After all these years, she finally had a teaching position in a university in Korea, The Generation University. Okay so it was only a minor university in the mid-west, but from little acorns, she thought happily, I am at last a bone fide college don. Well anyway, ______ giggled at her own great achievement.

_______’s happy mood lasted all the way to Chain Reaction House. Then a sense of some foreboding crept in. As she walked up the paved path to the house, she was disconcerted to see a sorority pendant hanging from one of the windows. Also, there seemed to be far too many young women who appeared to be students coming form the house.

“Excuse me,” she said to the girl at the front desk. “Park _______. Am I in the right place?”

“Welcome to the Flower Power Ladies College at Generation University,” the girl answered automatically with just a tad too much enthusiasm. “Oh. Aren’t you kind of young for a freshman?”

“Young?” _______ bristled. “I am 25.”

The girl laughed nervously.

“You’re kidding right? I didn’t mean that you were that young, I just meant that you eh… don’t look like a freshman.”

Slightly mollified, _______ put down her bag and tried to start again.

“That’s because I am not a freshman. I am Park _______ the…”

“Well if you’re not a freshman then I think you must be in the wrong place,” the girl said cheerfully as she continued to scan her lists. “Ahn, Bang, Cha, Cho, Choi, Kim where are the Parks… are here were are, Park Jiwon , Park Sihyun , oh… Park _______, is that you?”

“Park _____, yes.” ______ said with a tight smile.

“Such a lovely name.”

“Thank you.” _______ was getting a little irritated by the over done enthusiasm by now.

“Oh you have one of the single rooms on the second floor,” the girl smiled again, handing _______ a key. “Who’d you kill?”

By the time _______ had unpacked her bags it was too late to report to the administration building. No matter she thought, there were no classes until Monday. She had all weekend to get orientated.

Just then there was some screaming in the hall outside and it sounded as if a herd of elephants were being pursued by lions. Perhaps this is just temporary? She wondered, I mean, some of these small town university’s might not have fixed accommodation for faculty. But surely sharing a building with freshman was a little odd.

_______ found a small diner off the main street that sold her a passable hamburger and coffee.

Overall, Green Light Town seemed like a nice town and before she returned to Chain Reaction House she took a turn of the town to size it up for possible long-term apartments. There were a couple of nice streets, one of them had a cute little bar on the corner where she hoped the student body did not get to. It certainly looked more like a locals bar. She made a mental note of its location and continued on.

Then a little before 10 and almost before she knew it, she arrived back at the house. She had half expected chaos with so many students in the house, but although there was a little frantic scurrying, most of the girls dashed about with purpose rather than high jinks.

_______ reached the top of her stair and turned into her corridor. The house was certainly clean and the pictures on the wall were understated and in good taste. Oh well, she thought, it will do for a week or two. I’ll check with the administration on Monday to see if they haven’t made some sort of mistake.

Just then a young woman came down the passage towards her. Unlike the other girls she had seen, she was walking very slowly. What was also obvious was that she was crying. She couldn’t have been more than 18 and ______ thought that tears looked so out of place at the start of term. Homesickness maybe?

“Are you okay?” ______ asked.

“Why don’t you boil your head,” the girl snapped.

_______ was taken aback, but before she could say anything the girl angrily crashed through the fire doors leading to the stairs.

_______ shrugged and went to her room.

The next day she went to the main university office, but it was closed. So, she walked around the campus and visited the Korean literature faculty instead to see if she could find some colleagues.

“Shouldn’t you be wearing a beanie on campus?” Said a voice.

_______ turned around, startled, only to see a rather stern looking young woman with fiery red-hair glaring at her.

“A what now?” _______ asked.

“Oh another one who hasn’t read the handbook,” the girl sighed. “Name.”

“I beg your pardon,” _______ gaped at was obviously a student, albeit a sophomore or junior maybe.

“Can you please tell me your name?” It was an order not a question, ______ noted.

“Park _______.”

“A Park,” the girl muttered and checked her list. “I can’t seem to find a freshman of that name.”

“What is it with this place? I am Park _____; I am in the Korean Literature faculty. I start on Monday.”

“Oh. Oh… I… I’m terribly sorry. I thought you were… you see freshmen have to wear beanies throughout the first semester, it’s tradition.”

“My god. They still do that?”

Seeing that she was not in trouble, the girl grinned and began to gush about the college and its customs.

It was quite a while before _______ could slip away.

As it was, the faculty was closed except for students picking up assignments from their in-trays.

One thing _______ did see after her conversation with the earnest redhead, was a lot of young girls wearing beanies. I wonder what happens if they don’t, _______ thought idly. For some reason the image of the crying girl from the night before popped into her head and she laughed.That evening, she went and found the bar she had scoped out the previous day. A couple of guys hit on her, but they were nice about it and didn’t push it. But she did fall in to chatting with a woman at the bar and after a couple of beers realised the time.

“Goodness me, look at the time, I have to go.” She told her temporary friend.