Beginning, Section II, Next Section

Chapter Nine

Posted on 2009-03-21

With Janelle on her outing with the Doublemint Twins, Elissa spent Sunday morning washing laundry. She'd seen only one of her apartment-mates so far – Derek, dressed in exercise clothes, had run into her in the hall, muttered something indistinct that might have been an apology, and then rushed out the door. Elissa had gotten one discreet look at a very nice view. Even though she didn't like him much, she had to admit he was a handsome guy.

Janelle came home with very few purchases, though she said Jessica and Paula had found quite a few things to their taste. "It was a little pricey," she admitted. "I guess it's supposed to be like Rodeo Drive. There were a lot of people."

This, in Janelle-speak, meant that the crowds had been horrendous and the prices astronomical. Elissa knew better than to try to drag a less kind description from her sister, so she was used to reading between the lines.

Over the next week, they discovered that living with the guys had its ups and downs. Mark was clearly growing more infatuated with Janelle by the day. He wasn't a difficult person to get to know, and Elissa soon felt that she knew him as well as anyone did. His boundless energy and constant cheerfulness reminded her of a puppy they'd once had as children; she also remembered that Janelle had always been Shadow's favorite.

Kyle was less transparent than Mark, though just as energetic. He had a wicked sense of humor, which he often employed at Derek's expense. He was always undeterred by the grunts and growls his jokes earned him, and Elissa wondered whether they were friends, or whether Derek tolerated him because murdering his roommate would be considered a violation of contract. Kyle certainly acted as if he thought they were friends.

Derek was harder to figure out, though. He had a habit of watching her classes through the windows, his expression inscrutable. He rarely talked to her unless she asked him a question, but he always seemed to be watching her. Elissa couldn't understand him, and whenever she tried to talk to Janelle or Carla, they would suggest that he liked her, which Elissa wasn't ready to admit yet. He just didn't talk to her enough to support that idea, and she doubted that he watched her classes because he admired her teaching style.

She was very surprised, therefore, when he approached her on Thursday and held out a set of notecards. She looked through them and saw that they were flashcards of Korean symbols, with the English equivalent on the reverse, as well as a pronunciation guide.

"Wow," she said, flipping through them. "Thanks."

Derek shrugged awkwardly. "You said you wanted to learn how to read." He took a few moments to point out how to read the syllables, and then went back to his desk. When Mark came in at the end of the period, he noticed her note-cards and pounced, pouring out everything he knew about the Hangeul.

"It was invented by Sejong the Great in 1444*," he said. "Before then, educated people used Chinese characters, but Sejong thought it was important for everyone to learn how to read, so he and some of his scholars came up with the Hangeul. These aren't symbols the way Chinese characters are, but letters. Hangeul is a phonetic alphabet, more consistent than the English alphabet. Y'know, just the letter 'a' has a lot of different sounds depending on the word or even the syllable. I mean, even in the word 'alphabet' the letter 'a' has two different sounds. Hangeul isn't like that. It's almost completely consistent."

Elissa laughed, drawing Derek's eyes. "You really love Korea, don't you?"

"I love history," Mark corrected. "I think every country has fascinating aspects of their history and culture. I wish I could learn about them all."

"Mark would be just as happy in the Arctic as he would be here," Derek interrupted.

"I like to travel," Mark shrugged, "and I don't really care where or how."

"Or how much it costs, or how safe the country is."

"That just shows how eager you are to learn," Elissa said with a smile.

"Thanks, but I don't think Derek meant that. I think he was trying to remind me that I'm not practical."

"Really? You'd like him to just sit in one place and dream of foreign countries and special experiences?" Elissa asked Derek with a challenging look.

"That's not really fair; I'm here, aren't I? But I do think a little more thought should be put into traveling, and just jet-setting for the sake of it isn't safe or practical."

The other teachers had entered the room, but Derek and Elissa continued.

"So you don't think impulsiveness has any merit?"

"Well, why don't we decide where he's going, and how much time he's had to prepare?"

"Oh, come on, knock it off," Mark sighed. "At least have the decency to talk about me behind my back."

Derek smiled and Elissa smirked, and silence reigned once more. Jessica looked over Elissa's shoulder at the note-cards and said,

"Beginning our studies, are we? Good luck. Where did you get the cards?"

"Derek gave them to me," Elissa replied.

Jessica's lips thinned, and when the bell rang she approached Derek and walked with him to his first class. "I'm glad you're getting along so well with our little newbie," she said sweetly. "I don't remember you ever offering lessons before."

"No one seemed interested before."

"Well, I'm sure she'll catch on just fine. Maybe you'll feel compelled to offer her some private speaking lessons, too?"

Though the idea definitely had its appeal, he wasn't about to let Jessica know that. "If she asks for lessons, maybe. I don't think she will, though. She seems pretty independent."

"Oh, yes, so independent she has to drag her sister everywhere she goes. You should keep that in mind, you know. If you marry her you'll probably have them both for the rest of your life."

"What a truly terrifying prospect," Derek said dryly. He couldn't imagine any red-blooded man refusing the opportunity to cohabitate with both of the uncommonly pretty Johnson sisters. They'd reached his classroom, and he ducked inside before she could reply.

Friday brought wonderful and terrible news to the inhabitants of Samsung 304. After a week of rigorous searching, Mrs. Song had found a new apartment for the sisters. They were to move in the next day. Elissa and Janelle thanked her politely, and assured her they would make the move in good time.

Mark, if he were the kind of man to dwell on misfortune, would have been inconsolable, but since he wasn't, he put on as cheerful a face as he could. Derek was relieved. Elissa was altogether too tempting. He had every intention of living in Korea for a long time, and a young woman like Elissa probably wouldn't want a long-distance relationship of that magnitude. It would be better if he nipped any kind of expectations in the bud. True to his purpose, he said no more to her than was necessary, celebrated their good fortune a little too enthusiastically, and overall gave the impression that he was very glad to see the back of her.

Elissa, who had begun to think that maybe there was something to like about him after all, was pleased to realize that he was still as snobbish as ever, and probably a bit of a prude, if he objected to female roommates that strongly. All in all, when she and Janelle had settled in their new apartment and found an episode of Mythbusters to amuse them, she decided it was nice to have a place of their own again.

*Wikipedia article on the Hangeul – It really is an awesome alphabet.

Chapter Ten

Posted on 2009-03-28

Things seemed to return to normal on Monday. Elissa was beginning to enjoy Mondays, because she got to teach Arts & Crafts. Their craft this week was a class poster decorated with the handprints of the students. She had to negotiate quite a bit because everyone in the class loved blue, and she couldn't think of anything less interesting than a poster made entirely of blue handprints. In the end she'd let the all-powerful "rock scissors paper" decide and they'd managed to create a beautiful poster that the kids were proud of.

On Tuesday, however, they received a surprise. Peter entered the teachers' room after the last bell, called everyone's attention, and introduced Mr. Cho.

"Because of the high enrollment in the elementary system, Mr. Cho is here to teach some of the grammar sections."

"So now you won't have to do all the work?" Kyle asked. "That's great."

The other teachers welcomed Mr. Cho warmly, and the new man stood. "Thank you," he said stiffly. "It is very nice to meet you. I hope we can work together without a problem. I know foreign teachers sometimes have a difficulty with Korea but I think we can do well. It is important for me to help you understand Korean ways. I hope we will all be friends." He paused.

"Well, thank you," Peter said, clearly a little taken aback.

"I have always noticed that foreign teachers need much help understanding Korea. Also, many teachers don't know how to teach because this is their first school. Please, teachers, if you have any questions, ask me. I will be happy to help."

With an unctuous smile, he took his seat again.

Dead silence reigned for a few minutes until Peter dismissed them. Elissa and Janelle ate at a galbi restaurant* with Carla and discussed the new teacher while the meat smoked on the grill. Janelle was inclined to think that he was nice, if a little unsure about his role at the school.

"Unsure?" Elissa laughed. "I think he thought he was brought to the school as some kind of ambassador. Did you hear him?"

"I've heard of him," Carla said. "He had a hagwon of his own for a few years before he sold it. He seems a little overqualified to be working part-time as a grammar teacher."

"What do you mean?" Elissa asked.

"I don't know…I just have a feeling. There's something not quite right about him."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine," Janelle said, "and anyway we won't see much of him if he only works in the afternoon."

That, however, turned out not to be the case. The very next day Elissa looked up from helping James write his alphabet to find Mr. Cho watching her through the window, that creepy smile from the meeting on his face. She smiled uncertainly and returned to her lesson, trying her best to keep her mind on her students.

