Beginning, Next Section

Author’s Note: The school and town described in this story, to the best of my knowledge, do not exist. The school is sort of a composite of the two schools I have worked for, and the city is typical of suburbs of Seoul. Other places like palaces and museums do exist and are meant to give as accurate a portrayal of cultural experiences in Korea as possible.

Chapter One: New Beginnings

Posted on 2009-01-25

"I'm gonna kill you," Elissa mumbled, her eyes shut tight against the bright lights of the airport.

"No you're not," Janelle chirped cheerfully, checking on her plane ticket once more.

"Yes I am. As soon as I can move my arms. And, y'know, open my eyes."

"It's not exactly my fault. I didn't even book the flight."

"This was your idea in the first place, remember?" Janelle didn't answer her, preferring instead to look around at all of the people at the gate. There weren't many Americans sitting at their gate; most of the passengers were Japanese or Korean, talking quietly amongst themselves. Elissa checked her watch and groaned when she saw the time: 12:30am.

"What time will we get there?"

"Five in the morning on Friday. Don't forget, Korea is fifteen hours ahead of Chicago right now. Cheer up! It's like we're flying into the future!"

"Great," Elissa grumbled as she stood, pulling her carry-on bag towards the gate. "Maybe they'll have rocket cars."

Their mother had been horrified when she'd discovered their intentions. "How can you even think of such a thing?" she'd cried. "Haven't you listened to your father at all? What if the war starts again? What if there's a suicide bomber? What if this school isn't a school at all? What if it's a slave market?"

Elissa rolled her eyes. "What if there's an earthquake, or a tornado, or the Second Coming? Mom, we've checked. The school's legit; it hasn't shown up on any blacklists. The city's modern, and the crime rate in Korea is practically non-existent."

But despite all the charts and letters Janelle placed in front of her, Judy Johnson could only see that her girls would be an ocean away, and didn't stop complaining until the day they got on the plane. Her concerns were not the only ones voiced, to the surprise of both sisters. Ken Johnson, who had fought in the Korean War, was almost as unhappy about the decision as his wife was. He remembered too vividly the grim, war-torn countryside, the acres of landmines, and the silent, suspicious gazes of the citizens. No assurances could convince him that fifty years were enough to change the Korea he remembered. Their family and friends were certain they would be kidnapped, or at least injured during an anti-America protest. Janelle met all of the concerns with gentle smiles and reassurances, while Elissa tried her best to keep her sarcastic remarks light-hearted.

Thirteen hours later, Elissa and Janelle numbly stood in line at customs in Incheon airport in Seoul. They had been hours of movies, strange food, and endless boredom, and Elissa couldn't be happier that they were over, though it appeared they would now have to spend the rest of the year in the airport. Finally, with their luggage in tow, the sisters trudged out to the waiting area, looking around for their names on the many placards being held by tired-looking middle-aged men. After a few minutes of anxious searching they saw "Elissa and Janelle Johnson" and hurried over but, to their infinite relief, the sign was held by a tall, handsome young man about twenty-six years old. Next to him stood a younger man with a friendly smile on his face.

"We're the Johnsons," Elissa said breathlessly, struggling with her luggage cart, whose wheels stubbornly refused to follow her lead.

"Great!" enthused the friendly guy. "I'm Mark; this is Derek!" He glanced between the two of them. "Which is which?" The girls told him their names, and Derek, who still hadn't said anything beyond a brief "Hello", began to lead the group toward the doors. Mark stayed with the girls, asking questions about their flight and generally being welcoming; Derek had already been approached by a taxi driver. Derek spoke to him in what seemed, in Elissa's uninformed opinion, competent Korean, and then motioned the others to follow him.

Once they were on the road, Derek came out of himself enough to formally welcome Elissa and Janelle to Korea. They thanked him, and he continued, "You'll have a week to observe the classes you'll be teaching; your predecessors will be able to show you the ropes. There are also some training meetings with our vice-principal, Mr. Kim."

Mark laughed. "They're pretty pointless, really. Nothing is as good as experience."

"You won't learn a lot about classroom management or how to teach, it's true," Derek conceded, "but it's important to learn about the philosophy. If Mr. Kim has nothing else, he has good theories."

"What is his philosophy, exactly?" Elissa asked.

"Well, in a nutshell, he believes that children should be immersed in a language. Every part of our kids' days is conducted in English."

"Doesn't that confuse them?" asked Janelle.

"You'd think so," Mark said, "but they're sharp and pick things up pretty fast."

"How old are the students?" Elissa asked Derek.

"The kindergarten kids range in age from five to seven…in America, they'd be between three and six. We have one five-year-old class, three seven-year-old classes, and two six-year-old classes."

"Wow."

"Janelle, you're slated to take over the second-year seven-year-olds. They've already been at the school for a year and just started their second."

"But it's March," Elissa frowned.

"The Korean school year runs from March to February, with month-long breaks in the summer and the winter," Derek said quellingly, with a stare that told her she should have known that. And I should have, she thought, but it's not like he knew everything about this place before he got here! "Elissa, you're taking over the five-year-old class. Admittedly, it's not an ideal situation; the five-year-olds are the hardest to teach, but their teacher's contract is finished in a week."

"And they've…just started?" Elissa suddenly felt a little ill.

"Yes."

Mark, sensing Elissa's growing uneasiness, interrupted to ask the girls if they were hungry at all. "There are about a million great places to eat in Kwangpo, and it'll be our treat if you want something." They declined politely, their stomachs still heavy with airline food. When the taxi finally pulled up in front of a tall apartment building, Elissa felt as if she were crawling out of her skin, and a little sick to her stomach. She hadn't been prepared for the sheer insanity of their taxi driver, a man who saw no need to signal turns, obey the speed limit, respect a space cushion, or wait for light signals. Janelle apparently felt the same way, because she breathed a huge sigh of relief as she exited.

Mark, who had climbed out before her, chuckled. "You never really get used to it. Traffic laws here are regarded mainly as suggestions."

They rode the elevator to the thirteenth floor, and Derek unlocked the door to what turned out to be a small three-bedroom apartment. The girls blinked in the bright overhead lights while the men set their bags in the hallway.

"You two are sharing this apartment," Derek told them. "School starts at ten, so you have an hour or so to rest."

The sisters stared at him in shock. Mark laughed at their expressions. "You don't have to work today," he said. "But technically your contract starts the day you get here, which means you have to be at the school. I doubt you'll even have any training meetings. We live in the next complex over; we'll come by and get you at nine."

"Thank you for everything," Janelle said with a last smile, and the guys left them alone.

"I don't know why we should even bother to sleep," Elissa grumbled after hauling her suitcases into her room.

"Then let's not," Janelle said. "I'm too excited, anyway." She wandered over to a door at one end of the apartment and looked in. "Uh…Elissa? I think you should see this…"

Elissa walked over and peered past her sister's shoulder. "Huh. How about that."

The bathroom was covered entirely in ceramic tile. It was the size of a large closet; on the wall opposite the door was a towel rack; adjacent was a toilet and a sink. Running from the sink faucet was a metal cable that connected to a showerhead hanging from the wall by a metal hook.

For a few minutes they were both speechless, then Janelle giggled. "It's great! We can shower, brush our teeth and go to the bathroom all at the same time!"

Elissa joined her. "Think of all the time we'll save!"

Collapsing against each other as their exhaustion caught up with them, they laughed until tears ran down their cheeks. When they'd calmed down they sat on the couch and flipped through the channels, finally settling on a Steven Seagal movie to while away the time.

Chapter Two

Posted on 2009-02-01

The ring of the doorbell startled them. Both women had just finished dressing and trying their best to look as if they hadn't been awake for sixteen straight hours. Janelle got to the door first and was met by Mark Clifford's handsome smile. She took a breath as she realized that she'd somehow overlooked how good-looking he was.

"Be right there!" Elissa called from the bathroom.

