My class…

8-08-08

The first day the kids arrived we helped them pick American names – some kids already had names in mind.  My kids are: Edward, Jim, Billy, Max, Jackson, Molly, Hayley, Skye, and Bella.  I’d say that they chose relatively normal names.  Some of the other teachers weren’t so lucky.  We have one kid at camp who calls himself Random and another who calls himself F.  At least no one decided to themselves U, right?

My class is well behaved, at least so far.  I bribe them with stickers; they’ll do anything for a sticker.  This shocks me a bit, considering that they are about 12 or 13 years old. Did I still like stickers at that age?  I can’t remember.  I probably did, considering I still like them now.  My name badge contains 11 stickers.  If I’m really good tomorrow, I’ll probably give myself a few more.

First day…

8-07-09 First Day of Teaching

I have 9 kids in my class, at least in my homeroom class. There should be more, but apparently some of the parents freaked out a bit when they heard that some of us had contracted swine flu. Apparently the administration called some of the parents and convinced them to bring their kids here, so we have more coming tomorrow; though, all parents have to sign some form saying they won’t sue if their kids contract swine flu here. I’m not sure that we have the safest building, so I can understand their concern. Things die here. Aside from the swine flu, they keep spraying for bugs – the halls are littered with giant dead moths and beetles. A bird died in the building tonight. The bats seem to be alive and strong though.

We have netting that covers the open area in the stairwell (the bit that leads down to the bottom). This is a recent addition in the past few days. Basically, it’s so the kids won’t jump over the railing and fall to their death. Seriously though, how many kids actually fall over railings? One of the Korean teachers here says that it happens more often than you’d think. Well, maybe they don’t quite fall to their deaths; maybe they just get some painful injuries and a trip to the hospital. I wanted to bring up Darwin’s theory of natural selection, or more specifically “survival of the fittest”, but since this isn’t my permanent gig, I figured why rock the boat. Let them have their nets.

I’m learning to make efficient use of my time while here. For instance, some people already know that if you shower the night before you save time in the morning. I’ve discovering that sleeping in the clothes I’ll be wearing the next day takes the time/efficiency thing to a new level.

A bug flew on me today. I flicked it off my arm and it landed on the floor. Koreans don’t wear shoes in the classroom, so none of us wanted to step on it. One of the girls came up to it and *BAM*, smacked it with her hand and then picked it up and carried it out of the room. She scored major brownie points with me.

Out of quarantine…sort of.

8/01/09

There’s been a lot happening here in the last couple of days.  First of all, I finished my last dose of Tamiflu yesterday and am officially swine flu-free.  We’re out of quarantine, but still aren’t allowed to venture in to town.  The Wando villagers aren’t our biggest fans apparently, as they think we’ve brought our dirty American diseases to their homeland.  They were protesting our being here – oh yeah, we were in the news because of our swine flu quarantine.

On a happier note, the members of our group who had contracted the H1N1 virus were released from the hospital and are back with us at camp.  Apparently the swine flu members of our group underwent a pretty strict quarantine at the hospital, where the doctors and nurses wore full body suits, and had limited contact with them.  Wild, huh?   It makes me think of the movie Outbreak.  I’m picturing a scenario of something like this:

Oh, and I almost forgot to write that we’re going ahead with the elementary school camp.  Yep, that means we’re actually going to teach!  A part of me is really excited; another part of me is lazy after hiking in the mountains and laying out in the sun for the last couple of weeks and would rather continue doing just this.  I’m trying to put the latter attitude aside (the one with the voice who asks, “what, you actually expect me to work?!?”) and get psyched for the kids.

We met some Korean kids on one of our hikes the other day, who were really cute, which makes me all the more excited to teach next week.

Plus, before we start teaching, we get to go on a few mini excursions.  Next Tuesday and Wednesday they’re taking us to the Boseong green tea farm, the Nagan-Eupseong folk village, shopping, and to the beach.  The first night we get to stay in a hotel – I’m excited about this – and the second night we’re staying at one of the camps in Damyang.

I <3 dragonflies

7/30/09

I like dragonflies. This doesn’t sound remarkable, which I realize, but if you understood how afraid I am of bugs and insects, you’d understand the significance. I finally got a picture of a dragonfly the other day.

I’ve wanted to take one for ages, but it’s difficult to find one that isn’t swarming overhead.  At certain times of the day you can look up and see 50 or so dragonflies overhead. It’s pretty awesome.

My fear of bugs has definitely diminished since living in Wando. I’ve never seen such huge bugs in my life. Friday we hiked to a museum on the island, and found this display of giant insects. I haven’t seen these particular bugs around the island, but I have seen bigger and grosser bugs here than I’ve ever seen in my life.

Do we still get our free T-shirts?