When the lunch bell sounded, Mr. Cho approached her in the teachers' room. "Miss Johnson, I think you will be a very good teacher."

"Oh…thank you, Mr. Cho," Elissa said, reaching for her purse.

"Yes. I think you need only a little more help and training. We can meet for dinner and we can talk about teaching."

"Uh, thanks anyway, but I have dinner plans," Elissa replied uneasily.

"Then perhaps tomorrow," he said.

Elissa smiled noncommittally and hurried out of the room, nearly running into Derek in the hall. Derek watched her leave, then noticed Mr. Cho standing in the teachers' room, staring intently at the textbooks on the shelves.

"Kids Institute has a fine curriculum," Mr. Cho said as Derek entered the room.

"Yes, well, the company has worked hard for several years to perfect it," Derek answered. He sat down at his desk in front of his lunch.

Mr. Cho made no reply; the books on the shelves had his full attention, and he spent the lunch period taking them down one by one and flipping through them. Derek, who found the man annoying to say the least, and was more than happy to let him be, adhered to his lesson plans until he heard the other teachers returning from lunch. The sound of Elissa's laugh was becoming a little too familiar, and he tried not to watch too closely as she breezed in with Kyle, talking animatedly and sharing a story from her morning classes.

"Janelle, dear," Jessica said languidly, "Paula and I are heading to Hongdae tonight. What do you say to coming with us?"

"That sounds like fun," Janelle agreed. "What do you think, Elissa?"

Elissa, who was pretty sure that this, like the Myeongdong outing, was meant to be only for the worthy, smiled. "Yeah. What time are we leaving?"

Jessica looked put-out for only a second before saying, "Meet us at the bus stop at nine and we'll paint the town red. Carla, will you be joining us?"

Carla demurred until Elissa leaned over and whispered, "Do not leave me alone with them." Hiding a snicker, she finally agreed.

"What are the rest of us, chopped liver?" Mark asked, feigning outrage.

"This is a girls' night," Paula said snootily. "You aren't invited."

"Aw, you're breaking Derek's heart," Kyle teased.

Jessica, taking this at face value, sent Derek a beautiful smile, but saw that he was grimacing and avoiding her gaze. "Oh, don't be silly," she laughed uncomfortably. "I know how much he hates Hongdae."

Derek grumbled under his breath.

Hongdae was everything Elissa had expected. Crowds of college students dressed to the nines were bustling around the streets. There were far more foreigners than she'd thought, though, and it wasn't very difficult to pick out the G.I.s. To her surprise, Jessica and Paula gave the soldiers a wide berth.

"Hey, gorgeous," one called after her.

"Buzz off," Jessica snapped. Elissa stared at her in surprise, and Jessica shrugged. "You shouldn't really hang out with army guys. They're a magnet for trouble."

"I'm sure they don't behave that badly," Janelle protested.

"Not always," Paula amended, "but they're the most visible foreigners, and lots of fights start because some drunk businessman sees a soldier and gets angry."

"Why would they get angry?" Janelle pressed.

"A lot of Koreans want the American troops out, that's all," Jessica answered. "I can't really explain it. I just know to stay away from them."

"There's a good club that most people don't know about, though," Carla offered. "The G.I. thing goes in waves…clubs go in and out of style, and this one hasn't caught on yet."

They followed her to a bar that had a small dance floor and booths lining the walls. Jessica ordered a pitcher of beer and they settled in. Small talk about their classes kept them occupied until a Shakira song started playing, which prompted Jessica and Paula to leap out of their seats and onto the dance floor, pulling Janelle with them. Carla spotted two teachers she knew and accepted their invitation to play darts, leaving Elissa temporarily alone.

"Come here often?" asked a low voice to her right, and Elissa turned with a sigh, ready to call him on his pick-up line, but paused at the sight of curly blond hair, blue eyes, and a nicely chiseled jawline.

"First time," she smiled. "You?"

"It's practically the only place not overrun by co-eds or soldiers," he answered, sliding onto the bench across from her. "My name's Joel Kingston."

"I'm Elissa Johnson," she answered.

"I'm gonna guess that you're a teacher, though you could certainly pass for a co-ed."

Elissa smirked. "That's two in a row," she pointed out. "One more and you're out."

"Sorry," he said with a proper amount of remorse. "Do you teach in Seoul?"

"Uh, no, in Kwangpo."

"Kwangpo? No way! My first teaching job was in Kwangpo."

"Wow, which school?"

"Kids Institute."

"Oh, that is too weird," Elissa laughed. "I work there now!"

"Really?" He suddenly looked a little uncomfortable. "How long have you been there?"

"About a month."

"Does Dour Derek still work there?"

"Yeah, he does. Did you work with him?"

"You could say that," Joel muttered darkly. He sat in thoughtful silence for a few minutes. "What do you think of him?"

"He's, uh…he's intense. But not exactly welcoming, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, I do. That jerk got me fired."

"He what?"

"A year ago we were both up for the head teacher position. It's a great gig, y'know, high pay and your pick of the classes. Derek had more experience, but I worked a lot harder than he did. Anyway, I guess he really wanted it, because he started telling Mrs. Song that I was untrustworthy and lazy. Of course, he can speak Korean and I can't, so she believed him over me. He got the job, and I got fired."

"Oh, my God," Elissa breathed. "Why would he do such a thing?"

"Well…in this field, y'know, there are people with talent, and people without. Just like in any other field, really. Derek is…he's good at watching other people, seeing what works for them, and incorporating their methods into his own teaching. He used a lot of my methods and ideas without asking me, and then convinced her that I was the one copying him."

Elissa recalled how often she'd seen him standing outside her window, watching her teach. She thought he'd just been doing some kind of head teacher management thing, making sure things were going well. Apparently he'd been poaching ideas.

"What a jerk," she said. "Why didn't you tell anyone? Get a lawyer?"

"He's a teacher with a lot of experience, a great reputation, and a knowledge of Korean. I didn't have a chance." Elissa shook her head, and Joel shrugged. "It doesn't matter anymore, I guess. My new school is much better; I'm in the city, for one thing."

"I'm glad you can look on the bright side of things. I don't think I could."

"Well, look at it this way. If Derek hadn't been a world-class jerk, I would've stayed at Kwangpo and they might not have needed another teacher. As it is I found a better job and got to meet you."

Elissa tapped her chin playfully. "That's almost a pickup line, but since you're only using it to make a point I'll let it go."

"You're very gracious," he grinned. "Wanna dance?"

"Oh, why not?"

*Galbi literally means "rib", but it's used to describe most forms of meat cooked over an open grill in the center of the dining table.

Chapter Eleven

Posted on 2009-04-04

The next morning Elissa told Janelle everything that Joel had told her about Derek. Janelle was surprised and dismayed to hear such dreadful things about a man she was inclined to respect. She'd talked with Joel too, though, and he'd been nothing but nice and polite, so she couldn't think badly of him either.

"Just think, Lissy," Janelle said earnestly, "how difficult it must be to communicate effectively here. Maybe they were misrepresented to each other, and were so angry that they never cleared it up."

"And who did that, Janey? Probably someone who had accidentally heard unfavorable rumors about them."

"Yes! Of course…so that person warned them…"

"But who was spreading the rumors? Why would they do such a thing? Quick, think up an excuse for them, or we'll have to think badly of somebody."

"Oh, stop it," Janelle said with a smile. "You make it sound so silly."

"It's a little farfetched to imagine dozens of misunderstandings, rather than just accept that one guy is a jerk."

"You just met Joel. Are you sure you should trust him?"

"I just met Derek, too, and he hasn't given me any reason to disbelieve Joel. He's been hovering outside my classrooms for weeks; he spends at least ten minutes a day talking to Mrs. Song. Who knows what they're talking about?"

"I'm sure it's perfectly innocent."

"Well, I'm glad you can be sure of that," Elissa said grumpily, and turned up the volume of the TV to end the conversation. But he's not watching you.

Elissa had fully intended to confront Derek with Joel's accusations at the first opportunity, but as she spent most of the week avoiding Mr. Cho, she never found the time. Evading his dinner invitations, skirting around him in the hallways, and shutting down his conversation in the teachers' room, took up too much of her time to allow for anything else. Baffled as she was by his behavior, she was even more confused with regard to his motives.

He did not look at her as if he found her attractive. If there'd been a breath of sexual harassment in his behavior, she would have approached Peter, but he never seemed to be flirting. He was unusually interested in her teaching style and her opinions of the Kids Institute curriculum and philosophy. The only time she felt safe was the rare moment when he devoted himself to Carla, asking pretty much the same questions and exhibiting the same behavior.

