About 10 months into my teaching adventure in Korea, I was actually starting to feel at home in Seoul. The city seemed more  familiar, and since I was a little more fluent in Hangul, I had been learning to do many things on my own.  

One warm spring day as we were walking home from work, Chanelle jumped in front of me excitedly.  “So, I talked to JJ the other day…” she said happily.

“Oh really. WHY? You going to date him too?”

Chanelle lunged forward to slap my arm. “NO. Oh my god Kara!” I leaned over laughing at her reaction.

“Okay.  Seriously…” I said pushing my laughter back, “…why did you talk to JJ?”

“Because we’re a little concerned about you.” She shot back.  

“OH HERE WE GO”, I thought.

“Um. Okay. Why?”

Chanelle glanced up at the sky for a minute before looking back at me. “Well, your arrival to Korea was really….eventful, and we feel like it may have negatively impacted your initial impression of the job and city…we want to you know that you have a good thing here…that people like you, that you’re an amazing teacher who is highly respected and praised…”

“Wait a minute.” I looked back at Chanelle, tilting my head. “Is this about me renewing my contract again?”

I didn’t need an answer from her; her facial expression said it all.  

“God, Kara, I told you that I only wanted to do this for a year? I mean, everyone has been amazing, but I found a teaching job back home. I miss my friends. My family. I can’t visit them because the plane ticket is too expensive to go back home and I really just want to get back to living my life over there. It’s nothing against you, I just….I really need to do this.”

Kara distanced herself from me and then began to pout. Her facial expression quickly informed me that my response was a little too brash and unnecessary.  

I stopped for a minute, contemplating how I could fix this; she was after all losing a friend, a roommate….I quickly went into damage control mode.

“I’m sorry Chanelle, I know you’re trying to be a good friend and totally get what you’re saying…”

She stopped and got a little closer to me and gave a sly smile out of the corner of .

“Well, if you’re set on leaving, then will you at least go on holiday with me?”

I stopped, my first inclination was to say no, but I hadn’t taken a break since I began my contract, and I had some vacation time saved up….

I smiled, and nodded.

Chanelle jumped on me so hard I thought she was trying to tackle me.  We both started laughing together and then she happily grabbed my arm and we started walking again. I looked back at her for a moment and then thought about how much I would miss these moments with her.

We got back to the apartment and immediately booked a flight to Jeju Island. “We should go all out!” she said as she excitedly made our hotel and spa reservations.  “Besides, this is my birthday present to you, Kara, so you better enjoy it and let go of some of that stress!” I nodded and verbally promised to have a “fabulous” time.  

A few weeks later, I found myself in the airport…again.  We had more than enough time to enjoy our flight and each other. When we landed, it kind of started to feel like I was actually on vacation. We immediately took a taxi to our room and made a reservation at the hotel restaurant for dinner. With some time to spare, we decided to check out the beach.

I don’t think anyone who has actually been to Jeju Island can describe its beauty. It’s absolutely amazing. The water is a fresh, deep blue, the sand is almost completely white and the grass is a crisp green. The scenery is enough to make you feel as if you’re in heaven.

I stopped on the beach to take everything in.

“Hey. Why don’t you stay here and rest for a bit?” Chanelle said innocently.

Too innocently, in fact.

I looked north of us, and there just *happened* to be a group of guys farther up the beach. Before I could point out that I realized what she was doing, Chanelle was already approaching them. I laughed a little bit and then sat down in the sand facing the ocean, taking in the scenery and enjoying the peace and quiet. A few moments, later, she approached me with a huge smile on her face.

She plopped down in the sand beside me, and threw her arm around the top of my shoulders. Still smiling, not missing a beat, she coyly asked me how I would feel about having some “company” for dinner.

“Hmmmmmm. How did I know that that’s exactly what you were going to ask?” Chanelle smiled again. “Oh come on, Kara. You might even like one of them.”

She got up and ran towards the ocean.

“DOUBTFUL!” I yelled back at her. She turned around and winked at me.

Later that night, Chanelle and I found ourselves dressed up, and heading to dinner.  

“Let’s have a drink before we go into the dining room!” Chanelle suggested as she ordered.

So dressed up, with martini’s in hand, we walked into the dining room. The lighting was really low and romantic. I noticed the orchid arrangements blossoming happily amongst the silverware and wine glasses on the tables. We walked a little further and noticed the guys sitting towards the back of the restaurant.  One of them (the one that was absolutely distracted by Chanelle’s plunging neckline on her dress) saw us, and approached us.

“Hi! We are excited to have you with us! You can call me Anthony.”

Though Korean, his English was clear and distinct.

While walking back, he noted that a friend of his--not present on the beach at the time Chanelle and the guys had made this arrangement--would be joining us.

“Please try to be understanding of his personality,” Anthony explained, “He can seem a little odd.”

“Oh great,” I thought, “this is going to be so much fun…”

I politely smiled and nodded in understanding. All of the guys stood up, introduced themselves and shook our hands.

Anthony noted that his friend…”the odd one”…would be along in a moment.

The guys ordered more drinks for us (SURPRISE) and we put in an order for some light finger food to wait for Anthony’s friend.  I must admit the conversation wasn’t too bad. One of the guys was actually a fan of American football, so we got a chance to talk about that. While I was engrossed in conversation about defense strategies, I neglected to notice Anthony’s friend approach our table. As soon as I realized what was going on, I stood up to turn around as everyone else had.

Anthony’s friend met Chanelle, and was about to shake my hand when all of a sudden he jerked his hand away.

“YAH!”  He yelled in my direction.

I stopped and looked at him for a moment in shock; almost offended. I mean, why all of a sudden, in the middle of a restaurant—

“OH MY GOD…” I stepped back and pointed at him. We both stared at each other. Mouths open, and both quite honestly in shock.

Chanelle stopped for a moment and then asked us what was going on.

“I know this babo.”

 “I know her.”

 We both said it simultaneously, uncomfortably, and with great reservation in our voices.

Chanelle looked more puzzled than she did when she asked the first question.

“Okay. Just stop. Kara, how could you possibly know Park Ji Hoo?”

“Well, that’s a great question, Chanelle!” I replied sarcastically.

“We might perhaps know one another on better terms if this idiot had given me directions instead of being a rich jerk and hiding behind his police connections and crying ‘assault’ after being hit by a SHOE.”

I heard his friends laughing, and then noticed that everyone in the restaurant was now looking in our direction.

Ji Hoo, obviously offended by the “rich jerk” portion of my sentence slowly shrugged it off and set his personality back to “smug” rather quickly. 

He just dismissed me.

“Well, I’m glad to see you survived imprisonment.” He stopped for moment, and then noticing his audience, he continued, “But you really do have me all wrong. I was merely offended that you threw such a cheap shoe in my direction.”

His friends laughed again, and so did I.

And then, I smiled. Not in the “I’m going to let this go because I’m the bigger person here” kind of smile...more like the "you've managed to piss me off again" kind of smile.

I leaned down towards the table without Ji Hoo noticing.

“Well, then, Ji Hoo,” I started, “Perhaps this piece of rather expensive cake will appease your materialistic tastes?”

Before he could move back, I picked up the cake and casually threw it at him. The plate fell on the floor with a loud clank, and Ji Hoo, stood there with very expensive cake and icing on his face and expensive suit...

"Oh my god, Kara...why...did you...OHMYGOD..." Chanelle stuttered.

Why? I'll tell you why:

Because I am a badass, and Ji Hoo is still a rich jerk.