I laughed as my class of 5 year olds hopped around in a childlike attempt at dancing to the beat of the song playing. 

                  “Teacher!”  Youngjae, a little boy with a bowl cut, bounced over to me with his arms out.  He grabbed my hands and dragged me out of my chair, still bouncing, to the middle of the colorful carpet in the middle of the classroom.  A hoard of other children jumped over to where I towered over them, the beauty of being a preschool teacher – even at 5’3, I’m a giant – and bounced in a circle around me.  Giggles and jabber filled the room. 

                  If you can’t beat them, join them.  I bounced on my toes to the beat and clapped as a skinny girl with long Pippy Longstocking braids, Hye Rin, did half a lopsided cartwheel off to the side.

                  “Friends,” I called over the music after a few minutes as I waded my way through children to turn off the CD player.  “Dance time is finished.  It’s time to clean up.  Your parents will be here soon.”

                  Korean kids are super obedient.  They all scattered to pick up all the toys and books before getting their bags ready.

                  Twenty minutes later, my classroom no longer looked like a tornado hit and all but one of my students had been picked up.  I sat at the circle table listening to the last little girl chatter on about her piano class.  I nodded and gave the appropriate ‘mmhmm’s  

                  My eyes widened and I put my hands to my mouth when I saw a tall male figure in a dark suit appear in the doorway of the classroom.  “Yoonah,” I gasped.  “Guess who’s here.”

                  Yoonah’s little face lit up and she swiveled in his seat.  “Daddy!”  She flung her tiny body out of the chair so quickly, it fell over.  Her father lowered himself to his knees so that he could hug his daughter.  After righting the chair, I grabbed her backpack off the hook on the wall near the door and handed it to her father.  That was when I noticed, the head teacher of the preschool, Mina standing behind Yoonah’s father.

                  “Sweetie, why don’t you go with Mina Teacher so I can talk to Reagan Teacher for a minute,” he told her in Korean as he ushered the little girl toward Mina.

                  “Bye, Reagan Teacher,” Yoonah called to me.

                  “Bye, Yoonah, see you later,” I replied.

                  Mina smiled and took her hand as they headed down the hall.

                  Uh oh.  This can’t be good when a parent wants to talk to a foreign teacher.  The last time I had to have a talk with a parent, the mother wanted to tell me that her son was afraid of me because my eyes were green and too big.

                  I sighed, but kept my smile in place.  After doing this job for 3 years at this school, I like to think of myself as an expert in all things parent and child and preschool. 

                  “Miss Reagan,” Yoonah’s father began as he stepped into the classroom.  “I hear only good things about you from my Yoonah.”

                  I let out a sigh faster than I’d meant to.  “Why thank you, Mr. Park” I replied, unsure if I should switch to Korean for him.  After living in Seoul for so long, I was pretty fluent, but his English was perfect with just a hint of a British accent.  I wasn’t sure if he would be insulted if I switched to Korean.

                  “I talked to Mina about you and she says you’re one of the best.  She’s so happy to have you here,” he continued.

                  I am pretty awesome with kids and in general.  I just continued to smile.  Where’s he going with the compliments? 

                  “I’m not sure if you know what I do for work, but I am the CEO of an entertainment agency,” he explained.  I nodded.  I had no idea, just seemed appropriate.  This particular preschool is in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Seoul.  Celebrities, politicians, CEOs, this school educates only the best of the best.  “One of my managers has a group who was given an amazing opportunity to go to America.”

                  “Wow, that’s great,” I congratulated, still slightly confused, but deciding to allow him to lead and remained speaking in English.

                  He smiled politely.  “The only problem is only one of the members of this group speaks English.  And he is not fluent.  He does well, but…”

                  “Always room for improvement,” I finished.  He nodded still smiling.

                  “I spoke with Mina and the owner of the preschool.  They agree to allow you to work here with your preschool classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays if you can give me Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and a morning class on Saturdays.”

                  Wow.  This guy must have serious money.

                  “Only if you want to take on the job as tutor to seven young men.  I will of course compensate you appropriately,” he concluded.

                  Part of me was sad to not be with my preschoolers nearly as much, but more of me was excited for a new job.

                  And adults.  A girl can only have so many conversations about food and colors and music or language lessons before she wants to pull her hair out.

                  “Seoul Garden is really ok with me doing this?” I questioned, worried about the preschool.  Not only because I feel like my loyalty should lie with them, they have been good to me these years what with my salary and my apartment, but they also hold my visa in their hands.  If they pull my visa, I have to leave Korea.

                  Yoonah’s father smiled.  “Of course, I made sure of it.  My Yoonah, thankfully, is a good student and in the past, I have donated a lot to this school.  It’s a wonderful school and I want to see it succeed.”  He straightened his tie.  “But I also want my business to succeed and I want what’s best for them.  And according to Mina, and more importantly, my Yoonah, you are the best English teacher around.”

                  I laughed, humbly.  Yup, definitely the most awesome of the bunch.

                  “So what do you say?  We could have a trial run for, say 1 month?  If you like it, I would like you to tutor them for 1 year.  Are you planning on staying in Seoul?”

                  “Yes, I like living in Seoul and I like teaching.  I wasn’t planning on leaving any time soon,” I explained.  I took a deep breath and let it out in a quick exhale.  “I would like to tutor your group.”

                  How cool.  I bet it’s a rookie group.  Maybe they’ll thank me in the album they’re going to release or in some English interview on an American show, I thought with a giggle.

                  “Excellent,” he cheered and reached swiftly into his jacket pocket.  He handed me a business card with both hands.  I was slightly taken a back by the respectful gesture.  I was at least 10 or so years younger than him, but as a teacher, he respected me.  I accepted the card with both hands and looked at it. 

                  It was his personal business card.  “Please come to that address tomorrow for 9AM.  It’s the agency.  Go to the 7^th floor and let the front desk know who you are.  They will be expecting you.  I will be in meetings all day, but I will check in with you later tomorrow evening.  I will give you a call, but you will be in good hands.  My employees will show you around and give you a run down.”

                  Still holding his business card in both hands, I smiled and bowed my head.  “Thank you for this opportunity.  I will do my best to help improve your group’s English,” I promised him.  He nodded his head.

                  “Thank you, I appreciate you accepting the job.”

                  And with that, he disappeared down the hall.

                  How exciting.  I bounced on my toes a little, gleefully.  I loved kpop and the thought of training what I assumed would be a new rookie group seemed more than a little exciting.