Who Knew?!?

After I returned from the Philippines, I had to start to start classes. For 2 weeks I was morphed back into a student. We had TESOL training and I was back in the classroom, but on the other side! I was quickly reminded, I do not like sitting in the classroom from 9-3! My brain was on overload! I know the certificate will be very beneficial when I return to the states… I had to keep reminding myself of that!

One day, the teacher taught part of the lesson in Korean. Oh man, was I lost!?! I felt so uncomfortable… I hated it! One of the other teachers who came with me doesn’t really know Korean either. We just kept looking at each other and shrugging our shoulders as the rest of the teachers knew exactly what she was saying! I got a glimpse into how some of my students fell during English class—No Fun!! I have tried to be more conscience of this when I am teaching, but it is difficult when I don’t know Korean and they don’t know English! I have a few translators in each class though! J It’s fun to have students translate for each other… they love it!

I learned a lot of great things, but I was definitely ready to be finished with that! We have 2 more weeks to take during winter vacation and then I will have my certificate! I’m not really sure if it will do a lot, but here’s hoping for the best!!

I also got sick over those 2 weeks. I must have contracted something while I was in the Philippines, and it hit me hard! I didn’t eat a regular size meal or more then 2 times a day for at least 3 weeks! It was rough. I went to the doctor, but nothing was confirmed so I was just put on medicine. I had to go and see her 3 times in the period of 2 weeks. The second time I went, she took blood. This was an experience! The next few lines are a bit graphic, so be advised… no, just kidding! It was a bit scary though. So, the nurse leads me into this room that is about the size of a closet… and not those walk-in closets that everyone has these days! I sit down and the nurse pulls out a needle. She doesn’t put gloves on, she just grabs the syringe and starts looking for a good vein. She sticks the needle in and draws the blood. Then she takes the needle out and grabs the tubes to put it in. But, she doesn’t have enough hands, so she sets the syringe of blood down on the table where I am sitting. She opens the tubes and then squirts the blood into 2 different tubes. Then she tosses the needle into a trashcan. NOT a biohazard container, just a normal trashcan and then tells me to go out to the receptionist. The receptionist sees that I am finished with the piece of cotton I was using to stop the bleeding. So she grabs it from me, let me remind you there is fresh blood on this, and throws it away in her trash! Seriously… that is how they do things here?!? That would have never passed health code in the states… oh wait, most stuff wouldn’t here! That’s the beauty of living in Asia! They freak out about the swine flu and put on masks, but blood is no big deal to them! What?!?

Oh, and H1N1 is huge over here right now! There have been outbreaks all over Korea. I had one friend who had 15 confirmed cases at her school. They closed her school for 1 whole week. They had teachers standing at the front door with masks on and each child had to get their temperature taken before they could enter the school. If they had a temperature, they had to go straight to the hospital. Thankfully, no students had to be sent home from my school. I think the Middle Schools were hit the hardest for some reason. I have never seen so many masks in one place before! I’m not sure if it’s like that in the states or not, but some of them have designs and animals faces on them! They are quite comical! They had recommended on the news that they cancel all schools in Korea for one week. That never happened! Which, I was actually happy about! We would have had to go to school an extra week in December if we would have got out! No bueno!! This process is definitely a culture experience though! Oh Korea!!

**I’m still not feeling 100% yet. I would appreciate it if you would keep me in your prayers! Thanks!