Between that and worrying about Janelle, Elissa didn't have much energy to spare for hating Derek. Mark was due to leave in the first week of May, and so far there hadn't been any change in his behavior to Janelle. He was as attentive and sweet as ever, and Janelle was clearly falling in love with him, though she hadn't confided in her sister yet. The only thing that bothered Elissa was that as far as she could tell, he hadn't actually asked her out.

He'd taken her to movies and bought her dinner, treated her to coffee and given her flowers, won teddy bears for her in the claw machines, and in general acted as a boyfriend would be expected to do…but he hadn't said anything. If he had, Janelle would have told her immediately so they could squeal over the development and sit up late dissecting every word and gesture.

The last week of April arrived, and still Elissa had heard nothing from her sister about the state of her relationship with Mark. His going-away party was planned and announced, and still she heard nothing; only when they were on the subway headed for Yongsan did Janelle mention that they had exchanged email addresses and agreed to keep in touch. This was not enough, not nearly enough, in Elissa's opinion, after two months of almost-dating, but her sister seemed satisfied, so she held her tongue.

Yongsan was home to an American military base, the best-known pirated DVD market in Seoul, and (according to the other teachers, at least) the best meat restaurant in the country. They exited the train station, which doubled as a giant mall, and passed the DVD vendors advertising new movies, old movies, and television shows. Some of them operated on folding tables; others had storage units housing their equipment and DVDs. They continued walking, though, and headed down a series of alleys that had the few who had never visited this restaurant worrying.

At the end of the narrowest, darkest alley was a tiny, hole-in-the-wall restaurant with plastic stools for chairs and wax paper acting as windows. It was crowded and smoky and the Korean patrons stared at their party as they filed in. One of the servers waved them to two long tables set end to end, and they settled themselves around the tables as best they could.

Mark called for eight orders of sogum gui and copious amounts of beer and soju. He then turned to Janelle, by whom he had quite deliberately seated himself, and talked only to her until the food came out.

"What's so special about this place anyway?" Elissa tried not to sound like a snob, but the plastic over their heads in lieu of a ceiling had really set her to wondering.

"You'll know when you taste the meat," Carla grinned. "It's pre-smoked, salted pork, and it's fabulous. The seaweed soup isn't bad either, especially this time of year when they serve it hot."

When the alcohol had been served, Mark got to his feet and said in his best teacher voice, "Ladies and gentlemen…and Jess..." He leapt aside, snickering, as Jessica tossed a bottle cap at him. "Anyway," he resumed, "thanks for coming out. It's been the best year of my life – I've met the coolest kids and the loveliest ladies it's ever been my privilege to know. Oh, and I guess I met a few guys too." Kyle booed loudly. "I haven't decided if I'm coming back yet, but just in case I don't, all the best to you. Gambe!" He raised his glass in a toast, and everyone else followed suit.

When the food was gone and the restaurant had run out of soju, they moved on. Mark had used his mysterious powers to convince everyone to go to the hottest salsa bar in Itaewon, despite the fact that most of them only knew the most basic of dance steps. Elissa had been disappointed; she'd tried to make plans to see Joel, but when she'd told him the plan he'd said he never went to Itaewon if he could help it.

The club was hopping, and Elissa soon felt a little better about her dance skills. A lot of the people on the floor looked great, but she could see some still hashing out the steps. She danced to a few merengue songs with various people, but cried off when the more difficult salsa started to play. She sat at a table with a drink, watched Mark and Janelle fumble their way around with giant smiles on their faces, and brooded.

As the salsa faded, a slower, hypnotic tune began to play. She closed her eyes and was fading into the gentle waves of music when she suddenly realized that someone had spoken to her. She looked up, and saw Derek standing in front of her with his hand outstretched.

"Wanna dance?"

"I don't know this one," she stalled. She didn't know why she hadn't said "no" immediately. But he did look awfully handsome in the dim lights of the club.

"It's easy," he reassured her. "There aren't any crazy spins or anything."

"Well…okay." She took his hand and rose. He showed her how to step: three steps to the left, tap, three steps to the right, tap. It was easy. He moved her into a closer position as she got more comfortable. Around his shoulder she could see Janelle and Mark dancing a little more closely than necessary; she smiled, then gasped when her feet got tangled with Derek's and they nearly fell over.

"Sorry," he said. "I was trying to turn…"

"I wasn't concentrating," she apologized.

They started again, and this time Elissa was careful to pay attention to the pressure of his hand on her back. She could tell, soon, when he planned to redirect their steps, and as soon as she was no longer afraid of falling over, she looked up and asked, "What is this dance?"

"It's the bachata," he answered.

She waited for him to say something more, but he stayed silent. "Do you ever talk?" she asked after a few seconds.

"I don't usually talk when I dance," was the reply, "but if you want to…"

"No, don't worry about it. I wouldn't want to bother you."

"It's not a bother."

Elissa wished she could think of something to say in reply, but the romantic music and the gentle swaying of the dance were starting to take their toll on her brain. For a moment, she just wanted to dance in the arms of a handsome man and not to worry about Janelle, or school, or anything else. She closed her eyes and relaxed; Derek drew her right hand, which he held in his own, to rest on his shoulder as he pulled her in a little closer.

The song changed, though it was still the bachata, and Elissa pulled a little out of her reverie. She snapped entirely out of it when she realized how closely Derek had been holding her; unconsciously she jerked backwards and into the couple behind her.

Derek pulled her back into position, apologizing to the others. "Are you tired? Do you want to sit down?"

"No, I'm okay," she said shakily.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." He led her into the dance again, but this time she determinedly kept some distance between them. After a few seconds, he broke the silence.

"How does Itaewon compare to Hongdae?"

"It's okay, I guess," she said, wishing he'd stayed silent. And then, with a sudden burst of inspiration, she realized that this was her opportunity.

"I met an old coworker of yours there. Joel Kingston?"

"Huh." Derek's grip on her hand tightened for a fraction of a second. "He's still in Korea, is he?"

"No thanks to you," Elissa snapped.

"Joel has great people skills," Derek said. "I'm not sure he's equally skilled at being a person."

"Said the pot."

"What?"

"Do you think you're a good teacher?" she asked abruptly.

"I could hold my own."

"And you teach your students not to cheat?"

"Zero tolerance."

"Ever practice what you preach?"

"Elissa, what are you getting at?"

"I'm just trying to figure you out," she said in exasperation. "It's like looking for the picture in those inkblots. I keep thinking I've got it, but then I hear something completely different."

"I'll just bet you do," he said gravely. "Look, maybe now isn't the best time…"

"I think now's the perfect time."

"Suit yourself." The strains of the bachata faded away and he took her back to her seat. "Thanks for the dance," he said coldly, and then turned and walked out.

When the others asked her later where he'd gone, Elissa could only assume that he'd gone home.

Chapter Twelve

Posted on 2009-04-11

Elissa arrived at the school early on Monday. She had a few copies to make for her May book, and wanted to get to the copier before anyone else had a chance. The school was dark and deserted, and she switched on her laptop and began playing some music to liven things up a bit.

Saturday's party had left her with a bitter taste in her mouth. Mark had been upset that Derek had left the party so early, and Elissa couldn't help blaming herself for that. After all, if she hadn't confronted him about his less-than-honest behavior towards Joel, he probably would have stayed to wish Mark a proper goodbye. He wasn't leaving until the middle of the week, but it was the last time they'd all be out together.

Janelle was still outwardly serene about Mark's leaving, though Elissa noticed that she'd stayed by his side a little more persistently than usual at the dance club. Most of the women there were not shy about asking men to dance, and even Janelle would have found it hard to watch the man she liked dance with other women. Her sister was falling for the guy. Elissa could only hope he deserved it.

The sound of the door opening had Elissa diving for her computer's pause button, and when she looked up Derek was standing in the doorway. They both blushed, but before Elissa could say anything he had set his laptop case at his desk and was off turning on the school's lights. Elissa flushed again when she realized that as the first teacher to arrive, she probably should have done all of that. When he finally returned to the teachers' room, he sat at his desk and did not look at her once.

Elissa turned back to the copier and concentrated on her work. She watched the sheets of paper shoot out of the machine and form neat stacks, and busied herself with counting down the copies until she could sit. She hated that her desk was next to Derek's. The silence in the room was thick and oppressive.

"A bright good morning to you all!" was Kyle's chipper welcome as he walked into the room.

Silence.

"And what a beautiful morning it is!"