"Long time, no see," Mark said, and Janelle laughed lightly. "Did you get any sleep?"

"No, we discovered the bathroom and watched a movie."

"I still say that bathroom is the greatest invention ever," Elissa said, hurrying to the door.

"Wait until you get to know ondol and the Hangeul."

"What…"

"Ondol is the heating system, Hangeul the writing system," said an impatient baritone from behind Mark. "We're due at the school in half an hour."

"It only takes ten minutes to get there."

"I like to be there early; you know that." Derek walked to the elevator and slapped the down button.

"Yes sir, wonjongnim," Mark said with a salute.

"Don't call me that," Derek muttered as the sisters exchanged a puzzled look.

The walk to the school was fairly straightforward, though Elissa noticed that all of the apartment buildings looked the same. When they reached the main street of Kwangpo, she counted no fewer than three bakeries on a single block. Mark ducked in one and caught up with them, handing the girls a doughnut each, and then they were in the school.

Derek went immediately into a large office in the center of the floor, bowing and speaking in Korean to a woman seated at a large desk. Mark led the sisters into the teachers' room, which was entirely empty.

"The others will be here soon," Mark said. "We've all got our own schedules for coming in. Derek is usually the first, followed by me; after that there's Carla, Jenny, and Kyle. Shauna comes in pretty much at the last minute. There are two other teachers, Jessica and Paula, but they don't have kindergarten classes; they come in the afternoon."

He showed them around the teachers' room. Textbooks lined the walls, a huge copier stood by the door, and eight chairs stood at two wall-length desks. The walls were painted a dull beige color; at the far end of the room a desk was removed from all the others.

After a few minutes Derek entered the room again and headed for a chair, not at the back of the room, but somewhere in the middle. Elissa tried to hide her surprise; she'd assumed as head teacher, he would sit apart from everyone else. He reached up and grabbed a spiral-bound book from a shelf and started flipping through it. Mark had taken a seat as well and was looking through papers in a folder.

Janelle and Elissa found chairs and waited for everyone else. They weren't long in coming, and they all introduced themselves. Carla had a pleasant, sensible face; Jenny looked like she had a fabulous sense of humor; Kyle's smile could light up Chicago, and Shauna had a very pleasant, well-modulated voice. The teachers all took their seats and busied themselves with books, files, and folders.

Everything was quiet in the office. Elissa was just about to doze off in her chair when a sudden shout rang from the lobby:

"GOOD MORNING, TEACHER!!!"

The thunder of dozens of tiny feet pounded through the halls. Some of them had to pass the open door of the teachers' room on the way to class; a few peeked in to greet their teachers. Some saw the new teachers in the back and stared. As word spread, more and more children took detours by the room to gape at the fresh meat, chattering excitedly amongst themselves. To the sisters, in their jet-lag-induced haze, they all looked the same: full round faces, flat noses, bright black almond-shaped eyes.

Soon there was a crowd of them around the door, pointing and talking and laughing. When the bell rang, however, they scattered, rushing to their classrooms. As one the teachers rose to their feet and filed out, leaving Janelle and Elissa sitting, bewildered, all alone. Soon voices could be heard throughout the school, the high-pitched drone of schoolchildren answering en masse and the contradictory tones of the teachers. Some shouted, some laughed, but they were all…loud.

A Korean man entered the room after about ten minutes, looking hassled and weary. He smiled, though, when he saw the new teachers. He placed a briefcase on the chair at the back of the room and then turned to them.

"Welcome to Korea!" he said as he shook their hands. "My name is Peter. I'm the translator." When they'd introduced themselves, he said, "Our director Mrs. Song is waiting to speak with you, and then we'll have a meeting with Mr. Kim, the kindergarten principal."

Peter's English was surprising, but welcome. He translated Mrs. Song's greetings, and then Mr. Kim's theories on education. English, according to Mr. Kim, was best taught by total immersion, but that wasn't the beginning and end of his theories. Peter later told them that Mr. Kim had practically written the book on English kindergartens, and been a leader in establishing the curriculum for Kids Institute.

"Many schools' curriculum is based on age of students," Mr. Kim explained via Peter, "but our curriculum is based on length of study. Students who have been here for one year use similar materials no matter how old they are. It's up to the teacher to decide what is appropriate for their classes. We have all the texts you will need to build a book."

Elissa's eyebrows rose. "Build a book?"

"This way the students are getting books made just for them," Peter explained. "Our head teacher Derek can tell you more. Your classes have a set schedule: five phonics or language arts lessons, five theme activities, three spoken language sessions, two journal entries, two music classes, two story times, one arts and crafts project and one hands-on activity every week. We have Korean teachers to teach two gym classes and two computer classes; you will have break time during these hours."

Janelle, who had been taking note after note, asked about the construction of the books.

"Mr. Foster will show you the theme books and the phonics books. Everyone else can help you to make the book."

And with that the meeting was over. Elissa was still burning with questions, but Peter and Mr. Kim seemed to think that they'd covered everything they needed to know. As they walked into the teachers' room, the bell rang to signal the end of the first period, and the teachers filed back in, laughing and sharing stories about the first class. Derek grabbed some books and files and motioned for the sisters to follow him.

They entered his classroom, marked "Mercury." On the walls were a calendar and various decorations welcoming students to school. He gestured to the small table in the center of the room, surrounded by tiny plastic chairs. "It's not exactly a boardroom," he said, "but it'll give us some privacy for a while."

They sat, and he showed them the theme schedule for the school year. The themes for each level were similar, but varied in difficulty. They were to take the materials for their books from theme books, which had activities for all levels and ages, and phonics or language arts books.

"Elissa, since you're teaching the five-year-olds, you don't have to worry about language arts this year. They'll start the first language arts book when they turn six. For now, just teach them the letters of the alphabet and the sounds that they make." He snapped his first file closed and opened a second one. "After kindergarten we have elementary classes. This is the actual hagwon part of the school. A hagwon is an after-school study program specializing in one area of study; most cities in Korea have hagwons for almost every subject you can imagine: math, science, sports, music, dance…and languages, of course."

"Don't the elementary schools teach those classes?" Elissa asked in disbelief.

"Of course they do. To Korean parents, though, getting their kids into a good high school and a good university is everything, and most of these schools claim that they have a 'sure-fire' way of getting these kids past the entrance exams. So after school, most kids go to at least one hagwon. High school kids sometimes don't get home until after nine."

Neither of them had anything to say to that. Derek went through the schedule of classes with them and then took them back to the teachers' room. Peter handed both of them thick spiral-bound books claiming to be about classroom management and philosophy. Elissa got halfway through hers and gave it up as a bad job; it had been written by someone whose first language was definitely not English, and some of the sentences were impossible to decipher.

At twelve o'clock the bell rang to signal lunch. Derek and a few others had ordered food and prepared to eat in the teachers' room. Mark, however, approached Janelle and Elissa with the offer to take them out. They accepted readily, eager for some fresh air.

"There's a great place across the street; I go there pretty much every day," Mark said as they stood outside waiting for the red "stop" man to change. "Do you have any preferences? Either of you vegetarian?" When they said they weren't, he said, "That's good. Vegetarians can eat really well here, don't get me wrong, but for me life would be empty without Korean barbecue. I'm already dreading going home."

They entered a small diner. At the front near the door, a woman was making what looked like spring rolls. Mark greeted her in Korean and then led the girls to a table. Elissa took a moment to look around. The menu was entirely in Korean, and the pictures on the walls weren't exactly appetizing. Mark noticed her expression and laughed.

"Sometimes Korean food looks downright disgusting, but trust me it's awesome. They've got a lot of traditional dishes here…are you in the mood for soup, or a plate lunch?"

"I'm pretty hungry," Janelle admitted. "Something filling would be nice."

"Yeah…that looks good," Elissa said, indicating a dish on the table next to them.