7/29/09

There are side effects to Tamiflu.  I get nauseous about an hour after I take it.  It’s the most common side effect and not a huge deal, but to be on the safe side, everyone with side effects or swine flu symptoms (yeah, we still have people with those) had to get checked out by a doctor today.  So after talking to the doctor, my friend and I went on a hike.  When we returned, the doctor and nurses were running relay races for Wando Olympics.  I wish that I’d had my camera with me.  The doctor, however, had his camera and was also taking photos of us.  I’m beginning to realize what it feels like to be a caged animal at the zoo.

On the bright side, the doctor didn’t seem overly concerned about contracting swine flu from us.  A couple friends and I played Frisbee with him and two nurses.  It’s like summer camp for sick kids, except that we all still have our hair.

One of the straps on my mask broke earlier today.  My friend just walked in from a different hike and had a brand new mask.  I’m so jealous.  I should probably say that she also fell in a pond and had scratches all over her legs, and all I could think about was that she got a new mask (she dropped hers in the pond).  Sometimes I think I lack perspective.  A similar situation happened yesterday.  We were talking about the new people who were diagnosed with swine flu, and all of a sudden I blurted out, “If we don’t teach, do you think we get our free camp T-shirt?  I really want my free T-shirt.”  Yeah, sometimes I definitely fail to see the larger picture.

Chopsticks Relay and “The Others”

7/28/09

We have Wando Olympics on the island.  I took part in a chopstick relay race, Tae Kwon Do Simon Says, and a tug of war.  I started off on one team, but then 3 more people got diagnosed with swine flu and had to go to the hospital, so I finished up the day on another team.  It was a bit sad, really.  We’re dropping like flies.  Breakfast and dinner conversations are also a bit sad, though it usually makes me laugh, since at some part of the meal you’ll randomly hear people get up and say, “I have to go take my meds now”.  I can’t wait to get off the island.

We keep joking that being here is like being in an episode of Lost.  We’ve even started calling the people who are refusing to take Tamiflu and are quarantined somewhere else, “The Others”.  Though, actually, at times we seem to be teetering between Lost and Lord of the Flies.  All I know is that I don’t want to be Piggy.

Korean Junk Food

7/28/09
The Koreans are being super nice to us, trying to make us feel as comfortable as possible. They bought us chocolate, chips, lots of different drinks, and a lifetime supply of ramen noodles.

The best thing is the coco grape drink, which is like grape juice with this gelatinous substance, a bit like boba (for those of you who have had boba tea). This stuff is awesome. I highly recommend it.

Oh, and here is some of the other stuff that they gave us:

2 Tamiflu a day, keeps the swine flu away

7-27-09
Day 1 of Tamiflu:

Getting the announcements:

Today we were given our first dose of Tamiflu. Here’s the deal, we take our meds once in the morning and once in the evening for the next 5 days. After 5 days, everyone in the group will be tested for H1N1 (swine flu). If we test negative (individually), we’re then free to leave (this means we can either schedule a flight home or take them up on their offer to give us an extended tour of Korea).

Apparently, even if others test positive, we’re still free to go since we’ve been on the meds. Here’s the kicker – not everyone in our group has agreed to take the meds. These people are being put under a separate quarantine, where they are not allowed contact with us and will be quarantined for 7 days. Since the non-med taking people are allowed contact with each other, if any one of them test positive after the 7 days, all of them will have to undergo another week of quarantine – at least, this is how I understand it.
There’s a whole system of how we take the meds, so that they can monitor who has taken them and at what time. Today we had doctors taking down our medical information, while someone else watched us swallow the pill.

Photos of our first dose:

Summer Camp for Sick People…

7/27/09

“Stop! People here may have swine flu.” OK, that’s not really what it says, but it would certainly be appropriate. Oh, and Koreans really do have the cutest signs.

Swine flu quarantine in Wando is a bit like summer camp for sick people. It’s really not bad at all. When I’m not thinking about contracting swine flu, I’m actually having an OK time.

Today I sat outside and read a book, did archery and paintball, and then went on a hike. The mask wearing situation is a bit confusing though. We were walking to the archery field with one of our Korean hosts and he said “take off your masks”, and then we were given archery lessons by some people not part of our camp, who also weren’t wearing masks. At one point a guy (also not from our camp) with a camera requested that we put on our masks so he could take our photos. Hmmm… (**edit** I saw the archery people at our Tamiflu party, so maybe they are quarantined here too**)

Swine Flu Strikes Wando

7/26/09
Today I watched the 3 people with swine flu get taken away in an ambulance (**edit** 5 people have now been taken away and more get tested each day **).

Korean ambulances are green and white, or at least the ones in Wando are this color. Seeing people from our group get taken to hospital was really sad, and a bit scary. I feel like a ticking time bomb, since one of the people with swine flu was my roommate. I’m trying not to worry too much about it.
Here’s a Korean ambulance:

On a more positive note, they’re still letting us hike. Wando is an island with mountains, and although we’re not allowed to hike toward the beach (to town), we can still hike in the mountains. Our camp is located near an arboretum, which is where we hiked today. Basically, it’s like living in a national forest, where you can hike every day. Hopefully the weather stays nice, otherwise we’re going to be cooped up inside for the rest of the week.