“The high school is—pretty good,” says Moanalua High School senior, Jerry Kim. He was expressing what his prior school, Humphrey’s High School located in Pyeontaek, South Korea, was like during his freshman year three years ago. He attempts to recall the classes he took during his first year of high school, however he quickly draws a blank.
“What did I take?” Kim asked himself, trying to jog his memory.
“Spanish?” Joshua Shin said.
“Yeah, Spanish. I quit Spanish now, but yeah Spanish,” Kim replied.
Shin and Kim continued to go back and forth in remembering what classes Kim took at Humphrey’s.
Shin, also a student at Humphrey’s High School between 2022-2023, remembers what life was like back when they first met at Humphrey’s High School. Their friendship began one day during the second semester of the school year when Shin was newly introduced into an English class. “This guy was new; he came as a new student. But then we just kind of clicked in this group activity we did together,” said Kim. “The rest is history.”
Despite this being the defining moment these two met, this wasn’t the first time Kim and Shin had crossed paths before. In fact, they both went to the same elementary school in South Korea from 2014 to 2017. “It was in Yongsan. We lowkey didn’t even know each other. I just knew that he was in one of my classes, but we got to know each other in high school. We were going through past yearbooks, and we found out we [were] in the same [elementary] school,” said Shin.
After remembering how they first met, both Shin and Kim recall their favorite memory together. “Well, obviously, let me just start by saying that every moment with this guy is special,” said Kim as he puts his hand on Shin’s shoulder.
“But if I had to choose one, it would be Bbaji,” said Kim
“In Korea we went to this kind of water park…” Kim continued.
“It’s like a river, but then you get dragged on—” Shin said.
“There’s a boat, and there’s this kind of tube thing connected to it, and then we hold on to that; and then the boat just drives around,” Kim replied.
“There was this one specific one; a floatable that is a flying one; it has little wings on the side. The regular ones go fast and twirl around, but the flying one levitates up. Jerry lost his grip on the thing, and he bumped into me, and I fell off,” said Shin.
“It was fun though, also because I went there with very old friends,” Shin continued.
Sadly, this new connection was not long-lasting since Kim had to move at the start of his sophomore year. Shin stayed in Humphrey’s until the second semester of his junior year, when he moved to Georgia. In the meantime, Kim was settling in at his new school here in Hawai’i: Moanalua High School.
It has been around two years since they both saw each other in person, as the duo stayed connected over social media platforms through texting. However, one day, Kim stumbled into a familiar face.
“When I first came here, my parents and his parents lied to him saying I’m not here, and I’m going to Fort Drum. They were shopping at TJ Maxx, and then I surprised him,” said Shin.
“He was planning to move here for; I don’t know, like three months—maybe—and then kept it a secret from me,” Kim said. “It was like a surprise plan.”
“I went to Pearls, and then I met this guy just randomly, but like it was all coordinated after all,” Kim continued.
“—I wasn’t even supposed to be here. Originally I was trying to trick Jerry, but prior to that I was actually supposed to go to Fort Drum, which is in New York. My mom made that happen actually, and then we got to Hawaii, and that’s when I started plotting,” said Shin.
Kim and Shin’s friendship has only grown stronger since their reunion in Hawai’i. The pair hang out together several times a week, when they’re not busy with homework or other activities. They enjoy playing basketball and soccer, as well as attending church, together.
Kim and Shin’s story is one in a million. Many children of military families face the dilemma of being uprooted from familiar places and people as their parents get stationed in different cities around the world. It is often difficult to keep in touch with people once one moves, so a reunion like this is a rarity that has every right to be celebrated. As a military child, the chances of being stationed at the place as a friend are slim. Even if one is fortunate enough to have been stationed in the same place as a friend, the chances of attending the same school at the same time are even more slim.
Fate stepped in here at Moanalua High School, allowing Kim and Shin to find their way back to each other after years of being separated by the military. It really is a small world after all!