Mark looked over the menu and ordered chijeu donkaseu for Elissa, yachebokkeumbap for Janelle, and chamchi kimbap for himself. While they waited, a waitress served tiny plates of food, and Mark took the opportunity to point out kimchi.

"If there's one food associated with Korea, it's kimchi," he said. "It's actually less of a food and more of a style of food. Kimchi is basically fermented vegetables: cabbage and radishes are the most popular, but I've had kimchi onions, cucumbers, and squash too. It's pretty much the perfect food; it goes with everything, and you can use it to make a million different dishes."

When the food came, Elissa was surprised to find that hers came with a fork. It was a pork cutlet covered in melted cheese, still sizzling on a cast-iron plate. Janelle's was a dish of rice fried with ham, carrots, and onions, topped with a fried egg. Mark's kimbap turned out to be what had first looked like spring rolls. Rice, vegetables, and tuna were placed on a sheet of dried seaweed, rolled into a cylinder, and cut into slices.

They returned to the school when the lunch hour was nearly over, and the students were running amok. Kyle was in the gym, making monster noises and tossing any student who came near in the air. Janelle and Elissa stared at him with unrestrained wonder, and when the bell rang to signal the end of lunch, Kyle winked as he passed them.

"No such thing as too much attention in this country," he said when they asked if he wasn't afraid of getting in trouble. "You'll actually have parents ask you to give their child 'more love'...very few of them get enough physical affection at home."

The rest of the morning went by in a blur. The jet lag was making itself felt, and though the other teachers spoke to them, neither Elissa nor Janelle absorbed anything they said. The two final teachers, Jessica and Paula, arrived at around two. They were every bit as blonde and stylish as Shauna, and had very little to say to the new women.

When the day was finally over, Carla, who was the most serious of the teachers save Derek, invited the sisters to dinner with the whole staff, but Elissa and Janelle were horrified at the prospect of being awake even for another hour. Kyle and Mark laughed at their expressions, and Mark walked them home, stopping only to get a few packets of instant noodles for their dinner.

The minute Elissa's head touched her pillow, she was dead to the world.

Chapter Three

Posted on 2009-02-08

When she woke on Saturday, Elissa was grateful that they'd arrived at the end of the week. The weather was sunny and only a little cool, and from the balcony of her apartment she could see mountains far in the distance on one side, and flat rice fields on the other. They were brown and ugly now, waiting to be planted. Janelle was a later sleeper than she, so she slipped out quietly and took a walk around the neighborhood.

The apartment complexes, she noticed, were surprisingly self-sufficient. In each "village", which consisted of several apartment buildings with the same name, there was a playground, a small market for essentials, and a dry cleaner. She found that the main street of the town was only a few minutes' walk from their apartment, and spent some time walking up and down, looking at the different stores. There was a bakery on every street corner, and she stopped at one to get some breakfast for herself and Janelle, making a mental note to ask Mark where they could buy groceries.

When she arrived back at the apartment, however, she found Mark already there, and Janelle talking comfortably with him in the living room. Elissa smiled when they rose to greet her, recognizing the glint in Mark's eyes. Janelle was just as stunning, in a dark striking way, as the two blondes from the school, and many were the hearts she had unknowingly broken.

"Hi!" he said cheerfully. "I just wanted to let you guys know that Derek, Kyle and I are holding a welcome party for you two tonight. Just come out around eight and we'll see if we can make the neighbors call the security guard."

"We'd be glad to," Janelle smiled.

"Great. Do you girls need anything else?"

"A couple of things, if you don't mind," Elissa said. "Can you show us how to work the heat? And tell us where to buy groceries and everything else?"

"Oh, sure." Mark walked directly over to a thermostat on the living room wall. "Gives me a chance to tell you about ondol*. Frank Lloyd Wright fell in love with it**, y'know; uses it in his own buildings. He actually invented the system Koreans use now. Basically, hot water runs through pipes in the floor, heating the room from below."

Elissa stared at him. "That's…that's genius."

"Isn't it?" he grinned. "Especially when you compare it with the western method of just pumping hot air into a room. Ondol is much more cost-effective and comfortable. Anyway, to control it set the dial at whatever temperature you like, but keep in mind it's Celsius. Don't set it at eighty unless you want to live in a jungle. Generally forty is comfortable. And now," he said dramatically, "to Homeplus!"

They took a bus to the local department store. Mark was extremely helpful with leading them to the essentials, helping them remember things they might otherwise have forgotten, and offering more advice. Elissa noticed that he had a tendency to speak to Janelle more than herself, but she was neither surprised nor disappointed by this development. His constant cheerfulness might be perfect for Janelle's even-tempered calmness, but it would definitely grate on her own nerves after a while.

Mark showed them the building that housed the men's apartment, as well as the apartment building where Carla, Jessica, Jenny, and Paula lived. Carla and Jenny lived in one two-room apartment, and Jessica and Paula lived in another. Shauna had apparently insisted on a single apartment, and lived on the other side of the main street. Janelle and Elissa thanked him for all his help, politely refused his offer of lunch, and went back to their apartment to sleep. Jet lag, Elissa concluded, was as bad as a hangover.

Around six, there was a ring at the door and Janelle, expecting Mark again, opened it readily, only to reveal Carla and Jenny, who had gotten their address from Mark, their self-appointed social director. "We're going across the street for dinner," Carla explained, "and thought you might like to join us." Feeling much better after their nap, Janelle and Elissa agreed and followed the two women down the street.

"How long have you been here?" Elissa asked Carla.

"About nine months. Almost through."

"Have you thought about staying another year?"

"I've considered it, but I wouldn't want to stay at this school. I'd like something with a little more money and a little less work, to be honest. And I'd like the chance to teach some of the older students, too."

"What about the other teachers?"

"Mark's been here ten months, so it's really down to the wire. He's probably coming back, though; he loves Korea, and he'll talk your ear off about it if you let him. He has a degree in history, and I guess he did a lot of studying before he came out. Shauna's leaving soon."

"So am I," Jenny interrupted. "You're taking over my class, Elissa, and Janelle's taking Shauna's. You'll probably watch our classes on Monday."

"Derek's been here a while, hasn't he?" Janelle asked.

"Oh, yeah," Carla replied, "three years just at Kids Institute and God knows how many in Korea. He's kind of a celebrity in Kwangpo; his classes are completely filled and there are actually waiting lists to get into them. We have parents who won't let anyone else teach their kids. He gets mobbed practically every day for private lessons."

"Is he really that good of a teacher?" Elissa asked, incredulous.

"I don't know, to be honest. His kids test well, though, and he's got a great reputation. It doesn't hurt that he always dresses formally and knows enough Korean to talk to the parents without a translator."

"He must enjoy what he does," Janelle said. "To spend so many years in a foreign country!"

Carla shrugged. "He's not the most social person, so I don't know that much about him, really." She then pointed out the restaurant and led them in.

They left their shoes on shelves near the door. Low tables were set in rows, with round gas burners in the middle of each table. People were already sitting on the floor around some of the tables, talking animatedly and pouring each other tiny glasses of clear liquor from a green bottle. Elissa winced in discomfort as she settled herself on a floor cushion worn thin from use.

"How often do you guys eat here?" she asked.

"About once a week," Jenny answered, not looking entirely comfortable herself. "You think you'll get used to sitting on the floor, but you never really do. At least, I haven't."

"The food is worth it, though," Carla sighed. When the waitress approached them, eyeing Janelle and Elissa with undisguised curiosity, Carla ordered their food, along with a bottle of maekju and one of soju. At the sisters' questioning gaze, Carla explained, "After a while, unless you don't drink at all, you get used to drinking beer at every meal. That's maekju. Soju…well, that's something else. It's a kind of vodka, but it's really cheap and full of impurities. Some foreigners like it and some don't, but it's practically the national alcohol, so you should try it at least once if you drink."

