I still can't believe this happened.

Today I woke up to a phone call from Hyunjoo Kim telling me that she would take me to figure out internet banking this afternoon after the exams were done.  I had a leisurely morning.  I ate breakfast, skyped with my friend Taryn and watched some How I Met Your Mother.  I had to walk to the school to pick up some stuff for the internet banking excursion and was supposed to receive a call from Hyunjoo when she was going to pick me up.  At about 12:10. I was getting dressed when I heard someone knocking loudly on the door to access our apartments.  (There is a door with an electronic lock that you have to go through to get onto our apartment floor and then each apartment also has a separate door to enter each apartment.)  I finished getting dressed quickly and went to open the door.  One of the other teachers had forgotten his key and couldn't get in.  So, I pushed the button to open the door.  It made the same sound as usual and appeared to be unlocked, but when I tried to open the door, it wouldn't open.  After trying several times to lock and unlock the door, I realized it was no use.  I was trapped in my apartment building. 

I called Hyunjoo and explained the situation.  She called the school's administrative office and they sent the man who looks after our apartments over to help, thinking that the batteries on the lock needed to be replaced.  Easy fix.  He tried all of the same tricks I had tried to no avail.  Hyunjoo called to ask where I was because by now, I was quite late for our appointment.  I explained that the man was trying to open the door, but nothing was working and the batteries didn't seem to be the problem.  She came to the apartment too and they continued to try to open the door.  She called me a couple of times to tell me to turn the lock or try to open the door, but nothing worked.  They even tried breaking down the door, but nothing would make whatever was obstructing the lock budge.  Hyunjoo told me I should go back into my apartment and she would call me if they needed my help.  By this time, I had been working on the door for about an hour and fifteen minutes.

Maybe ten minutes later, Hyunjoo called me and said they had called 911 to come get the door open.  She said I needed to open all of the windows in the breezeway and I should wait for them to get there in case they needed my help with anything.  A couple minutes later, a red truck with Korean writing and 911 written on it pulled up to our building.  I thought they would climb a ladder to enter the building.  There was no ladder and I had yet to see anybody who looked like they had come in the truck.  All of a sudden, I hear someone shouting in Korean.  Then, I saw legs right outside the window and a man coming from the roof into the building.  He repelled from the roof into the window.  Then, he tried all of the same things I had tried to open the door.  No dice.  He went to the window and yelled to his partner who was still on the roof.  His partner dropped in a couple of screwdrivers and the man removed part of the electronic lock in order to open the door.  On the other side of the door, there stood Hyunjoo, another English teacher from my school, the building maintenance man, another old man and the teacher was had been locked out in the first place.  Hyunjoo gave me a huge hug and looked so relieved that they had rescued (to some extent...) me.  She said that was the first time she or the other English teacher had called 911! 

Next, the 911 men got my information (just my name and age) to write a report about the incident (I'm assuming).  Hyunjoo was so sweet and motherly about the whole situation.  She took me to Ministop and bought me a bottle of tea, and then she and the other English teacher that was outside my apartment with her took me to the bank to take care of the internet banking.  On the way to the bank, I was telling them about what I had done all week and especially that the dok buki man at the food court in E-Mart recognized me.  Hyunjoo was so surprised that I like duk boki that once we were done at the bank, she took me out for lunch at a place that serves REALLY great duk boki, which she also loves.  She told me that she will cook it sometime and have me over to eat!  What an exciting afternoon!  Now, I'm off to Seoul to meet Emily and Richard for dinner.  Hopefully nothing else exciting happens.  I think I can only take one 911 call per day.  Thank you Korea.