Today was the first day of classes at my school in Busan, and it was good to see my students again. Some of the students forgot their manners and tried to paw my hair. I let them know quickly that was not acceptable. Today’s lesson was How Much Is It? I taught third and fourth graders with my co-teacher. I caught a bad cold over the weekend and although school started yesterday, we didn’t have classes.The students came to school. I don’t really know much about what was going on. I asked my co-teacher if we were having classes, and she told me that she didn’t think so. She would let me know. That was the last I heard from her on the topic. I think that there was a ceremony and the students stayed with their homeroom teacher. I put my head down on my desk and wrapped up in a blanket. Then I had to lie down on some benches in the class. I was so cold. My feet and hands were freezing. It turned out that I had a high temperature 100 degrees F, so I spent the entire day in the nurse’s room sleeping on a heated bed, after the nurse (she is awesome) gave me medicine. Oh, and after the nurse took my temperature, she began saying “hospital, hospital, hospital!” I have had enough of Korean hospitals, and I didn’t want to go. She called my co-teacher who came down with her purse in hand. Her hair was done, and she looked like she had plans for after work. I don’t know for sure. She said my temperature was a little high. 100 degrees is not a little high to me. That’s more than a little high.

I could tell that she wasn’t in the mood to carry the foreigner to the hospital, so it was easy convincing her not to take me. She loved it when I said that I didn’t want to leave, just stay there in the warm bed. I just hoped that I didn’t have the swine flu. Just the thought of getting out of bed and walking outside in the cold, down the stairs of the school and trying to get a taxi (but possibly having to walk home) made staying in the nurses bed an obvious choice.

I didn’t even feel the heat from the heated bed for the longest time. I began to sweat, and I felt the heat. My fever was broken by the end of the afternoon, but that night, it came back. I didn’t get much sleep.

So, today I was a little better, but I was yawning, coughing, and freezing during the classes. I felt tortured and couldn’t wait for lessons to be completed. My fever lowered to 98.9. I felt up to helping the students play their board games and helping them pronounce words in English. After class, I was encouraged to go back to the nurses room. I was freezing and shivering during all of the lessons, and it was cold in the classroom. I could see my breath. I went to the nurses room and fell asleep again. No problem. I love Korea! Taking sick days is frowned upon, but recuperating at work is okay. Oh, but I almost got locked in the nurses room. Everyone forgot that I was there, and they padlocked the door from the outside. I heard the door being locked and began banging on it. A teacher walking down the hallway, probably the person who locked it, came and opened it for me. There was no harm done. I just wished that I asked for some of that medicine to take home with me. It was quite effective!

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