I decided that teaching English online would be a good way to occupy myself during the summer while I was alone and to keep myself from being lonely. My first class was only seven students, with a very specific and restrictive contract, which I thought was odd, but I didn’t question it because I had never taught English online before, so I thought maybe all contracts were super strict. Anyway, the class started at 4am for me, so I had set my alarm, then made sure I straightened my hair the night before, so all I had to do was brush it and start the lesson. I logged on, made sure I was looking awake and ready to go, then waited for the seven students to join. I had been told it was seven adults who were working in a professional setting, so the English I would be teaching was more academic language, for an office. None of them had cameras on, just their voices, so I introduced myself and asked for their names, knowing they could make anything up- I didn’t care at this point.
We began by talking about the weather, since some letters are harder to say in other languages, which turned out to be correct because when we got to windy, they kept saying “vindy” and no matter how hard I tried, it just wouldn’t work, so I moved on to blizzard, which was also terrible- they kept saying “bwissard”. I attempted this multiple times before I realized it was also a failure, then covered my face with my hands in defeat, ready for the next word, when one of them popped their camera on and asked if I was ok. I was startled, but told him I was fine, just surprised by how hard the words were and sorry for torturing them the first day. Suddenly, all their cameras were on, and they were all laughing, which confused me even more, since I was not trying to be funny at all.
The first one saw me hide a yawn, then asked if I was tired, so I told him it was 4:30am for me, so yes, I was tired. He was shocked, exclaimed something in Korean and asked why I was teaching them so early. I told him the contract said I had to, so he asked to see it. I held up the five pages I had stapled together, showing him the strict contract. He shook his head in disbelief, how could it be so ridiculous? I shrugged, not knowing how to answer him. He asked me to read more of the rules, so I did, including no asking questions of the students, no touching my cell phone while teaching, no contact with students outside of class, no background photos or art of any kind, etc. His face got more and more upset as I continued, eventually stopping me and demanding I send him the digital contract. I said I couldn’t since the contract said no contact outside of class, but he insisted I email it to him directly, so I did, showing him how I opened my email on my phone, attached the contract, and sent it, all while on the video lesson call.
He thanked me, then turned off his screen and sound, disappearing from sight. I was now very upset and scared, since I had broken two major rules and everyone had seen. I tried to hold back my tears, but I was now fully convinced I would be fired after my very first lesson, so it was impossible. The other guys noticed and were worried, so they started telling me I shouldn’t worry since the first guy, the oldest, would handle it and I wouldn’t be fired, etc. I was not convinced at all and continued hiding my face as the tears kept falling. They had no idea what to do, so they asked if I could teach them more about the weather, so I held up the cards I had made with the pictures on them for about ten minutes, when the first guy appeared again, saw me holding up a cloud, noticed my red eyes, saw me covering my face, and asked the others what had happened.
They quickly explained in Korean, so he was able to tell me (in English) that he had stepped out to call the manager and arrange a meeting to change the contract because the demands were unreasonable. He assured me I would not be fired but would definitely be changing the time of the class- it was unfair for me to wake up so early just for them when plenty of other times would be more convenient. I was still not convinced but did my best to not show how upset I was until class ended, then they said goodbye and I had to end the call. I got some tissues and was just headed back to bed when I got a notification from my email- the first guy had replied to my first email and wanted to know if I was ok, since I was upset during the end of the lesson and he was worried. I figured I was already breaking other rules, so why not one more-then replied to him, saying I was crying, but didn’t want them to be concerned, so I tried to hide it and clearly had failed.
He responded and asked for my phone number, so he could answer me faster, so I sent it, not expecting anything, but a few minutes later, he was facetiming me and I answered, but was already half asleep again, which he heard in my voice and apologized for. I tried to focus on what he was saying but was so sleepy I only remember half of what he asked before he ended the call a little while later. After I slept for a few hours, I thought I had dreamt the whole thing, but nope, his number was now in my phone and the emails were real, so I just waited for the manager to send the new contract, or an email firing me. I went about my day like normal, since it was nighttime for them, then began to calm down when nothing happened for the next 2 hours. Sometime during my night (day for them) the manager had sent a better contract, and I opened it when it was 7am for me, 11pm for them. I couldn’t believe it- the rules were so much better, only two pages this time!
I immediately sent a text to the first guy, whose name I still did not know, and thanked him for whatever he had done- the contract was so much better, and I was allowed to teach in the evening for me, daytime for them, which was amazing! He responded right away, telling me his name was Jin and saying he was happy he could make me happy- I deserved it. He also asked if he could give my number to the others, since they had asked to start a group chat, but I was nervous because I can’t read Korean and didn’t want hundreds of messages popping up- that would stress me out and make me even more anxious. He laughed and promised to tell them only English for our group chat, so I agreed, still hesitant. Within twenty minutes my phone was exploding with messages from their group chat- the seven of them and myself- half in English and half in Korean, which is exactly what I had been worried about. Jin was always in English, as was JHope, Joon, and Yoongi, but JK, Tae, and Jimin switched between the two languages, confusing me and causing me to get a headache. I stopped reading or responding after they introduced themselves, said how excited they were for class in a few hours, and asked if I knew who they were, which I clearly did not, since I couldn’t read half of what they were describing. My phone kept exploding, so I ignored them and sent Jin a text asking if he could remove me from the group chat because I couldn’t handle the pressure of translating my answers anymore and it was stressing me out, overwhelming me and making me so anxious I couldn’t even look at the texts anymore.
