The last time I updated was when I found out that my school was being closed for H1N1 and it’s really been quite an interesting week since then.
I was originally going to go on a trip to Jiri Sans National Park last weekend. Jiri Sans is a mountain in the South of South Korea and is considered one of the most sacred places in South Korea; there are several Buddhist temples and shrines throughout the mountain. The trip there was being organized by the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS). RAS has several branches throughout Europe and Asia for people interested in Asian culture and studies. It began in England in the 19th century and it no doubt went hand in hand with the then-present colonization and subjugation of parts of Asia. Anyways, today the society organizes tours and lectures and they have a branch in Korea based out of Seoul. So, last Saturday morning I was supposed to meet up with them at 8am in Seoul and go on a 1 night, 2 day tour of Jiri Sans. Two days before the trip, however, I received a phone call saying that it would be canceled and that I would get my money back. My co-teachers speculated that it was canceled because this weekend was too cold to go hiking. It’s too bad, but the RAS has several trips throughout the year and a lot of them involve hiking, so I’m sure I’ll go with them somewhere in the near future.
The night I found out that it was canceled, I had plans to meet up with a Korean girl, Jin, for dinner. We met through facebook, had e-mailed back and forth and made plans for dinner. Jin lives in Incheon now, but she used to live in Seoul and prefers going out there. We met at a subway station in Incheon and then together took the train to Seoul (it’s less than 1 hour away.) On the way there, we chatted and got to know each other. She’s an English major, so her English is extremely good, and she’s just generally a pleasant and smart person to talk with. We arrived at Seoul and got Padjeon (Korean pancake) for dinner. Aftewards, we walked around Seoul for awhile and stopped at a small, underground bar for a little while before returning home. While we were out, she told me that her and her friends (both Koreans and Westerners) were planning to go out on Halloween, Saturday, and asked if I would like to come. My trip to Jiri Sans got canceled, so I told her that I would.
The next day at school I once again did nothing productive, as there was nothing productive to do. I read a little bit, went on facebook, etc. That night I met up with a bunch of Western and Korean teachers to carve pumpkins. I didn’t bring a pumpkin as I a) wasn’t sure where to get one and b) haven’t carved a pumpkin in years. I arrived at the apartment, among the first to get there, and enjoyed some Korean food that one of the guests brought. Later on as more pumpkin-bearing people came, we carved a few pumpkins. I shared a pumpkin with a Korean teacher. She had never carved a pumpkin before and I don’t think even knew exactly what pumpkin carving entailed before Friday night, however her half came out significantly better than mine.
I didn’t know all of the Western teachers who were there, including one of the hosts, Mary. After talking with Mary and her friend, Jamie, they invited me to go with them and three of there friends to China for winter break. As long as my vacation schedule meshes up with theirs, I’m going to China! I’m definitely excited about this.
After pumpkin carving I went out with a friend of mine to a bar in the area and met a few people. Generally the Westerners in Incheon are friendly. This is at least partially because we’re such a minority that if you don’t like everyone, at the very least you should get along with everyone else. So I met a few people and got home pretty late.
I spent Saturday sleeping in because I knew I would be out really late that night. Jin and I had plans to go to Seoul and the trains from Seoul to Incheon stop at around midnight and don’t start up again until after 6am. In order to save on cab fair, our plan was to just wait it out until 6am. I met up with her at a station in Seoul and even though I had 3 transfers, I only got slightly lost once, but I was quickly able to correct my mistake. We met up, got dinner from a street vendor – tapokee , a type of rice cake cooked in red pepper sauce, and deep friend sweet potatoes – and then went to the club that her friends were at. On the walk there, I ran into 2 of my friends from Incheon who later that night wound up being at the same club. The club had Korean bands who were covering Western rock music and often dressed like the bands they were imitating; this was particularly amusing in the case of the Queen cover band. The club was packed with Westerners and Koreans dressed up in some pretty inventive Halloween costumes. There was a recently murdered Cinderella, a Michael Meyers on stilts and someone who was going for the Korean pop star look, but really looked like Robert Smith. At the club I ran into a few of my foreign friends and the next day on facebook I saw that a few others had posted pictures from that same club.
After we got tired, Jin and I went to a nearby coffee shop. It was a really cozy place where each booth was in its own room pretty much, like rooms on a train. It was private, cozy, lavishly decorated and charged way too much for crappy coffee. But I suppose what you’re really paying for is the atmosphere. We left the coffee place at about 5:30 and went to the train station. Jin and I only had to wait 15 or 20 minutes for our train and the ride back to Incheon was maybe 40 minutes. We parted ways at that station and got on our separate subways to our different areas in Incheon. On mine, I almost fell asleep. I was tempted to set the alarm on my phone so I could fall asleep, even though the subway ride was only 20 minutes and at that point I’d been on it for over 10. I got off of the subway and got out of the train station just in time to catch the bus to my neighborhood, avoiding a 20 minute walk in the cold. I got back to my apartment at 7:30am and fell asleep immediately after changing and lying down.
I woke up at around 2pm and met a friend for dinner that night. I got home at around 11 or so and went to bed a little after. The next day I was able to wake up for work, but by the end of work I was dragging a lot. I’d spent the last week staying out late, running on caffeine. Whenever my body felt tired, instead of stopping or resting, I just got an espresso. Apparently, this is not good for your immune system. By Monday afternoon I was starting to feel sick and Tuesday I went in to work, but after being forced to see the nurse and getting my temperature checked, I was sent home. I had a sore throat, a cough and a mild fever. These are some of the symptoms of the swine flu. The next day I called out sick and then I found out that because I’m a teacher, I had to get tested for the swine flu because I had these symptoms.
My friend Casey was sick when she first got to Korea and had to get tested for it, so I knew what the test involved and did not want it. I’m fine with needles. I’m not fine with an extra long cotton swab being put so far up my nose it touches my brain. The nurse at the hospital did this to both of my nostrils and told me that the results for the simple test would be in within two hours. My co-teacher Sophie had brought me there with her two children, both of which had been previously sick with swine flu, and while waiting for the results we ate lunch at her house. Sophie has 3 children; 2 daughters and 1 son. The son was staying at his grandparents house because both of his sisters had swine flu. The girls are about 13 and 5 and the five-year-old is possibly one of the cutest children I’ve ever seen. She’s energetic, bold, wonderfully narcissistic and knows how to play up the cuteness. Part of me wants to steal this child.
After lunch we went back to the hospital to find out that no, I don’t have the swine flu, just a chest and head cold. The doctor prescribed some medicine for me as well as a decongestant which was ridiculously cheap at the pharmacy. I paid less than $3.00 for it and the swine flu test was $20.00. I really hate to think about what it is in America.
Sophy then dropped me off at home and I changed back into pajamas and crashed. I was told by Sophy that I probably shouldn’t go to work until Monday and at this point it was Wednesday. Thursday I spent the day going in and out of consciousness, taking several extended naps, and today I slept in pretty late. The medicine is helping along with the rest and I should be better soon. Yesterday I made some garlic, honey and lemon tea which helps to relieve congestion.
Overall being sick hasn’t been all that bad, largely because of all the help my Korean co-teachers have given me. I did have to reschedule my trip to Busan, a city in the South of Korea that I was going to go to this weekend, but I’ll get there eventually.