D bag.

I'm pretty patient with the "omg foreigner!" nonsense that can go down from time to time. Not amused, really. But patient. And friendly, when I feel the intentions are friendly and not of a sort of mocking nature. But one place I really can't stand this is at work.

Look. I get that you're just here selling pretzels or whatever and that it's your schtick to gain as much attention from the teachers around you as possible so as to sell more, but I don't really appreciate being the target of your dumbassery while I'm trying to eat my lunch and talk to my workmates during my working day. This is my job. And I've worked quite hard to get it to where any new teacher coming in gawks in my general direction exactly once, before all the other teachers correct the behavior and make it known that I'm a teacher -- not a spectacle.

And you coming over to my table where I'm in the middle of a conversation about my students, screaming "ME ENGLISHEE NO! HAHAHAHAHA!" at the top of your lungs, before telling me that this is "KOREAN BANANA! HAHAHAHA!" is not fucking appreciated. And you're embarrassing yourself in front of the entire staff of this school right now. And you're embarrassing them.

I hear a lot of horror stories about how fucking outcast some public school native teachers can end up at their schools. I'm not sure why that is -- I'm sure it's a combination of misunderstandings on both sides, perhaps one side a lot heavier than the other, in any given case. And this is exactly why I'm so hesitant to try to "trade up" in any way with regards to my school. I don't know what all else is out there, but at my school I am treated like a human being. My students bow to me both at school and on the street. And when some moron wanders in off the street and targets me with their total nonsense, my co-workers turn purple with shame and do their best to call the guy off and apologize for it, even though it has nothing to do with them.

I'd like to imagine his sells took a blow because of it, but then again, Koreans are really into snacks, so who knows. Ha.