Chung-Cha was doing the same. She had never been to America either.
They arrived at the hotel and checked in. They had one room on the ninth floor. They took the elevator up and unpacked some of their clothes.
“Is this where we will live?” asked Min.
“Just for a little while,” answered Chung-Cha.
Min looked around the room and then opened a small door in a cabinet.
“Chung-Cha, there is food in here. And things to drink.”
Chung-Cha looked inside the minibar. “Would you like something?”
Min looked doubtful. “Can I?”
“Here is some candy.”
“Candy?”
Chung-Cha withdrew a small package of M&M’s and handed it to Min. “I think you will like these.”
Min looked down at the package and then carefully opened it. She took one of the M&M’s and looked up at Chung-Cha.
“Do I put it in my mouth?”
“Yes.”
Min did so and her eyes widened at the taste. “This is very good.”
“Just don’t eat too many or you will get fat.”
Min carefully shook out four more of the pieces and ate them slowly. Then she rolled up the package and started to put it back in the cabinet.
Chung-Cha said, “No, they are yours now, Min.”
Min gaped at her. “Mine?”
“Just put them in your pocket for later.”
In a flash Min had secreted the package in her jacket. She walked around the room touching everything and then stopped in front of the large TV set in another section of the cabinet.
“What is that?”
“It is a television.” Like many North Koreans, Chung-Cha did not have a TV in her apartment. TV ownership was allowed in North Korea, but all sets had to be registered with the police. And all of the programming was heavily restricted and censored and mostly consisted of melodramatic praise of the country’s leadership and the bashing of countries such as South Korea and the United States and organizations like the UN. Though she did not own one, Chung-Cha had seen and used TVs when traveling. She did own a radio, because they were far more widespread than TVs, but most of the programs were similarly censored.
Things were changing slowly, particularly with the advent of the Internet, but there was no one in North Korea who could be said to be connected with the rest of the world. It was simply not acceptable to the government. While North Korean law, like American law, provided for freedom of speech and the press, there could not be a greater contrast between the two countries in that regard.
Chung-Cha picked up the remote and turned the TV on. When a picture of a man came on and he seemingly started talking directly to her, Min drew back fearfully.
“Who is that man?” she whispered. “What does he want?”
Chung-Cha put a calming hand on her shoulder. “He is not here. He is in the little box. He cannot see or hear you. But you can see and hear him.”
She clicked through the channels until she came to a cartoon. “Watch that, Min, while I check some things.”
While Min was instantly intrigued by the cartoon, even going so far as to reach up and touch the screen, Chung-Cha took out the phone she had been given and accessed her texts. There were a number of them, all in Korean. And they were all in code. Yet even if someone broke the code they would seem nonsensical because behind that code was another code that only Chung-Cha and the sender knew, and it came from a book the identity of which only they knew. These one-time codes were virtually impossible to break, because unless you had the book, you would not be able to crack the code.
Using her copy of the book, she deciphered the messages. Now she had some free time. She looked over at Min, who was still engrossed in the TV show.
“Min, would you like to go for a walk and then get something to eat?”
“Will the TV be here when we get back?”
“Yes.”
Min jumped up and put on her coat.
They walked many blocks until they reached the water. Across the harbor was the Statue of Liberty and Min asked what that was. Only this time Chung-Cha did not have an answer for her. She did not know what the thing was.
They later ate at a café. Min marveled at the odd assortment of people on the streets and in the shops.
“They have things on their skin and metal on their faces,” observed Min as she dug into a hamburger and fries. “Have they been injured?”