EXIT, STAGE LEFT

The party’s over and what a finish. Nine hours until I depart this apartment and head to my new life in Paju. I could say that it couldn’t be worse, but I’d hate to put a curse on myself. One hundred days in Gwangyang. I think it can be a book, soon to be made into a major motion picture.

I just played on the computer and read today until it was time to go to school and teach my final class. I went to the bank first to see if my 145,000 won was deposited as promised. I really thought it was possible but Kelly ran true to form and no money was there. I wasn’t really mad because I wasn’t surprised, and it’s something I’ve gotten used to. I went to the school and she was on the phone so I just stood there in her office.

After a while she tells the person on the phone to hold on and says to me something like, “can I do something for you”? There was no point dancing around the issue so I said, “you lied to me again”. She asked how (you’ve got to be kidding) and I told her she promised me the money would be in the bank, and it wasn’t there. She looks at me all surprised and says, “it wasn’t”? I tell her that no, it wasn’t. She says, “Miss Moon must have forgot to do the deposit”. She does have a nerve. Nothing is ever her fault. It’s always someone else’s.

I told her that it doesn’t matter; she said it would be there and she lied about it. She resented being called a liar and from there the conversation devolved. At some point she said to me that she was disappointed in me or something to that effect. I shot back at her and said, “And I’m disgusted with you. I have to treat you like a child and stand over you to get anything done”. “You never do what you say you’re going to do”.

She then had the nerve to ask me when she’s done that. I just say all the time since I arrived. She’s very hurt that I said I was disgusted with her and I shouldn’t talk to her. I then point my umbrella at her (it was raining) and tell her if she did what she said she was going to do, there would have been no problem. She says I shouldn’t point the umbrella at her and that she had to refund students money. How many times do I have to hear that? It’s old.

She tells me that no one bothers her as much as I do. I tell her I know that and if she ever did the things she says she’ll do, then I wouldn’t be bothering her.

Then she says she’ll give me cash and why don’t I move tonight. That’s kind of ridiculous and I tell her I’m leaving first thing in the morning. She says she’s giving me cash because she doesn’t want to see me again. Now let’s examine this for a moment. She told me another time that she doesn’t have cash lying around and she would have to do a direct deposit. Why is there cash now? As for not seeing me again, it’s my last night. You’re not seeing me again anyhow.

She says how much does she owe me for this week. I tell her that I’ve worked 6 hours and give her the amount. I tell her I’ll go into my classroom as soon as she gives me the cash. I then go sit in the lobby.

She goes into conference with Miss Moon and after a while she calls me in and asks me if the amount she had was correct. I tell her that it’s correct. She asks if it includes tonight’s class and I say it doesn’t, but not to worry about that. I then go with Miss Moon and she whips out the school cash box and pays me the 253,000 won I’m owed (about $253). She then tells Miss Moon to give me another 18,000 for the class I’m about to do. I take my money and go to class.

When class was over she wasn’t around. I guess our little fight upset her so much she couldn’t stand to see me again. That’s fine because it works for me. I don’t think she can stand people saying unkind things to her, or about her. I think she was always going to pay, it’s just that she’s too slow and never does it unless I stand over her. I think telling her that she “disgusts me” was very appropriate and I’m not sorry I said that. I don’t know that it will cause her to examine her actions. In fact, I don’t think it will. She’ll just think I’m some pushy American. It may be the culture here. Koreans say what they think you want to hear. It doesn’t matter that when it doesn’t happen that there are consequences.

So it’s over. My muse is gone from my life. Will I be able to ever write again? I fear that I will. I expect that there will be some difficulties in Paju. What they’ll be, I don’t know. I called the agency today and asked them when I get my relocation allowance. After my contact goes and checks with her boss she says I get it when I start work and I should take it up with the school. This is not a good sign. I would like it tomorrow as I’m moving tomorrow. Maybe I expect too much, but I think the agency should do everything in it’s power to make it a smooth transition. Granted they are picking me up at the bus station and they don’t have to. I just think that they should take care of making sure I get this amount up front. Of course, I see that people don’t always want to do things my way.

I’m not sure when I’ll post again. With any luck I’ll have Internet access tomorrow but my experience says I won’t. I might have to wait until next week which will mean I’ll have to find a clean PC room to use a computer. I can’t believe I’m leaving Gwangyang. Oh well, it was an interesting experience although I’m not sure if I’d recommend it.