The Nightmare Before Christmas

Sooo a few weeks ago, I started having the nightmares again.  You know, the ones filled with balls of fire flying through the air, children with pencils stabbed through their faces, chaos everywhere you look, and the screaming.  Oh god, the screaming.  Children screaming, adults screaming, everybody having something to yell about.

I'd wake up, drenched in sweat and filled with dread.  Seriously,  what the hell is this??  The Bronx is coming back to haunt me NOW??

I guess it makes sense.  I'd just signed a contract to start teaching again.  


But I really thought I'd put the horrors of those years behind me.  I'd worked hard enough the last year and a half, putting what I thought was enough distance.....

 and sufficient layers of haze .....

and then even MORE distance......

and layer, upon layer, upon layer of haze.....

between myself and that New York City borough that I loathe.

Yet here I am, a nervous wreck; jolting awake in the middle of the night to hear the voice of my former military-turned-prison guard-turned-Principle bellowing inside my head.  (On a side note, nightmares are generally considered to be scary fantasy worlds that haunt you during sleep...  I guess what I was having weren't really 'nightmares' so much as they were 'memories').

During a time when I should be preparing myself for the wonderful excitement of moving to a different country, meeting new people and having exciting, new experiences, I found myself worrying that the plane would take an unexpected detour and I'd land back in the ol' BX.

To my great relief, the wonderful crew of Korean Air, flight 0038 followed their flight instructions and I arrived safely in Seoul, South Korea.

I'm now living in Giheung-Gu, Yongin, which is a suburb of Seoul.  And I gotta say, this place is not at all like the Bronx.  For real. Not even a little bit.

This school is like a brand new, sparkling fantasy world filled with candy, and smiles, and hugs!

Here's a classroom:





Here's the auditorium/play area...

 ...and the library...

...and the copy machine (with PAPER!)

...and ME!

 

Look! School supplies! (I didn't even have to buy them myself!)




All I've gotta say is, I've been sleeping real well in Korea.