Janelle and Elissa assured her that they did. The meal was a complicated one. Carla called it shabu shabu; it was a spicy vegetable soup in which they boiled strips of beef. When the beef was gone, they added thick noodles to the soup, and when those were gone the waitress took away the soup bowl and cooked fried rice in the bowl, which everyone dipped in the leftover broth.

It was a very chopstick-intensive meal, and both women felt as if their hands were about to fall off by the time the meal was finished. As for the soju, Janelle quickly discovered that it was not for her, but Elissa thought it might be fine as a mixer. As they paid and collected their shoes, Elissa groaned, "I've never been so full in my life."

"Good," grinned Jenny, "because there's going to be plenty of imbibing at the boys' place tonight." Elissa tried and failed to picture Derek Foster downing shot after shot of soju; it was more likely that he'd stand in a corner and grunt at people. She kept her thoughts to herself, though, as they approached the men's apartment building.

*Here's a Wikipedia article for a more in-depth description of ondol.
**This is an article about Frank Lloyd Wright's introduction to and modification of ondol.

Chapter Four

Posted on 2009-02-15

Mark answered their ring with a broad smile on his face and a large glass bottle of beer in his hand. "The guests of honor!" he said. "Come on in!"

The apartment was larger than the one Elissa and Janelle shared. Its massive living room with two full-sized couches, big-screen TV, and sound system was perfect for parties, and the sisters were a little stunned by the difference. Kyle walked over with two glasses, handed one to each of the sisters and said,

"Ah, the perks of living with the head teacher."

Elissa's eyes swept the room, but she couldn't see Derek anywhere. "Where is he, anyway?"

"He's hiding in his room, as usual, trying to drown us out with his own TV. In about half an hour Mark'll go in there and bully him into being social for an hour or two, and then he'll disappear again."

Janelle had struck up a conversation with Jessica and Paula, who seemed to think that Janelle was the only Johnson sister worth talking to. Shauna hung on the outskirts of the group, looking bored. Elissa, who was put off by their sideways glances and pointed questions about her background, preferred to talk to Carla and Jenny. Carla seemed perfectly at ease in the apartment, and wandered to the refrigerator, fishing out a bottle of orange juice. Pouring a small amount of soju in a glass, she filled the glass the rest of the way with the orange juice and handed the concoction to Elissa.

"[i[Soju cocktail!" she announced with a grin. "Give it a go. If you don't like it, just pour it out. Soju is only about a dollar a bottle."

The orange juice lent the liquor a smoother taste, and Elissa enjoyed it enough to make a second. Carla and Jenny began discussing an elementary student who had been moved from Carla's class into Jenny's because of some behavioral problems, and Elissa wandered away. Soon she found herself near the door of Derek's bedroom, and heard Mark and Derek arguing.

"This is a welcome party, after all," Mark was saying. "You're not being very welcoming by hiding in here all night."

"Why should we welcome them?" Derek asked, sounding annoyed. "For all we know they'll bail after the first paycheck and we'll be short two teachers."

"Oh, come on," Mark said dismissively. "They're perfectly nice; I spent the morning with them."

"Uh-huh. And that had nothing to do with the fact that Janelle is exactly your type?"

"Course it did, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. And Elissa's not bad either, y'know."

Elissa flushed, but Derek snorted. "She's three months out of college. If I wanted to date kids, I'd spend more time in Hongdae. Thanks, anyway, but I'm fine as I am."

"Fine," Mark said, sounding determined. "If you don't come out, I'm letting Jessica put in her Jewelry CD."

"No!" Derek said, his voice genuinely terrified. "No, I'll come out. If I hear 'One More Time' again I might jump off the balcony."

Elissa hurried away from the door and joined Carla and Jenny again just as Mark and Derek walked out of the room. She accidentally caught Derek's eye, though, and she thought he looked a little bit guilty. Had he seen her hurry away?

After a few minutes his comments started to strike her as funny, and when Carla noticed her laughing to herself, Elissa told her everything she had heard.

"He really said that?" Carla said. She looked as if she didn't know whether to be amused or offended.

"Yep. What's Hongdae, anyway?"

"Honggik University. There are a lot of bars and clubs around the university, and lots of students hang out there, though lately it's also become a G.I. hotspot."

"Ah. A meat market."

"Yeah, pretty much."

Their conversation was interrupted when Kyle called them over to the balcony. He held in his hand a laser pointer, and in his current state could think of no greater enjoyment than using it to confuse the children still in the playground. Elissa wondered what they were doing outside after dark, but couldn't help laughing as they chased the tiny point of red light around the playground, shouting whenever it jumped onto their clothes.

Despite Mark's and Kyle's best efforts, the party died out around two o'clock, but Elissa was hard-pressed to pry Janelle from Mark's company. He said goodbye very reluctantly, and they didn't return to their apartment until two-thirty. Janelle had a dreamy sort of smile on her face, and responded with only a gentle shake of her head to Elissa's teasing about finding true love in the strangest places.

The dreamy look stayed on Janelle's face throughout the whole of Sunday, too. Elissa, who had never seen her with a crush before, found the experience a little strange. She took Janelle on a walk around the neighborhood and showed her all the relevant shops, banks, and restaurants. They tried to eat lunch alone; Elissa remembered that her lunch had been called donkaseu, but her pronunciation was so terrible that instead of a juicy slab of pork, she was served thick rice noodles swimming in a spicy red sauce. Janelle had opted for the easier to pronounce kimbap and would gladly have shared with her sister, but Elissa insisted on eating the stuff. It wasn't really bad, just spicier than anything she was accustomed to.

During the walk home Elissa noticed for the first time how curious the townspeople seemed to be. Even though she knew they saw dozens of foreigners on a daily basis, adults and children alike stared at her and her sister as they walked; children shouted greetings, and some older ones shouted "What's your name?" and "Where are you from?" without waiting for the answers. One teenaged boy even called out for money, much to the amusement of his friends.

"I guess 'stranger = danger' never made it over here," Elissa mused as she watched a girl no older than eight skipping down the sidewalk alone, eating ice cream.

"It's a little refreshing," Janelle admitted.

Elissa frowned, eyeing a group of preteen boys hastily trying to hide their cigarettes. "A little supervision goes a long way, though."

They saw nothing of the other teachers that day. Janelle surmised that they must be busy preparing for classes the next day; Elissa suggested that they were feeling the effects of the night before.

"I saw you talking to Jessica," Elissa said when they'd watched Under Siege for the second time since Friday night. "What's she like?"

"She's perfectly nice, once you get to know her a little," Janelle replied. "She's Mark's cousin, and he came over here because she gave Korea such a good review. She loves living here; she says the style and the music are all perfect for her."

"So she isn't…I don't know…kind of a snob?"

"She's a little aloof, but I think maybe she's just shy. After all, we just met. Paula's very nice, too."

Elissa said nothing, but she hadn't thought either of the girls very friendly. "What about Mark?"

"Oh, he's the perfect gentleman, isn't he? I don't think anyone could meet Mark and not like him. Friendly, helpful, polite…"

"Handsome…"

"Well, and that, too, of course." Janelle's cheeks flushed. "But that's not…I mean…you can't…"

Elissa laughed. "I don't care if you think he's cute, Janey. He seems really nice."

"I think everyone at the school is nice," Janelle said, her face still a little warm. "I'm looking forward to getting to know them."

Elissa knew better than to argue.

DNA: Here's a link to a music video of the song Derek despises. It's pretty good the first forty or fifty times you hear it, but after that it gets a little annoying, especially when everyone has it as their cellphone's ring tone. Jewelry is a pop group and they're dressed…well, the way pop singers usually dress. You've been warned in case you're routinely offended by the ultra-short and ultra-tight. Jewelry - One More Time

Chapter Five

Posted on 2009-02-20

Elissa squeezed herself onto a tiny plastic chair and looked apprehensively at the five children running around the room. Jenny whisked in a few minutes before the bell, and the kids started babbling excitedly.

