Bloody Picasso and Dog Food

I was heading to my friend's apartment to watch a rugby game, but he lives out of town and so I needed to catch a bus. I'd never been there before, but I knew it wasn't too far away.
I hopped on a bus and called my friend to let him know I would be there shortly so he could wait for me at the bus stop.
He told me about the various landmarks that I would see along the way so that I would know where to get off the bus. He also said either himself or one of our other friends would be there waiting for me at the bus stop so I would know for sure when to get off.
I kept seeing various landmarks that could possibly be the ones he was talking about, but I wasn't sure so I kept waiting to see a familiar face. That familiar face was nowhere to be found. I kept searching for it at every stop. It just never came.
My friends kept calling me questioning me about my whereabouts. I had absolutely no idea where I was. Eventually, after about a half hour, my friend called and told me to get off the bus and just wait for the next bus heading back in the direction I had just come.
I did get off the bus at the next stop and landed in a random rice paddie. Absolutely nothing looked familiar and there was a random convenience store open, but no clerk. There was also a couple of small cages full of dogs that were barely being kept alive. They will be someone's meal soon.
I met some junior-high aged boys on the road and asked them if they knew where and when a bus would be coming along. In single-word sentences they informed me that the bus stop was just down the road and there would be a bus coming in about 30 minutes.
I stood at the bus stop, which was no more than a telephone pole, and waited for the bus to come. I was somewhat near some sort of factory that had smoke billowing from the stacks.
Big dumptrucks kept driving by me, too. There was one driver in particular who continuously drove on the road in front of me. He would head one direction and then 10 minutes later he would drive back. Each time he passed me he would slow to gawk at me. On the third drive-by he made a complete stop, whipped out a huge, very expensive looking SLR camera and began taking my picture. I was stunned and immediately turned my back to the freak and did my best to hide behind the telephone pole.
He eventually continued driving and I guffawed at his brazen dickishness.
But it didn't end there. He kept driving back and forth past me, every 15 minutes or so and each time he pulled out his camera and tried to take pictures of me. WTF? I was convinced he was going to grab me, throw me in his dump truck, chop me up into little pieces, take pictures of the pieces and then feed me to the poor malnourished dogs that were stuck in the cages that were way too small for them.
He drove by another time, stopped in front of me again and motioned for me to get in his truck. Are you friggin' kiddin' me, smalls? On what planet do you think I would actually willingly get into your vehicle with you and ALLOW you to murder me and take pictures while doing it? Psycho.
By this point it's raining. I called my friend, Reese, and explained the situation to her and said I just wanted her to know what happened to me in case nobody ever heard from me again. She said, "OH MY GOD!! Where are you??! I'll come get you!!!"
I ever so calmly exclaimed, "I don't even know where I am!!! Somewhere between rice paddies and my eternal grave!!! He's going to feed me to the poor dogs!!!"
That's when my cell phone battery began to beep as, of course, my battery was now dying. I can't actually make this shit up. By this point it had been about a half-hour and no bus was in sight.
Butcher-boy kept driving by and I was absolutely convinced I was going to become some sort of bloody montage of digital pictures for this freak. I considered walking to one of the little farm houses to see if I could borrow someone's phone to call somebody who could speak Korean to call me a cab. I thought better of it when I realized the only living quarters I could find was one that housed emaciated dogs in teeny-tiny cages.
I would wait for the bus.
I began standing behind an ancient decrepit pop machine that was near the telephone pole to cover myself enough from the prying eyes of Butcher-boy. Eventually, after about 20 more minutes, a bus came charging up the road and I nearly shrieked in glee and through my hands up in victory. I was not going to be dog food today! I've never been so happy to see a bus in my life.
After going all the way back into Dangjin, I called my friend who's house I was supposed to be at an hour prior and told him, screw it I'm getting a cab. Turns out, his apartment was literally 5 minutes from the center of Dangjin. I practically could have walked there.

Thanks Ya'll

I've been so lucky in my life to have met such amazing people and to have made such great friends. It's so humbling to have such phenomenal friends and family on my side.
The last few years have been so tumultuous and mercurial. I've made so many path-altering decisions. My friends have stuck with me and supported me and the friends I've made along the way have surpassed any expectation I ever could have made.
I can say without hesitation that I, by far, have the most amazing people in my life and I'm so thankful.
I can also say I've put myself in various positions and situations in the past few years which have forced me to rely heavily on others, which isn't something I was used to. I'm not proud of certain things, but it's comforting to know I have many people I can call on when I know I need help.
Even now in South Korea, I've made friends that are willing to give so much to me and it's overwhelming. I've known these people for 9 months and they're willing to open so much of themselves to me. I'm so lucky.

Three Months and Counting....

