That's the date that changed my world entirely.
When I was 14, my parents decided to immigrate to U.S. after seeing me continuously fail to fit into Korean middle school.
I was not doing too well academically, according to their standards. Somehow, I was supposed to be the best of my class, but I wasn't.
No one in my family knew what to expect. I surely as hell didn't know what I was about to face.
My mother thought that I would pick up English real fast and become completely Americanized in less than a year.
That could easily have been the case if I was 4. They say it's harder to pick up a new language and a new culture as you grow older.
Some even say it gets exponentially harder after 12. So being a 14-year-old semi-kid certainly didn't help.
I don't even know how many fights I had with my then-ignorant mother on this subject.
I hated her for saying "how come you can't speak English like your friends and you've already been here for 8 months?"
I didn't want to go to school because I couldn't even order food during lunch.
I learned to say "cheeseburger" after a month of attending, which apparently still didn't sound anything like "cheeseburger."
How do I know? Well, this kid at the cafeteria register always called me "chi-buh-guh" whenever I approached him. That's how.
At one point, I thought I was a linguistically challenged, irreparable fucktard.
I used to watch Pokemon all the time and that's how I picked up the language.
I would stand in front of my mirror, trying to sound like Ash, yelling "Pikachu! I choose you!"
One day, I came home from school and started watching Pokemon just like I would any other day.
Then, one commercial during break caught my eyes; it was a commercial for Chuck E. Cheese.
I was simply mesmerized. To me, that was the epitome of life of an average American kid.
That was where I wanted to be: I wanted to enjoy their pizza while playing games with my friends, conversing in English.
I didn't want to be that awkward Asian kid who didn't speak English anymore.
I wanted to have fun and enjoy my time like the kids in the commercial.
I wanted to fit in. I wanted to be normal.
When the commercial was over, so was my daydream.
I was picturing how I would spend my time there, but soon I realized I had no one to go with.
I was imagining what their pizza would taste like, but soon I realized I couldn't even order a fucking cheeseburger.
I turned the T.V. off and went to my room.
Then I started crying because I realized what I was: pathetic and helpless, awkward and lonely, retarded and challenged.
After some thoughts, I shyly and cautiously asked my dad if he could take me there.
He shut me down completely. He responded to my request by throwing me a vocabulary book and telling me to spend more time studying English.
I quickly gave up and Chuck E. Cheese just became a very very far-fetched dream for me.
It's been more than 10 years since that day, and last week, I finally was able to fulfill my childhood dream.
To tell you the truth, the place was boring. I mean, hell, it is a place for kids, not for a 25-year-old man.
Nevertheless, I was super excited. I was there for maybe good two hours, but that was more than enough for me.
I was 14 again. The awkward Asian kid 10 years ago who spoke no English and had no friends was finally happy for once.
As I was entering, I felt my blood rushing to my brain. My heart was about to dislocate itself and I couldn't even make a sound.
I was happy. Very happy.
I played almost all the games they had, and they were, for some reason, the most awesome games I have ever played in my life.
Only regret I have right now is that I didn't get to enjoy their pizza 'cause I went there after lunch.
I'm sure I will have more memorable experiences later in my life. Big promotion, album release, wedding, my first born, and so many other events will shine a bright light on my life.
But I will never ever forget my day at Chuck E. Cheese, for reminding me of I went through and how I became who I am today.
Thanks, Chuck
babbler music. yup.