So this week started out pretty well. Nothing out of the ordinary. I started getting a stuffy nose on Monday and my throat hurt the smallest bit but it does that sometimes so I didn't think anything of it. Tuesday I was ok, just tired. (Before I start on Wednesday, you must know that my school requires us to check our temperature upon signing in every morning just to make sure we don't have a temperature and ultimately they are checking for the first symptom of Swine Flu.) Anyways, so Wednesday I woke up again with a sore throat but did not think too much of it since this happened on Monday and I was fine. I took my temperature when I got to school and it was 37.0 C. This is a slight fever but I didn't want to tell anyone because they might freak out that I was getting sick and make a bigger deal than it was. Throughout the morning I started to get more and more tired and my throat started hurting me more and more! By halfway through the day, I was laying all over my desk feeling tired and my throat was killing me. I really wanted to go home, but I knew that I had to make it through my afternoon classes. It hurt tons to talk and even began to ache to move but I finished out the day. I went to bed early and decided that I was going to get someone to cover my 3:00 class on Thursday (next day) and go to the doctor's during my break before that class and in to that class if I needed to. Thursday morning, I walked in to work feeling REALLY achey all over, my throat was killing me and I just felt like I could not even function. I took my temperature, almost hoping I had a fever so it would be known I was sick and needed to go home. Sure enough, a fever- 37.8 C. I told the only other teacher that happened to be in my office (She was Korean) and she decided I definitely needed to let Tanya (my principal) know because they don't mess around with fevers because of Swine Flu. My principal was called and to make a long story short, Caroline and I were driven to the hospital by one of our bosses to begin getting checked. (Caroline had a 36.6 temperature when we first started the morning but somehow 15 minutes later had a 37.0 temperature and they decided she should get checked out too. I think since she lives with me and I was sick and that's borderline sick too) Anyways so we got to the hospital and had our temperature and blood pressure taken before we were handed a mask and confirmed to both have fevers and be "sick". My temperature was about 101 F at the hospital. Shortly after being handed a paper and told to wait upstairs somewhere, my principal arrived at the hospital. She explained that we were going to be tested for Swine Flu and if the test came back negative we would go back to school and if it was positive we would have to take another Swine Flu test that was much more expensive but more accurate. Anyways, so the results of the Swine Flu test came back negative for both of us, but the throat culture showed I had Tonsillitis. No wonder my throat was killing me. Caroline was confirmed just to have the common cold but both of us were prescribed meds. We both got the same ones and then I got one pill extra... I assumed that was for my tonsillitis. We have no clue what these meds we took were except for one which read Tylenol ER. Is that emergency room Tylenol. We don't know, but we both took them diligently along with the other pills for 4 days, 3 times a day. Anyways, so after we got our meds, we were both driven right back to school, fevers and all, and began teaching 10 minutes later. Keep in mind, meds don't work instantly so I was STILL in pain, achey, and my throat was on fire! Oh and I was contagious. Oh, and I forgot to mention... It was Kinder Birthday Party that day and guess who had been chosen a couple days earlier to be the MC? ME!! So... Tonsillitis or no, the show must go on. I MCed (is that a verb?) for the birthday and taught in pain the rest of the day, laying all over my desk in between classes. I was not in a good mood at all and getting home in to my bed was the only thing on my mind. The day could not have gone by any slower, but eventually I made it home and in to my bed. I was passed out hard by 10pm and didn't wake up until my alarm went off the next morning at 8am. Feeling WAY better but far from 100 percent, I went to school the next day.... I had no choice anyways. If they made me teach the 2 days before feeling like I did, no way was I going to get out of teaching when I was feeling better.
Anyways, so as the day went on I started feeling better and better. School ended and well I wasn't gonna let anything spoil my weekend so with meds in hand I went out to eat for dinner with Caroline, the other 2 Kinder teachers (Jason and Erica) and Ian. After dinner we went to Ian and Aaron's (both co-workers and good friends) house for a lo-key Friday of playing games. We played Apples to Apples for several hours before going home and passing out as soon as our heads hit the pillow.
Saturday afternoon a group of us got together to go to the Green Tea Fields. This group included Me, Caroline, Aaron, Paul (Aaron's friend), Steven, Miranda, Prairie, Monica, and Carol. Monica and Carol are Korean English teachers at our school that are adorable and brave enough to go out with the foreign teachers for some fun. I LOVE those two and am so glad they feel comfortable hanging out with us, because the trip would not have been the same without them. Anyways, so we headed about an hour south to Boseong. The Green Tea Fields we went to are the only green tea fields in the country with 5.8 million plants being grown. It was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL and not like anything I have veer seen before. I have uploaded a couple of pictures on here and a bagillion more on facebook that you should check out to get a taste of what we saw there. I can't really explain what it was like and the pictures don't even do it enough justice of how beautiful and cool it was to see. Anyways, so we had to wait for 45 minutes for the bus to come pick us back up and by this time it was really dark outside. We didn't mind though because everyone started talking about how we could be in a horror film at that moment and we started making up a plot of how everyone would die. It was loads of fun. We finally caught the bus that drove us to the bus station where we caught another bus that drove us home. The bus ride was a lot of fun as Aaron and I talked for awhile before deciding to rock out hard to some Taylor Swift and some Korean Pop Music. We got back to Gwangju around 9:30pm and since we hadn't eaten dinner and had been on our way to and at the fields since 2:30pm, we were all really hungry. We ate at a Galbi place that was really cute and absolutely delicious! Caroline and I then went home and went to bed. We still needed to catch up on some sleep to get rid of our sickness.
Sunday, I went to church with Ian. It was pretty sweet, but still no Wesley Foundation at FSU. I really miss that place, and especially Vance, who was by far the best pastor I have ever had! I think i am looking for that here and I need to accept that I am not going to find it. Probably not here, nor anywhere! Anyways, so I enjoyed church and was super glad I went. Its something I really miss and something I felt I really needed to go to. I will probably go back again. The real pastor wasn't there so I would like to hear him as well if nothing else.
Monday and Tuesday were good days at school and I can now say I am about 99 percent over my sickness. I still have a small runny nose but I'll take it! :) Tomorrow I have my fourth Korean class, third Korean test. Wish me luck cause I have a feeling its gonna be bad! I enjoy learning the language though and get excited about class.
Past my bedtime now, so I am off to sleep. I love you ALL!!! I hope everyone is doing well!!
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