Elissa nodded vaguely in his direction. Derek grunted.

"Tough crowd," Kyle muttered. He headed for his chair and tried not to notice the tension shimmering in the air.

Finally Elissa couldn't handle it anymore, and turning to Derek said with a touch of desperation, "I was just trying to…"

"Excuse me." Derek had bolted from his chair and left the teachers' room at the speed of light.

Elissa stared at his departing back, her half-voiced thought still on her lips. Kyle made a great show of looking out the door and then at Elissa's shell-shocked expression.

"Was it something I said?" he quipped. Elissa glared at him, and he turned hastily back to his desk, grumbling about bad senses of humor.

The other teachers slowly trickled in, and Elissa was starting to recover from such a bad start when voices raised in anger came floating from the principal's office into the teachers' room. All talk ceased as Mrs. Song's clear voice went toe-to-toe with Derek's baritone; both were speaking in rapid, agitated Korean.

Jessica leaned over and poked Mark. "What's going on?"

Mark strained. "Best I can figure out, he's mad about…somebody. Mrs. Song is saying she'll fix it."

"Then why is he still talking?"

"That's all I can understand, Jess. You know I can't catch it when people talk fast."

The argument ended with Mrs. Song's voice finally overpowering Derek's. "Naneun na-eui ilhal gushida! Dangshineui ilhashipsiyo!"

Mark whistled.

"What, Mark?" Jessica demanded. "What did she say?"

"Basically she said she knows how to do her job and told Derek to go do his."

Derek's footsteps sounded in the hall and the teachers all rushed back to their desks, pretending that they hadn't been listening. The door opened with a little more force than necessary, but he said nothing. When he sat down to write and broke the tip of his pencil with the force of his grip, he remained silent. When he tore through the paper trying to erase a mistake, he leapt from his chair and left the room as mutely as he'd entered it.

The other teachers immediately began talking, trying to determine what had set off their unflappable head teacher. Elissa, with a growing sense of dread, avoided the conversation as much as possible. She was immensely relieved when the bell rang to signal the beginning of class.

When Elissa walked into her final class of the day, she met pure energy in the form of a petite, energetic, bright-eyed young girl named Sally. Sally had a lot to say about the class material, and even more to say about things that had nothing at all to do with the class material. She wanted to know Elissa's middle name, her blood type, her age, and her marital status. Having determined all four, Sally was only too ready to divulge that much information and more about herself.

"Why aren't you married yet? You're old!" she exclaimed with all the ingenuousness of a sixteen-year-old.

"I don't want to get married yet," Elissa replied calmly, having fielded this question about fifty times since the beginning of the school year.

"You should be married. Being married is good," Sally insisted. "Every woman should get married and have a family. I'm going to get married when I'm twenty."

"Who are you going to marry?"

"I don't know yet. I hope he's American."

"Why do you want to marry an American man?" Elissa asked.

"Because American men are handsome."

Elissa tried not to laugh. "Not all American men are handsome."

Sally looked at her as if she had just told her that, in fact, the earth was shaped like a triangle. "Yes! All Americans are handsome or beautiful!"

Elissa shook her head and tried to turn the conversation back to a useful course, but still had to listen to Sally wax poetic about American men whenever there was a lull. On one hand she was amused; on the other she felt sorry for girls like Sally who thought the stars in Hollywood were a fair representation of the population in general.

On Tuesday Mrs. Song hosted a going-away party for Mark. Elissa remembered that Jenny and Shauna hadn't received so much attention, but then remembered that Mark hadn't decided whether or not he would come back. Mrs. Song probably wanted to leave him with a good impression, just in case.

The party was set out in the school's gym, and everyone was happy but subdued; they knew Mark was leaving the next afternoon. Mark and Janelle stood in a corner talking earnestly, and Derek, at his most antisocial, stood against the wall and said nothing at all to anyone. Elissa, smiling at Mark and her sister, excused herself to the restroom.

When she walked out again, she came face to face with Mr. Cho.

"Good evening, Elissa," he smiled.

"Hi, Mr. Cho," she answered politely. "Enjoying the party?"

"Yes, I am."

"Good! I'd better get back in there."

"Actually," he held out a hand to stop her, "I hoped I might talk to you."

"Uh…"

"I've told you many times that I think you are a very talented teacher," he began. "Especially kindergarten. I think this must be because you are a woman. Kindergarten is not really a man's field, you know; we are much better equipped to teach more advanced courses." Elissa couldn't trust herself to reply politely, so she said nothing. "This is why I am looking for only women teachers for my new hagwon."

"Wait…hagwon?"

"Yes. I am opening a kindergarten and early elementary hagwon next month, and I've been looking for suitable teachers."

"I don't understand," Elissa said slowly. "I thought you came here to teach."

Mr. Cho smiled condescendingly. "I am a very qualified man, Elissa. I don't need to teach at a hagwon. Kids Institute has a reputation for excellent teachers, so I came here to…"

"You're headhunting," Elissa said flatly. "You came here to try to take away teachers."

"I can offer you more money, and you will only work thirty hours a week," he insisted. "It is no problem to change your visa to work for me. My school won't open for another month, so you have plenty of time to inform Mrs. Song."

"My contract stipulates that even if I want to quit I have to give six weeks' notice," Elissa snapped.

"Oh, that's no problem," he said with a wave of his hand. "I'm sure that…"

"I signed a contract to come here," Elissa pointed out. "I gave my word to work here for a year."

"I know contracts are important to Americans, but really to Koreans they mean very little."

"Well I'm not a Korean, and I'm not going to back out of my contract."

"Elissa, if you could understand what I'm offering you…"

"You're offering me the chance to break my contract, desert my coworkers and leave my kids in exchange for more money. I understand what you're offering. My answer is no."

Mr. Cho shook his head. "I'm sorry to hear this, but I think after all it might be for the best. You should learn to control your emotions a little better; I'm not sure someone so irrational would be a good addition to my staff."

"Mr. Cho, I'm going back to the party," Elissa struggled to remain calm. "I suggest you do the same, and never mention this to me again."

She turned and walked back into the gym, her hands still shaking with anger.

Chapter Thirteen

Posted on 2009-04-25

Mark was gone, and his replacement, due to some problems with the visa department, wouldn't arrive for another week. Peter apologized profusely when he met briefly with the teachers between the kindergarten and elementary classes, and explained that until David arrived, the other teachers would have to spend their afternoon breaks taking turns teaching Mark's former classes. They had no reason to worry about kindergarten, thank goodness, because Jessica was available to teach them until their teacher arrived. Jessica smiled beatifically at the other teachers, as if they should thank her for this condescension.

Elissa had spent two months trying to decide why she and Jessica couldn't hit it off, and arrived at the conclusion that they were simply too different. Jessica was the kind of woman who refused to walk out in the rain for fear of getting her hair wet, agonized over which pair of shoes would best match her outfit, and lived for shopping expeditions. Elissa, while she cared about her hair, shoes and clothes, and loved shopping as well, didn't consider these things of utmost importance in life. She could have lived with those differences if Jessica didn't constantly give the impression that Elissa was somehow lacking because of them.

Derek had not spoken to her for nearly a week, and avoided being in the room with her at all times. Elissa laughed half-heartedly when Kyle asked if she'd frightened him somehow, but she couldn't help feeling uneasy. Joel had described him as being pretty vindictive; what if he was preparing some sort of revenge? There'd been no more shouting matches with Mrs. Song, but he looked constantly out of sorts.

By Friday evening Elissa was so completely worn out that she felt her teeth aching in her head. She'd gotten used to her breaks in the afternoons, and after only two days she couldn't wait to have them back again. As she straightened her desk area and prepared to leave for the weekend, Carla approached her, looking wary.

"Hey," she said uncertainly.

"Going home?" Elissa asked as she zipped her laptop into its case.

"Yeah…can I walk home with you?"

"Sure. Janelle, are you coming?" Elissa asked her sister.

"I'll be home in a minute," Janelle replied from the copier. "You go ahead."

"Has she heard from Mark?" Carla asked as they called the elevator.

"Yeah, she got an email this morning saying he'd made it home safely. They're supposed to write pretty regularly."

"That's good."

They rode to the first floor in silence, but as soon as they walked out of the building, Carla said, "Mr. Cho talked to me." She waited a few seconds, but Elissa didn't reply. "About the job offer." Still no response. "I'm going to take it."

"You're what?" Elissa stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and gaped at her friend.

"Well…not right away. The end of my contract is close enough that he's willing to wait. I'm not stupid enough to make an enemy out of Mrs. Song; she could probably have the hagwon put out of business in a heartbeat and have me deported for breaking contract."

