"I'm a person. I'm not Jesus... I can't do miracles."

Of all the things I said this week, that's the one I can remember the best. Well, that and daring my boss to fire me.

Let's go back in time, shall we? We were told at the beginning of the year that we would have one extra day of summer vacation, July 31st. So people made plans accordingly. Then about three weeks ago, we were told, oh, just kidding, you really don't have that day off! So the foreign staff was all a little bit upset because we'd made plans already thinking we had the Monday off, so we asked the principal to explain the situation to Mr. Kim (He owns/runs the school but doesn't know JACK about education, only business. Oh, and he doesn't care about anything but money. It goes without saying that he is NOT my favorite person.). I let it lie for about a week, and then Monday asked Eunice (our fake principal) what Mr. Kim had said in regards to the vacation day. He said no, we couldn't have it off.

So that night I went home and wrote a letter about how it was inappropriate of him to punish the teachers for something that was completely not our fault. I felt that this letter, filled with beautiful nuace that I'm SURE got lost in translation (tragic), was the best way to handle the situation, especially since it was something I could make a copy of and prove what I'd actually said. I asked the other teachers to read it and sign if they wanted and most did. I gave Eunice the letter to give to Mr. Kim on Tuesday before my last period of class.

By the time I was done teaching that night, a mere 40 minutes later, he was all in a rage and threatening to fire everyone who signed the letter. Then he pretended that he couldn't speak English, and I got pissed so I started raising my voice and we basically had a fight via the supervisors that were there. At this point, I decided that Mr. Kim is Satan and I hope he burns in hell, which I'm sure he will anyway.

That night I got a call from our real principal who's at home recovering from stomach cancer. Satan had dragged her into the fray. So basically, long story short, I told her that I dared him to fire me and I am not backing down on this because it is unfair and inappropriate for him to treat people this way.

It's been an emotional and extremely stressful week for me, but I'm still employed with CIS so there's that. Not that I necessarily want to still work for him, but it would suck for my kids, which is the only reason I'm staying anyway. Anyway, I'm too valuable to fire; I have a full class of kindergarteners who's parents are happy, 11 BC kids who's parents will be PISSED if I leave, and two kids in a brand new pilot class. I'd LOVE to see him fire me just to see the crap he gets for it. That could possibly be my favorite thing EVER.

And on top of all this stupid mess, I have a parent of one of my 5th graders who's expectations and version of reality are SERIOUSLY warped. A) She thinks her daughter is the be-all and end-all of students when she's not. 2) She thinks it's possible to read TWO NOVELS in ONE month. She needs to shut the hell up. D) I hate it when people who don't know try to tell me how to do my job. This crazy mom needs to send her daughter to a school where she can learn to stop being weird and learn how to make friends. Because that's what she needs. UGH. That mom needs to just shut up.

I realize that job stress is present at ANY job, and it really just depends on how a person can handle it. So I'm just trying to leave all of this at school and enjoy my weekend. So far, I have managed to do so. Friday night I went drinkin' with the boys from school and it was really nice because Rodney and I totally bonded. And I never thought it, but he is seriously my backbone at that school nowadays. He is true blue and that's something not a lot of people can truly, truly be.

Saturday I went to Youngsan and bought a new magic stick (read: jump drive), new headphones and 6 bootlegs. Joy!! I bought The Producers, Nacho Libre, Madea's Family Reunion, Edison, X3: The Last Stand, and Cassinova. Watched Madea and Nacho last night and thoroughly enjoyed my life. Also went to Dongdaemun and bought a skirt, a shirt, 4 nose studs, three cute pins and I think that's all. AND I got to eat mandu gratin, which is KEY to life. And the only place you can get it, at least that I know of, is Dongdaemun. Mmmmmm.

On the docket today is church and staying nice and cool. 'Cause it's hot out and eewww. My AC is my new boyfriend. I might have to cheat on my iPod Rex with it. lol

Anyway... thanks to all the people who listened to me this week when I needed them to, and thanks to the people who took my mind off everything.

I really needed it.

Much love.