I’VE NEVER SEEN A BLOND KOREAN

I’ve never seen a blond Korean but if I did I’m sure her name would be Kelly. I don’t even tell blond jokes but she is, as my sister puts it, a ditz. How will my life be worth living without her in it anymore? What will I write about? What will I complain about? What will I shake my head in wonder about?

I have 3 examples of her clever mind from today. At 4:30 I’m walking to get a taxi to go to school. My first class today is at 5PM. My phone rings and it’s Kelly. She asks me where I am and if there’s a problem. I told her that my class was at 5 and I didn’t have one at 4. She said, “was that in the schedule”? I said yes. She wrote the schedule. I wasn’t surprised at all.

I’m sitting in the teacher’s room waiting for my 8PM class. At 7:20 my phone rings. Guess who? Yes it was Kelly calling me from the front office. “Where are you”? I told her I’m in the back. She then asks me to do her a favor and teach the 7PM class. At the same time the kids were looking for me because no teacher had showed up to their room. She personifies responsibility.

Last week when she told me she couldn’t find the forms to fill out for my visa cancellation online; I went online and found a couple of possibilities. I didn’t know if either of them were it, but I downloaded them and emailed them to her. The idea was for her to check and be sure. Needless to say she didn’t check. She filled out the forms I emailed her and told me I just had to take them to immigration by myself. I said okay but I really didn’t know if it was okay. I phoned the agency that found my new job to see if these forms were correct. They told me that someone from the school had to go to immigration with me. I wasn’t thrilled but they assured me it had to happen. I suppose that’s so immigration can be sure that the foreigner is not scamming them. I went back out to the front and told Kelly that someone had to go to immigration with me. She said, “Did you talk to immigration today”? Think about it. She gives me the forms. I leave the room. I come back in the room and tell her that someone has to go with me and she asks me if I spoke to immigration earlier today. If I had, I would have told her when she gave me the forms. Anyhow, I just told her that I did. I just have to shake my head.

Am I working next week? I don’t know. Kelly said to check my email over the weekend to see if she has to schedule me. She says she hasn’t found a foreign replacement but has hired another Korean English teacher. She said she might want me to come in and teach the 7PM and 8PM conversation classes. An hour later she told me that she was canceling those classes beginning next week because she didn’t have a replacement. So I’m just confused as usual.

I feel like I’m in some sort of limbo state. There’s nothing to do and because I’m leaving I can’t really search out things to do. I’m reading a lot but what else is new. Just 10 more days of this.