Elissa counted to ten and then started walking again. She said calmly, "I turned the offer down."

"I know. Mr. Cho is hoping I can talk you into it."

"What? He said he didn't want irrational people at his school."

"That may be true, but he doesn't want ugly male teachers, either."

"He's creepy," Elissa shuddered.

"He'll pay well," Carla shrugged, "and I'll see a lot less of him if he's manager instead of a fellow teacher."

"He tried to teach me how to put paper in the copier the other day," Elissa pointed out. "He thinks women aren't capable of anything."

"That's the way he was taught, and to be honest it's the way a lot of women here are raised."

"I wasn't."

"I know."

There was a pause, and then Elissa chuckled. "Was that you talking me into it?"

Carla grinned. "I wasn't really trying that hard."

"Good."

"You're good at this. I've seen it, but more importantly so have Derek and Mrs. Song. You should stay at a school where you can use your talents. I'm not really all that good; I'm just here to pay student loans, so Mr. Cho's school is fine for me."

Elissa doubted her friend would be happy working for a man like Mr. Cho, but she was willing to believe that Carla knew better.

Elissa had been looking forward to Saturday all week: she and Joel had made arrangements to meet in Hongdae. When he approached her in the club, she smiled welcomingly, but he looked dark and unhappy.

"You okay?"

"Had a pretty bad week," he sighed. "I guess you told Dour Derek I'm back, huh?"

"Oh…yeah…" Elissa said guiltily. "What happened?"

"Mrs. Song called my school. She told them I'm untrustworthy and to watch me every minute. I've had a hell of a time teaching with my boss breathing down my neck all day long."

"Why on earth would she do something like that?" Elissa gasped, appalled.

"Derek told her to, I'd bet anything. That jerk hates having me back here. I just wish he'd leave me alone; it's not like I went back to Kwangpo and threatened his territory or anything."

"I'm so sorry, Joel." Elissa reached over and took his hand. "I didn't know…I heard an argument the other day and I thought he was angry with me, but…wow, I should never have brought it up."

"I guess it doesn't really matter. I'll just have to work a little harder, prove that I'm not what they've been told…but it still sucks. It's hard enough to get respect as a teacher here without other foreigners undermining you. I'd think we would all stick together."

To cheer him up, Elissa told him about her offer from Mr. Cho. He laughed a lot, then asked about her sister.

"Didn't that guy she was seeing leave this week? How's that going?"

"She hasn't said anything to me yet, but they're supposed to correspond. She heard from him this morning."

"It's rough to leave someone behind," Joel said thoughtfully. "My girlfriend wanted to wait for me to get back from the States, but we couldn't be sure how long that would be. We decided to dial it back until we knew, and when I came back she was with someone else."

Elissa, who couldn't honestly say she was sorry that he'd been dumped, said nothing.

"She was probably influenced…probably had people telling her I'd cheat on her and stuff, or that I'd never come back." He broke out of his reverie and shrugged. "I have my suspicions, but I don't think I need to know more than I do. She didn't wait. End of story."

"Janelle will wait," Elissa said. "Until they decide otherwise, she'll wait. I think she's serious about him."

"More power to her," Joel replied, raising his glass. Elissa smiled and toasted back.

A note: A lot of schools try only to hire teachers at the beginning of the Korean school year so that they don't have overlapping contracts or classes with two different teachers in a year. Unfortunately some teachers leave before the end of their contracts, sometimes for legitimate reasons (i.e. abuse or dishonesty in the workplace) and sometimes for selfish ones (i.e. they were unaware that teaching occasionally requires work on the part of the teacher). For this reason schools in Korea are hiring year-round; if you're considering teaching in Korea as an option, it's a good idea to find out why the school in question needs new teachers in the middle of the school year, and what percentage of teachers stay the length of their contracts, or sign up for a second or third.

Chapter Fourteen

Posted on 2009-05-02

Elissa was startled to find Janelle in their living room when she arrived home around one o'clock. She was on the couch with her laptop open, staring at it with a slightly shell-shocked expression. Elissa had kicked off her shoes and taken a seat on the couch before Janelle realized that she was there.

"What's going on, Janey?" Elissa asked.

"Not much, really," Janelle said unconvincingly, tapping a few keys on the keyboard. "I just…I got an email from Mark that surprised me a little."

"Yeah? Is he okay?"

"He's fine, visiting with family and stuff. But he…I don't know, the tone of this email is just so weird."

"You've never actually told me…I mean, I don't know what you guys agreed to…"

"Oh, Lissy, I'm sorry," Janelle sighed, closing her laptop. "We did talk, y'know. A week before he left. We like each other a lot, and we weren't really interested in seeing anyone else. We decided to keep in touch…he was talking about coming out to visit in the summer."

"Wait a minute," Elissa interrupted. "What do you mean you 'weren't' going to see other people?"

"Elissa…"

"Did he change his mind?"

"Elissa…"

"And he told you in an email?"

"No!" Janelle cried. "Not…not exactly."

"Janelle, tell me what's going on or I swear…"

"He thinks we should step back a little."

"Step back? What on earth does that even mean?"

"He said that – that he's a little worried about the time we're putting into this…running to the computer as soon as the day is over to check email, hours spent on messenger…I guess he thinks that we should be more focused on our lives and not…not each other."

"Is he still coming to visit?"

"He says so." Janelle sighed. "I'm supposed to tell him what I think about this backing off plan."

"What do you think?"

"I think…I think that if we were here together in that beginning of a relationship phase, we'd be doing the same thing. It's what most people do! You can't get enough of each other!"

"Yeah." Elissa sat quietly for a minute. "Did you guys talk about what might happen when you finish this job?"

"No, we haven't thought that far ahead."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "Part of me agrees with him. He's halfway around the world, and even if he does visit it'll be two more months before he gets here. We have no idea what's going to happen. Maybe…maybe we should back off. Or at least keep the emails to one a day."

"You've been writing each other more than once a day?" Elissa hid a smile.

Janelle shrugged. "Anytime we think of something the other would be interested in. I don't want to stop completely, but maybe it's not such a bad idea to step back."

"Okay," Elissa said. "Oh! You're never going to believe what Joel told me tonight." She told her sister about Joel's troubles at work, ending with a diatribe against Derek and Mrs. Song. "Talk about unprofessional!" Elissa huffed.

Janelle was frowning, but her next words weren't what Elissa expected to hear. "Look, I talked to Jessica; she was here while Joel was working, remember? She said that he's an awful teacher, and that he wasn't a whole lot of fun to work with either."

"She thinks the same thing about me," Elissa pointed out.

"Yeah, but Kyle agrees with her."

"Really?" That silenced Elissa for a minute. Kyle was friendly with everyone; who on Earth couldn't get along with Kyle?

"Look, Elissa, there's something funny about his story. Mrs. Song has run this school for thirteen years, and Derek's only been there five. Her success isn't dependent on him. It doesn't make sense that she would be so completely under his thumb as to carry out petty grudges for him." Janelle paused. "In fact, we know she wouldn't. Don't you remember that she was yelling at him that she knew how to do her job?"

Elissa, who was starting to feel a little silly about the whole business, said, "Then why was Joel fired?"

"Jessica and Kyle don't know. That's another thing. If it was something minor, something trivial, don't you think he'd have told them before he left? Don't you think it would've gotten out? Think about what goes on at the school. Nothing is a secret."

Since Kyle had walked into the teachers' room the day before and delivered a dissertation on the effect shabu shabu could have on one's digestive system, Elissa had to agree. When eight people lived, worked, ate, and let off steam together, not much could be kept secret.

"Wow," Elissa sighed. "I feel really stupid."

"It must have been something bad," Janelle said. "Really bad."

"Yeah." Elissa paused. "That doesn't mean I have to like Derek, though, does it?"

Janelle's lips were pressed into a thin, disapproving line, but she shook her head.

"Right. Being an idiot has made me a little tired. I'm going to bed. Sleep well, Janey."

On Monday Peter called an impromptu meeting to introduce the newcomers to the concept of an "Open House." It would take place in June, and the teachers were expected to begin preparation immediately. When Janelle asked what an Open House was, Peter's answer was a little unclear.

"The parents want to see what goes on the classroom, and they want to see how well their kids have learned English. They want to come away with a good feeling about what goes on here and what their children are learning. You should have rehearsals about once a day. It's okay to include them in your lesson plans."

He asked for questions, but most of the teachers knew instinctively that they wouldn't get directions more explicit than that, so they held their silence. As soon as he was out of the room, Derek sighed.

