"Congratulations on becoming a correctional officer here in our prison Tiffany. We were so impressed with your determination and strong will that you continuously showed throughout the training process and also your near perfect score on the exams we presented to you...We are sure you're going to be a nice little asset to us here."
After blood, sweat and tears I was finally here, looking around the white-wash walls of the office belonging to my boss. As I waited for him to finish going through my contract, I scoured the many posters which showed all sorts from the rules and regulations that each prisoner must abide to a list of pretty much everything that was thought of as contraband. I squinted to read a few but found what they listed was nothing new to me so returned my attention to the smartly dressed, rather young looking fellow in front of me.
"Thank you" I smiled and bowed my head, an action that was given as a sign of respect here in Korea. Growing up in America, the rules were of course different and things that are seen as relatively normal there are frowned upon in this country. Moving here was and still is a huge culture shock and I knew it would take a lot of time for me to settle in and get used to how things worked.
I heard about the job through a fellow Korean-American friend that came to Seoul often due to being a journalist. He visited and wrote about the many beautiful places available to the public in all Asian countries and had also done a story on the worst places to end up, this prison being one of them. Anyway long story short, knowing my occupation back in America, he told me about the job opening here and I knew it would be a difficult move and a scary process, but I liked to be challenged. The language barrier wasn't a problem because I grew up with a fully Korean mother who taught me said language while I was also learning English, making me bilingual.
I had only been to this country previously to complete my interview's and take on the rather lengthy training process for this very job before eventually moving out here. Luckily I already knew what to expect because I was previously a C.O back home in California. It was of course difficult though, doing the 1/4 mile run, the ladder climb, dummy drag, obstacle course...etc etc. Everything had to be completed within a set time which I managed to do just fine though it was rather sad seeing some of the hopefuls struggle. They had worked hard to get so far and then fell at the final hurdle.
After that part of the training was over, it was time for the endless lectures about the inmate's, how to prevent accidents, proficiency in using the weapons provided, the contraband search... Like I said before, I already knew what to expect but something to do with the different systems required me to do it all again.
"Okay so..." I watched as he went over to a storage locker in the far end of his office and grabbed me the correct sized uniform after looking at the form I had filled out a while ago, giving all my measurements. He placed down the light blue button-up, long-sleeved shirt and black trousers on the desk in front of me before going to another locker. He unlocked that one and took out a belt which would provide and hold the essentials...handcuffs, pepper spray, key holder, flashlight and a radio. He then sat down opposite me once again and took out a CO's badge and my very own name tag from his drawer.
'T. Hwang'
"Here's everything you'll need Tiffany." He smiled and handed them over, I once again returned it and bowed my head in gratitude.
"Thank you"
"Okay I wanted to personally make sure you settle in okay so I'll have another officer show you around and bring you up to speed with the happening's and the prisoner's here. I hope you gain a lot from us and I guess...you're all set to go!"
I looked down at the uniform in my lap and then back up, giving him a slight hint as to what I wanted.
"Oh!" He exclaimed, breaking out of what seemed like a daze and motioned towards a restroom in the corner of the office. I got up, and then proceeded to strip myself of my smart clothes once locked in the significantly larger than average toilet. Holding up each item of clothing that had just been given to me, I studied them before giving a smile and pulling it all on. As soon as my belt clipped shut, the noise it made signified the start of a very big adventure ahead of me. With a shaky exhale, I tied up my long, black locks and took one last look in the mirror to ensure my image was proper before exiting the room. I didn't fail to notice my new boss scanning my body with his eyes.
"I'm ready" I said, trying not to sound uncomfortable but it was difficult with the perverted look from...what was his name again? A quick glance to the plaque on his desk told me...Nichkhun. He seemed okay, reasonably caring and helpful though I wasn't sure about his behaviour and facial expressions as he looked me up and down.
Thankfully another officer soon joined us but I too saw him look at her flirtatiously until he managed to finally introduce the both of us. "Ah this is Officer Kwon. Yuri meet Tiffany, Tiffany, Yuri."
"Hi nice to meet you" I smiled and bowed, she did the same.
"Okay so Yuri show Tiffany around please. It's lunch hour now so it might be a lot for a newbie to handle alone" he winked. With a great distaste forming for this particular man, I reluctantly bowed towards him before leaving with Yuri.
