Changes: Students, Co-workers, Venues for Thankfulness, and Holidays
Well, we just began a new term. (13 weeks per term, so to evenly divide the year). As it turns out, I have a few of the same students again. One particular lower-level munchkin has to be one of the laziest people I’ve ever met in my life! Doesn’t EVER do homework, and would sit in class the entire three hours without lifting a finger if it weren’t for my insistence at him giving it a try. The thing is, he’s pretty smart and completely capable of doing his job as a student. He drives me crazy though! And we were supposed to have a minimal amount of students two terms in a row, I guess I just lucked out. At least he’s not actively disobedient and doesn’t really disrupt class. I’m excited about the books I get to teach this term! (My favorite last term was The Roots of Rock and Roll). Hamlet, Robinson Crusoe, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Pride and Prejudice, The Call of the Wild, Great Expectations...
We just got two new teachers, Kayleen from Korea (who studied English in New Zealand) and Benjamin from Canada (who also speaks French—this should be fun!) It’s going to be weird having a bigger “family” here, but they seem nice enough so hopefully it will be fun.
Speaking of co-workers, I’ve previously mentioned the guy from Utah. Well, he truly is an awful person. Not only is he one of the biggest hypocrites I’ve ever encountered, but he can be pretty ignorant as well as selfish. It’s true that I’m pretty laid back and go-with-the-flow about things, especially those beyond my control. It takes a lot to make me angry and it’s pretty difficult to make me lose my temper, but this asinine jerk had my blood boiling this past week. A month or so ago, we were supposed to get a new teacher. They set up an apartment for him and everything. However, it didn’t work out, so the bed that Mr. Lee bought for him was then stored in Andy’s apartment. I had a friend coming up from a city about 2 hours away, so I went to ask Andy if I could move the bed down to my apartment for my friend. Keep in mind, the bed belongs to Mr Lee. It also weighs about 5 pounds and someone half my size could move it (this is Korea, that happens often). Here’s a recap of our convo:
Andy: Well, I’m really rather attached to the bed
Me: I’ll move it. It’s just for a night.
Andy: See that’s it, it’s just for a night.
Me: Yeah but I have a friend who needs a place to stay. Why would I not have him in a bed if there’s one available?
Andy: Why are you even accommodating this guy? Make him sleep on the floor, it’s Korean culture.
Me: He’s American. What’s the point of that?
Andy: He’s in Korea.
Me: Andy, this is absurd.
Andy: Olivia, I’m sure when your father comes here I’ll let you take it. But for now I don’t feel like it. I want it where it is, I like it there.
Me: Are you KIDDING me? You don’t have to do ANYTHING. I will move the jackets you have on it, hang them up, move the bed myself, and return it.
Andy: I don’t have room to hang my jackets.
Me: I’ll put them in my closet, I don’t mind.
Andy: I just want it to stay where it is.
Me: Andy, please.
Andy: Please.
Me: I can’t believe this. It is absolutely no inconvenience to you, but you won’t do it. This makes no sense.
Andy: You standing here right now is an inconvenience to me.
Me: So you’re telling me that because you want your two jackets and a fleece to lay there, my friend doesn’t have a place to sleep?
Andy: Pretty much.
I was completely livid. I marched out of his room and down the stairs to my room so I could avoid sharing an elevator with such a jack@$$. I have made a conscious effort to not be any friendlier towards him than necessary. I knew he was a bad person the first week I met him and he talked about how his efforts to change the world and help the Socialist party rise in the US began with throwing bricks through the windows of businesses he and his friends didn’t like. He has since stolen from a hotel, run around on his girlfriend multiple times and openly talks about it, and God only knows what else. His character rivals that of an ex boyfriend of mine. However, I still have to work with this guy. No sense in telling him what I think of him if I have to look at him everyday for a year. It takes a lot more energy to hate someone and be ugly to them than it does to just be a big phony. But, it also takes an effort to be nice. I’m doing neither for the time being. We have mutual friends and at some point, I’m bound to have a conversation on a non-work-related level. Until then, I plan to keep right on with my middle-of-the-road attitude.
And so! Thanksgiving here went virtually unnoticed. It was strange. I have always been grateful for holidays with friends and family, but it just made me appreciate it more. You truly cannot replicate the atmosphere and feeling of having the ones you love around. Sam came up from Daegu and there was a crew of seven of us having a makeshift Thanksgiving dinner at Outback. Sally from my Korean class even brought our Korean teacher, who is completely adorable. Fish, steak, pasta—sounds like a thankful main course to me! (On the actual Thanksgiving day, our Assistant Director took us out for a steak lunch. I thought it was so nice!) At both celebrations, everyone enjoyed both the cuisine and the company. I don’t imagine we will get any time off for Christmas at all, but Mr Lee told me that he plans to get a Christmas tree for the school. I’m really excited about this! The closest thing to a Christmas plant that I have is a $2.50 poinsettia, but maybe I’ll hang some earrings on it and pretend.