"I'm sorry to keep you longer, but those of you who haven't done one should know what to expect."

"So we can't just teach class as usual?" Elissa asked, though she suspected she knew the answer.

"No, but it has to seem like that's what normally happens. Some of the older kids will do well with a guideline and weekly practices, but for the younger ones you really should plan out a script."

"A script?" Elissa gasped. "How is that showing the parents what goes on in the classroom?"

"It's not. I'll be honest with you; most of them couldn't care less what really goes on in the classroom. They spend between six and eight hundred dollars a month to send their kids here; they just want to be reassured that they're getting their money's worth." He almost smiled in Elissa's directions. "With your kids, though, the script won't matter a whole lot. They're only five. They're going to do their own thing; the five-year-old parents usually come away with a more accurate idea of the class than anyone else. But you should still practice daily."

"What should be included in this Open House?" Janelle asked, pen poised over paper.

"All the elements of English. Reading, speaking, writing, and it should all tie in with the theme of the month. Have them read a passage and answer questions, carry on a conversation about the theme, stuff like that."

"A scripted conversation," Elissa interrupted.

"You'll want to make sure that every kid has the same amount of time in the limelight, so yes."

"Wait, they all have to be the same? James still calls half of the letters 'b' and the other half 'w'!"

"Not next month, he won't. You'll have to drill them pretty hard."

"How is that giving the parents an accurate view of the class?"

"It's not." Derek was still very calm, as if he'd had this conversation several times – which he probably had.

"Image is everything," Kyle came to his rescue. "If they look like they know the stuff, the parents will think they know it, and it doesn't really matter to them if they really know it or not. Most parents go for the appearance of fluency."

"They're spending thousands of dollars on an illusion?"

"Look," Derek sighed, finally sounding exasperated. "I'd be happy to discuss all the problems with the hagwon system with you another time, but for now this is your job. It's what you do. Just…just do it, okay?"

Elissa nodded her head once and turned back to her desk. After an awkward silence the meeting broke up and everyone headed for the door. Derek waited until everyone was gone before he spoke to Elissa again.

"I didn't mean to be short with you. It's just…"

"You don't make the decisions around here. I get it."

There was a short pause and then, in a voice that suggested there was now more to the conversation, Derek said, "Really?"

Elissa looked up and met his eyes. "Yeah."

"Because head teacher…I take it seriously but as far as management is concerned it's just an honorary…"

"I get it."

Another pause. "Okay. See you tomorrow." He walked out.

Chapter Fifteen

Posted on 2009-05-09

The problem with setting this story at a school largely based on my first experience as an ESL teacher is that the cast will be changing a lot. Teachers' contracts overlapped like you wouldn't believe, and for my first four months we said farewell to one teacher every month. I'll do my best with this revolving door of cast members.

On Wednesday Derek ushered a weary-looking young man into the teachers' room and introduced him as David Henderson, Mark's replacement. David was polite but distant; the teachers forgave him when they found out his plane had landed about four hours ago. Elissa watched David sympathetically as he gazed around the room with glazed eyes. She remembered very well how tired she'd been on her first day.

At lunch most of the teachers headed to their favorite restaurant. When they were seated, the pretty woman who owned the restaurant approached and, eyes firmly fixed on David, asked slowly, "What would you like to eat?"

A moment of stunned silence was her answer, before Janelle recovered her equanimity and ordered her lunch. The others followed her lead, and when the woman had walked away Kyle stared wide-eyed at Derek.

"I didn't know she spoke English, did you?"

"I've never heard her speak before, but it's not really that surprising. A lot of foreigners come in here."

"Yeah, but why would she start now?"

Derek shrugged, but glanced at David and then at the young woman, who had gone back to the kimbap station. She was busy filling orders, but still looked at the table of foreigners fairly often. When they finished eating and headed for the door to pay, the young woman took their money and then introduced herself.

"My name is Pureum. I know you eat here many times."

"This is the best kimbap restaurant in Kwangpo," Derek told her.

She smiled shyly. "You have new friend?" she asked with a hopeful glance at David.

Kyle, for whom the mystery now appeared to be solved, bit his lip to stifle a grin. "Uh, yeah. This is David. He just got here."

Pureum smiled a beautiful smile. "Welcome to Korea."

"Th-thank you," David stuttered.

She smiled again, handed them their change, and wished them a good afternoon. As soon as they were a decent distance away from the restaurant, Kyle said, "Cripes, I've been going there for nine months and she's never spoken a word to me!"

The other teachers laughed. "It must take someone extra special," Elissa teased him. "She was just waiting for the right guy."

"Plenty of women think I'm the right guy," Kyle insisted.

"The right guy to avoid," Derek muttered.

The group went silent again for a second, and then hooted with laughter as Kyle pretended to stagger with shock. "Did I just get burned by our unflappable wonjongnim?" he gasped. "I might never recover!"

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't."

"The hits, they keep on coming," Kyle sighed in mock despair. "I can't keep up. I guess that's why he's head teacher and I'm not."

"I thought it was his charm and sunny personality," Elissa couldn't help saying.

"You'd think so," Derek said gravely as they entered the building, "but you'd be surprised how often people mistake me for a grumpy ajosshi*."

Kyle snorted, but as they entered the elevator the conversation died. Elissa had discovered that an elevator was an unofficial "quiet spot", along with buses and the subway. It was considered good manners to remain silent, or as quiet as possible, in such places. Though the conversation ended, Elissa's confusion didn't. When had Derek grown a sense of humor?

As they were nearing their three-month mark, Elissa and Janelle finally felt they had reached their stride in their teaching. Their kindergarteners had opened up; even Elissa's young ones could carry on short, though disjointed, conversations and seemed to have finally accepted that their teacher wouldn't respond to Korean. The sisters no longer felt confused or overwhelmed by their schedules, and had learned how to incorporate some actual teaching in between the many textbook and workbook pages they were expected to finish.

The bane of Elissa's existence continued to be the junior class. The boys were silent and suspicious; the girls shy and withdrawn. One of her male students, at 15, seemed to have distinct ideas about a woman's place, and the classroom was clearly not it. She read journal entry after passive-aggressive journal entry about Elissa's teaching style, intelligence, and wardrobe, but wasn't quite sure what she could do about it. She didn't want to involve Derek because that would enforce Carl's belief that she couldn't handle problems on her own, and he held Mrs. Song in almost equal contempt, so no discipline from that quarter would have any effect.

On the other side of the spectrum was Sally, who thought Elissa the most beautiful woman she'd ever met and was always asking for fashion and beauty tips. Conversations with Sally were rarely instructive or valuable, but usually entertaining. She was shallow, but dedicated to studying English; she came in to class one day in a fervor about a chat room she'd found.

"There are so many nice people talking there," she enthused, "and I can practice my English!"

"Do you use sentences when you type?" Elissa asked.

"I try to, but it takes so long. I don't know where all the letters are!"

"It doesn't really matter. Most people don't use sentences when they chat anyway." Elissa marked a sentence in Sally's journal. "What do you talk about?"

"Mostly school," Sally replied. "It's a good room. There are no scary people."

"That's great. I'm glad you're practicing so much at home. I can tell you work very hard."

Sally smiled widely. "I want to speak perfect English so I can marry…"

"Yes, I know," Elissa said. "But even if you don't marry an American man, you should still be proud of your English. It's not easy to learn!"

That was another thing Elissa had learned with some difficulty over the last few months. Having spoken English her entire life, she'd never before realized how difficult it was to learn. Things that came naturally to her baffled her students, like when to use articles or when certain letters were silent. Why didn't "through" and "though" rhyme? Why did "throw" and "though" rhyme? Why could they say "show" and "showed" but not "throw" and "throwed"? What was the difference between present and present progressive?

Attempting to explain these things made her head spin. Eventually, when she could explain things no longer, she began to reply with "Because English is crazy," which usually made the kids laugh and stopped the incessant questions. Elissa was happy to answer questions, but enough was enough.

On Thursday Jessica returned to her afternoon-only schedule, and David took over the kindergarten class. The other teachers helped him learn the ropes between classes, and he looked less and less bewildered as the day moved on. Elissa was beginning to feel that she might get through the week without any major problems when Derek cornered her in the teachers' room.

"I need to talk to you," he said shortly. She nodded her head, but he motioned her out of the room. When they were in Galaxy, he closed the door and turned to look at her for a minute.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked.

"I hope not. Did Mr. Cho make you a job offer?"

"I…that's none of your business," Elissa replied.