Nerves were evident as I took my first steps into my new job, a new place. It wasn't so much the working in the prison that was causing me the jitters because I was used to it, what made me a little tense was the fact it was one - my first time working in such a huge place and two - with completely female prisoner's.
I had been warned that although we were in Korea, a country that frowns upon anything remotely homosexual, there were a lot of lesbian inmate's here which is something I wasn't entirely comfortable with. Growing up a Christian turned me against everything God said was sin in the bible. I'm not one of those kinds of people who were actively going after the LGBT community to force my views upon them though, I was more of the type who kept my thoughts to myself but disagrees in their choices silently unless I was asked to share them.
We walked silently away from his office and once we were out of earshot, she chuckled. "He is the greasiest, most disgusting guy you could ever meet. And...looks like he's taken a liking to you, have fun with that" she teased.
I rolled my eyes as we walked side by side, on our way to who knows where. "I wouldn't look too smug if I were you, he seems rather hooked on you also" I smirked while she groaned, I loved becoming comfortable with new people so easily, it's the best way to make good friends.
"Don't remind me, he's asked me out once and I refused though he still eye-rapes me."
"He's allowed to do that? Date workers I mean"
"I don't think so, but he does it anyway" she put on an expression that screamed 'kill me now' and I gave a small chuckle in return. I then placed my attention back to where we were heading, I needed to start to become accustomed with my surroundings to know where I'd have to go when I was alone.
As we walked, we passed by a huge line of inmate's waiting to use the three phones that were hooked on the wall. Thankfully they didn't pay much attention to us and talked amongst themselves although some were...feeling each other up quite openly. I tried to contain the dirty look I threw them but think I failed, but again none of them were watching us so it didn't really matter. This was definitely going to take some getting used to.
I don't know what it was about female inmate's but I personally feel like women should be how God wanted us. They should be kind, trustworthy, helpful and innocent...not going to prison for murder and assault. Maybe I was just being stereotypical when I thought that men seemed like the only one's who were, I guess capable of committing crimes like that but it's what I had always believed.
The last prison I worked in had some women but mostly men. There were no surprises there, nothing that made you gasp in shock. When I saw a man who had murdered innocent people, his image covered in tattoos that told of his life in a gang and even his whole way of being just gave off...'murderer'. Whereas with these women, it was a lot harder to tell. Underneath the sweet eyes and petite figure could be this psychotic animal just waiting to pop out, it put me a little bit on edge for sure.
I could never imagine harming a human-being in any way and with a frown on my face, I looked away from those prisoner's. Yuri and I continued to walk leaving the women behind until we arrived at our destination. She opened the two double doors and I was almost bowled over by what I saw, sensory overload was an understatement.
Imagine just opening the door to your home to find your TV and radio with their volume up at full blast while your family all try to speak to you at once...all while your dog is barking at you and the phone in the hallway is ringing in your ears. That's what it felt like hearing these women everywhere laughing, shouting, some even crying. It was enough to make you want to walk straight back out again and become deaf for the rest of your days.
As overwhelming as all the noise was, the sheer number of inmate's in front of me made it just that little bit worse. There had to be at least three hundred and that probably wasn't even all of them. This place being so big...what I was seeing must have been only a quarter of the women in this prison. It was terribly disconcerting but in an attempt to show my professionalism, I took in a deep breath and walked inside with Yuri.
Once I got closer, I heard and saw some foreign people hidden amongst the huge number of Asians. Some were American, I think I heard some Russian too...I was soon told that those inmate's had been transferred here as apparently Korean prisons give much harsher treatment and longer sentences. The ringing still in my ears after that shocking entrance began to thankfully die down but still, due to the initial shock I found it hard to speak let alone string a sentence together when Yuri spoke to me.
"I think this place explains itself, this is the cafeteria. As I've been told, you know what you're doing regarding scouring the room for any trouble or any problems, yes?"
"Yes" I replied, doing so almost immediately after, scanning my eyes over the inmate's looking for anything that could potentially cause a problem for us.
"Okay so these guys have only thirty minutes to eat because as we have a large number of women here, the hour and a half long lunch break is split into thirds so everyone gets to eat. Once this lot's time is up, we will escort them back to their rooms and then allow the second heap of inmate's out for their food". Wow, there was only one lunch run back in my prison in America. It was so small compared to this one, the contrast was quite unbelievable. "Another officer will get the last lot afterwards".
