Join the pooptrain and make a poopstain!

For some reason, whenever I hear voices outside my door I get a little spooked. I think it started in college when I lived in the dorms because as I was spending a Saturday evening in by myself I heard a ruckus and when I went to dead-bolt my door someone whispered into the keyhole, "Jackie*, you're a dumb bitch," as though the person on the other side thought I was, in fact, Jackie. Jackie was the girl in the room next to mine. I never talked to her and heard she failed out after first semester. Since then, I'm like a little squirrel protecting her nuts when I hear voices outside my door. I always make Jake answer the door when we get unexpected knocks.

I got out of school early today! It was Teacher Physical Training Day, as I was told by my coteacher, but the other coteacher told me it was Teacher Friendship Day. I trust the first one more because her English skills are better. Instead of doing errands or important things, I took a 3 hour nap. The music teacher keeps asking me to go on trips to temples and mountains. I make up an excuse everytime because I don't have much interest in temples. I feel like they do things because they think they'll give me some new and exciting experience, but to be honest, if you've seen one temple, you've seen them all. For example, my other coteacher (the less English-ly inclined one) is always taking extra things from lunch and giving them to me. Like, we had tangerines the other day and she sat down, I had already taken one, and she gave me another one. Then today we had these little yogurt drinks, and as we were leaving she grabbed two and gave them to me. She always accompanies these things by saying, "Kar-eeee, this is for you." There is this rice drink that I don't really like because the taste is a little bit odd, the texture is thick like glue, and there's gross rice chunks in it. I tried some my friend had when we came to Korea in 2003 and I've had some since I've been here this round, but I really just don't like it. Of course, a few teachers had some so they say, "Kar-eeee try this." I said, "Oh, I've had it before." I thought that would be polite enough to stave off having to choke down a cupful. But of course it wasn't. It's hard for me to be very assertive with this crowd because they expect me to be a submissive Korean woman. Most of the time I go along with whatever because I don't care, and other times I'm forced to do things I really abhor (like sing karoke), but it's really starting to wear down my patience. I want to be myself again! I want to not have to sing karoake if I don't want to, I want to not have to drink alcohol just because the principal wants me to, I want to understand what's going on. I feel like I'm treated a little better than the Korean teachers since I don't have to work on Saturdays, but I don't get the super special treatment that the white foreign English teachers get. Next year, if I go to a hagwon, I'll get more work hours and less vacation time. Significantly less time, but I'll get paid more and have much smaller classes, which I'm trying to convince myself will be better for me. I'm feeling a little discouraged about the whole thing right now because part of me would rather try to get a job at a library back home, but those are far and few between, plus I need to save up a big chunk of money beforehand which is impossible at the moment. Another year won't kill me. I wish that teaching made me happy, but I think it makes me grumpier.

The hot water is still mia. The landlady has been called by my coteacher. Supposedly it was being fixed today. Bollocks.



*names have been changed because I can't remember what it really was, other than it reminded me of something someone would be named if they were born in the 1970s.