"Not my business? If the man's headhunting my teachers it's definitely my business."

"Your teachers? You're not my boss!" The moment the words were said, Elissa wanted to bite her tongue. Was she eight years old?

"He came here to work. He signed a contract stipulating that he would not be working for or with any other schools while he worked for us. You signed that contract, too. It is very much my business if you're going to break contract."

"He said paper contracts didn't count as much with Koreans as they do with Westerners."

"He probably offered you a lot of money," Derek said. "It won't be worth it. Mrs. Song is a powerful woman, and even if she wasn't she'd be perfectly within her rights to fire you, deport you, and sue you for the cost of your plane ticket here. You don't want that flag on your passport. Not to mention the fact that you'd be leaving a bunch of people in the lurch."

"How interesting. That sounds a lot like what I told Mr. Cho when he offered me the job."

"How did he convince you to take it?"

"I didn't say I'd taken it."

"So you're considering it."

"No. I turned it down."

Derek stared at her. "Why didn't you just say so?"

"You didn't ask if I accepted it, you asked if he made me an offer. Since I didn't take it, and have no plans to leave the school, I didn't think it mattered."

Derek paused. "Do you know if he's made any other offers?"

"Yes, I do."

Derek waited for an elaboration, but when none was forthcoming he added, "Do you know who he talked to?"

"No one is breaking a contract to work for him," Elissa evaded.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

After a few seconds Elissa said, "Are we done?"

Derek seemed to struggle with himself. "Yes," he finally said in a very calm voice.

Elissa headed for the door, but turned back at the last minute. "Are you going to fire Mr. Cho?"

"I'm not his boss, just like I'm not yours."

"But you're going to tell Mrs. Song."

"Of course."

"He hasn't hurt anyone, y'know."

"That's not the point."

Here was the Derek she knew: hard and unreadable. His face was like a stone mask, and Elissa couldn't tell what, if anything, he was thinking. "Will he be in trouble?"

"I don't know."

"And you don't care."

"Not particularly."

The bell rang, signaling the end of Elissa's free period. As she turned to march out the door she ran headfirst into Gina, the shy teenaged girl she'd seen on her first day.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she said.

Gina nodded her head and ducked inside the room without a word. When Elissa glanced over her shoulder, she saw that Derek's stone mask had completely disappeared, replaced by a calm, neutral expression. Gina bent her head to dig her books out of her backpack, and Elissa noticed a fleeting expression of sadness and desperation flicker in the head teacher's eyes.

He noticed her watching and said shortly, "Would you mind shutting the door, Miss Johnson?"

She did, and hurried upstairs to her final class.

*Ajosshi is literally translated to "uncle", but since Koreans have family names for every single person they meet, it also describes a middle-aged man. Similarly, people call every elderly person they meet harmonee (grandmother) or harubojee (grandfather) and every middle-aged person ajumma or ajosshi. Depending on the age and gender of the person speaking, younger people are referred to as brothers (older or younger), sisters (older or younger), or friends (same age), even if they've just met. When you first meet a Korean person, the first question will be "How old are you?" in order to determine what to call you - are you a brother and require a little more respect, or a friend? Things are changing a bit now, but a generation ago it was impossible for people to be friends if they weren't the same age and gender. It's still hard to convince Koreans that a platonic friendship can exist between members of the opposite sex.

To make things a little stranger, children never, or rarely, refer to their siblings by name. There are eight different words for siblings: a boy has words for his younger sister, older sister, younger brother, or older brother. A girl has to use an entirely different set of words. A child under five is not referred to as either a brother or a sister, but simply a baby. This is why I have six-year-old children telling me "I love my baby," instead of "I love my baby sister." They also have no word for "cousin"; cousins are referred to as brothers or sisters. Asking kids about their families can get pretty confusing!

Chapter Sixteen

Posted on 2009-05-16

It had been more than two weeks since Janelle had heard from Mark. Her reply to his "take a step back" email had gone unanswered, and by the time Open House rolled around Janelle was approaching maximum anxiety levels.

"I know I said I agreed that we should step back," she confided to Elissa, "but I didn't think he meant this far back!"

Updates on his Myspace and Facebook pages showed that, as far as she could tell, Mark was still alive and well, and enjoying his first month back in the States, so she was at a loss as to why he would drop her correspondence so quickly. Elissa wondered, too, and hoped they hadn't misread his character. He hadn't seemed the type to leave a girl in the lurch, but they hadn't had the chance to get to know him very well. Maybe he was just a really good actor.

Open House was more welcome than either of them wanted to admit, because it meant they had much less time to worry and talk about Mark. Almost all of their free time was spent discussing and preparing for Open House. By the time Elissa's turn came – her class had been scheduled last to give them as much practice time as possible – her nerves were worn to shreds.

Five well-dressed women entered her classroom at 10:30 on Friday morning and sat awkwardly in the small plastic chairs provided. Venus was uncharacteristically quiet as their mothers filed in, and only James turned around in his seat to wave at his mother. Elissa noticed that James's mother was the weariest-looking one of the bunch, and wasn't a bit surprised. He'd stopped jump-kicking everyone in the class, and he hadn't bitten anyone in months, but he was still a handful.

When everyone had taken a seat, Elissa, heart pounding, began. They went through their morning rituals of helpers, attendance, and calendar helper with very few hiccups. They "read" their favorite picture book together, which each child taking one page at a time. Elissa had spent hours drilling the children on their pages, and made sure that each child got to read the same number of pages.

When that was done they launched into a quick theme activity about insects that they'd rehearsed daily, so that each child could recite the body parts of an insect on command. Elissa tried her best to keep her focus on her students, who were behaving extremely well, but once she looked up on accident. All of the young women wore blank, almost stern, expressions; they only lightened when one of the children did or said something clearly unrehearsed.

Finally they sang their favorite song, "Skidamarink," complete with kisses blown at the end, and Elissa could declare her first Open House over. Whether or not it was a success she would find out from Peter, who came in to translate the mothers' individual questions and concerns.

Jun's mother appeared perfectly happy with the class and Jun's progress. Elissa had nothing but pleasant things to say about the serious-faced toddler who studied hard but also knew when and how to have fun. They ended their conference in mutual satisfaction.

Robin's mother was a cheerful person who wanted her son, above all, to enjoy his education; she thanked Elissa for making Venus class an entertaining as well as educational experience.

Jennifer's mother was a little harder to please. She considered her daughter something of a prodigy, and took this opportunity to ask for more homework. Elissa, who had never given her little ones any homework, was a little taken aback at this request. Peter smoothed things over for the moment by reminding Jennifer's mother that it was not Kids Institute policy to assign homework to the youngest class, but Elissa could tell that the issue would be raised again in the future.

Sam's mother, contradictorily, had concerns that the environment was too studious for her son, and privately Elissa agreed. Sam had the attention span of a gnat and disliked doing anything for any length of time, even if it was an activity he liked. So far the only activity she'd found that could hold his attention was "Duck, Duck, Goose."

James's mother refused to speak while the others were in the room, but as soon as they were gone she grasped Elissa's hand and began talking earnestly. Peter translated,

"Thank you so much for helping James. I know he is a difficult boy, but he has been to so many schools and they always ask him to leave. You are so kind to him!"

Elissa, who vividly remembered shouting herself hoarse during the first week of school, simply nodded her head and smiled.

"He talks about you every day," the young woman continued, "and he loves you so much. Thank you for your care!"

Privately Elissa thought this was doing it a bit brown. Just the other day she'd had to punish James for calling her "babo* teacher," and he was nowhere near as affectionate as the other students. She kept her countenance, though, and assured James's mother that she had great pleasure in teaching Venus class.

Finally she was gone, and Elissa could relax. It was over for another three months, and she could return to teaching actual classes instead of rehearsal sessions. When Venus returned from the gym she gave each child a big hug and let them close the morning class with a game of their choice.

At the end of the day Elissa met with Peter to discuss the success of her Open House, and was surprised to find Derek there as well. Before she could ask about his presence, Peter began.

"Your Open House went very well. The parents were pleased."

"I'm glad," Elissa smiled in relief. "I thought they looked pretty grim."

"Most mothers are reserved at these things. They don't want to encourage bad behavior by laughing at a bad time. But they were impressed with you and the children's progress."

"That's good, but it's not really me," she pointed out. "They learned most of their language from Jenny."

"You're doing very well," Derek interrupted. "I know it may not feel like it, but you are."

"I really don't have much to say about your Open House," Peter confessed, "but Derek has a favor he'd like to ask you. That's why he's here."

Surprised, Elissa raised her eyebrows in Derek's direction.

