I purposely haven’t posted much on here lately, because it finally came down to the moment where I had to decide whether or not to renew my contract, and rather than feeling confident in my decision to stay, my feelings about Korea and my current job changed drastically from one moment to the next. Even after telling my school I was going to re-sign, I was looking at jobs on Dave’s ESL Café during my prep periods.
The end of April was especially rough. I came down with a wicked case of tonsillitis plus a sinus infection, so bad that the doctor literally went “whoa!” when he looked in my throat. He wanted to admit me to the hospital for 3 days, but I thought that was kind of unnecessary. During those five miserable days I was cooped up in my apartment in pain, I hated Korea with every fiber of my being.
You may be wondering, why is it Korea’s fault that you were sick? If you remember my post from when I went to the hospital back in December, it’s the same reason: I feel like the germ situation is out of control in this city.
I read up on tonsillitis and the Mayo Clinic website lists the following under “prevention:”
“The germs that cause viral and bacterial tonsillitis are contagious. Frequent hand washing is the best way to prevent all kinds of infections, including tonsillitis. Wash your hands often, and encourage your children to do the same.
Other common-sense precautions apply, too. Cough or sneeze into your elbow or a tissue. Don't share drinking glasses or eating utensils. Avoid close contact with anyone who's sick.”
I’m basically exposed to all of the above on a daily basis.
In Korea:
• People don’t wash their hands (not with soap or warm water anyway)
• People cough and sneeze all over each other
• People come to work sick
• People share food. (Typically there is a serving dish that everyone eats out of with chopsticks.)
Hmmm…I love how the volunteer translator at the hospital (she recognized me when I came in, since I am a frequent patron) recommended that I “get plenty of exercise.” I told her I do, and that I don’t usually get sick this often, it’s just in Korea.
She said…”the weather is different here.” Koreans always attribute my health problems to completely unrelated things like exercise and the weather, when the real problem is the rampant germs in this city and the poor hygiene habits of people I’m in constant contact with.
However, my friend Sarah is going on her second year as a teacher in Korea, and she said that her first year, she got sick all the time as well. This year, she hasn’t really gotten sick at all. So I’m hoping that my body has built up a tolerance to the germs and this will be my last hospital visit for a while.
As for the next year, I ended up renewing my contract after all, so my Korean adventure is getting an extension. I wasn’t excited about it at first, because the school system and some cultural things were really getting to me, but I’m feeling much better about the decision lately. I’ve talked to people who have been in Korea for a few years now, and most of them said that they definitely went through an anti-Korea phase at about 8-9 months, which is where I am right now. They also asked if I’d gone home to visit yet, which I haven’t, and they said I’d feel a lot better once I’d had a chance to visit home.
I think they are right. It has been far too long since I’ve seen my family, but I’ll see them in about 10 weeks. My two weeks of home leave were approved for August, and they also gave me another 2 weeks off for my sister’s wedding in the beginning of October. I lucked out and it fell on the same week as midterms, so I don’t have to miss much teaching time.
The October dates aren’t set in stone yet, but the August ones are: I’ll be home August 9th – 21st, and I can’t wait!
Things at work are also getting better. I’m administering a speaking test right now to all 400 sophomores, and I think it’s really good for them to get the one-on-one speaking time with me, which is usually impossible with the way the schedule is set up. We also have about 5 weeks of school left in the first semester and then 5 weeks of summer break.
Additionally, I think my coteacher Minjung realized how homesick I’ve been lately, and so she made sure my birthday on Friday was special and celebrated at school and I felt very loved. I’ll put some pictures up in another post.
So to conclude, it’s been a tumultuous month or so in terms of my feelings about Korea, but I’m here for another year and feeling pretty good about it.
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