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Sunday, December 8, 2013

12-9-13 Oh, the Sick. I Am All The Sick. Sick and On the Dock of the Bay.

9 AM: I'm very, very sick with a stomach virus, but I'm at work.

I'm going to discuss the effects of my stomach virus, and it's mostly written for myself as an attempt to find humor in the situation, so skip reading this if grossness isn't your thing.


Woke up at 4:30 feeling distinctly Not Good. But I couldn't determine what brand of Not Good it was. I finally settled on nausea. I felt icky and thought today would be a good time to take my first sick day. But then I remembered that in Korea, unless you're physically incapable of walking, you're pretty much expected to come in to work and let your boss send you home when he sees that you are, in fact, sick.

After a while of being wide awake and feeling nasty, I video-called my mom and kept my computer screen on as I talked to her in between bouts of vomiting. Fun times. She also encouraged me to go to work, in case the school nurse had some medicine that it would be hard for me to get otherwise.

So I did it. I got ready for work, looking as professional as a deeply sick woman can look. It was could and rainy outside and I'd left my umbrellas at school, so I went to the convenience store and got an umbrella and three bottles of Sprite--what Mama always gave us when we were virus-y.

And, miracle of miracles, there was a cab at the taxi stand! Instead of walking for 20 minutes in the cold and the rain, I could ride! BAD IDEA. The warmth of the cab's heater, combined with the jostling of the car was too much for my stomach. I kept trying to keep my mouth shut, but as the car's shaking got worse and worse, I couldn't keep it down anymore.

Nothing got on the taxi, but I did ruin my new gloves and get sickness on my own coat and hair. Somehow I managed to pay and get out of the cab. Poor man probably now has a very sad story to tell about the random foreigner who rode in his cab for two minutes, then promptly vomited on herself, but whatever. This is life. Sometimes disgustingness happens.

I had to immediately start figuring out how I was going to play things off. I walked up to the school with an umbrella protecting me because it was still raining. I had already lost my dinner and lunch, so water was the only thing I vomited, making my jacket and hair merely look wet, which was normal because it was raining. I decided to make a beeline straight for the bathroom when I got in, to contain the damage.

Ugh. Water and paper towels took care of the mess, and I threw away my darling Hello Kitty gloves, thankful that they'd taken the worst of the sickness. After brushing my teeth, brushing out my hair and fixing my makeup, I didn't look vile--just a wee bit deathly.

I went to the nurse and showed her the word for throwing up, translated into Korean by my phone dictionary. She gave me this unsavory concoction, which I drank all of, tempering it with sips of Sprite.

Looks Like Molasses; Tastes Like Feet. Mm-Mmmm.

And as I walked through the halls, I kept my head down, not really making eye contact, but I was still greeted by 14 jillion boys, all of whom were delighted to see me. They confused me by still acting utterly precious or chipper or flirty (only one of the previous attitudes applies, depending on the 2nd-grade boy, but all three attitudes are present in most of the 3rd-graders).

And it dawned on me that they didn't notice. Here I'd had the most embarrassing and fluid-filled morning in recent memory, and the kids can't tell. I look like death put under a heat lamp, and they don't see Violently Ill Girl, they see Leigh Sem, somebody they've got to greet and charm.

I went to the bathroom one more time, to double-check my face, and I heard music from the special needs room. Two weeks ago, Joonsung had been playing a piano piece so beautiful, it nearly broke my heart. It was so pretty to me, it reminded my of Andrew Lloyd Webber's music which (even when the lyrics are about dancing cats or opera phantoms or Argentinian politicians) always moves me very deeply.

In Korean, I asked Joonsung's piano teacher the name of the song. It's "Yoreum" or "Summer" from the 90's Japanese movie Kikujiro. I looked up the instrumental song to listen to because I like it so much, though Joonsung hasn't played it in at least a week. This morning during the sickness-teleconference with Mama, I played it for her, too.

And I heard it again this morning at school. When I was in the bathroom, completely worn out and just barely holding things together, Joonsung started playing my new favorite song. Summer. Thank you God, for caring for me no matter where I am.


 
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6:15 PM: Well, I didn't get better--I got worse. But going to school was still the best decision.

I told Co-Teacher I was sick, so she took my first class. I kinda languished at my desk until about 9:30, when Mr. B took me back to the school nurse for more medicine, because I'd been throwing up more and my face was obviously tear-streaked, despite my attempts at cleanup.

Had pills, drank another foot-cordial, and let the nurse do some chiropractory thing on my back, then she squeezed the muscle between my thumb and forefinger in an acupressure movement that hurt reeeeally bad. But then I was given a box of tissues and ushered to one of the walled-in beds in the nurse's office.

And there was an electric heating pad for my stomach. Aw yiss.

The wall-partitions gave me some privacy, as did the curtain in front of the bed, but the kids still found way to see me. I slept off and on from 10 AM to 4:20 PM, and the students kept coming by to check on me.