"I don't speak Korean, Jun," she reminded the tallest boy, who had run up to tell her an exciting story. This reminder didn't deter him at all, and she just shook her head in amusement and let him ramble on until the bell rang. "Sit down, please," Jenny said slowly and clearly. Obviously they had been practicing this command, because the children headed immediately for the chairs around the half-circle shaped table.

Elissa watched as Jenny named the "Line Leader", the "Classroom Helper", and the "Calendar Helper", and helped them determine what day of the week it was. Then it was time to introduce the "new teacher." Jenny motioned Elissa to the front of the class and said, "Just ask them their names."

Five pairs of black eyes stared up at her and Elissa felt that she might have a panic attack. "Uh, what's…what's your name?" she asked the boy closest to her.

He grinned at her with the light of the devil in his eyes. "I'm Namu!" he said.

"James!" Jenny said, a note of warning in her voice.

"I'm James," he said carelessly, without a trace of penitence.

Elissa repeated the inquiry and met Jennifer, Jun, Robin, and Sam. Jenny asked for a volunteer, and Jennifer asked Elissa her name.

"I'm Miss Johnson," Elissa replied, and the children said it several times, giggling over the unfamiliar sounds.

Jenny let Elissa slink away back to her chair, and began the day's first lesson. Their theme for the month was "Welcome to School," and they spent a lot of time repeating phrases useful in the classroom. Jenny seemed to emphasize "May I go to the bathroom, please?" a lot. During the second period, the children were learning to identify the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they made. They reviewed "A" through "E" and began the letter "F". Jenny drew pictures on the board to show things that began with "f". During Spoken Language, Jenny continued to teach them classroom phrases and made them practice "Line up" and "Sit down" over and over. With ten minutes left until lunch, Jenny told the children, "Get your lunchboxes," and they raced to their lockers.

The lunchboxes were actually metal trays divided into five compartments: two large squares and three small ones. Each child also had a small case that contained a set of chopsticks – some were plastic with rubber rings for their fingers, while others were miniatures of adult chopsticks – and a spoon. Only Jun had a small fork instead of chopsticks. When the lunchboxes were set out neatly on the table, Jenny told them to line up and led them to the bathroom, where other classes stood in neat lines waiting their turn to wash their hands.

"Why do they all have English names?" Elissa asked Jenny as they waited.

"They don't all have them. 'Jun' is a Korean name for boys," Jenny pointed out. "I don't know for sure, but I think it must have started when foreign teachers couldn't pronounce their real names. Plus learning English is fashionable, so picking an English name for your kid is too."

"Do their parents have English names?"

"A few of them, like doctors and businessmen."

When the children had finished washing their hands, they headed back to their classroom, and Elissa and Jenny returned to the teachers' room.

After lunch Elissa was excused from watching the afternoon classes, and instead spent her afternoon thumbing through the theme book for April, familiarizing herself with the contents. Janelle was still trying to make it through her book about classroom management; except for Peter's rapid-fire telephone conversations, there was very little going on in the teachers' room.

At about two o'clock Jessica and Paula sailed into the teachers' room and took their accustomed seats. Jessica, after studying her reflection in the mirror she kept on her desk, looked at Janelle and said, "I'm so glad I don't have to teach kindergarten. I was offered the position, you know, and I would make a little more money, but those children can be so destructive when they choose to be!"

"I think they're darling," Janelle said calmly, her eyes still on her book.

"Oh, yes…certainly they're very cute, but really they are so ready to just touch and grab anything!"

"Darn curiosity," Elissa muttered under her breath. Jessica didn't hear, or at least she pretended not to.

When the elementary classes started, Elissa sat in Jenny's classes again, and was glad to see that so many of them already spoke some English.

"It must be refreshing to teach them after the five-year-olds," Elissa remarked as they descended the stairs after the first afternoon class.

"It is, but the problem is that once they leave kindergarten, more often than not their English deteriorates. They're not studying every day, and not practicing at home, so it just slips away."

Jenny's last class was a "junior class," consisting mainly of high school students who eyed the new teacher balefully from their seats. Elissa had to admire Jenny's perseverance, because it seemed like pulling teeth from crocodiles would be easier and more rewarding than trying to force ten sullen teenagers to speak. A few of them seemed to want to talk more than they did, but afraid of appearing like show-offs.

When the final bell rang, Elissa and Jenny followed the students out of the door. Glancing down the hall, Elissa saw Derek emerge from a classroom with a single female student.

"Who's that?" she asked Jenny, gesturing down the hall.

"Oh, that's Gina," she said. "One of Derek's privates. She's sweet, but awfully shy. I don't know how he ended up teaching her. When I first came there was another guy teaching her – I forget his name. He left early, as far as I know, and now she studies with Derek."

Elissa smiled at the girl, who was now approaching the stairs, but Gina ducked her head and walked past her as fast as she could. Derek stood back to allow the two women to descend first, and followed them into the teachers' room. Elissa held her head high and tried not to look as tired and bewildered as she felt, feeling his dark eyes boring into the back of her head.

Mark and Derek walked the sisters back to their apartment, Mark cheerful and chatty, Derek silent and serious. Elissa wondered why he bothered to walk with them if he didn't even want to talk to them, but recalled that they lived so near that it would make less sense if he didn't walk with them.

"Saturn is really well-behaved," Janelle said happily as they sat down with bowls of hot instant noodles, "and they're learning how to read words with double consonants at the beginning. I can't wait to start teaching them. How is Venus?"

"Well, they're…young," Elissa said cautiously. "And…James is…" Her voice faded away as she recalled the behavior of the youngest boy. He considered a moment wasted if he was not shouting "Yukendo!" at the top of his lungs and making whooshing sounds as he moved his hands through the air like swords. Jenny had been at her wit's end trying to keep him in his seat. "It'll be an experience," Elissa concluded diplomatically. Janelle seemed satisfied, and they tucked into their ramyeon.

Chapter Six

Posted on 2009-02-28

Over the next week it became obvious that Mark's interest in Janelle was growing. He spent every spare moment talking to her, insisted on walking home with them every day, and was eager and insistent when it came to dinner invitations. Elissa watched them, knowing that Janelle's interest in him was stronger than it had ever been in any guy before, and was glad that she managed to appear interested without seeming desperate.

On Friday night they had their first staff meeting. It consisted of Mr. Kim telling the teachers what had happened during the week, and then some general suggestions for improving their teaching. Elissa noticed that most of the teachers, Derek included, seemed supremely uninterested, and after a few moments of taking notes, she found out why. She found herself staring at notes that read, "Make sure they are having fun. Don't play too many games. Make sure they study hard. Make learning fun."

How can one person contradict himself so many times in one night? Elissa thought incredulously.

The meeting ended when Mr. Kim pointed out Shauna and Jenny, thanked them for their hard work, and wished them luck in the future. Peter handed each woman an envelope from Mrs. Song, which he said was money for a going away party. As soon as Mr. Kim and Peter were gone, Mark exclaimed, "I can't believe we didn't plan a good-bye party for you guys!"

Shauna and Jenny looked respectively wary and resigned. "I don't really think our leaving this place calls for a party, Mark," Jenny said.

"Of course it does! Come on, it's too late to do it right, but we should all go out to eat…maybe the norebang...come on," he finished, a wheedling note in his voice. "What's your favorite place to eat?"

Shauna and Jenny exchanged looks before Shauna said, "I Porky's, I guess."

"Then let's go!" Mark grabbed Janelle's hand and led the teachers out into the city.

After a few minutes they were all seated around two round tables with grills in the center, waiting for what Mark had called samgyeopsal. Derek was helping him serve beer and soju to all the teachers, and Shauna had ordered a bottle of Bordeaux. When the meat came, it looked like thick slices of bacon. There was also a small platter of sliced squash, mushrooms, onions, and potatoes. The meal was, as Elissa was beginning to expect, delicious. She kept a close eye on Janelle, by whom Mark had seated himself.