"Got it" I replied and continued to watch on while they finished their...what looked to be some kind of fish with rice or something, I don't really know. It certainly didn't look very appetising but they seemed to think the opposite by the way they pummelled it into their waiting mouths.
As I continued to gaze, I noticed the different types of women. There were small and dainty girls and then butch and fat ones. There were also younger women contrasting with the much older ones. Sensing my stereotypical self rearing it's head again, I pushed it back and told myself that I should stop expecting certain things or it could ultimately interfere with my work. This being because of my tendencies to become surprised when I witness something new, that could potentially put me in danger.
From the corner of my eye, I saw movement from my fellow officer so I followed suit just a few steps behind her as she weaved in and out of the tables while simultaneously scoping out the place.
All of a sudden I heard a splat and then felt a firm hand on my shoulder. I stopped in my tracks and saw that Yuri was now facing me but looking over at a group of inmates who were trying to contain their giggles. Yuri said nothing but what she did do was take out a small notepad from the pocket in her shirt along with a small pencil and wrote something. One of the women turned to look at her before glancing at me and smirking again. I frowned and went to step forward only for Yuri to stop me again.
"I'm giving you a written warning Lee, throwing food is unacceptable" she said in a firm tone. It was then that I looked down and saw some of the rice slop just mere centimetres away from my foot. Nice.
As we set off again after ordering and watching the inmate clean her mess up, Yuri turned to me and gave me some advice that I already knew but pretended I didn't so she wouldn't feel silly.
"They will test you. They will try to get you to lose your cool and your temper. Blow it off and don't let it bother you. The main thing to remember is to be firm, fair, and consistent in everything you do"
I smiled and nodded. "Will do"
It was then that we exited the cafeteria and made our way down the halls, our boots clumping along the way nicely, warning the inmates that we were coming for them. She allowed me to take a step back and watch how she did her job which I had to say was impressive. She had shown me kindness with her smile but showed nothing of the same sort to any of the women we encountered. As they piled out of their rooms, I started to become uncomfortable. I sensed many of their beady eyes on me and wolf whistles accompanied them soon after. Yuri could tell I was a little off after that.
"You're a pretty girl" she stated. I looked up at her as she was a fair bit taller. "You're going to have to get used to that"
"I'm used to it from male inmate's, it's going to take a little longer to become accustomed to female's doing it" I replied with a slight hint of disgust in my tone, it seemed Yuri noticed.
"Homophobe?"
"Christian" I answered, I frowned to see there was no smile on her face anymore. Maybe I'd insulted her, shit. She nodded and then continued on knocking and then kicking out while I followed behind feeling a little guilty. Maybe she had a sibling who was a lesbian...but then again like I said before, I don't hide my beliefs if I'm asked.
My legs were beginning to tire as we continued to walk and this wasn't even all of the remaining inmates! We were only covering half a housing unit while other officer's were doing the same but on different sides of the prison. Yuri chuckled when I huffed.
"You will most certainly get fitter on this job"
"I guessed as much" I replied
After finally arriving at the last room, Yuri stopped and smiled at me. "Seeing as Nichkhun wanted me to tell you about some of the inmates, let's start with this one. She's most certainly mysterious" she grinned and lowered her voice as if she were telling a scary story. I restrained my urge to laugh and instead watched as she pushed open the cold metal door with ease and walked in like she owned the place. I did the same, we were superior and I loved the power we held.
Just like all the other rooms, I saw a grey and gritty concrete finish on both the walls and the ground but then I noticed that this room had only one bed inside, wedged into the corner. Most of the inmate's we had thrown out today had come in pairs but this one seemed to either want to be alone or just, was made to live alone for whatever reason. I scanned my eyes around the dull looking room and also unlike the others, this woman didn't have any mess whatsoever. Nothing on the floor nor on the table provided...it was all perfectly clean (as well as it could be).
The inmate herself was next to be scanned by my eyes though I could only see her profile. She was reading a book and looked rather peaceful doing so. I admired how calm she was, the other women were either crazy with excitement for the slop that would soon be served to them or on edge as they faced yet another day in this place. If it was me in here, sure I'd try my best to remain calm but let's face it, being trapped somewhere that you can't leave when you want to is scary. It's like a form of bondage but much crueler as your limbs are free to walk and run but are ultimately restrained by the concrete walls you now call your home.
