Han Gyul Kim/Chapter 4 final draft/Tues3-4

Meaningful place

201200909 Han Gyul Kim

When I went into my room in upstairs of the house I used to live, the first thing I could see was the sunlight shining down on me through the window and dust floating. I also could see a few pieces of furniture. One side of the wall was inclined because it was a part of the roof of our mansion, and that made the room look smaller. Actually, it was more like an attic rather than a room. Right next to the door was my white desk with blue drawers and a blue desk chair. On the right side of the desk, there was my cozy bed, which was my favorite place in the room, with a dark gray cover which I loved very much. Between the desk and the bed, I had a small three tier bookshelf which could only contain about twenty books or so. It wasn't the perfect ideal place I have always dreamed of, but it gave me many memories that still make me smile.

My room looked little different with others; the only window in my room was placed in the ceiling. More specifically, it was at the center of the celing, so I could see it when I was lying on the bed. The window reminds me of one day of June, 2011. It was the day the total lunar eclipse happened. I thought it would be so cool to watch the eclipse in the attic through the small window in the ceiling. The eclipse was expected to start at 3:30 a.m., so I planned to wake up around 3:00 a.m. and watch it through the window, lying on my bed. Fortunately, I succeeded waking up in the middle of the night as I planned, so I waited for the moon to wane. However, what I could see was just a moon I already know, but only a little brighter. Unfortunately, I was so sleepy by then and just fell into sleep before the actual eclipse started. I still regret missing what could be the unforgettable scenery.

Anyway, it was a strange room liked by nobody in my family, since it was boiling in summer and freezing in winter. In winter, I could somehow manage to live in the room because I had a bed with an electric heat pad, which I still sleep on. No matter how cold the room was, my bed was the warmest place in my house and that made me so frustrating to get out of my bed in every morning. In summer, the room was like burning hell since I couldn't install an air conditioner. The temperature was like two or three degrees higher than downstairs. It was humid and hot like a sauna. So I had no choice but to turn on a fan all day.

Rainy days were the worst, especially in summer. It was hot, but I couldn't open the window because it was at the ceiling. If I opened the window, rain would just fall down right to my bed. But there was an unusual thing that I liked about rainy days. Although rain made the room so hot and humid, the sound of it striking the window was pretty good. It was like a soothing, rhythmical music without any melody. Falling asleep with the sound of the rain is still one of the greatest experiences of mine, though it would have been better if my room wasn't hot.

Not only the sound of rain, but the fact it was my first own room made the room as a meaningful place. Before I moved to upstairs, I couldn't have my own room. Since I have three siblings - two brothers and one sister-, I always had to share the room with my brothers. For a teenage boy, it was a big stress not to have a room to spend time alone. For example, my younger brothers fought almost every day, and it was hard for me to ignore those fights because they were arguing right next to me. They screamed, screamed and screamed. Consequently, I ended up fighting together with them. Indeed, the fact that I got my own room was a big happiness for me.  

It is meaningful for me not only because it was the first room I had for myself. I have a lot of happy memories with my friends in the room. Because the room was a separated space with downstairs where my other family members were living, I used to invite my friends to my room regardless of date and time. Almost every weekend, seven or eight friends of mine visited my room and spent time together. Sometimes they had sleepovers in my room; they stayed until late night, and spent the whole night talking and playing games. Eventually, it became the place we all love, and I loved the room where my friends were.

Now I don't live there anymore; a year ago, I moved to another house I live now. In the new house, my windows are at the right place like other ordinary rooms. It isn't boiling or freezing which makes the room more comfortable for me and my cat to live. However, it doesn't feel the same with the room I used to stay in my old house. I miss the room and all the small memories I had in that room.