Jeongminnie found me in the hallway twice, when I'd emerge to go throw up. He was very concerned and asking about my symptoms.

Byeongyoonie came by with a slight stomacheache of his own, and leaned over the wall to tell me I looked really pale. Yes, I'm already day-glo white when healthy, so illness and no food and a complete lack of lipstick is going to turn me a whiter shade of pale. Boooo.

1st-grader Sangyeop was in the bed the next wall over. Not sure what was wrong with him, but he seemed pretty spry. I think it might have been just a bad headache.

Proposal-Heejoon looked stricken when he saw me, and he told me in Korean to "endure it and try [my] best". 'Twas so cute.

I decided to attempt lunch, and wonder of wonders we were having jook, something that's a warm, mild-tasting cross between porridge and chicken soup. I kept it down for 5 hours, so I think it did me some good. I couldn't, however, keep from looking like the Creature from the Sick Lagoon in the lunchroom. I smiled at a ton of kids, and they shot me looks of sympathy. Word had finally gotten out--Sem is sick.

The older ladies at the lunch table made lots of sweet comments. It was a big contrast, because I'm normally energetic and wolfing down my food, but today I was only just barely getting the spoon to my mouth while occasionally sipping from my bottle of Sprite.

After lunch, Dongyeong, Wonbin, Daesung, Geonhee, and other 3rd-graders came by to ask if we could play Monopoly. No, I said. Then, could they borrow it? No. But I caved and told Daesung to go fetch the game so we could play it in the nurse's office. I cam out and sat down with them on one of the couches, but Wonbin told me, "Teacher sleeping?" (they had woken me up) "Sleep. Replay." I nodded and went back to bed, closing the curtain and listening as they happily played Monopoly within my earshot for 30 minutes. Jeongminnie came in and played with them for a while, too.

The heating pad was a bounty from heaven. I adjusted the heat and adjusted the comforter and had the coziest little space during the times when I wasn't throwing up. I'd fix my makeup each time, but I kind of gave up on my hair. It wasn't a rats' nest, but there was no way I could keep it from looked slept-on when I was unconscious most of the day.

Late in the day, Hyunseok from afterschool asked me if we were having class later. From beneath my comforter and heating pad, I said I wasn't capable of it. Sangyeop came by to smile winningly at me and say "good job". I think he meant something like, "keep fighting the good fight!"

Yunho and his friend Woohyuk came by for chocolate, of all things. Child, I'm achy and I've lost most of my muscular coordination, isn't it apparent that I'm not in chocolate-giving mode? But Governor Yunho needs what he needs when he needs it. Deokryong's head also appeared over the wall, beaming and requesting sweets. Yunho reacted violently to that--he told me that Deokryong was ugly and didn't deserve candy.

Seriously, what did my little teddybear do to earn the ire of these other kids? He doesn't smell bad or act wacky, and he's not even socially awkward, like some of the kids. Why do so many of my favorites like Little Sanggyu and Governor Yunho treat him like walking trash? He can get violent, so I wonder if he once hurt them or stole their stuff.

But in any case, I don't stand for that kind of talk. I pointed to Deokryong and said, "uri haksaeng!" ("our student" which actually means "my student," despite the use of the plural.) Then I pointed to Yunho and Woohyuk and repeated, "uri haksaeng, uri haksaeng." Next I said, "gateun" (identical/same). You are all my boys. You are the same to me. The other two boys protested they were nothing like Deokryong, but I gave them all a piece of chocolate, then laid back down and left them to bicker it out.

Kids kept telling me I was pretty today, which was lovely to hear considering the circumstances. I think they're blinded by love, like I am toward them. Can't nobody tell me that Jiwoong's not beautiful, in his grumbly-cactus kind of way.

At 4:20, school was over and the nurse called Co-Teacher for me. The nurse's office was being locked, so I went back to my desk and put my head down to wait for our trip to doctor. My Vice Principal came over to tell me to stay home and rest tomorrow. Isn't he thoughtful and wonderful? He's the best.

Co-Teacher took me to the internal medicine doctor. My diagnosis is food poisoning from a bad-tasting roll of kimbap I ate on Sunday morning before church. It tasted nasty, but I was afraid I'd faint if I didn't eat, and I wanted to be on time for church, so I was in a hurry to get sustenance. Poor choice.

While waiting outside at the doctor's clinic as Co-Teacher parked her car, I lost what little lunch I'd eaten. It was pretty humbling to be standing on a step, leaning out into the rain and being sick all over the sidewalk. We were in a busy part of town, so I hoped no one I knew saw me, but really there was nothing I could do.

The doctor was kind and had a fair bit of English. Co-Teacher helped me with everything. We went next door to the pharmacy for medicine, then went to the Mart for rice and crackers and Pocari Sweat (a drink recommended by the doctor) and more Sprite. I now have enough supplies to last for two days, so I'm going to turn on the ondol floor heating and settle in comfortably.

So.

I was really sick today. And it really hurt. But everyone at my school showed me love and attention and I couldn't be happier. What a lovely group of people.