I felt apprehensive as I clutched onto my plane tickets to Seoul. My parents drove me there and helped me get my luggage out of their car.

They stood there taking it in, that their little girl was leaving to another country. My mother sobbed as she hugged me tightly.

"I love you my beautiful daughter." She said to me in Korean.

We had started to talk to each other in Korean for me to get more practice.

"Saranghae eomma, appa" I hugged my father next, as tears started streaming  down my face.

I had lived away from them before, but for some reason this felt like it was going to be a lot harder. They were going to be thousands of miles away, not just a couple of hours away. I walked up to the entrance of the airport as I wiped away my tears.

•••

The long trip from America to South Korea was not comfortable. I couldn't sleep well, my whole body ached from being in a sitting position the whole time. I couldn't wait to get off the crowded plane to stretch my legs. I was exhausted and wanted to sleep in a comfortable bed.

Looking out the plane window, I saw the beautiful heavily populated city that would be my new home. When we landed, I briskly walked out and couldn't believe I was actually in South Korea! My parents had never taken me and I only saw on TV what it looked like. It was a surreal feeling finally being there.

I hailed a taxi that drove me to my new apartment. Upon arrival, I went to the apartment manager's office. An elderly Korean lady was sitting in the office. When she saw me, she smiled, saying "hello".

I bowed and explained that I was the new tenant for apartment 103. She nodded and gave me the paperwork to sign. After that, she gave me the keys and led me to my new apartment. The apartment was on the first floor near her office, which was a relief. She opened the door for me and waved bye as she left.

The apartment was a bit smaller than I expected, but it was still decent. It was more of a studio with simple white walls, and came fully furnished, with a dresser, twin bed, desk, and kitchen table with two chairs. I had a tiny kitchen that didn't have a stove, but had an electric hot plate for cooking. My bathroom was small with white tiles encompassing the entire room. There was a toilet, sink, and shower hose in the corner with a small draining hole in the middle. I wasn't paying for this, so I shouldn't complain. I would definitely be saving a lot of money staying here.

I started unpacking my things and felt a sense of pride that I was living on my own in a new country, with no support from anyone. Ever since I met Jin, he had had me do things I would have never imagined I would do. And here I was following him to the other side of the world. I pulled out the picture of us Taehyung gave me before he left. We were having dinner like usual and Taehyung took a candid picture of Jin and I eating and laughing. He even framed it and gave it to me as a gift before leaving. We both looked so happy in the picture and I held his picture to my chest feeling the bitter anguish overtake me. I refused to cry again, all I did was cry! I set the photo down to keep myself busy unpacking and organizing , until I fell asleep from exhaustion.

•••

The next day was my first day of work and I groggily awoke from my alarm blaring. Jet lag had me confused on the time difference, and my body was fighting me.

I blinked, confused at first waking up in my new studio and it took me a minute to realize where I was at. I showered looking for my work clothes. I wore a nice blue blouse and a black knee length skirt with a matching black blazer. I put my black pumps on and left my hair down with a small clip to keep my hair back. I applied light makeup and looked me over in the mirror. I head out to the school, which was walking distance. The academy I was teaching at was only for adults. I was told I would be working split shifts between morning and nights for the adults that can only come in at certain times of the day.

I went in early to meet with my new boss and sign the final papers to officially start my employment. I walked into the glass doors and saw the receptionist standing at the desk, she was a young Korean girl and very cute. She smiled when she saw me, "Are you the new English teacher? I'm Park Soo Young! Nice to meet you!"

"Yes I'm Cora Lee, nice to meet you too!" I said and bowed

Soo Young helped me to the back where the academy dean's office was located. I stepped into the office and met the dean. She was an older woman with short dark hair. She glanced up at me from behind her spectacles at her desk and looked me up and down.

"You're the new teacher?" She asked me in Korean.

"Ne", (yes) I replied and bowed.

She rummaged through her paperwork in her filing cabinet and pulled out what looked like my resume.

"You speak English?" She's asked me in Korean.

"Yes." I replied in English.

"Are you Korean?" She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Korean American, yes."

When I interviewed I had spoken to a man that worked in the HR department. He knew I couldn't speak Korean very well and said it was fine. She looked at me critically as if she was not sure I should be working for her. I thought because I was Asian she didn't think I would be good at speaking English. I had to show her what I could do.

"How well is your English?" she asked me in English with a bit of an accent.

"It's very good. I was born and raised in America speaking only English. I graduated from an American University."

"Ok, follow me to your class." She eyed me for a minute, then lead me out of her office.

My classroom was small and dreary, it was windowless and dark with grey wallpaper. I needed to brighten this room up! I felt like a prison. My wooden desk was a bit dusty with a binder for my lesson plans.

"You fill this out weekly and I will review your lesson plans. You just need to sign your paperwork and give me copies of your identification. You'll start teaching tomorrow, so you can stay today to do whatever you need to do, to prepare for tomorrow. It's the first day for the students tomorrow, so you just need to come up with an easy introductions for the class."

"Am I training with anyone?" I asked suddenly feeling overwhelmed.

"No you should just make lesson plans and you'll be fine. If I see anything to add, I'll let you know tomorrow before your class starts."

She walked away like she was leaving and I bowed since I was not sure what else to do.

I opened the binder and it was just a blank planner with the days of the week on it for me to fill in my lesson plans. How was I supposed to come up with lesson plans?

~~
A/N - sorry I haven't updated lately. I've been so busy with work now that I got promoted. I will update soon!