"He seems to really like her," said a voice at her ear, and Elissa turned to see that Carla's eyes were trained on Mark and Janelle, too.

"Yeah, he does," said Elissa.

"What does she think of him?"

"I think she likes him a lot," Elissa replied carefully.

"Hmm," Carla murmured, apparently deep in thought. "Mark's a sweet guy, and apparently a great catch, too. Janelle would be pretty lucky."

"I don't think she's that serious about him yet," Elissa laughed.

"Maybe she should be," Carla said. "He's leaving soon. If she wants to keep him, she should get him good and hooked now."

"Slow down, Carla," Elissa said with an uncomfortable grin. "They just met."

"Things move quickly here, that's all," Carla shrugged. "It's not like living in America. A year sounds long, but it's not."

Elissa was now extremely uncomfortable with the conversation, and changed the subject. From across the table, she could see that Derek was watching her and Carla, and wondered if he'd heard what they were saying. She couldn't tell anything from the look on his face; the man was inscrutable.

He hadn't heard, and she would have been surprised to know that he was looking at her for no other reason than he'd discovered that she was nice to look at. She wasn't like her older sister, who had the kind of striking beauty and gentle smile that made him think of Liv Tyler, but she was very pretty all the same, with hair a shade or two lighter than Janelle's, and sparkling dark eyes. He'd peeked into Venus a few times during her "student teaching" periods, and she seemed to have a natural gift for handling her children.

The night continued, and the beer flowed long, and when the manager of the store informed them that the restaurant was about to close, Mark enthusiastically led the way to the norebang. Elissa's whispered question to Kyle revealed that a norebang was a private karaoke room; they stopped at a convenience mart to stock up on drinks – Carla and Shauna had bags roomy enough to smuggle them in – and then headed up.

"Annyeonghaseyo!"* Mark called cheerfully as they entered the lobby.

"Eoseo-oh-ship-siyo, Mah-keu shi!**" replied the man behind the desk. He gestured to a young man to lead them to a room when Mark had forked out twenty thousand won.

The room was long, with three couches in a horseshoe at one end, and a large flat screen at the other. Two microphones hung under the screen, and on a table at the seating area end were two thick books with codes for the songs. Mark headed immediately to the books and began flipping through one, while Jessica and Shauna took the other. After a few seconds Mark gave a triumphant whoop and, picking up a large remote control, punched a few buttons.

The lights went down, the disco ball began to glow, and soon Mark had grabbed a microphone and launched into Loverboy's "Working for the Weekend." Kyle took the second microphone and joined in, while everyone else watched. The computerized music sounded pretty bad to Elissa and Janelle, but it was too much fun to watch Mark and Kyle dance badly to complain. Jessica and Shauna chose Aqua's "Barbie Girl" to general applause; the ladies grouped around one mike while the men took up the part of Ken on the other.

Elissa, who had been a fan of Guns 'n' Roses for as long as she could remember, helped Kyle sing a rendition of "Welcome to the Jungle." She noticed, during the musical interlude, that Derek was watching her closely. Since everyone else in the room was busy dancing or searching for songs, he looked pretty out of place just sitting there, watching her sing.

While Janelle paired with Paula to sing "Wannabe," Elissa spoke to Carla, trying not to be overheard. "Does Derek always just sit around like that?"

"Huh," Carla said, looking at the man in question, who was very quick to redirect his gaze when she caught his eye. "No, not usually. He likes to sing, so I don't know what's going on tonight."

"He keeps looking at me," Elissa said.

"Maybe he likes you."

"He doesn't want to date kids, remember? No, he probably just thinks I'm weird."

"That doesn't make sense. We're all weird, to a certain degree. You have to be to do this job."

"Then he probably thinks I'm not weird enough."

Derek knew they were talking about him, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Elissa's eyes flickered over to him every few seconds or so, and she looked a little agitated. He really wanted to know what they were saying. It was unusual for him to take such an interest in a new teacher, but he'd observed how naturally she interacted with the children. Raw, uncultured talent was rare in any field, and he didn't think he'd encountered it in any other person before. Besides, she really was very pretty, and she'd looked adorable dancing to that GnR song. It wasn't his favorite, but it was pretty darn close.

He tried moving a little closer to where Elissa and Carla sat, hoping to hear, or even join, their conversation. Elissa stared at him for a second, then smiled and said "I think I'll get the hang of the norebang."

"Most foreigners do," he replied after a surprised silence. He hadn't expected to be included immediately.

Elissa's eyes sparked. "Especially the younger ones?"

Before Derek could formulate a response, Kyle held up a microphone and called loudly for Shauna.

"Oh, no," Shauna sighed.

"Shauna, get up here!" Kyle continued. "You know what this is…it's your last norebang and you're gonna do it right!"

"What's going on?" Elissa whispered to Carla.

"Shauna has a Master's in vocal music," Carla replied, raising her voice a little to be heard over Mark, who had joined Kyle's demands. "She's amazing, and they always make her sing something."

"Tonight's selection, ladies and gentlemen," Kyle said into the microphone, "is 'Think of Me.' Let's have a round of applause for our very own Christine…er…Shauna!"

As Shauna took the second microphone and began the song, Mark bounded up so that he and Kyle could sing the small part granted to Raoul, complete with dramatic poses and gestures. Shauna was, as Carla had said, very talented, and when her score was displayed as a 95 out of 100, the entire room booed loudly while Shauna pretended to slink away in disgrace.

Jessica then proposed a competition between the men and the women. "You choose our song, and we'll choose your song," she said, "and whoever gets the lower score has to buy the next round."

Everyone agreed, and there were five blessed minutes of silence while the two groups pored through the books, searching for the song sure to stump their competitors. When both songs had been entered, the men took their microphones, only to begin howling in laughter when Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man" appeared on the screen. All three gave it their best shot, and achieved a lofty score of 93. The women were very proud of themselves until the opening bars of their own challenge, "Big John" by Jimmy Dean, began playing. They sang with all their might, and scraped a win with a score of 94.

And so it went. The longer they stayed, the wilder the song choices became, until they ended the night with a rousing rendition of Billy Joel's "Piano Man," complete with lighters and cups of beer held aloft.

As they piled out of the building, Mark said, "Where next, girls? It's your night!"

"Ohmigod," breathed Jenny, who appeared to be much more in the mood to party than she had been in the teachers' room. "Where's that one bar…the one with 'Eye of the Tiger'?"

The group roared with laughter and agreement, and soon they were setting off again. "What are they talking about?" Elissa asked, grabbing Carla's arm.

Carla drew Elissa's arm through hers and patted it. "I wouldn't spoil the surprise for the world."

They filed into an expensive-looking, Japanese-style karaoke bar and ordered beers, and Kyle marched off to order "Eye of the Tiger." When it was announced, Elissa and Janelle were pulled with the rest of the group to stand around the tiny monitor and belt out the lyrics. At the very first line, everyone fell apart with laughter.

Lyies the knock out in the street,
Did my time, did my dances…

And when the chorus came:

It's be eye of the tiger,
With the stronger the fight,
Bath in knock to the challenge of I rider!

"What is this?" gasped Elissa between shouts of laughter. No one could answer her; they were too busy either shouting out the nonsensical lyrics or doubling up with giggles.

When the song was over and they'd bowed grandly to the smatterings of applause from the other patrons, Kyle was finally at liberty to explain. "We're not sure, but it looks like someone with imperfect English just listened to the song and wrote down what he heard. Isn't it great?"

She agreed that it was, and by the time they all finally walked home, everyone was ready to agree that it had been an excellent good-bye party.

*Annyeonghaseyo – Polite, semi-formal greeting, literally translated as "Are you well?"
**Eoseo-oh-ship-siyo, Mah-keu shi! – Welcome, Mr. Mark!