Copyright 2005 Olivia R. Reed
We just got two new teachers, Kayleen from Korea (who studied English in New Zealand) and Benjamin from Canada (who also speaks French—this should be fun!) It’s going to be weird having a bigger “family” here, but they seem nice enough so hopefully it will be fun.
Speaking of co-workers, I’ve previously mentioned the guy from Utah. Well, he truly is an awful person. Not only is he one of the biggest hypocrites I’ve ever encountered, but he can be pretty ignorant as well as selfish. It’s true that I’m pretty laid back and go-with-the-flow about things, especially those beyond my control. It takes a lot to make me angry and it’s pretty difficult to make me lose my temper, but this asinine jerk had my blood boiling this past week. A month or so ago, we were supposed to get a new teacher. They set up an apartment for him and everything. However, it didn’t work out, so the bed that Mr. Lee bought for him was then stored in Andy’s apartment. I had a friend coming up from a city about 2 hours away, so I went to ask Andy if I could move the bed down to my apartment for my friend. Keep in mind, the bed belongs to Mr Lee. It also weighs about 5 pounds and someone half my size could move it (this is Korea, that happens often). Here’s a recap of our convo:
Andy: Well, I’m really rather attached to the bed
Me: I’ll move it. It’s just for a night.
Andy: See that’s it, it’s just for a night.
Me: Yeah but I have a friend who needs a place to stay. Why would I not have him in a bed if there’s one available?
Andy: Why are you even accommodating this guy? Make him sleep on the floor, it’s Korean culture.
Me: He’s American. What’s the point of that?
Andy: He’s in Korea.
Me: Andy, this is absurd.
Andy: Olivia, I’m sure when your father comes here I’ll let you take it. But for now I don’t feel like it. I want it where it is, I like it there.
Me: Are you KIDDING me? You don’t have to do ANYTHING. I will move the jackets you have on it, hang them up, move the bed myself, and return it.
Andy: I don’t have room to hang my jackets.
Me: I’ll put them in my closet, I don’t mind.
Andy: I just want it to stay where it is.
Me: Andy, please.
Andy: Please.
Me: I can’t believe this. It is absolutely no inconvenience to you, but you won’t do it. This makes no sense.
Andy: You standing here right now is an inconvenience to me.
Me: So you’re telling me that because you want your two jackets and a fleece to lay there, my friend doesn’t have a place to sleep?
Andy: Pretty much.
I was completely livid. I marched out of his room and down the stairs to my room so I could avoid sharing an elevator with such a jack@$$. I have made a conscious effort to not be any friendlier towards him than necessary. I knew he was a bad person the first week I met him and he talked about how his efforts to change the world and help the Socialist party rise in the US began with throwing bricks through the windows of businesses he and his friends didn’t like. He has since stolen from a hotel, run around on his girlfriend multiple times and openly talks about it, and God only knows what else. His character rivals that of an ex boyfriend of mine. However, I still have to work with this guy. No sense in telling him what I think of him if I have to look at him everyday for a year. It takes a lot more energy to hate someone and be ugly to them than it does to just be a big phony. But, it also takes an effort to be nice. I’m doing neither for the time being. We have mutual friends and at some point, I’m bound to have a conversation on a non-work-related level. Until then, I plan to keep right on with my middle-of-the-road attitude.
And so! Thanksgiving here went virtually unnoticed. It was strange. I have always been grateful for holidays with friends and family, but it just made me appreciate it more. You truly cannot replicate the atmosphere and feeling of having the ones you love around. Sam came up from Daegu and there was a crew of seven of us having a makeshift Thanksgiving dinner at Outback. Sally from my Korean class even brought our Korean teacher, who is completely adorable. Fish, steak, pasta—sounds like a thankful main course to me! (On the actual Thanksgiving day, our Assistant Director took us out for a steak lunch. I thought it was so nice!) At both celebrations, everyone enjoyed both the cuisine and the company. I don’t imagine we will get any time off for Christmas at all, but Mr Lee told me that he plans to get a Christmas tree for the school. I’m really excited about this! The closest thing to a Christmas plant that I have is a $2.50 poinsettia, but maybe I’ll hang some earrings on it and pretend.
Copyright 2005 Olivia R. Reed
posted by LSULiv | 2:38 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home