A Royal screw-over and a Rascist Letter

So Amy and Kyle are approaching the end of their contracts and it has been quite a week. And by quite a week I mean the week from heII. This story is a mess...but bear with me ok? 

So background for you:

Amy's school (my school) is really good, and Kyle's school really sucks. Amy's enjoyed her job and Kyle has hated his....our boss is great and his is a wench. Amy and Kyle's visas run out on the 29th, but their contracts don't finish till the 30. They didn't really want to work that extra day....plus it is technically illegal.....(side note...we are required to leave the country the same day that we got here the year previous....how is this possible? Think about it...we all have year contracts...no one starts the day they arrive...you do the math...)

Also important: all ESL teachers here get paid a big severance bonus for finishing their contract...k, so get this. Kyle's contract doesn't finish till Thursday....and this week Kyle's boss tells him he can't go to work on Thursday and she's going to withhold that bonus money because he's a bad person/terrible teacher etc etc. Poor Kyle was really down. Who wants to hear that from their boss after their year of working here. As if his experience wasn't bad enough already...I was really upset about all this....I hate that he had such a hard time this year...and this wasn't a good ending.....but focusing on the practical...if Kyle doesn't finish his contract then he really can't complain cause he didn't finish his year. So what to do? 

They needed visa extensions. So me and Jenny got up early two days ago and drove them to the Provincial capital to extend their visas. So now we're legally good to go. Jenny was very handy to have along. Her Korean is a little better than mine. 

Kyle goes back and talks to his boss again. She says she's still keeping the money and he can't work on Thursday. He secretely records this conversation with my mp3 voice recorder. She is now doomed in court. But then to win that court case, Kyle and Amy have to stay another three weeks. She knows this, they know this. 

Jenny, saves the day again by talking to the legal office responsible for this sort of thing (they don't speak English...again how is this possible...how could they help any English teachers having problems?) She says his boss will lose in court but probably won't change her mind for any other reason. She calls said boss anyways to explain. Boss lies and says Kyle doesn't want to work on Friday and she's being very generous and will give him part of the severance package even though he's not done. 

Kyle walks into work and boss apologizes profusely for the events of the week....but still keeping around $550.....Kyle calls me and he sounds so much happier. I guess the boss had been humbled a bit and this was a better ending to the saga and he needed to hear that from her. So that's good. 

I'm still a little p.o.ed that the boss gets away with manipulating the situation, but, if Kyle's happy than that's a good thing. Kyle and Amy aren't going to stay three more weeks to fight her for that much...it's not worth it....and everyone knows that. I think that's why she kept that amount. Sigh. It has been one of the most draining weeks on record. Haven't slept well....and far too much stress. I will have to explain part II the rascist letter in a different installment. Part II will outline the massive stress mountain that was MY workplace this week. Ugh Ugh Ugh. 

An awkward moment and Matt the Farmer

Starting with the awkward story. From like the first week me and Jenny were dating. Another one that was really unfunny at the time, but that you will probably get a kick out of. For this one, it's important you remember that Jenny was married before. So we were reading the Bible...Matthew 6:25-34, if you want to see it click here. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%206:25-34&version=31 Anyways, it's about not worrying, trusting God, nice things like that. So I read it in English and told her "Matthew 5:25-34". http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%205:25-34;&version=31;  She was reading it in Korean...and I didn't really understand what she was saying, but it didn't sound right, and I was getting this overwhelming upset vibe from her..turns out she was reading about how bad divorce is and how anyone who marries a divorcee becomes an adulterer/adulteress. She thought I was trying to send her a subtle message. BIG OOPS. 

I spent the next half hour unpacking what the bible says about divorce and why she wasn't going to hell for leaving her psycho abusive husband. Talk about awkward. 

Changing gears...you probably can't appreciate how shocking it is that my girlfriend's house is on a farm...but believe me, if you have any experience with the  madeuphighheelstruttinglouisvittonpursetotingminiskirtsporting culture that is Korean girls, then you would know what I am talking about. Anyway take my word for it. Jenny was no exception, the first few times I met her she was as described above...minus Louis vitton and obviously prettier...but anyway.....so when I found out her Mom was a beef farmer...it was quite shocking to say the least. Anyway, her Dad is a pastor is some city a couple hours from here, so her Mom needed some help this past weekend, covering the rows of a plowed field  with plastic (think landscaping cloth). This particular field is a corn field if you were curious. Anyway, so I spent Saturday from 7-11 am shoveling. With a Korean shovel. I.E. Fisher Price size. So my back has still not forgiven me. And I had to chase a delinquent adolescent cow who thought he was hot stuff and wanted to trample my lovely field. It was just like class, bad student. I didn't imagine this when I pictured teaching English in Korea that's for sure.  

Haha. I have to keep kicking myself and making sure this is really my life....If you told me 9 even nine months ago that I would be in Wonju, South Korea, feeling this way about a farm girl with a kid, speaking Korean...I would have been skeptical to say the least. 

Signing off......HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAMMA! 

Things I am learning

Number one

If you shave your head in the summer and play sports for several hours, your head will get burned and turn red and all your students will laugh at you. Not that they don't laugh anyway, but this is laughter of the uncontrollable type....the same type as when you shave said head.  This lesson may seem self-evident...but the writer had only ever shaved his head in the winter, so this was indeed a new experience. 

Number two 

I am learning a lot about relationships. How to deal with conflict with someone you really care about...how to express anger and negative feelings...I'm not that good at it.....and it's even harder with Jenny because of the culture/language thing too.  Usually not really a problem...but in emotionally charged discussions when nuance is just that much more important...it does make it more difficult. 

Number three

Breaking your pinkie really sucks. Did that yesterday...now I have a cute splint...I'll show you a picture....clearly not the most manly of injuries...haha I remember at Prov me JP and Kyle all created ourselves in an NHL season on Nintendo...and Kyle's character broke his pinkie and missed like eight months...me and JP mocked him mercilessly...but  anyway, I need to apologize to that AI character cause pinkies hurt....not approaching face breaking pain...but pretty bad nonetheless....

Reflections on being a quasi-parent

So, in case you missed it somehow, Jenny has a daughter. Every second weekend I usually go with her to get Seo-yeong (as in Saw like to cut, and young like not old). And this weekend we spent the whole saturday just with us three. 

Some observations so far.....it's rewarding. And wow, three year old children are tiring. I needed a nap just as much as she did. Maybe it's more tiring since it's not my kid and she doesn't speak English....I'm not sure. 

But she is sooo cute. And she really likes me....which is cool. She is really shy and doesn't really open up to Jenny's other friends, but when she sees me her face is adorable and she comes running over to give me a hug. I even got a chupa chip lollipop from her the other day.....and she doesn't share food. She woke up from her nap on Saturday all sad cause she couldn't see me. And my  apartment was covered in stickers. She took my Korean alphabet stickers and put them everywhere...including somehow, on the inside of my webcam lens.....I've found them this week inside my socks, on my pillow and other random places. And she falls asleep on me in the car and yea........those parts are pretty rewarding. But also, she is tiring. And I started to pick up the first hints of jealousy on the weekend....about having to share Mom time. Hopefully that doesn't grow into a big deal. 

Anyhoo, lots of rewards, and lots of tired. A parental microcosm. I understand a nugget more of what it's like to be a parent. Anyways, so Kudos to parents everywhere, and mine in particular for surviving three of us. 

From Wonju over and out.