Everything's gonna be alright.

Let's be honest: Work is a big pile of poop right now. But it isn't always and I'm not as upset about it as I seem in the moments when I turn to the internet to rant in order to keep a placid semi-smile pasted to my gob in an attempt to be more Korean-work-place-friendly than I really am in my heart.

It may also be known as growing the fuck up. But we all still need our little moments of venting and rage, right? No? Surely not just me.

I dunno. I'm not surprised. The beginning of every school year and the end of every semester are always the same: the MOE gets inexplicably involved in the most random, stupid ways, and everyone else ends up passing around the shit sandwiches, and you always end with at least a couple on your plate. And a guilty looking coworker who put it there, for lack of wanting to add it to their own. I don't have any shit sandwiches to pass around, given that I'm a foreigner, and well past the days of any potential, "Oh hey by the way can you take me to the bank and why doesn't my toilet work and how do I take the garbage out and the table the school provided for me has some scratches on it and I was wondering if you could replace it for me and can you help me get to the subway station and I'm calling my EPIK/GEPIK/SMOE coordinator to report you for asking me to come into work 20 minutes before the bell rings because that is not in my contract and I know about the labor board, too, so you'd better watch it."

I'm fresh out of shit sandwiches. That's true. Tough breaks. But it's alright -- truth be told, I've always slept better at night being the one who eats shit sandwiches, rather than the one who doles them out. I do wish some of my coworkers would stop apparently sitting at their desks, whipping up a few of their own just for me, though.

It's alright. It's nothing I can't handle. Every year I hope the ridiculous bluster won't happen, and every year I know it will, and every year it does. So. You know.

Next semester I'll move down to first grade, working along an all-star cast of completely competent and reasonable co-teachers who are too old to give a shit about the bluster but not yet old enough to start bossing me around just because they can. I miss them, and I'll be happy to return safely to their 언니 arms.

I'm ready for yet another fresh start, to meet the new students and start right back from the beginning again. In the mean time, Busan's work has finally slowed a wee bit and we were able to meet last night for the first time on a weeknight in a couple of months. It was nice. I'm starting boxing classes next  week, and I've got a great summer planned. After that, it's just a hop, skip and a jump to Chuseok, home leave, the arrival of fall, Christmas, and a whole new year. A year which will hopeful bring a whole new set of challenges for my time here in Korea. I'm starting to get a little too used to the old ones.