Tonight was a funny story, an end to a excursion. I just returned from a long, two-week business trip to Yeongjeong Island, which is the island where the Incheon International Airport is located. At the island I taught as a substitute teacher at the Incheon Foreign Language Training Center, teaching secondary English teachers and helping them refine their English skills, giving them teacher training for their return back to the Korean public schools program. It was a great break from teaching high schoolers; it gave me an opportunity to speak at a higher level while I was able to give more insightful knowledge to the topics we discussed. A give-give situation, I had a great time doing this program as a temp and the secondary teachers had positive vibe for the program so far (even though I taught for two weeks, their actual training runs for six months). We did various activities like book study (on George Orwell's Animal Farm), listening activities, writing essays, speaking and culture, and pronunciation practice. It was intense, most days I taught 7 classes!
I finished my last day today, and I was exhausted. This weekend is Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving, which I celebrated in full for the first time in my life last year. So, alot of the office staff at this training center left early to go travel to see their relatives in far off hometowns all throughout South Korea. The Korean staff, out of appreciation for the work we done, gave small gifts to us international teachers, such as wheat bread snacks, wrapped in a box and put into a small bag. Then, my homeroom class, out of wonderful appreciation for my brief stint as their teacher, gave me a brand new dress shirt to wear to school, wrapped in a small box and put into another small bag. Then, the President of the Training Center gave each international teacher a nice case of canned tuna, spam, and cooking oil. Put into a bigger box, and put into another bag, this one big.
I had so much stuff to carry home! I was already packed for a two-week trip, and upon departure for home my sports bag was filled to the brim so tight that if the thing was a living organism, it seemed like it would puke all of my clothes out! And I had three bags of goodies to carry home, as well as my small backpack. I'm shipping out for military camp? Maybe...
I had two options at this point. Mrs. Choi, one of the IFTC staff, allowed me the option of staying Friday night and travelling home Saturday morning, telling me to give my apartment key to the security officer on the way out. This would be a nice way to start my weekend, because the temporary apartment I stayed at was spacious, clean, and I had cable channels like CNN and BBC News, a rare treat for me. It was nice to stay on top of what's going on in the world.
Yet I had plans for tomorrow, to meet friends and then going to a relative's house tomorrow night in Seoul. A trip from the island, back to my apartment in Incheon, then going all the way back out to big, but empty Seoul would be a really straining trip. Especially with the fatigue I've accumulated all this week through overteaching, hot weather (especially for September), lack of sleep, mosquitoes, and an unusually warm apartment which caused my lack of sleep, a double trip would not be the best way to start my Chuseok weekend, a weekend dedicated to rest.
I figured at this point the better idea would be to gung-ho it all the way on Friday night, sleep in mad tomorrow morning, and be refreshed for a new weekend. So my co-worker Saleha (from sunny South Africa), and her husband Shabiri went back to my temp apartment, took out the stuff that she loaned me for those two weeks while cleaning out my fridge of excess food, cleaned up the place, while I packed up everything, including my new goodies, and we went to Incheon International Airport for a final dinner with them before I bid adieu.
I've hauled heavy stuff before...but this I thought I was going to be the mother of backbreakers and haulings. However, God assured me tonight that it was not going to be bad...just "carry it home, I'll be there." After an enlightening chat with my South African friends, who graciously accompanied me to my transferring station, it was time to depart and carry the load home.
From the island, I took the AREX (the Airport Subway Line) to the Incheon Line, and from the Incheon Line, then to the KORAIL Line One and back to my home station...Juan (pronounced "ju-an," not the Spanish "Juan"). Just one more stop and off onto the main streets. This whole trip back to Juan Station took about one hour. Cool thing that many people are on the road for their journeys home so I could find a seat for the long ride.
Getting through the ticket get at Juan Station was tough. I basically had to slide my stuff through the gate and under the turnstyle one-by-one while pressing my subway card onto the scanner with this mutant-formed sports bag on my shoulder, like a strange creature enveloping my arm. It was a funny looking scene and this one Korean guy was giving me eyeballs for it.
For some reason, the bags seemed heavier because I was sensing home more and more. I walked around the station's underground shopping center walking towards the goal...exit #4, the bags hurting my arms and leg. I turned a corner, and lo and behold, who was there? Several of my lady students, whom I've haven't seen in two weeks. They first didn't see me, as they were giggling, goofing off, and "eye-shopping." Then they turned a corner as I began walking on the other side.
They saw me, shocked and surprised, where they bellowed a "hi!" towards their MIA teacher. In one swift, brilliant motion, I immediately beckoned them towards me...and I made them carry my bags out the station! Whatever providence I found in the situation, I think God sent those students to help me. Compared to their American counterparts, Korean students are much more respectful and obedient, so I got one of my students, Mina, to carry my tuna/spam/oil case, while my other students Hye-yon and Dong-hee carried my other bags.
Unlike my Yeonsu guy students, whom I can fraternize with easier since we're guys, seeing my lady students outside of class is a much less frequent occurence, and a more careful venture. Even though not written, there is a less interaction code between genders in this country, so my girls, even though giggly to see me, were very shy to try their English around me, so I tried to speak to them in Korean to break the ice. Only Mina talked to me, and her friends were giving her stick for that one, "flirty, flirty!" they said in Korean. And the whole time they were carrying my stuff, they tended to follow me rather than walk with me, a sign of seniority, I guess. Goof-balls.
They helped me carry my bags out of the station, I hailed a taxi, and I went all the way home without much fuss, relieved... my students yelled "Bye Soni!" "I love you Soni!" (Yeah, they "love" me, how original!)
I was worried earlier about how I was going to haul those bags home, but God opens the doors like that, it was so cool. I recieved help from a platoon of my fem-bot students to help me carry the load, and it was good.
So remember next time, when you have a friend or family member who is carrying too much of a load in their life, whether it be stress, an exam, co-worker problems, family issues, life goal problems, or doubt, please be sure to help them carry it, so they too "can get out of the station." Just remember our Lord who meets us at the station and helps carry our load out to the exit...only if we ask.
"...for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Jesus Christ in Matthew 11:30)
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