What do you do in your last month of working in hell? Get quarantined, that's what.
Someone's "weak body" and mind apparently could not handle staying healthy. We all joked about it, "He better have it since we have to cover his classes." Little did we know he actually did and what it would mean for all of us.
I got many texts Thursday night saying to come back to the school but lucky for me my phone was on vibrate. Plus I was a 40 minute bus ride away. There was no going back. When I finally picked up my phone I saw, "THIS IS NOT A JOKE. SCHOOL IS CANCELED UNTIL THE 17TH." I stared at my phone in total shock. Dave thought someone had died. No worse, someone from our school had swine flu.
The Boss calls me and tells me that I have a high risk of having it since I had a runny nose and was sneezing Monday. She tells me I need to go back to my apartment and call her when I get there.
Korea has this irrational fear of swine flu. They are very paranoid about it and have taken some what extreme measures to try and keep it contained. Ever since this whole swine flu thing came about we had been told from my boss that we need to stay healthy. We were not supposed to go out, party, meet people. Basically we weren't supposed to have a life outside of ECC. No one listened of course. What a stupid thing to ask all of us.
Months went by and with random temperature checks we all seemed relatively fine. July came and with it our first big vacation since Guam in January. I headed off to Japan, others went to Taiwan, Singapore, China and a very few stayed in Korea. By the time we got back that someone wasn't looking too good. But no way did he have swine flu. It's amazing how humans seem to believe that nothing can happen to them. Me included, as a self proclaimed hypochondriac, still couldn't believe that it loomed so close to me. That I could actually have this flu that has freaked the world out.
I can not think of a word that can truly express what Friday was like for me. We arrived at school at around 8:50 and were told that we were going to all go to the hospital and get tested for swine flu. A few gems of the rant my crazy boss said yesterday morning:
You should all feel responsible for this. You should feel sorry for the Korean teachers. We did not leave Seoul. You went away. We wanted to go travel but we couldn't. You are all responsible for this. This could make our business collapse. This is very bad for our school. We are losing 30 million won for being closed a week. Who is going to pay for that? Are you? No more drinking. You are all to stay in your houses. Do not be around other people. Drinking is not allowed.
Basically we were being blamed for swine flu being in Korea because we are Americans. Being a some what looking white person with an American accent I have never really experienced racism. Just because we were foreigners we were being blamed for someone else getting swine flu. I didn't know that since we are American we are the harbingers of swine flu. It must seek us out first so we can be its vessels in infecting the Korean population *insert evil laugh here.* In the words of Michelle Tanner, "puhlease!"
After her pep talk we sit around while the Korean teachers all have their own personal meeting. All of us are fuming. Amazed how a women could somehow take our English words and arrange them in such a way to be as offensive as possible. One of the secretaries takes all of our temperatures and lucky for me topped the group with a 37.9 degree Celsius temp. Boy do I miss our measurements because I had to immediately get online and convert it to find out that I had a 100.22 degree temperature. Hooray this is just fabulous. Looking back I contribute it to being completely pissed off.
Awhile later Boss comes back and goes, "Ashley you have a high fever. You need to go to the hospital." About 3 hours later I'm finally taken away along with another foreign teacher and a Korean teacher that sat next to the infected person. It's lunch time for the doctors so we have to wait 30 minutes for them to give us face masks to wear and take our temperature again. 37.3 now (or 99.14) and they ask if we had had any symptoms. I say I had a runny nose awhile back and the doctor freaks out saying "That is not enough to be concerned with swine flu." They don't want to test us, but since my test results were going to affect Dave I had to get tested. They were less then happy.
A picture of a picture taken from my phone of me in the face mask. Swine Flu Ninja.
Geez a whole other story. Dave works at Jamsil ECC, another branch of the YBM ECC company. His boss is calling his phone Thursday night but he had left it at my place. When someone at his work told him to call his boss she asked, "You're girlfriend is named Ashley right?" They had found out quite quickly about what happened to my school. She asked him when was the last time he'd seen me. He was like, "I saw her today." She basically asked him to not see me until this was all over. A text message from Dave's boss to my phone:
"This is for David. Please do not see her until latent period has ended."
He wasn't allowed to go to school Friday, unexpected day off, and can't go back until they find out if I have it or not. So to go back to the story I HAD to get tested. They gave us all Tamiflu but said we shouldn't take it unless we have a fever. They then hand us a piece of paper saying that the government is issuing a mandatory quaratine on us until the test results come in. We go back to school and the boss tells us that we need to finish making the homework packets for the kids, since they'll be missing a week of class, then we could go home. She obviously either has no idea what state mandated quarantine means or is above Korean law.