"My contract ends in August," Derek said, "and I know you've seen my private student, Gina. All the other classes will be assigned to my replacement, but I'd like you to take over Gina's class as soon as possible, if you could." As this was the last thing she'd expected to hear, Elissa was speechless for a moment. Derek continued, "You'd get paid extra to teach, as it would be overtime and a private class, which the school doesn't really offer. Also…"

"I wish people would stop tossing more pay at me like it's the ultimate incentive," Elissa complained. "Do I really come off that materialistic?"

"Uh," Derek flushed, "no, but I just thought I'd let you know the terms of the job."

"Why me?"

"Gina…she's been through a tough time recently. I've done my best, but I don't think she trusts me, and she just keeps getting more and more closed off. I'm hoping she'll do better with a female teacher."

"What happened to her?"

"I'd really rather not talk about it. She's unhappy and scared, and I think a male teacher is too imposing for her right now. You're cheerful and upbeat; I think you could help her."

"Janelle is much more patient than I am," Elissa said thoughtfully, "if she's really that shy or closed off."

"I've tried patience. I don't think she needs patience. I think she needs someone like you." Derek was looking at her so earnestly now that Elissa started to blush. "I've thought about this and observed every teacher at this school. I think you'd be good for her, plus you've got several months left on the job. I don't want to leave her at the mercy of someone new to the job, who may or may not be good at it. What do you say?"

Elissa met his eyes and was surprised at how much emotion she saw there: he was completely in earnest, willing her to take this job that obviously meant so much to him. Gina meant a lot to him, that much was clear, but she couldn't detect anything unhealthy or strange in his concern. She was surprised that he cared so much about ensuring his student's future, she was impressed with his insight into a young woman in need, and most of all she was flattered that of all the teachers at the school, he'd chosen her for a charge this precious to him.

Faced with that fact, how could she possibly refuse?

"Sure," she heard herself say in a voice more tender than anything she'd ever used with him. "Sure, I'll do it."

"Great," he exhaled. "Peter will have to do some schedule juggling to free up that class for you, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Elissa stood to leave, and Derek took her hand. "Thanks."

When Elissa got home, Janelle was in the living room in front of her computer. Janelle smiled briefly at her sister before returning to the instant messenger on her screen. Elissa could tell that Janelle wasn't in the mood to talk, so she went directly to her room to work on some lesson plans.

She tried hard not to listen for sounds from the living room, but Elissa couldn't help but notice the silence. She'd gotten used to the click-clack of Janelle's keyboard late at night, and the current stillness was disturbing. When she walked out into the kitchen to get a drink of water, Janelle had opened a word processing document and was pretending to do some work. The page was blank, and Elissa noticed that her sister switched between the document and the messenger frequently.

An hour or so after Elissa had gone to bed, Janelle sighed, closed her laptop, and went into her own room. She hadn't typed a single word.

*Can mean silly, foolish, crazy, or mentally unstable depending on the context. Generally not an acceptable term when referring to one's elders or superiors.

Posted on 2009-05-31

Mr. Cho had been fired. Mrs. Song had had the good sense to wait until all of the teachers were gone for the night to pull him into her office and inform him that his association with Kids Institute was over. The next morning, Mr. Cho could pompously inform everyone that he had decided to leave Kids Institute and take a job elsewhere; nobody was fooled, but they knew better than to say anything. Mr. Cho would forgive them anything but making him lose face.

Carla's contract was rapidly coming to an end, but so far nobody had heard anything about a replacement for her. When Peter assembled them for Carla's last teacher meeting, he gave them a surprise they hadn't been ready for. Jessica would take over Carla's class for the rest of her own contract, but Mrs. Song was putting off hiring a teacher until Jessica left in August.

"What's that going to do to the afternoon schedule?" Kyle asked, his voice uncharacteristically serious.

"It will be an excellent opportunity to earn some overtime," Peter said in what was meant to be a reassuring tone.

"Overtime?" Kyle replied. "As in working our butts off?"

Peter looked distressed. "I will do my best to make sure you have enough breaks to prepare and rest. Mrs. Song feels that the school is not doing as well as it should."

"We're almost at full capacity!" Kyle persisted. "Even Jessica and Paula work thirty-hour weeks, and they don't have kindergartens. How well does she expect the school to be doing, anyway?"

"Back off, Kyle," Derek said calmly. "You know Peter didn't make this decision."

Kyle subsided into sulky silence, his arms crossed.

"As you all know, this is Carla's last teacher meeting. Mrs. Song wanted me to thank you, Carla, for your hard work and…"

There was a knock on the door, and Mrs. Song's stern face peered into the room. She walked in and looked around, finally settling on Carla. She smiled, a sight that was rare around the school, and said,

"Miss Long, thank you for your teaching. I hope you like your Korea." Still smiling, she advanced and handed Carla an envelope. "For your dinner," she said, and then turned and walked back out of the room.

"Thank you," Carla called belatedly. The other teachers stared at Peter for an explanation, but he had none to give. Instead, he seemed grateful that Mrs. Song's interruption had distracted everyone from their schedules; he adjourned the meeting and beat a hasty exit.

"Well, drat," Carla sighed when he was gone. "I thought we'd all go out to dinner and gripe about her and her greed and the schedule changes, but how am I supposed to do that when she gave me a wad of money for dinner?"

"Not to mention it's not really your problem, anymore," Elissa pointed out.

"Well, that too. But I was going to lend a sympathetic ear."

"Instead you can lend your hard-earned cash," Kyle said jovially, slinging an arm over her shoulder. "Where are we going?"

They hadn't been especially close, but Elissa really missed Carla. She was the only person who knew that Carla had not gone home at all, but to Japan to await her new visa so she could begin work at Happy English Time, the inspired name of Mr. Cho's new kindergarten and hagwon. Carla had promised to keep in touch, and it wouldn't be difficult with her still in the area, but Elissa knew with her new schedule she'd have very little time for socializing.

Every teacher but Paula, who had no kindergarten class, worked from ten o'clock to seven o'clock with an hour for lunch. If they were lucky, they were treated to a one-hour break per week. Elissa spent more time than ever at the school after hours, writing lesson plans, making decorations, and preparing worksheets for her classes. For once, she wasn't alone; two Saturdays in a row saw the full staff sitting grouchily at their desks, preparing for classes they didn't have the energy to teach.

Sometimes it struck Elissa how little she knew her coworkers. They were a tight-knit group despite their differences, and even the friendliest of them seemed unable to completely accept the newcomers into their group. There was the smallest of gulfs between the "old crew" and the "new crew," and Elissa found herself wishing that weren't so.

Two weeks after her conversation with Derek, he approached her again to tell her that everything had been arranged and she would take over Gina's class the following week.

"Are you sure I'll be her only teacher?" Elissa asked. "This new schedule is kind of messed up."

"I'm sure. If the school tried to pull that with Gina, her parents would pull her out. Would you like to meet her?"

"I've seen her before."

"I know, but…y'know, be introduced."

"Oh. Yeah, okay."

"Come to Galaxy during your free period."

When Elissa entered Galaxy that afternoon, Gina was already there, sitting quietly at the table. Derek introduced them and then sat watching expectantly as Elissa talked with the girl about her age and her school. It was nearly impossible to extract anything from her, and Elissa noticed that when Derek stood to signal the end of the interview, Gina immediately clammed up. Clearly she found him intimidating. Elissa didn't blame her, but the interview hadn't discouraged her. In fact, she looked forward to this new challenge.

Elissa came home and found Janelle sitting on the couch with her laptop. With a sigh she sank onto the couch next to her sister. Janelle hastily closed her laptop, but not before Elissa saw the forlornly empty mailbox.

"Nothing from Mark, huh?"

"No," snapped Janelle.

Elissa blinked. "Uh…sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," she sighed. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I keep emailing him but he just won't answer me. I even called his house the other day. Nobody picked up. He's gone, Lissy."

"I guess so."

Janelle stared sadly at her closed computer. "I'm going to erase everything about him. His phone number, his email address. That way I won't keep emailing him and asking him why he won't contact me. It's obvious, isn't it? He doesn't want to see me again."

Elissa watched her sister quietly for a minute. "You really liked him didn't you?"

"I know it sounds silly because we didn't know each other for long, but yes. I've missed him, too. But I guess it's time to move on, isn't it?"

Elissa put her arm around Janelle, who looked ready to cry. "Yeah, it is. I'm sorry, hon."

"I'll be fine." Janelle smiled weakly and shrugged. "I'm going to bed now. See you in the morning."