Wasn't well enough today to go to Japan. My chest and cough is still bothering me, and I feel fatigued a lot. I'm still taking the day off for holiday, but going to the hospital to pick up some more meds, then hopefully I'm well enough to hang out with my buddy Kyle who came to see us from Indiana last night. He'll be here for a week and a half so it should be a lot of fun. But the sooner I'm healthy, the more I can enjoy it. Thanks for your prayers.
Brandon
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
An interesting week..
Wednesday, I was walking around the classroom (with the same butt soccer kids) to check the kids' classwork, then proceeded to sit back down on the floor. Immediately I fell on the floor in pain!
MY BACK KILLED!
I moaned and groaned and grunted on the floor while my kids gasped and stared at me.
"Teachuh! Ow?"
"Yes, Teachuh OW."
"Oh, Teachuh, hospital?"
"Yep! Maybe!"
I slowly and painfully made it out of the classroom to go to the office to see if any other teachers could help me. But there was no one there. I would also feel like an idiot trying to explain myself since this school branch (different school on wednesdays) has teachers that don't speak English very well at all. So I continued to moan and grunt on the floor in the hallway, hoping my kids were doing their work. I could hear them asking each other if they saw me out the window. Now on the floor I tried to make it back to my feet. I couldn't. I could barely straighten myself. But I pulled myself up with a nearby cabinet anyway. I couldn't hardly breathe either. I had 20 minutes left of class so I had to finish. I staggered into the classroom gasping and laid on the floor.
"Teachuh, come here!"
"No. What?"
"Finished!"
"Bring it here."
Anny came over and held her book over my head so that I could check it.
"Ok, this one here, check page...uh..." I struggled to find her story book and thumbed through the pages, "...8. Here."
"Ok." She sat back down to change her answer.
Jimmy: "Teachuh, here." He showed me his phone with "119" dialed and ready to 'send' (No, you're not dyslexic. 119 is 911 here).
"Ah! No, wait. Not yet! Just go finish your work, please."
He continues to stare at me – seemed like he wanted to help me and thought it was weird I was on my back – really concerned.
"Jimmy, go finish your work."
He still stares at me.
"Jimmy, go!" I wave him away.
He finally goes back to his seat to finish. I get through the last few minutes aching and trying to breathe. This is the first time it has ever happened. I give them their homework and send them out the door. It's 5:10pm now, but I have another class @ 7:00pm..."Psh, Not like this." I wait in the office until Betty from the other school comes to pick me up and Nate to take over my last class.
The last few days in sum:
Hospital didn't know anything except how much they want to get paid. I love korean food and how it works wonders on the body. Double check to make sure your floor heater is on because the next morning you'll wake up with a sore throat and become sick, making the next couple days more difficult to do your job and deal with a sore back as well.
Tomorrow, Saturday, I go to my 2nd Korean class and then to my 3rd visit to get acupuncture on my back, which I have 2 huge bruises from. What the heck are they doing to me?! They say it's normal though. Go figure (but the nurses aren't ugly and it's an interesting experience nonetheless – makes for good stories to post on blogs for those who have the unnecessary time.) Then, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Saturday with a friend; maybe see a movie, eat some awesome korean food, and drink coffee and tea amongst other koreans learning English in an "English club" that meet at a cafe downtown. I suppose it's not too late to brush up on my English as well..
MY BACK KILLED!
I moaned and groaned and grunted on the floor while my kids gasped and stared at me.
"Teachuh! Ow?"
"Yes, Teachuh OW."
"Oh, Teachuh, hospital?"
"Yep! Maybe!"
I slowly and painfully made it out of the classroom to go to the office to see if any other teachers could help me. But there was no one there. I would also feel like an idiot trying to explain myself since this school branch (different school on wednesdays) has teachers that don't speak English very well at all. So I continued to moan and grunt on the floor in the hallway, hoping my kids were doing their work. I could hear them asking each other if they saw me out the window. Now on the floor I tried to make it back to my feet. I couldn't. I could barely straighten myself. But I pulled myself up with a nearby cabinet anyway. I couldn't hardly breathe either. I had 20 minutes left of class so I had to finish. I staggered into the classroom gasping and laid on the floor.
"Teachuh, come here!"
"No. What?"
"Finished!"
"Bring it here."
Anny came over and held her book over my head so that I could check it.
"Ok, this one here, check page...uh..." I struggled to find her story book and thumbed through the pages, "...8. Here."
"Ok." She sat back down to change her answer.
Jimmy: "Teachuh, here." He showed me his phone with "119" dialed and ready to 'send' (No, you're not dyslexic. 119 is 911 here).
"Ah! No, wait. Not yet! Just go finish your work, please."
He continues to stare at me – seemed like he wanted to help me and thought it was weird I was on my back – really concerned.
"Jimmy, go finish your work."
He still stares at me.
"Jimmy, go!" I wave him away.
He finally goes back to his seat to finish. I get through the last few minutes aching and trying to breathe. This is the first time it has ever happened. I give them their homework and send them out the door. It's 5:10pm now, but I have another class @ 7:00pm..."Psh, Not like this." I wait in the office until Betty from the other school comes to pick me up and Nate to take over my last class.
The last few days in sum:
Hospital didn't know anything except how much they want to get paid. I love korean food and how it works wonders on the body. Double check to make sure your floor heater is on because the next morning you'll wake up with a sore throat and become sick, making the next couple days more difficult to do your job and deal with a sore back as well.
Tomorrow, Saturday, I go to my 2nd Korean class and then to my 3rd visit to get acupuncture on my back, which I have 2 huge bruises from. What the heck are they doing to me?! They say it's normal though. Go figure (but the nurses aren't ugly and it's an interesting experience nonetheless – makes for good stories to post on blogs for those who have the unnecessary time.) Then, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Saturday with a friend; maybe see a movie, eat some awesome korean food, and drink coffee and tea amongst other koreans learning English in an "English club" that meet at a cafe downtown. I suppose it's not too late to brush up on my English as well..
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Butt Soccer
Here's a vid of me, "Anny", "Peter", and "Jimmy" that I teach at a different branch. They're pretty rad kids, and smart. I love that Peter sports a nice little mullet. At first, Anny didn't want to play but she seems like she goes nuts over it. They're all pretty excited and they just eat this kinda thing up. We're getting our exercise before class by playing a romping round of Butt Soccer. We use the little tables as the goals. (This is a 5min video but I cut it down so that I could upload it easily.) I think the music I added makes it more fun too. It's "Let the Dominoes Fall" by Rancid.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
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