To Do List

I have off for midterms :)

Mini-Break To Do List:

1) Study for LSATs.
2) Work on applications.
3) Clean/organize room. (I'm trying to start sorting out things now so I'm not frantically packing last minute when I leave.)
4) Laundry. (Always SO MUCH laundry to do.)
5) Buy fruit and headphones. The former because I haven't eaten fresh fruit in a long while. The latter because earbuds obviously not good for the ear right now and I can't live without my shuffle.
6) Bake. I love baking so much (but oddly enough, dislike cooking). I wish I knew how to make more than brownies and cookies though.
7) Shopping. I need clothes. I've literally worn the same cardigan everyday for the past 2 weeks. And then I wash and re-wear it for another 2 weeks.
8) Visit L in Gimcheon.
9) Visit Seoul. (I can't quit you.)
10) Sleep. (yessss.)

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Let me count the ways:

1) I've been sick in one way or another for the past 3 weeks.

2) I thought I had off today (like everyone else) but no, I have to come in to supervise 2 classes for NO REASON at all.

3) I barely got any sleep last night and felt terrible and sick (nauseous, chills) this morning.

4) Had to go to all the way to Seoul for my doctor's appointment (I figured it'd be better if I actually understood what my doctor was saying).

5) Turns out I have an ear infection. That I probably got from my nasty cold. Yay! Also, the doctor couldn't have been more of a douche. He was apparantly befuddled by my messed-up ears but not giving me a diagnosis or anything. No, I had to ask what was wrong with me. I don't often go to the doctor, but that just seems so basic to me.

5) I was manhandled twice on the bus today. The buses are effin' crazy here, weaving in and out of lanes and making sharp corners and generally making everyone go everywhere. And for some godforsaken reason, people like to grab onto ME when they're losing they're balance. Do I look like a strapping, muscular person who will steady you? NO. What will happen is only inevitable--you grabbing onto me will only make BOTH of us fall.

So the first time this happened, the lady literally dug her nails into me as she's holding on to ME for dear life. If you know anything about me, you know that I strongly abhor other people, especially strangers, touching me. Male or female. And those nails friggin' hurt. Second time I was manhandled was by yet another lady who practically was hugging me for support. And made me start to lose my balance. I nearly fell. I even made groaning noises when she was using me as her personal support pole, but she didn't give a f*ck. I swear, next time someone tries to grab onto me, I'm gonna yell. Seriosly. I am not here for you to grab onto. There have been plenty of times where I too have been about to lose my balance on the bus, but somehow I have never had to hold onto someone. I always manage to regain it myself. It's not hard people.

6) Some ahjusshi (middle-aged man) trying to f*ck with my mind on the train. So the trains in Korea are pretty sweet. Nice cushioned seats, plenty of leg room, even a cafe on board the tran if you're hungry, plus a bathroom in between every traincar. You also get assigned seats when you buy a ticket. So I'm sitting there in my assigned seat and I was pretty happy because I got the window seat which I always prefer. There was this bag of groceries in front of me which I figured someone ahd left behind so I was like whatevs. Then this ahjusshi comes and asks me if I'm in the right seat. And I'm like "huh?" Because I was pretty sure I was in the right seat, but he seemed so insistent so I double-checked.

Meanwhile I had even apologized to him because I thought he was right--sometimes I mess up the seats so it was possible. But then I check my ticket again and everything, and I am in the right seat. So then I'm all confused. I even showed the ahjusshi my ticket and he kept examining it like I'm lying or something. By this point things are getting a little shady. Like clearly the ahjusshi wants that window seat. Because he's even somehow managed to switch seats with me at that point and was definitely not going to move. And even though I kept telling him that it was MY seat, he kept trying to say it wasn't.

