Waking up early will never get any easier, it's always as if your bed is comfier when you know you have to get up than it is when you can stay inside it on your day off. With a groan and a quiet click from my tired joints, I sat up in bed and fought hard not to fall asleep again. 

I was actually lucky that I got to wake up at this time. This apartment was the closest one available to my new job and if I hadn't been able to secure this room, then I would've been forced to move somewhere further away which meant I'd probably have to wake at 4am to get to work on time whereas now at 5:30...it wasn't bad, but still troublesome.

Knowing I'd prolong the torture if I stayed sitting on the edge of the bed any longer while resisting the urge to flop back down and curl up into the covers, I got up with a whine at the cold breeze that hit me and half ran to the shower to get warm again. I turned it on, then stripped myself of my pink pyjamas and didn't waste any time getting inside, groaning when the hot water hit my aching muscles.

I must have slept awkwardly last night because right now my neck and my back hurt like hell, a great addition onto my no doubt upcoming stressful second day in prison. I was grateful about the short shifts I was getting for a while though, courtesy of Nichkhun. My shift today started at 6:30 and ended at 12:30 whereas a proper C.O shift could vary from eight to twelve hours...then again, I was used to working those kind of hours back home.

 After rinsing the conditioner from my hair, I got out of the shower and admired the steam rising to the ceiling before grabbing a washcloth and cleaning the mirror of it's condensation.

Now, make-up is a funny thing. Correctional officers are allowed to wear it, but it's got to be so minimal that it could hardly be seen....so the y black eyeshadow and red ruby lips unfortunately were a no no. Nevertheless, I applied the make-up so it looked natural against my skin tone and put on a dash of eyeliner, mascara and a colour that matched my lips yet brought them out at the same time.

Seeing my time was ticking down, I pulled on my uniform minus the belt because that was always to stay locked up in our lockers (we weren't allowed to bring them home) and then I put on my shoes and left the apartment. 
As I started to drive through the streets of Seoul, I admired the sheer beauty of my surroundings. I had always dreamed of coming to Korea in general because I had relatives here, but each time my parents arranged to go I was always busy or work refused my holiday request due to being understaffed. 

Being a woman who was easily awed by a lovely landscape or a beautiful picture.... I regretted only coming to this place now as I passed over the Banpo bridge that was famous for it's rainbow fountain shows. Unfortunately due to it being so early, I didn't get to witness what was said to be the most incredible sight with the water spurting out the sides of the bridge as you would pass over it. But instead, the whole underside and also up and along the sides of the bridge were illuminated in the slight darkness by yellow light which made the bridge look almost golden. It really was beautiful.

That view was soon gone as I pulled up into the car park and lay my eyes on the huge building with the equally as huge wall around it. I knew behind that high, solid wall was layers of tough chain link and barbed wire making it so no prisoner would be able to escape. I then got out and locked my car before entering the building where I was required to put anything metal into a tray and walk through a metal detector, just like the ones at the airport. Even if the alarm indicating I had something metallic on me didn't go off, it was still necessary to search because an officer could be carrying contraband for his/her favourite inmate, that being strictly forbidden.

Finally, I got to the staff room where I clipped on my belt and met up with a senior officer who was to be my shadow today. A shadow is somebody who allows a new officer on the job to do everything that would be expected of them when they are working alone but will watch over them closely. If something were to happen, the officer would be right there to control any problems and help me out, not that I particularly needed it. 

"Tiffany, good morning. I'm Officer Park and I'll be helping you out and showing you around today" he smiled and gave a bow, I did the same back.

Officer Park was a rather portly looking fellow who, regardless of his being a senior officer didn't look like he had the potential to stop anything were it to go wrong. I watched as he started leading me somewhere while breathing heavily even though we had only taken a few steps. It made me wonder why some officers allowed themselves to get to an overweight stage, wasn't that something that could be considered dangerous? 

I mean, for example...If this was my first C.O job and I was really nervous, imagine if an inmate were to run at me while I was a few meters away from my shadow...she could potentially throw a load of punches and kicks at me before he would even get a chance to hobble over here and even when he would eventually get to her, he'd be weak and panting due to the sudden exertion. Maybe it was just me, but I didn't deem it safe at all. However, I respected him for I soon saw a pedometer clipped onto his belt that he checked regularly. At least he was trying to do something about it.

"Alright first we are going to go to a staff meeting where we will be given our shifts and duties for the day and then we'll get to work. Sound good?"

"Yes, great" I replied and gave a grin. I was excited. Even though I was grateful for the short shifts I was getting for a while this morning, I found myself wanting to do a full and hard one. I wanted to immerse myself in the work because I had studied and worked hard for both this job and becoming a CO in general. Patience is a virtue though I guess, I didn't have much of an idea how this system compared to the USA's but I was eager to find out.

As we walked in, I sat down beside my shadow amongst the many other officers who started work at the same time as us. There were a lot more but they were either working their different shifts or on lunch or something. I then noticed that most of the officers around me were men, which was okay...except for the fact some of these women inmates were lesbian. If the officers working here was at a ratio of more men to women, I could find myself lusted after, preyed upon and that scared me more than an inmate armed with a weapon ever would. 

Trying to push those thoughts aside, Officer Park and I were assigned to start our jobs at one of the many housing units in the prison. We then were all given a lecture (mainly for my purpose as I was new) about the rules and regulations, what is expected of us etc. I already knew this but it was just as interesting the second time around, especially since this place was still all new to me.

Once that was over, myself and my now huffing shadow made our way to where we would start the day. We walked down the long corridor with doors on each side holding the many inmates prisoner but kept going and going until we turned a corner and reached somewhere that I recognised. It was where I came with Yuri to collect the inmates to take to eat their lunch. So...am I doing the same as yesterday?

"Count time! Count time ladies!" Officer Park called out, I heard other's announcing the same thing all the way down the corridor too. Then, door after door opened to reveal the inmates who after opening the door stood in the middle of the room if they were able. There were some disabled prisoners here that couldn't stand for long periods so they were exempt from waiting upright to be counted, sitting in view on their beds instead. "Okay Tiffany, here's the counter" he said as he passed me a small remote with a button.<