"You." Yuri's voice broke me out of my daze. "Come on, out" She ordered. The girl didn't look up from her book but waited a few seconds before shuffling out from under the covers, getting up and standing before us in her creased uniform.
I looked at Yuri expectantly but it seemed she was too waiting for something to happen.
We watched on as the girl finished reading whatever page she was on and then she folded a corner at the top of the book to act as a bookmark before closing it. It was then that she looked up at the both of us. I was a little unprepared to see such a young and innocent looking girl staring back at me yet there was something not quite right. I could feel it but I couldn't explain it. She looked from me to Yuri, me to Yuri until she tossed her book onto her bed and then walked through the small gap between us after I had turned sideways to allow her to squeeze past. With a confused frown on my face, I followed her with my eyes until she turned to the right once she had passed the doorway and then disappeared from view.
All of the inmate's had something weird about them I noticed. From strange tics to nervous twitching, crazy eyes and creepy appearances. This one however, had a sort of dangerous, eerie aura, the iciness filling the air wherever she walked yet had a childlike face with a petite and short body to complete her overall look. This is what I had meant about stereotypes...from the look of her I would've perceived her to be totally innocent and would wonder why she was in here. Well actually that last part I really did wonder but regarding the stereotyping, I really did have to stop.
Yuri led me outside and we walked down the long hallway on our way back to the cafeteria, glancing inside each of the now open doors as we passed to check that nobody had gone back inside. Back we went to leaning against the wall, watching as the second lot of inmate's lined up, got their food and then sat down.
I saw the women that I had described earlier, the creepy faced one along with the wide eyed crazy one. They were roommates...what a perfect pair, just take the freakiest combination and throw them in one room together to make double the creepiness. Now those women I could imagine doing something psychotic and violent while the girl with the book who was now sitting by herself and hunched over her tray...did not. A cough made me look to the side to see Yuri staring with a smile.
"What?" I asked curiously.
"Every. Single. Person" she said in a whisper. "Everyone who comes across that particular inmate has the same reaction"
"And what's that?" I replied with a raised eyebrow. She was now looking or even admiring said girl from afar so I too looked over and found myself studying her.
She had long golden, blonde hair that ended just under her shoulder blades and she was about the same size as me, maybe just a tiny bit shorter. She had on a straight expression that had no emotion whatsoever which was a little concerning. Not being able to judge or even guess what went on in her head was going to be a task in itself, one I wasn't sure I was particularly looking forward to...
"Everyone shows disbelief to see such a seemingly nice looking girl in a place like this." I nodded slightly to agree. Craning my neck a little to look at her a bit better, I seriously couldn't get over how young she looked.
"How old is she?"
"We don't know. She never talks to us, she listens and obeys instructions but she doesn't talk. She tends to speak with her eyes...I've never seen anything like it. If you're curious now you'll be even more so once you try to communicate with her - they are very expressive."
I couldn't stop my curiosity. "What did she do?"
Yuri smiled and shook her head. "Again, we don't know. We aren't told, we speculate but we aren't actually told what each inmate has done to end up here. We treat them equally, no one gets special treatment because they committed a relatively small crime and no one gets treatment that would be considered worse than usual if they have raped or murdered. It's best for it to work that way, you wouldn't want an angry serial killer watching you closely because a rumour's gone around saying you were laughing and joking with a thief but being extra pushy and firm with the murderer themselves..."
"That's understandable" I agreed.
Due to the rules here, new officer's are given short four hour shifts for the first two or three days so as to ease them in gently until they are used to how things work around the place which I guess was fair enough. It could potentially be a little overwhelming showing me everything at once and it would be easier to forget where things were that way, especially due to the size of the place.
"Your shift is almost over for today. You have an hour left which will be spent watching over these guys with me and then checking the perimeter to look for any suspicious behaviour".
I nodded in understanding and returned my attention to the prisoner's. I was looking forward to tomorrow, to being alone with the responsibility of moving the inmate's to and from their rooms. I liked to be in charge and was curious to see how each person would react to the 'new girl'. I expected to have some coming up to me acting all innocent while subtly asking me to do things for them. You see that, is just them trying to manipulate you, they act like you're their favourite and then will screw you over when you trip up. I'd seen it happen, and no way in hell was it going to happen to me.