Introducing the Cast to My Korean Story

Here is the cast to my story, if I were directing this film: "The Untouchable Mr. Soni"

Setting: Yeonsu-dong ("dong" means neighborhood), Yeonsu-gu (district), Incheon City, South Korea, which is right next to Seoul, the capital.

Mark Soni - 22-year old half Indian/half Korean fool who goes to Korea to search his roots and touch more lives for the cause of Christ. An eclectic music lover, his passions are foreign languages, cultures, and Jesus Christ. Has a dual personality of enjoying being alone, yet enjoying the company of new and old friends alike. He is on an one-year contract with the Incheon Public School system, and is teaching English at Yeonsu Public High School.

Mrs. Ha - Mark's mentor and head teacher. She is responsible for Mark's adjustment to school life and work, as well as his living adjustment to the Motherland. A very soft-spoken older woman who tries her hardest at humor in English, but does not impress Mark at all, yet she means well and is kind to Mark.

Mrs. Elizabeth - an older teacher who works with Mark, as well asking him for assistance on her English TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) graduate work. Very considerate, kind, and endearing mentor to Mark.

Mr. Charles - Korean name unknown, he is a social studies teacher of senior tenure at Yeonsu High School. As soon as Mark finished his opening speech at the first teachers' meeting, Mr. Charles befriended Mark and inquired about his background. Mr. Charles always enjoys a good conversation with our hero, desiring to be proficient in English, even though his English is top-notch for a non-English teacher.

Ms. Kimmie - a younger English teacher who has a cute sense of humor and accent. "Ramyeon" is "lamyeon" and "rice" is "lice." She explains the intricate details of Korean culture to Mark from time to time.

The American Friends - Rich, Bethany, Josh, and Alex. Four fellow Americans who live in Yeonsu-dong, Incheon, in the same vicinity as Mark, but teach at different schools, in particular, "hagwons." They are respectively from Washington, Minnesota, Indiana, and Texas, with Mark hailing from the East in Maryland. They represent all corners of the wonderful United States, bringing different personalities and experiences from their states. Mark hangs out with them occasionally.

The Principle - name unknown, whom Mark met once. A stern man with a mysterious cloud over him, he is rarely see in the school.

The Vice Principles - the overlords of Yeonsu High School, they are courteous to Mark and his needs, with one VP being an English major at university and talking to Mark now and then.

Mrs. Gi-Na, aka Gina: A tenured English teacher at YHS, she is a kind woman who has worked with the previous international teacher, Walter Byron. She gives Mark helpful advice on how to teach and pick up where Byron left off, and is going to hook Mark up with a phone soon.

Walter Byron: Even though not here at YHS anymore, he is the talked about previous foreign teacher who taught Conversational English. He is a British man, who ended up resigning from his contract earlier than expected because he married a Korean woman and went back to the UK to take over his mom's business. Evidence? He left all of his documents and resignation letters on the hard drive. Real smooth, genius.

Destroyer: He is a 2nd-level high school student who is arguably the best English speaker of the school. He wanted Mark to call him "Destroyer" only because he hurts his fellow classmates, and he insists on calling his friends "Garbage-ee," because of their inability to speak English. He's the only student who knows Mark's true half-Korean identity. His good English ability comes from the fact that he used to live near American bases in Seoul.

T.H.: Kim Tae-hwa is a smart student who wants to participate in the English speech contest in Incheon. Regularly speaks with Mark on a daily basis for practice.

Sang-jin: A 3rd-level student (a senior, basically), who wants to improve his English skills.

The Freshmen: this is the majority of whom Mark teaches. They are still in that middle school immature phase, most are going through puberty, but all are pretty exuberant of meeting Mr. Mark as their ESL teacher.

Lee Su-jong: The only other young teacher at YHS, she is a 23-year old who just graduated from uni as a ESL certified teacher. Teaches Freshmen and is a co-teacher of Mark's. Freshmen insist on hooking up Su-jong with Marky. Survey says: "no."

Pak Hyun-mi: Another young English teacher, very cute face, who works with our hero. In her class as in Su-nong's, the Freshmen keep asking Mr. Mark about his opinion of their attractive teacher, and Mark denies the opposition of the answer that they want.

Kevin, Allen, Ricardo: Three random Korean students whom Mark named with English names.

Mrs. Soni's family: All live in the Incheon/Seoul area, interdispersed. Mrs. Soni has two sisters and two brothers, one who passed away in 2002. All of Mark's cousins are generally older than he is, except for one, and they gladly take him under his wing as he struggles to learn Korean and the Korean Way.

President Roh Moo-hyun: the unpopular president of South Korea. This year, there will be a new race for president and his party has taken a beating for scandals and the nuclear issue with North Korea.

Dictator Kim Jong-il: the rogue dictator of North Korea, he is wanted dead or alive for crimes against his people. Is the only reason why Korea is not unified, and Mark might just pull a "V for Vendetta" against him sometime soon.

Pak Geun-hae: the daughter of former president Park Chung-hee, she is the leader of the Grand National Party, the conservatives. She is very popular among Koreans, including Mark's mother.

Trey and Becky Egan: two missionary friends of Mark who are coming to Korea to serve God. Great mentors to the young man.

Kim Bi-na: Mark's former TA at University of Maryland's Korean program, she is now a Yonsei University student who lives in Seoul. They still keep in contact.

More characters will follow as the plot progresses.