Has it been mentioned that I hate my boss? I may have let that slip once or twice. But I do. I really, really do.
I had been working at a kindergarten four days a week from 10 a.m. to noon for most of the last 9 months I've been in Korea. In the beginning, it was for 80 minutes a day twice a week. But apparently She Devil decided she wasn't making enough money off me so she upped my schedule. Then she rearranged my regular schedule from 2:30-9:30 p.m. so that I would have one or two 45-minute breaks throughout the day, so that I would never get overtime.
I later found out that Agnes and the owners of the kindergarten were friends. I wasn't aware that it was possible for Agnes to have friends, but when making money is involved I guess anything is possible.
The new schedule became such a giant pain in the ass. I never had a chance to have a life outside of school. I never had enough time to get anything done. I have to walk everywhere I go and it's a mission just to go to the bank or the grocery store.
I got to the point where I told She Devil I didn't want to do the kindergarten classes anymore. Two hours with 3-5-year olds is a REALLY long time. And then I have to deal with the rest of my students for 7 hours a day.
Agnes had a complete conniption fit and said I had to do it. Then I reminded here that my contract wasn't with the kindergarten, which is in a seperate location, but with Talking Club. I also called the Talking Club headquarters and had them talk to her, which further pissed her off.
She eventually relented, but said to give the kindergarten a 1-month notice. Fine. Whatever.
About two weeks after this all transpired, She Devil dropped a bomb on me telling me that because I wasn't going to be doing the kindergarten anymore I would be starting an adult English class Monday-Thursday from 6:30-7:30 a.m.
I told her, the hell I was. I told her it was unreasonable to ask (tell) me to do that. She said I had no choice and under my contract I was obligated to work 120 hours a month and that time would be part of my contract hours.
I told her I would call Talking Club headquarters again and ask them about it. She said, "Ok, go ahead."
I called the headquarters, explained the situation and the guy (who sounded like an Aussie) told me that unfortunately I was contractually obligated to do the class. He told me the way my contract was worded it didn't stipulate when the 120 hours had to be done.
He said, "I'm really sorry. I know you don't want to hear that."
I asked him what I could do. He told me, "Off the record, you should contact your recruiter or hand in your resignation. If headquarters got involved, it would make her more angry and she'd make your situation worse."
Super.
I contacted my recruiter and told him everything that had happened throughout the year. I hadn't contacted him throughout the year because I was afraid of what would happen to me. I didn't tell him everything because I wanted him to do something about it, I finally told him because I wanted him to be aware in case she tried to do something to me. I've heard stories about English teachers being fired in their 11th month for bogus reasons. I also don't want the next person to have to go through the same crap I did.
My recruiter said he was really sorry and he agreed with me that what she was asking was unreasonable. He told me he wouldn't send another teacher to this school ever again and he asked me what I wanted him to do. I told him I just wanted to finish my contract and get the hell away from her.
She came up to me the other day and said, "The morning class must be really difficult."
I said, "Yeah, it really sucks but there's nothing I can do about it."
She then said, "Uhh, yeah. I'm sorry about that." And then she just walked away.
I have three months left. I just have to get through the next three months. I've been looking for the next contract and I want to get as far away from here as possible. I've been looking for jobs in Busan or Jinju, which are both cities on the south region of South Korea. Basically I want to get as far away from this woman as humanly possible and since I can't afford to go home, that means I head to the southern coast.
I just really hope the next three months fly by.

Red, White & Blue

This was the first 4th of July I haven't had to work since I was in high school and, go figure, I'm in a different country. But fun was had by all!
My friends and I got together to have an Independence barbecue on the rooftop of one of our apartments. Since my friends are from all parts of the world, we decided to not celebrate any one country. We had Koreans, Canadians, Irish, Kiwis, Americans and South Africans at the barbecue. It turned into an American and Canadian party, however.
I showed up with watermelon and Budweiser. I don't even drink Budweiser in America, I think it's crap beer, but I had to drink it for the party! Somebody else brought an American flag and one of the Canadian chicks brought graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows for s'mores. Yeehaw!!!
At one point, three of us Americans broke out with the national anthem. I couldn't remember I actually remembered the words. It's been so long since I've actually sang that song. Then the Canadian chicks followed suit and had to sing their national anthem, too.
We also shot off fireworks and had sparklers. Yay for lighting shit on fire!!!!!
The police eventually showed up because, apparently, we were being too loud. Keep in mind this was before 10 p.m. on a Saturday. Luckily we had Korean friends at the party and they managed to get rid of the cops. If this had been a Korean party, there would have been no issue. But god forbid the Meegooks and Waegooks celebrate their independence. Whatevs. We had a great time regardless.
I didn't get to go camping, float the river or watch a parade, but I still had a great Independence Day celebration with good friends, beer, barbecue and fireworks. Sounds like a pretty successful Independence Day to me.
Happy Birthday, America!!!!