Chapter Seven

Posted on 2009-03-07

Jenny and Shauna left within a day of each other, and Janelle and Elissa were fully immersed in their teaching routines. Janelle loved teaching her seven-year-olds, and Elissa was beginning to grow fond of her little ones, though they didn't learn as quickly as the other students in the school.

With a firm hand, Venus was learning very important lessons about life at school; for example, Sam learned that it was not considered appropriate to place his chair sideways on the floor and drive it like a car, and James learned that biting and kicking were not acceptable ways of expressing anger. The first two weeks of March passed by fairly quietly, but the third week brought a horrible surprise for the Johnson sisters.

Their landlord, Peter informed them seriously, didn't wish to rent his apartments to foreigners anymore, and so they would have to move out by the end of the week.

"But…" Elissa sputtered while Janelle just stared at Peter in disbelieving silence, "but where can we go?"

"I've spoken to Mr. Foster, Mr. Clifford, and Mr. Richards. They've said that the two of you can stay in their apartment until Mrs. Song rents another apartment. It shouldn't be more than a week."

"A week," Elissa said flatly. "We're going to live with the guys for a week."

"Why can't we stay with Jessica and Paula?" asked Janelle.

"They do not have an extra bedroom," Peter replied. He said nothing else, but Elissa suspected that he'd asked them and received a very negative response. One more black mark against the Doublemint Twins, in her opinion. Carla was out, too, as Mrs. Song had had her move into Shauna's one-room apartment to save money on rent.

"Are you sure there's nothing you can do?" Elissa tried again.

"I'm sorry, but Mrs. Song has tried everything," Peter said, and that was the end of the discussion.

The other teachers were much more sympathetic. Jessica and Paula exclaimed over the unfairness of it all, hoped they would never be inconvenienced that way, and made a sort of half-hearted offer to help move the sisters' things into the tiny bedroom they would share while living with the men. Derek spoke to Mrs. Song twice, trying to convince her to use her considerable influence to change the landlord's mind, but to no avail. Kyle offered to sleep on the couch for a week in order to give Elissa a room of her own, but as all the rest of his earthly belongings – of which there were quite a few – would have been decidedly in the way, and dressing in the living room wasn't really an option, that plan ultimately failed. She was grateful for the thought nonetheless.

But no one had such conflicting emotions as Mark did. Thrilled as he would be to have the lovely Janelle under his very own roof at all times, he was shocked and sorry that the landlord could behave so unfairly and get away with it. He relieved his feelings by volunteering his roommates' time to move all of the girls' clothes and belongings, cleaning the room they were to share until it shone, and even marking off one of the bathrooms for their particular use. Derek and Kyle, if they had any objections, didn't dare to mention them.

Mrs. Song, according to Peter, was most strenuously engaged in finding an apartment, and was very concerned about the inconvenience, and was very sorry. They had to take his word for it, as she never approached them to make any apologies herself. Elissa was inclined to believe, though she never said so, that Mrs. Song was glad to be rid of the expense, if only for a little while.

On Saturday morning Elissa and Janelle found themselves alone in the living room of the men's apartment. They were welcome, Mark had said the night before, to anything in the kitchen, but they felt too awkward to do anything but sit stiffly on the couch. After an hour or so Elissa proposed making some breakfast, and was busy scrambling eggs when Derek emerged from his room.

He stopped short, as if surprised to find her there, and Elissa felt a little self-conscious in the old sweatpants and t-shirt that served as her pajamas. Her light brown hair was tied up in a messy knot, and she hadn't bothered to put on socks due to the warm floors. Derek, meanwhile, was grateful that he'd at least had the presence of mind to grab a shirt when he'd left the room. He'd entirely forgotten the Johnsons' presence, and for a few seconds he was at a loss. The sight of a pretty woman in the kitchen was not something to which he was accustomed.

"I'm making eggs if you want some," Elissa said when the silence threatened never to end.

"I, uh…no thanks," he muttered, heading instead to the refrigerator and pulling out a carton of milk.

Shrugging, Elissa returned to her eggs and listened to the sound of cereal being poured into a bowl. Well, if he liked cold cereal better than hot eggs on an early spring morning, more for her. As Derek settled at the table with his bowl and Elissa scooped the eggs onto plates, Kyle walked into the kitchen, sniffing the air like a dog.

"Wow, now there's a smell I'd forgotten," he sighed. "Eggs and a woman's shampoo."

"You're imagining that last one," Elissa said. "I haven't showered yet."

"I wasn't talking about you," Kyle grinned, then blew Derek a kiss. "Morning, darling." Derek's reply was unintelligible, but easy to imagine. "He's such a bear in the morning," Kyle observed.

Janelle, also enticed into the kitchen by the smell of scrambled eggs, left her perch on the couch and joined everyone else at the table. A few minutes later Mark walked in, stopped dead much like Derek at the sight of Janelle at his table, then smiled widely and began popping bread into the toaster.

"What's everybody doing today?"

"I have to go in today, make some decorations," sighed Kyle. "Book week's coming up, too."

"I have a dollar that says Derek's finished with his book," Mark said.

"Deal."

"You lose," Derek muttered. "I'm going in too."

Grumbling mild obscenities, Mark fished a thousand-won note out of his pocket and tossed it at his roommate.

"You guys should come with us," Mark said to the sisters. "It's nice and quiet there on Saturday; you can get a lot of stuff done."

The school was dark and quiet when they arrived. While the other teachers headed to their desks and pulled out pens and paper, Kyle lugged out a beat-up laminating machine and started feeding sheets of flowers and suns into it. Elissa, who had inherited the desk next to Derek's, was flipping through the pages of her theme book, feeling overwhelmed with all of the choices.

Derek watched Elissa out of the corner of his eye as she turned pages back and forth while chewing on her lower lip. Unconsciously he slackened his hold on his pencil, his eyes flickering between her eyes and her mouth. Elissa sensed his gaze and looked up. Their eyes met; Derek's hand jerked and his pencil jumped to the floor. He ducked to pick it up and turned back to his plan, staring at it steadfastly, trying not to turn red. Elissa returned to her book, but was startled again when Kyle rolled his chair to a stop next to hers.

"Need some help?" he asked, noticing that she still hadn't written anything on her paper.

Elissa laughed. "There are just so many choices. How do you choose?"

Kyle shrugged. "Choose what you think the kids will like, and what you think you'll like. If you like teaching it, they'll like learning it."

"You make it sound so simple."

"After a little while it is. Anyway, there's not that much pressure. Everybody's first book sucks."

"Gee, thanks." Elissa looked across the room, where Mark was sitting next to Janelle. His hand had found its way to her sleeve, where he was touching it very lightly. Their heads were awfully close together as Mark turned the pages of the theme book they were sharing.

She turned back to her plan and began filling in some of the squares at last with activities from the book and from the first phonics book, which focused on the letters of the alphabet. A couple of her students could already recite the alphabet, but they still needed to practice recognizing and writing the letters.

After an hour or so Elissa and Janelle bid farewell to the others and left the teachers' room. They'd been gone scarcely ten minutes when Jessica soared into the room and feigned great surprise at seeing the men there.

"Well! Look at you three!" she cooed, pulling her chair near Derek's and reaching for a book. She made a great show of looking around the room. "So the new kids don't think they need to put in any extra hours, hm?"

Derek frowned, but Kyle beat him to it. "You just missed them, Jess."

"Oh, I see. Well, I'm sure their books will be just fine." She sighed laboriously. "I really can't stand the way little Miss Johnson walks around here." Both Mark and Derek tensed considerably, Kyle noticed in amusement. "I mean, it's not like her classes are even learning that much."

"She's only been here a week," Mark said defensively. "I think she's doing really well for a first-time teacher. Better than I did, that's for sure."

"That's not saying a whole lot," Jessica sniffed.

