::A Geek in Korea::

I’ve been teaching in the same area of the city now for three years. I work a few blocks away from where my old school was, but I occasionally run into people I know from my last school. None of my students from my last school were attending my current school when I arrived, but I think one of them has joined my class. The only problem is she swears she doesn’t know who I am.

The girl joined my class last Thursday for a "trial" session. That way her parents could check her level, the book materials, and the teacher before deciding to go to the school. As soon as she sat down, I swore I knew her from one particular class. I can remember the room she was in. I can remember the book she studied with me. I can remember her classmates. I couldn’t remember her English name, and I never knew her Korean name, but her glasses, haircut, and general appearance looked really familiar. I did a double take and said, "Hey! Your….uh, well, Don’t I….know you?"

She looked as if I might have been insane. I don’t know what it would take for her not to recognize me. I look the same as always, except with a wedding ring and glasses. It’s not like I’ve altered my appearance somehow. This was only a little more than a year ago, so if  she did forget me, I’d be surprised. She kept denying she knew me, and I kept thinking she did, but since it was only a trial, I decided not to dwell on it too much. She might not come back for the next class, and if she was the person I thought she was, I wanted to have a chance to get the proof.

She came back today for her second class and I had the exact same sense of dèjá vu. This was someone I knew for sure.  I had forgotten her name, and since she didn’t sign the attendance sheet on the first day, I had a way of getting more information out of her. I had her write her name on the paper, and she chose her English name as well. As soon as I read the name, it sparked another memory. It was the same English name as the girl I taught at my last school! This had to be the girl! Clearly she would have remembered me by now if I had taught her before!

She still claims she doesn’t know who I am. English names aren’t exactly legally binding. You can choose whatever name you want, and change it whenever you move to a new school, new class, or whenever you feel like it. Still, once I saw her name, it jogged the memory of what the girl in my old school was called. I’m fairly certain this is an old student. If not, we were dealing with something else. Denial? Amnesia? Mental Suppression? Clones? Alien replicants? Magic Curses?

I refuse to believe I am this forgettable.