lives. Good to bad or bad to good. One day, you will change, too. It could be tomorrow, next year, or never. But Amy, one thing I’m sure of is that if you believe in yourself and try your best, you will change for sure.”

Those words pressed Amy’s heart and she kept it there.  She promised herself that she wouldn’t forget what Ms. Emmons had said to her. It meant so much to Amy.

She remembered it whenever she was feeling shy again or not so sure of herself.

Once, Amy said, “Ms. Emmons meant so much to me. She taught me many things, even things the normal teachers won’t teach at school. She’s the one who planted the seed of courage and self-confidence in me, and that’s all she can do for me. From that point on, it’s up to me to make the tiny seed to grow into a big tree. And I’m willing to try it.”

After the small chat with Ms. Emmons, Amy strode off, with her head held high with growing confidence.

She tried to stay calm and confident, even sometimes she had her little doubt that tried to kill her small seed that was beginning to grow.

However, without knowing or realizing it, her love for this new country was growing slowly but steadily as well along with the tiny seed of courage and self-confidence that Ms. Emmons had planted for her.