"Watch yourself, Messy Jessy," Mark said warningly.

"Mark! No one's called me that in years!"

"Old habits die hard," Mark grinned at his cousin.

"I don't have anything against Janelle," Jessica continued, shooting Mark a death glare. "She's seems perfectly nice and all, but it seems like you don't get her without her sister."

"They're close. I think that's cool," Mark replied.

"Did anybody get a chance to see her with her elementary students yesterday?" Jessica snickered.

If she was still talking about Elissa, Derek had; he'd walked by her classroom as she was trying to interest her students in the poem they were reading. She'd had them standing, stepping forward with one foot, then back again in a waltz rhythm. When they'd had a good rhythm going, she'd read the poem aloud, overemphasizing the strong syllables. It had looked pretty silly, which was evidently why Jessica objected, but the kids were having fun and learning something new, so he didn't see the problem.

"New teachers are a good thing," Mark said in what was meant to be his most quelling tone. "They have new ways of doing things; I think we can all learn something from them."

"Well, I think new teachers should listen to our most experienced teachers, don't you Derek?" Jessica asked. "After all, you wouldn't have made it this far if you weren't really good."

"I'm not good because I just copied others' teaching styles instead of learning and experimenting," Derek said curtly, standing to leave. "And teachers who only do what everyone else does obviously don't care about what they do." He whisked out of the teachers' room, more perturbed than he should be about Jessica's criticism of Elissa.

Chapter Eight

Posted on 2009-03-14

When he arrived back at the apartment, Janelle looked up from her lesson plan with a smile. "Hi, Derek. I hope it's okay that I asked Jessica to bring Paula over for dinner tonight." At his confused expression, she asked, "Didn't she tell you?"

"Uh, no. She didn't. But, I mean, y'know, this is your apartment too…"

"Elissa's making pancakes and stuff; you're welcome to join us, of course. Jessica and Paula are bringing vegetables to fry up."

"Kyle will probably want to convert you to the Spam cult," Derek said with a smile.

"I'm open to anything," Janelle replied.

"Well, then, sure, if you think you'll have enough food."

The door opened then, and Elissa, with two strained-looking plastic bags and a look of sheer frustration on her face, stumbled into the apartment. "I knew I shouldn't have gone shopping by myself," she grumbled aloud as she kicked off her shoes. "Hey, Janie, are the Doublemint Twins coming or not?" she called, then blushed bright red when she saw Derek standing in the living room.

"Jessica said she'd ask Paula, but I'm pretty sure they'll both come," Janelle said calmly. "I was going to ask the guys to join us, too."

"Oh, well, sure," Elissa said, trying not to look at Derek. "I'd, uh, better get these pancakes started, then."

Derek could easily have gone into his room and stayed there until dinner, but he was having fun watching Elissa blush. She avoided his gaze as she entered the kitchen and began mixing the ingredients for pancakes, so he settled in the living room with Janelle and turned on the television. Triple X was playing, and even though he'd seen it about four times, and had liked it less with each viewing, he left it on.

"Is that what I think it is?" called Kyle ten minutes later as he and Mark walked into the entryway. Xavier was in the act of sending a car to its watery grave, preaching about video games not leading to violence, so Derek thought the answer was pretty obvious. "Aw, man, I love this movie."

"You can't be serious," Derek scoffed.

"Are you kidding? It's great! My favorite part is when he snowboards on the avalanche."

"What's that smell?" Mark asked.

"Dinner," Janelle replied, "if you want to join us." She explained their plans, and Kyle, who had been about to lounge on the couch, straightened immediately.

"You can't have a dinner like that without Spam!" he exclaimed, and hurried into the kitchen.

Derek glanced at Janelle. "Told you." He could hear Elissa laughing and protesting as Kyle waxed eloquent about his beloved meat product. Even though he could recite the speech by heart, he decided to join them anyway.

"Spam is perfect," Kyle was saying, waving a tin of it around as a prop. "You can slice it, chop it, fry it, boil it, eat it on its own, put it in casseroles, put it on a sandwich…"

"You're starting to sound like Bubba," Elissa said warningly as she poured a cup of pancake mix into the frying pan.

"You can…huh?"

"Forrest Gump," Derek said helpfully. "'Shrimp kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo…'"

Elissa looked at him with a surprised smile, then turned back to her pancakes.

"Spam is better than shrimp," Kyle muttered. He turned to the counter and started slicing the meat.

Jessica and Paula arrived when the Spam had finished cooking, carrying with them a grocery bag full of vegetables. Jessica chopped while Paula fried, and soon the breakfast-dinner was laid out in all its glory on the island in the center of the kitchen. Everyone heaped food onto their plates and headed back out to the living room to watch Law & Order: SVU.

"There aren't many English channels, are there?" asked Elissa.

"Just a few; we spend a lot of time watching the Discovery channel," Kyle replied. "Every now and then they go on an Egypt kick, and it's nearly impossible to rip Mark away from the screen."

"I like Egypt," Mark said defensively.

"They certainly had a fascinating culture," Janelle agreed.

"Were you a history major, too?" he asked with a delighted smile.

"Philosophy, with a minor in theology."

Mark lost no time engaging her in a conversation about the Egyptian gods. Elissa, who was only mildly interested in the subject herself and preferred Greek mythology, watched the Korean subtitles flash across the screen and wondered if they translated the dialogue accurately. Jessica was watching the subtitles too, but suddenly heaved an exaggerated sigh and said,

"I practice and practice, but I just can't read quickly enough. I'll bet you can, though," she added to Derek.

Derek looked a little surprised. "Well, yes. I mean, I have been studying for a long time."

"Derek is just so good at reading and speaking Korean," Jessica confided to Elissa. "I'll bet you could pick up any language, though," she continued. "Some people are just gifted that way."

"I studied hard to learn Korean," Derek said, and Elissa thought he sounded a little impatient.

"But I'll bet it was pretty easy right from the first, wasn't it?"

"No."

Jessica found that she wasn't getting anywhere with that topic of conversation, so she switched tactics. Elissa was still watching the subtitles, so she said, "If you'd like to learn how to read Hangeul, Elissa, I'd be glad to teach you."

Derek glanced up. As far as he knew, Jessica's Korean was barely passable.

"Well, uh, thanks. I'll think about it," Elissa said carefully.

"I won't be too hard on you," Jessica said very graciously. "I won't expect you to catch on as quickly as I did; I'm pretty good at languages. Do you speak anything besides English?"

"Well, I'm not a scholar or anything," Elissa said sweetly, "but I'm fluent in Spanish and my Italian isn't half bad. What about you?"

"Jessica's got English down pretty well," teased Mark, who had only heard the end of the conversation. "And her Korean's okay."

"Jess, I'm ready to go," Paula said from the back of the room, where she looked bored out of her mind. "Are you?"

"Of course," Jessica said, standing up. "We're going shopping in Myeongdong tomorrow if you want to come along," she said to Janelle.

"I'd like that," Janelle replied.

"Good, we'll come get you at nine o'clock. 'Night, everybody!"

The two women sailed out of the apartment, and Derek tried not to laugh when he remembered what Elissa had called them. He glanced at her and saw that she was still scrutinizing the subtitles on the TV.

"If Jessica doesn't work out, I can teach you how to read," he heard himself say.

Elissa looked back at him with wide eyes for a minute without saying a word.

"Read the Hangeul, I mean."

"I know what you meant," she said with a smile. "I just wondered if you were offering because you don't trust her to teach me correctly, or because you like watching people struggle with something you've mastered. It doesn't matter," she added quickly. "I'll be glad of anyone's help. I just like trying to figure out people's motives."

"Well, allow me to say that you're way off the mark here," Derek said with a smile of his own. He stood. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." He left for his room amidst a chorus of "goodnights". Elissa, he thought, was a little too smart-mouthed for her own good…and much too pretty for his.