Today was a day for coincidences. Fortunate ones, I think. For instance, this morning, I walked into the office. My jacket was barely off that I was marching out of the room again to answer a teacher’s question… but that’s neither here nor there. I turned the computer on and set to work rewriting the entire morning program’s homework assignments for the coming year. I plugged in my earphones after the first bell rang and all the teachers rushed off to class. I tuned everything else out. I read stories... I whipped up comprehension questions... I considered lowercase VS capital letter conundrums.
Near break time, I got up to grab a tissue…and noticed the clutter on top of the microwave. A few colleagues departed a few weeks back and not all of the belongings they left behind found takers. I decided to put some remaining books away into the ignored-by-all pile of moldy books that dwells on a dark corner of our office’s bottom shelf. And there, to my surprise, I came across a book entitled: Learning to Think Korean. A Guide to Living and Working in KOREA. Unaware of the fact that I would soon have to seriously consider flipping through its thirteen chapters on a fact-finding mission, I nonchalantly tossed it into my handbag.
I went back to work.
Circle ten words that start with the letter C.
Near break time, I got up to grab a tissue…and noticed the clutter on top of the microwave. A few colleagues departed a few weeks back and not all of the belongings they left behind found takers. I decided to put some remaining books away into the ignored-by-all pile of moldy books that dwells on a dark corner of our office’s bottom shelf. And there, to my surprise, I came across a book entitled: Learning to Think Korean. A Guide to Living and Working in KOREA. Unaware of the fact that I would soon have to seriously consider flipping through its thirteen chapters on a fact-finding mission, I nonchalantly tossed it into my handbag.
I went back to work.
Circle ten words that start with the letter C.
Kersplash! went the little green frog one day.
Think of a word that starts with the letter D. Draw it and write it on the line below.
…and so on. And so forth.
I was typing feverishly away, but my hands and feet were slowly turning to ice.
I cranked the heat up to 24 o C.
Still ice.
I cranked it up another notch.
(Here, I’d like to take a minute to state that it SNOWED in Seoul today.)
Regardless.
Back into the zone I was, greyscaling dozen upon dozen of funny clipart pictures.
That is, until the door opened and the big boss, Big J, stepped in for a chat.
This is where it gets INTERESTING.
The lady is simply stunning. She is a bit older than I am but looks like a classical asian movie star and has the bearing of a queen. I can’t help it: I always feel my back go straighter and my shoulders pulling back whenever she is in the vicinity. She paused suddenly, stunned by the impact as she crashed into my wall of heat. Without missing another beat, she casually took off her tailored jacket and sat down beside me. She laughed gaily and we started to discuss temperature. You know, perennial office small talk. She was hot (no pun intended). I was cold. I held out my frosty fingertips as attestation of the arctic chills that were present but just a bare few moments ago.
I stated that it was probably due to my being immobile, just typing away for most of the morning.
She was silent.
I stated that after months spent walking around teaching, which requires being constantly on the move, my body was surely just getting accustomed to the change of pace my new schedule involves.
She hesitated, then said: “No, probably not. I think you just need to have better circulation.”
As I’m used to some meaning usually getting lost in translation, I didn’t hesitate a beat. I immediately said: “Oh, you mean I need to exercise more. I get it. Trust me, I have been thinking about it more and more lately.” (I then give myself a quick pat on the hip, to illustrate that the need to get the circulation going is probably not only due to cold fingertips).
“No. That’s not what I mean.”
…?
“I mean…”
…I could swear that she is blushing.
“You mean I SHOULDN'T exercise to get my blood flowing?
“Well, yes…but no, that’s not what I mean.”
That is, until the door opened and the big boss, Big J, stepped in for a chat.
This is where it gets INTERESTING.
The lady is simply stunning. She is a bit older than I am but looks like a classical asian movie star and has the bearing of a queen. I can’t help it: I always feel my back go straighter and my shoulders pulling back whenever she is in the vicinity. She paused suddenly, stunned by the impact as she crashed into my wall of heat. Without missing another beat, she casually took off her tailored jacket and sat down beside me. She laughed gaily and we started to discuss temperature. You know, perennial office small talk. She was hot (no pun intended). I was cold. I held out my frosty fingertips as attestation of the arctic chills that were present but just a bare few moments ago.
I stated that it was probably due to my being immobile, just typing away for most of the morning.
She was silent.
I stated that after months spent walking around teaching, which requires being constantly on the move, my body was surely just getting accustomed to the change of pace my new schedule involves.
She hesitated, then said: “No, probably not. I think you just need to have better circulation.”
As I’m used to some meaning usually getting lost in translation, I didn’t hesitate a beat. I immediately said: “Oh, you mean I need to exercise more. I get it. Trust me, I have been thinking about it more and more lately.” (I then give myself a quick pat on the hip, to illustrate that the need to get the circulation going is probably not only due to cold fingertips).
“No. That’s not what I mean.”
…?
“I mean…”
…I could swear that she is blushing.
“You mean I SHOULDN'T exercise to get my blood flowing?
“Well, yes…but no, that’s not what I mean.”
…?
“Well, I used to be like you. But my blood really started circulating when I was trying to have a baby. After the birth, I never had any problems.”
Anyways, I couldn’t even tell you what happened after that. At one point, I realized I was alone, staring at a computer screen filled with smiling animal replicas.
Huh!
So now I’m at home. In a few minutes, I’m going to pull out my new book and analyze this new bawdy philosophy.
Then, I’m going to set my finely-honed planning aptitude to devising a daily routine of trying to have a baby to get my blood flowing. Heck, if I’ve got my boss’s blessing, and it helps her cut back on the electricity bill, there ain’t nothing holding me back now!
Of course, just like going to the gym, I’ll probably want to do that with someone else, you know, for motivation. So. Whaddya say? Any takers?
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