He responded immediately and apologized- he said the others did not always follow his guidance, but as their oldest brother he would try to do better and make me feel more comfortable if I would just give them one more chance. I sighed to myself, but agreed- he WAS very kind and thoughtful… My phone stopped buzzing for the rest of the day and when it was finally time for their lesson, at 6pm my time, they were already logged in and waiting when I joined the call. Before I could even say anything, each one of them took a turn apologizing for sending so many texts, some of them adding they were sorry for using Korean when they had been asked not to, then the leader, Joon asked if I would accept their apologies and give them one more chance to be in a group chat because they thought I was very sweet and wanted to be friends with me still.
Of course I had to agree after that, so I nodded and smiled, which made them all happy, and we continued with our lesson, this time about sports, which are often discussed around other adults in places of business. This lesson went much better, so the hour seemed to zoom by faster than normal and they were upset when we had to end, but since it was technically not in my contract to stop after one hour anymore, I mentioned we could continue, if they wanted to just chat and pretend we were hanging out together, while I did my normal nighttime stuff. They absolutely acted like it was Christmas and cheered/clapped, so I started doing random things, like folding towels, emptying the dishwasher, fixing the blankets for the couch, etc. I told them I needed to pause for ten minutes to shower, but they wanted to wait, so when I returned and had my camera off, explaining I wanted to brush my hair before they saw me, I was completely shocked when they all started exclaiming loudly for me to turn on the camera and not brush my hair.
I turned it on, then stared into the camera as my wild hair hung down, slightly spiraled, covering half my face, me asking why it mattered to them. Silence. I stared at them, they stared at me, for a full minute I just saw them blinking and covering their faces in shock, then checking their phones, so I knew they were texting each other. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion and said, “I can tell you are texting each other about me, so if you don’t start talking, I’m going to start brushing.” Then I held up my pink brush right next to my long hair and waited. It took about half a second for the sound to explode with their pleas, begging me not to use the brush. I giggled, putting it down and then raised my eyebrows as I waited for them to confess. Finally, JK started by saying, “We like your hair. Don’t be mad. We like how it looks good.” I thanked him for speaking and waited for someone else to talk, but after a few seconds I got worried and bit my bottom lip, which I realized was not a good choice because they instantly picked up their phones again and were frantically typing.
Now I was super confused, since I had not done anything, so I thought, but when Tae finally spoke, he explained, “We don’t know about many girls, but you are cute and we think you are so pretty, but how can you look like yourself and be so beautiful to us all with your nice hair and when your lips look like that we want to ask if you can send us a kiss right now.”
I was so shocked I forgot to hide my face and immediately heard someone say, “Her face is blushing, look at her so cute cheeks!” Which I quickly covered with my hand as I took a deep breath to calm down before I answered anyone. Luckily, I didn’t need to say anything because Jin quickly said, “OK guys, I think you have had your fun, let’s give her some space for a minute. I think she’s going to end the call if you don’t behave.”
The other six instantly started apologizing, saying they just wanted me to know how cute I was, and they liked it when I got embarrassed, but never wanted to make me stop the call. I was able to respond shortly after, asking each of them to tell me something special about themselves, so I could have more info for future lessons, which turned into a bragging session and had me laughing so hard I could hardly breathe by the end. After three hours I was getting tired, so Jin noticed my yawns and told the others it was time to go, which they protested, but he insisted, so one by one they left until he was the only remaining one, when he said, “I am sorry about earlier- they were texting each other about you, but it wasn’t fair because they didn’t say things to your face. They like you very much and we hope you will continue to be our friend. They were also planning to sneak you over here, so they could smell you after you showered, since they are convinced your hair smells amazing- that’s what they were texting about.”
I laughed, then hid my cheeks from him, knowing I would be blushing after the comment, which he knew and laughed about, then ran his fingers through his hair and smiled shyly at me, different than when he’s with the others. He asked if he could tell me about the pressure he faces in his life, since he knows I also face pressures as well, so of course I agreed, and we ended up chatting for another hour, when he noticed my head lying down on the table, my eyes barely staying open, my answers very calm and slow now. He chuckled to himself, whispered something in Korean, then said he needed to go because it was time, but he hoped I slept well and one day he hoped to meet me in person to tell me how amazing I really am. I wasn’t fully comprehending what he was saying, which he was counting on, so I agreed, and he was very glad about it.
I awoke the next morning to several texts from the group, all in English, asking if I could visit them because they wanted to smell me in person. I laughed so hard I scared my little doggie. Then I noticed Jin had also sent messages in our private texts, telling me how amazing it was to finally have someone to talk to about his real life struggles, who doesn’t judge him or try to find answers right away- just listen and accept. He sounded very confident in his texts, unlike the online lessons where he let the others lead the discussions, which I thought was odd, but didn’t pay too much attention to at that time. I figured he was better at expressing himself with written words vs. spoken ones, just like I am- another thing we had in common.
