Almost American Girl

Robin and her mother arrive in Virginia, where their new apartment is near the Koreatown in McLean. Her mother gets a job at a Korean hair salon, and Jessica visits to attend an anime convention with Robin.

Robin starts high school and is impressed by how many international students her school has, since it is so close to Washington DC. She joins an ESL class and becomes friends with other English-language learners. Robin finally feels like she fits in somewhere.

Her new school has a group of fashionable Korean students. Robin sees them in the library and wants to befriend them but thinks that they are ignoring her. One day during a fire drill, one of the girls addresses her in English. Wondering why she was speaking in English, Robin answers in Korean. The girl and her friend, Minji and Soyoung, are surprised and say they thought Robin was Japanese or Chinese. At lunch that day, they introduce Robin to the rest of their group. After this, the three become best friends.

In 2002, when Robin is in her early twenties, she, Soyoung, and Minji visit Korea together and stay with Soyoung’s family in Gangnam. Robin visits her old neighborhood, where the street vendors of her youth are now malls and high-rise apartments.