Then he decided to switch tactics and instead was all like "But I have this bag of stuff." And then I sighed and gave up. Like goddamn, ahjusshi, if it's so goddamn important to you to have the window seat--to the point where you're willing to try and lie and play mental games with me about it--then just friggin' take it. Jesus. Maybe it sounds like I'm overreacting, but really his attitude was completely condescending, like "oh you stupid little girl who can't read her train ticket right" mixed in with "well, i'm OLDER so that means you MUST give up your seat for me." Did he thank me? Hell no. I seriously hate people like that. You know, if he had just asked me nicely from the beginning for the seat, I probably would've given it to him. Because at the end of the day it's just a friggin seat on the train. But no, he had to lie and try to confuse me like I'm stupid or something. I'm not stupid ahjusshi, I'm just not petty like you are.

7) My teeth hurt. I think my wisdom teeth are coming in.

Sigh.

That's Not Good

My ear is bleeding. I still don't have full hearing back in that ear (I've had a nasty cold all week). And I'm freaking out about it.

Also, why do insurance policies have to be so friggin' complicated? I don't even KNOW what I'm reading anymore. I'm just gonna go ahead and guess that bleeding ears are covered.

I hope.

Potty Humor

My students gave me TMI today. First they incorrectly asked to go to the bathroom (these are my 2nd year ADVANCED students, btw): "Teacher--can I toilet???"" And I always say "No. How do you ask?" And then they're like "OH teacher--can I, can I I go to bathroom?" And I'm like (sigh) "Close enough." Then the other students were giggling about it, pointing to the student asking to go, and telling me "Teacher, teacher--she's gonna explode!"

Please, people, I'd really rather not know about your bodily functions. ANY of them.

Flobots

This song starts out simple enough, and then it just gets crazy. I can't decide if I think it's brilliantly stupid or stupidly brilliant. Also, I know, I know, I'm probably the last person to have heard this song. I'm so out of the loop.

Sickly

Went away for the weekend to visit people in Naju (we had a bet) and I got pretty sick while I was there. I should've known--I had this sore throat all week but I just thought it was dehydration or something. And then on Friday when I was sneezing with a runny nose, I thought it was just allergies since I usually get them around this time. But then on Saturday when I felt like absolute sh*t I realized too late it was NOT allergies and most certainly a cold.

This is the second time I've been severely sick in Korea. The first time was last winter when I had the flu. But god, I didn't even realize I had the flu and went to work anyway. I don't know how I managed to move, let alone teach while having the flu but somehow I did. But really, everything from that time is in a fog because I was just so out of it.

I think being sick when you're a teacher is probably the worst thing ever. It actually takes lot of energy and concentration to teach properly. Being sick and teaching leaves you in a particularly vulnerable state--you're not in full control of yourself, let alone your class. And knowing you look like crap and still having to get up in front of a group of people (even if they are just students) is the last thing anyone would want to do. Standing for 50-60 min. at one time is also especially tiring when you don't even feel like moving one inch. And loud students are the last thing you want to hear when your head is pounding and you feel like you've been submerged underwater.

Basically, teaching when you're sick is terrible. I also become short and crabby when I'm sick, not a great side to show my students. However, that's the way they do things here in Korea. Teachers rarely miss a day for sickness. For one, there's inexplicably no substitute teacher system here. When a teacher has to miss school (usually for a funeral), another teacher or two is assigned to cover their classes. Which means for those poor teachers, they have to teach thier own classes and cover a few more.

Most teachers in my office are sick now, actually, but they're all here. Even students when sick are still expected to come to school. My host sister was pretty sick awhile ago and while she did go to the hospital, she went straight to school after her check-up. It's kind of insane. Even though my parents did the same thing and never let me or my brother and sister miss school unless it was for a very,very good reason (sadly, there never was one) if we had even been super sick, they would've let us stay home. (Un)fortunately we never had more than a bad cold.

The silver lining in all of this is that I have off next week for Midterms. Thank god.

Exactly

This article is a bit old, but amazingly well-written; it really gets to the serious issues Asian-American women are facing.

Definitely one of the best articles I've read on the issue. Go read it. Seriously.