Rich Kids

So, before moving to Korea, I had sort of a basic knowledge of where in Seoul I was moving to. Okay, okay. It was basic at best, but it was knowledge. Kind of.

I knew I was moving to a relatively nice area. I knew I was moving somewhere in Gangnam-gu (sometimes written as Kangnam-gu, either way it doesn’t really matter; k’s and g’s are the same letter in this country), near lots of amenities including the largest underground mall in Asia, and defined in wikipedia as “one of the most affluent areas of Seoul, located in the southeast of the city.”

Great, I thought. At least I’ll be around lots of people. In retrospect, what the hell was I thinking? If there was one thing I had no reason to doubt, it was being surrounded by people. I mean what’s the population of Seoul, anyway?

Umm, yeah. 23 million? Right.

Anyway, the area I’m living in doesn’t seem like a particularly “rich” area. I mean, yes it looks modern, and yes, the people I pass on the streets look like business people, but the landscaping isn’t particularly nice, there’s no real greenery, and there aren’t huge luxury homes dotting the landscape, which is what screams “rich” to me back home. The architecture of the business towers, though, is fabulous, but we’ll save that post for another day. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that it seems like a nice area, though it doesn’t seem over-the-top. The school I work at is small. There are only 6 kids in my class, and I have the same six kids every day. I like to call them mine. Let’s be honest; I’d probably steal them if I could, I mean if I could avoid the obvious implications and prison sentence. I digress.

When I arrived at work today, there was a shiny new black Lexus in my way. I’d like to say it was an LS10, but we all know the potential for inaccuracy that has. Bottom line is that it was a bloody nice vehicle, it was in my way, and I was late for school. So when the door opens to completely obscure my entrance through the gate, I obviously had no choice but to wait. Now, who hops out from the back seat? One of the kids from the school.. yes, this is normal. Children normally sit in back seats. But then what? His dad hops out from the back seat too. Yes, and after a brief farewell to his son, he disappears into the backseat again. Before he’s even shut the door, the car is already pulling away from the school.

The kid has a chauffeur.

…

I am not getting paid enough.