The day I decided to actually type something into a box.

No one will ever probably read this but me, but yet I feel pulled to type in a space that is accessible by others. So what is that?
I teach English kindergarten in Seoul, South Korea. I wake up at 8:40 and brush my teeth and line my eyelids with brown shadow and then do everything else and walk to work. It takes me 10 minutes to get there but in all reality it should only take 8. That terrible intersection, with the light that makes you wait for 2 minutes...I was nearly hit by a truck this morning trying to scurry across before the light turned to green!
I arrive at work and take the elevator up to the 5th floor. The cleaning lady is always on the 5th floor when I get there and she nods at me and says "annyonghaseyo". I smile back and nod but she makes me nervous because she's a person that I see everyday- a person that I have SEEN everyday for almost a full year- but I do not know a single thing about her. She has short hair and she's probably 65 years old (it's so hard for me to tell with Korean women) and she pushes around a yellow canvas cart that's loaded with her cleaning supplies. Who buys her these cleaning supplies? Does my school, LCI, go out and buy her paper towels and sprays? If so, who goes and buys it? Chun, the chubby man in the black suit who's always sweating and running around delivering books and insurance forms? Perhaps, but I bet she does it. I bet they tell her to go and buy the supplies she needs and then to keep the receipt so they can reimburse her. She probably goes to a corner store- one that's run by an older couple and it's dusty and has spray cans and candles and twine stacked up on it's metal shelves. The cleaning lady walks in and nods to them and says "annyonghaseyo" and then they chat about work and how hard things are and yet how nice the weather is and then she buys some bottles of disinfectant and walks home with a big plastic bag hitting her in the side.
But where does she live?'
After I get up on the 5th floor and nod at the cleaning lady whom I know nothing about, I walk into the school kitchen and put bread which somebody has bought into the toaster, which Chun probably bought. I spread creamy peanut butter onto my bread with a spoon and pour coffee into my cheap thermos which I received as a door prize at a conference and walk downstairs to the 1st floor. My desk is there and I sit at it and tear off pieces of my toasted peanut butter sandwich and put them in my mouth. Powered creamer and brown sugar has already been stirred into my coffee.
The bell rings at 9:50 and I stomp upstairs to the 3rd floor with my brown folder labeled "Kindergarten" in my arm. My classroom is there and if they're being good, my kids are in their chairs writing their morning journal. Most of the time a few of them are up walking around- doing something which they feel is important and I actually don't really care even though I smile at them and sing out "Good morning!! Sit down and write please!!"
We sit on a green mat in the back of a room like a human stonehenge and we ask each other "How are you feeling today?" and then we answer "I'm feeling....". Happy, sad, mad, angry, mad and angry, terrific, wonderful, fantastic, okay, so-so, sick......
"Why are you feeling sleepy David?"
"Because..."
Graduation is happening in less than 3 weeks and we stand up and practice for the rest of "circle time". They stand in a line alternating girls and boys. "Hi, my name is Samy. (Pronounced like Amy with an "S"). I'm 6 years old. My favorite things to do are watch movies, draw pretty pictures and come to school and learn English. When I grow up I want to be a movie star because I love being in front of the camera. If I could go anywhere in the world, I would go to Paigey Teacher's house in the U.S.A. because I love Paigey Teacher".
Bing bing bing. 1 through 11 take a step up to the invisible microphone and recite their mantra.
Then we deliver an Eric Carle poem.
Then we sing a song.
Then we sing another song. "1, 2, 3, 4, can I have a little more? 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, I love you". Recognize that?
Then we bow.
I've been with these children for 11 1/2 months. I feel like I know more about them than I know about myself.
Could that statement possibly be true?
Phonics, reading, show and tell, playtime and lunch. Back up to the 5th floor where I grab a tray in the kitchen and fill it with kimchi and whatever else is on the counter. Downstairs to put on my headphones and laugh with the other teachers. Upstairs. Art. Science. Handwriting. Doing stuff. Time to go and coats and shoes and backpacks move around the room. On my knees, hugging them goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow". "I'll see you tomorrow". "I'll see you tomorrow". 11 times I say that as long as no one said "I'm feeling sick because..." and went home early.
In the afternoon I'm teaching older kids. Laughing. Frustrated. Tired. Semi-succesful. Okay. Walk home and wait at the stoplight.
What time does the cleaning lady go home?