Just a bump in the road… stupid bump
A couple weeks ago I was very worried about being able to come home in October as there would most likely not be a swine flu vaccine available. Then last week that all changed. Ellie (vice director) agreed with the dates of a flight I had found and said to go ahead with it. I had asked her about the swine flu and she said that wasn’t a big deal. So naturally I email family and friends of the good news that FOR REAL I am coming home in October. Sophia teacher (Korean) helps me find this super cheap ticket with decent traveling hours.
Today Sophia needed to change the name she had for me to match my passport (Aimee Z Fisher). When I went in the office to ask Ellie for a copy of my passport she asked me why I was getting a ticket… what about the swine flu she asked. Oh no she didn’t! So there I stood with Eunice Teacher sitting at her desk lisetning to the whole thing.
When I reminded Ellie of our conversation and she accused me of talking to her when she was busy and then said I was changing the facts!! I know this is the strategy of their business culture but DO NOT speak to me like that. I pointed out to her that we had had a second conversation where we sat down with a calendar and at the end of the converstaion I had hugged her because I was so happy I could go home. This woman is unfrickinbelievable!! You seriously need to taperecord the things she says bc she lies like a cheap hooker.
Arrrggg… I pointed out to her that our quarantine was BS. During our quarantine week we saw kids from a distance and were in the same hallways that they used. They even had one kid hanging out in the teacher’s room. I’m like – are you retarded??!! What idiot brings a child to sit in there??!!! Quite honestly if any of us had swine flu we’d all have been infected with the damn thing.
Then I did something I cannot believe I had the guts to do. I pointed at Eunice Teacher and said, “And she went to Bali and STILL came to school.” Eunice had only been quarantined for 4 days. What BS. I guess it was OK since she’s Korean and probably kept her trip on the DL.
Anyhoo here I am not knowing what to do. I might have to take an extra week unpaid after I return which makes it two weeks unpaid plus my damn ticket. The money is really really adding up now. It’s just so hard because I had already talked about coming home with my parents. October is just about my favorite month and I haven’t been in NJ for fall since 2005.
Apparently over the weekend 2 people in Korea died of swine flu. I was told that they contracted it from the airplane but it turns out that one of them never even left the country. All the cases I’ve been hearing about are IN Korea. Maybe if I’m NOT hear I’ll stand a better chance. haha. Arrggg… I have to be careful not to believe everything they tell me.
Well then Mr. Kim (pretty much our new principal) calls me up to talk to him. Mind you it’s almost the end of the day. He starts the same old speal and I look at him and explain that Ellie did in fact tell me to go ahead and book my ticket. They are so good… they really make you doubt yourself. He talks to me about quarantining and how there should be a vaccine but that’s all a load of crap. No one in the world has one or knows when it’s coming and I’ve read old news articles from May saying oh well next month it will be here. I then suggested that he should contact the Korean Center for Disease Control to find out the real story. I told him I wouldn’t rely on the news for anything.
Mr. Kim is used to my smiling and energetic face. Suddenly he looks at me and asks what’s wrong with my face. I decide this might be the time to work the tears and I started tearing… I was tearing anyways. I looked at him with my sad eyes and said I JUST WANT TO GO HOME FOR A WEEK. THAT WAS THE DEAL. THen I point out to him that the Korean Thanksgiving is the week before so people will be leaving the country for that. (And, though I did not mention this, one of my friend’s parents are coming from Canada so she’ll be exposed to them. And another girl’s boyfriend was just here from Japan.) Mr. Kim looked surprised because apparently he hadn’t thought out that situation. When he asked me which teachers I didn’t give him any names.
Suddenly the bell rang and I stood up, told him that I’d have to talk with my parents and that I was sorry but I had to go to return the books to the children before their buses left.
Before I spoke to Mr. Kim one of the teachers suggested I could talk to him the next day because I looked upset. But going in there with emotion was perfect. I usually end up feeling bad when I go in there all calm and collected and end up not getting anywhere. This time I spoke firmly and wasn’t ready to take any crap.
Sophia and I spoke later when I got home. She was still at the school and had spoken with Mr. Kim. With the ticket non-refundable I had only a matter of hours to cancel it. So there went my super cheap ride home. POOF. It’s gone. Sophia asked me if I had decided to take 2 unpaid weeks or if I was going to do it as Christmas. I explained to her that we had not been able to finish our discussion.
This whole thing breaks my heart because I really was coming home. At long last. People say… ah well CHristmas is coming. Oh really? Maybe I should just wait till frickin St. Patrick’s Day cuz that’s coming too. The point is that when I get home I don’t get to see half the people I intend to see. I miss many holidays and seasons. I miss a lot. And here I know that unless my parents condone it, I’m not coming home for another 4 months. Plus at Christmas my mom is always so busy and the family doesn’t want a million strangers running around and I always feel guilty since it’s my mom’s only week off from school. But really – Do you know how long 4 months IS out here??????????? Like frickin ETERNITY!!!!!!!! October was making it all possible… arrrgggg. I’m sick of the lying and the wishy washy trash. I am sticking this out thorugh Feb. – taking my money and getting the HELL out of here.
The thing that bugs me most is that I know I can hold out till December and will probably opt to do that for money’s sake. But the thing is… while I’m focused on my savings, this visit meant the world to me. I could practically feel my mom’s hug, hear my friends’ laughs and taste the birthday cakes.
ButI tell myself Aimee, that’s life. Your ipod will break. You’ll leave your camera in a cab, and people will give you crap. But Aimee, there are much worse things that can happen. Many people have lost loved ones this year… and I can’t even begin to put myself in their shoes.
Anyhoo…life in other terms is ok. Same old same old Korea though every day the kids make me laugh bc they are too frickin cute. Keep wishing I could transport them to a kindergarden in the States.
I hope you can understand my disappointment and disgust.
Thanks for reading.
Aims
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aimless80
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