SCARY!!!

It was 10pm on Tuesday night when I nestled into my cozy, safe bed in Seoul.  I reached up and casually switched off my desk lamp.  Then, as soon as I calmly laid my head on my pillow to begin my peaceful slumber, I heard the doorknob jiggle.  It jiggled some more.  Someone was trying to get inside.

I sat up, suddenly alert, and listened as the stranger started to push the buttons on my combination lock.  "Bleep!  Bleep-bleep!  Bleep-bleep-bleep!" went the padlock.  I froze.  Who was trying to break into my apartment?  Eyes wide, I waited for the door to bust open.  I could hear a man's voice grumbling outside.

It was a bad guy for sure, coming to get me.  He was big, husky, and tall...and angry.  He was mad at me for being an American and a woman, and he wanted to do horrible, unmentionable things to me.  I was going to have to face him...the door wasn't going to hold much longer...after all, this is an expert combination-cracker we're talking about here.  The longer I made him wait, the angrier he was going to get.  He began to ring the doorbell out of frustration.  His eyes were red with fury and the vein in his sloping forehead was bulging.

I looked down at my nightshirt, which I wear only because it's so comfortable and not for its bold question on the front:  "WANNA MAKE OUT?"  Cursing Victoria's Secret, I warily approached my door.  The bell rang a second time...there was no time to change clothes...if I made him break the door open then he'd REALLY be mad...so, knowing that there was no other escape, I bravely opened it...

A small Korean man with a perm was on the other side.  He was even more shocked to see me than I was to see him.  He bowed apologetically and walked away.  Feeling quite relieved, I went back to bed...after artfully fastening the chain.

I've said many times before that a vivid imagination is a wonderful thing--but it comes with a hefty price.

The next day at school was much like any other.  I taught the kindergarteners music and science in intervals.  Since we were having a field trip this week, I had an extra class every afternoon instead of planning time or Nemo activity time.  It was only slightly more exhausting than a regular week, and I was okay with that.  The field trip was a cute play about a frog and a trashcan...however, it was about 30 decibels too loud and we were in the front row.  The child I had put myself in charge of (one of the Nemos) immediately burst into tears when he saw huge stripey monsters appear on stage and start to sing loudly...SCARY!!!  Luckily, my arm around his little shoulders comforted him and he was able to watch in amazement with the others.

It was during my 10 minute afternoon break Wednesday that Krista Teacher pulled me aside to break the news she had just been given by the vice principal.  Our school will be getting a new music and art teacher--a Korean teacher who is trained in those areas, and I will no longer be teaching music and science.  I will still have my same afternoon classes, but as for my mornings up until 3pm, what I will be doing remains up in the air.  She told me I could possibly be helping out with Nemo class some of the time, and working in the office part of the time on spelling lists and creating homework pages for students.

She said that it's nothing personal against me, in fact, every branch of our school (we're a chain) is getting a new music teacher.

I never knew how much I appreciated a routine until I came to Korea.  Like always, the Koreans are predictably unpredictable.  I am all about being flexible...but this feels like having my legs ripped off!  I went back to my class of 7 boys almost in tears.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I am happy for the kids that they will be getting a special music teacher.  Even though I like music, I am not trained to teach it...and I was winging it big time.  But I came to Korea to teach...not do paperwork all day, or whatever mysterious tasks they might have me do from 10-3.  Knowing how they operate, I will be pulled from one place to another all day long and never know where I'm supposed to be when.  They say I'll have a set schedule, but I know better.  If I'm not in charge of a classroom they're free to pull me anywhere they want me at anytime...making me lose focus on whatever it is I'm attempting to accomplish.  I like to change, I like being flexible, and I like helping out.  I do not like being a rag doll.

And I like being famous.  Every kindergarten kid in the hallway who sees me walk by gets star-struck. "Annie Teacher!" they shout, amazed that I exist somewhere outside my regular classroom.  I wave at my fans all day long.  It's what makes life worth living.

There is still hope, however.  I am trying to convince the vice principal to let me still teach Science.  Many of the other teachers are behind me, too.  They already teach science to their kids...the science I teach is supplemental.  Most of them don't like the mess of the little "experiments" the kids are given.  Some of them are hard to figure out, too.  At least when I do them with the kids, I do it many times a day, allowing me to figure them out ahead of time.  I was just starting to really get the swing of things...

My imagination is running wild again.

My cab driver watching TV as he drove in the rain last night