Love Motel

Well, I had a crazy Thursday night. How I spent my Thursday night in a love motel:

I locked myself out of my apartment. I didn't realize I had locked myself out until I got home and couldn't find my key. You see, my apartment door locks automatically behind me and if I don't have my little key to let myself in, I can't do anything. So, at 11:45 at night, in freezing weather (legitimately... it was like 16 degrees outside) I was locked out of my apartment.

So I go downstairs to the security guard thinking maybe he has a master key or a keypad code to use to unlock the door. The security guard is sleeping when I approach his booth, and when I knock on the door and wake him up, he certainly looked less than thrilled. He emphatically waved to me to indicate GO AWAY, but I didn't. Instead, I opened the door myself and tried to pantomine a key, while saying, key oppsoyo (I don't have a key). He was just like, I don't know, go away. And so I was like, okay, I have to find someone who speaks english and korean to explain this prediciment. So I go to Family Mart because a lot of the clerks are younger and speak a little english and might be of some help. Naturally, it is my luck that this night, it was a girl who repeated emphatically, several times, "No Englishee" So, frustrated, I went back to the security guard to plead for help. More go aways.

I head upstairs to my apartment to try to use random number codes to get into my apartment. No luck. I'm crying. I had tried calling my coteacher a couple times, but since it was late, she was already asleep. Then, called my friend andre to see if he knew any korean speakers that might be able to help me. His friend joe called me and I went to the security guard to have him talk to him. The security guard then stepped out of his office/booth and said, no talk. HE WOULDN'T TALK TO THIS GUY IN KOREAN TO HELP ME?!?!!!!! But, he does usher me upstairs where he proceeds to rattle off a bunch of information in rapid Korean that I don't understand.

By a stroke of sheer luck, a couple step out of their apartment just as this is starting to get really awkward. This couple happens to be a Canadian man and his Korean (but fluent English speaking) girlfriend/wife. They ask whats going on and the woman begins to help me out. She started talking to the security guard and then started calling locksmiths to see what could be done. The locksmiths all said one of two things: 1) They were closed for the evening, or 2) The only thing they could do is rip the entire lock out of my door, thereby creating a giant hole in my door, and also making it impossible for me to lock my door until they replace it, at my expense. Unfortunately, this option was looking reasonable to me at the time. But the Korean woman suggested I just spend the night somewhere and deal with it tomorrow morning.

Good advice. So, I hop into a cab, and say, "Motel, chogiyo" Which means motel over there, while pointing to the area where all the cheap, seedy love motels are located near me. It was within walking distance but it was so cold and I was so flustered and upset that I refused to walk. I chose the least disgusting looking one, Motel White Castle, which actually turned out to be quite nice. I had a huge room, with a big bed, a couch, a toilet with heated seat, a HUGE ASS BATHTUB, which I didn't use, two computers, and a care kit that include bathrobes, toothbrushes (score), shower caps, facewash (score!) and condoms (less of a score). My apartment also had a phone charger which was really really clutch (all phones in Korea use a universal charger... USA, take note of this). I took a shower, and pretty much went right to sleep.

Woke up the next morning, went to school wearing the same clothes I had worn on Thursday, and explained everything to my co-teacher, who pulled out a spare key and said, here, go home and change. I'll take care of your first period class. THANK GOD!

Seriously, that is exactly what happened.

xoxo
A

Rescued.

I was sure that today was going to be a disaster from the moment I stepped foot inside my school, but things were salvaged nicely.

It was very cold this morning (25 degrees when I woke up, getting as warm as 36-38 or so by midday), and I was excited to wear my winter coat for the first time. I had a cute outfit, and even had time to do my hair and put on make-up, so I was feeling good. Got McDonalds for breakfast which is bad for me, but so delicious for my tummy. It was terrible walking there and to school, but I managed it.

However, I've been stressing for a couple days because one of my co-teachers gave me her flash drive so I could put the video and a copy of the picture of the girls with Mike on it (she was in charge of organizing our group). I had put the photo and video on the flash drive a while ago when she first gave it to me (the week before Halloween), but somehow I had misplaced it and couldn't find it. I hadn't told her and I she had asked me for it on Friday and I was planning to do a last sweep of my apartment for it before I told her I had lost it. So I have been stressing hard about that, because it's so irresponsible of me, and I was really disappointed and felt pretty bad about it.

Then, I get into school and run into my main co-teacher from whom I usually pick up the key to the English zone where my office and classroom are, but she said to me, you have the key right? You didn't drop it off on Friday. Naturally, I didn't have the key, and moreover, I had no idea where the key was (usually when I take it home, I put it on my keychain, but it wasn't there), so I was pretty much 0-2 on the day, and it was only 8:30 a.m. She went to look for a spare key while I scowered my purse for the key.

While looking for the key, however, I pulled out my spare balloon from Dream Concert and bundled up in it was none other than my co-teacher's flash drive that I had thought I lost. In truth I had put it where i meant to, but it had gotten wrapped up by the balloon so I hadn't noticed it before. This meant that I was only missing one important thing (the key to my classroom) instead of just one thing.

I was still really stressed about the key because I'm not supposed to take it home, and my co-teacher can get in trouble for letting me take it home and then I lost it, and so I was really nervous about where it was in my apartment, if it was in my apartment.

However, my day was all uphill from there, including ddeokbokki for lunch (omg, so delicious, my favorite), and two awesome notes from my students Yu Eun-bin (or, as she asked to be called, Movie Star Eun-bin) and Jaeyeong, or Rachel, which is her English name. The note Eun-bin wrote me had pictures drawn of me and her and it was SO CUTE. There is one picture of me in my signature headband (I wear a headband almost every day) with a voice bubble saying "Teacher like~ spaghetti, orange color, spring, hip-hop music, April 29th (teacher's birthday), and Eun-bin" And then she drew a picture of me listening to my ipod (which I often do during my planning time) and then another that is supposed to be a polaroid of us together. I'm wearing my North Face Fleece (which I had been wearing a LOT the last few weeks) and her in the school uniform, and both of us tossing up peace signs and under my picture is says "tall~^_^" and under hers it says short T_T and it was SO PRECIOUS.

Then, after school I got home and discovered that I had the classroom key in my apartment, in the pocket of the pants i wore on Friday. What a relief!

Then went to On The Map with a big group and had a bacon cheeseburger and potato chips and then went to a waffle and ice cream place that was SO DELICIOUS and then went to Juan underground and bought cozy socks, and now here I am, in a cozily heated apartment, listening to my jams and responding to the notes I got today. It turned out SO PERFECT today. *^___^*

These things single-handedly solved all the problems I was having this morning. Yay!

xoxo,
A