Young-ja goes to her daughter's work party.

She is nervous.

A colleague says, "You must be Sun's mom!"

Young-ja says, "Yes! Nice to meet you."

The colleague asks, "How do you like America?"

Young-ja says, "Very different! But exciting."

The colleague says, "Your English is wonderful!"

Young-ja says, "Still learning. Getting better every day."

The colleague says, "That's the spirit!"

Young-ja talks to many people all evening.

She never uses Korean.

On the way home she says, "I talked in English for two hours!"

Young-ja's daughter invites her to a work party.

Young-ja is nervous — her English isn't perfect.

But she goes.

Right away a colleague approaches her.

"You must be Sun's mom! She talks about you all the time!"

Young-ja introduces herself. "Yes — I'm Young-ja. Nice to meet you."

The colleague asks how she finds America.

Young-ja thinks and answers. "Very different from Korea. But exciting. Every day is something new."

"Your English is wonderful!"

Young-ja shakes her head. "No, no — still learning. But getting better every day."

"That's the spirit!" the colleague says warmly.

Young-ja spends the whole evening talking — in English, to everyone.

On the way home she tells her daughter,

"I just talked in English for two hours straight. Can you believe it?"

Young-ja had dressed more carefully than usual.

Not because it was a fancy party, but because it felt important.

Her daughter's colleagues. Her daughter's world. In English, all of it.

Walking in, she stayed close to her daughter for the first three minutes.

Then a tall woman with a bright smile detached herself from a group and came straight over.

"Oh my goodness — you must be Sun's mom! I feel like I know you already.

She talks about you constantly. "

Young-ja straightened. "Yes — I'm Young-ja. Her mother. It's lovely to meet you."

"I'm Kate. How are you finding life in America? Is it very different from Korea?"

Young-ja considered the question honestly.

"Very different. The food, the people, the way of doing things — all different.

But different is not bad. Every day I learn something new.

Every day America surprises me with something. "

Kate's expression warmed considerably.

"That's a beautiful way to look at it. And your English — it's really impressive."

Young-ja waved the compliment away, but gently.

"Still learning. Far from perfect. But getting better every day, I think."

Kate raised her glass slightly. "That's the spirit."

Something about those three words landed differently than any compliment had before.

Not "your English is good" — but recognition of the attitude.

The willingness to keep going.

Young-ja felt herself relax.

She talked to Kate for twenty minutes.

Then to Kate's colleague James about Korean food.

Then to a woman named Priya about whether Seoul was worth visiting

(Young-ja gave a very thorough answer).

Then to three more people whose names she didn't catch but whose faces she liked.

Two and a half hours later, in the car going home,

her daughter reached over and squeezed her hand.

"Entire evening, Mom. In English. With strangers."

Young-ja looked out the window.

"나도 몰랐어. 내가 이렇게 할 수 있을 줄."

She hadn't known either. That she could do this.

But apparently she could.