Seeing Thru The Haze

This cold is still beating me down. The good news is that I have no classes to teach. The bad news is that I will be sitting here with nothing to do for the rest of the day. It’s going to be more of the same next week due to finals for the first and second years. I’ve got my Korean language book and a novel to read, but my head is so stuffy that I have no desire to try to crack open a book. All I want to do is take my butt to sleep. I might ask my co-teacher can I take the sick day and sleep this off. At the very least I need to go to the Pharmacy and get some kind of over the counter stuff to take care of my sinuses. Curse this country for not selling over the counter drugs in corner stores.

For whatever reason, Holy Grill was packed. A group of us met there to draw for Secret Santa, but everyone left after that. Justin and I stuck around and around half an hour later the place was packed. I met some people who teach at this private school run by Canadians. Then Angie and Nina showed up and ended up sitting with them along with Wes, Christy and Sybil. Sadly, I wasn’t able to stay much longer because I wanted to catch the subway instead of paying a cab.

I hate that the subway closes when it does because everyone knows Korean nights are way later than American ones. Back home, most people go out for dinner around 7-ish. Here, that’s out the window. Because so many of the Westerners work in Hagwons, they usually don’t get off until at least 9 or 10. Combine that with the fact that Koreans don’t seem to sleep and it’s common for late dinners. Hell, Commune’s open mic night doesn’t start until around 11 on Weds. and never get to stick around for that. I just see no point in paying a cab 5-6,000 won just because I want to stay out an extra hour or two.

I Wanna Be Sedated

Perhaps I caught it from a student or perhaps it was yesterday’s lack of socks, but I now have a cold. It hit me like a brick wall this morning and it hasn’t let up. I went down to the nurse and she gave me some meds. They have helped, but it’s still pretty bad. I stuck thru my one main class today because it was my favorite class. When they were asked if they wanted free study time or my regular class time they choose class time with me. Strangely, the acted up for the class period and I told them I was rather disappointed in them. I’m NEVER disappointed in 101!

After class I my co-teacher told me to get a rest and come back for one more class. On the way, a couple of the other teachers stopped by the food vendor next to the school and asked me to join them. They don’t speak a whole lot of English but they were nice to me and they even paid for my meal (despite me telling them not to a few times!). Still, I thought it was nice of them considering how little I get to communicate with most of the teachers at my school. Got to love that language barrier, right?

After my unexpected lunch, I went home and took a nap. I ended up oversleeping because my alarm on my cell phone didn’t go off (dang it). She wasn’t upset with me because she knew I was still feeling crappy.

I plan on going to Holy Grill despite how crappy I’m feeling. I have a free meal and I plan on using that up today. Besides, I’m kind of up for some Guitar Hero afterwards.

On a completely different note, my family needs to send me my damn PS3. They don’t understand my lack of entertainment around here! I only have some random books and a few oddball Korean TV shows I find myself watching despite not having a clue as to what the actors are saying. I am not If it weren’t for the laptop and internet I would have gone insane by now. By the time I get my system sent to me, it will be August and time for me to go back to the states!

Random side note: I found out that the 3rd year boys have a running bet to see who can hug me. I had figured this out some time ago, but I just bothered to ask one of the students about it today. This proves my theory that Korean boys are evil.