I finish my worksheets, print them, staple them and give them to my Korean partner teachers by about 3:40. I ask Sarah, the head afternoon teacher if I was free. She nods and says yes and I grab my purse and run out of the building. I go to the grocery store since I have no food for my quarantine and 40 minutes later the boss calls me.
"Where are you?"
"I'm at home."
"Well you need to come back here. We are not done yet. This is not a vacation."
"Sarah said I could go home."
(Something in Korean to Sarah) "She said she didn't say that."
Some more bitching when I finally just intrupt her, "Okay I'm coming back."
I get back and she is just as pissed as I am. I go to Sarah, "I asked you if I could leave and you said yes." She said she never said that. That her back was turn when I asked her. I didn't realize that you completely lose the ability to hear when your back is turned. Then the boss is having some fighting words with me and we're in a stare down. I tell her, "You said that when I was done with the worksheets that I could go home."
"I never said that," she says. I throw my hands up in the air and say, "Are you kidding me?!" I tell her that that paper says that I'm supposed to be in quarantine. She tells me that I have a very slim chance of having it. Funny because the day before she was almost positive that I did have it. I ask her what it is I have to do now. She gives me this look, "You need to really prepare for your classes on Monday. Not just going in there with a book." I say fine and go to my desk. Another one of my partner Korean teachers asks me to make another worksheet for my intensives phonics class and I happily almost start. That is until Sarah comes by all smuggly handing me a stack of papers and asks me to cut the strips then put them in envelopes.
At first I'm really irritated at this. I left my house to do busy work. But then I just start cutting very slowly, making everything perfect. Sarah comes by and says I don't have to cut perfectly. So I start slowly putting the slips of paper in the envelopes and make nice stacks. My partner Korean teacher comes back and asks me if I'm busy. I tell her Sarah told me to do these. "Well, can you do the phonics worksheets. They're a little more important." Sure! I say smiling, "Here you go Sarah." And I hand the stack back to her and she angrily goes back to her desk.
I'm finally done with everything by about 5:30. Another two hours are spent not being told anything. We are waiting for people to come in and talk to us... in Korean. People from corporate come and rattle on in Korean. No one translates for us and the foreign teachers stare blankly at eachother. Then we wait longer for the Manager to come and speak Korean to us! Go figure. We are told that we are supposed to text the boss and manager two times a day. Once at 10 am and once at 6 pm. We are to stay in our apartments and if they call us and ask us to be at the school at any time we should be able to get there quickly. School is canceled on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday we are to be at school by 10 am to have "Happy Call" time with the students. By 7:20 I'm finally back home and officially quarantined.
This is the Floating Garden. Basically a very tall building where you can see the whole city.
A butt shot of the Floating Garden.
We took a elevator half way there. Then this very long escalator ride the rest of the way.
From the some what top of the Floating Garden. It cost about 800 yen (100 yen roughly equals a $1. However their currency is stronger than the dollar I think) and we were on a budget.
Me in front of a bubble window. I think I look like I'm in front of a green screen.
Osaka
Giant Hello Kitty. She really is every where.
We went on this giant ferris wheel at night. This is the view of Osaka.
Osaka at night.
These are fried octopus balls. Apparently very famous in Osaka. I didn't really like them. They were really mushy as if the batter hadn't completely cooked yet.
Dave was obsessed with this place. It was conveyor belt sushi. The place had just opened and it was 100 yen a plate. I think total we ended up with 21 plates or something. They had tasty salmon (my favorite) and some other strange things such as sausage on top of rice wrapped in a skinny piece of seaweed. Overall delicious.
This was in Kyoto. A Buddhist temple and was the first one we saw. I'm sad we didn't really get to see Kyoto much. It was a lot bigger then we had thought and spent a good 2 hours walking to still see pretty much nothing. After walking a long time it was nice to sit on the steps inside the temple.
I don't remember but I'm sure apart of the Buddhist temple. It was quite big.
This is where you take a brass cup with a long handle and rinse your hands as well as your mouth. This is to cleanse yourself before you pray.
Another temple? Same one.. I don't know they all look the same honestly.
This is Osaka Castle. It was quite the adventure to get there but a beautiful walk nonetheless.
Closer shot of the Castle.
I know this is why I need to post faster because I don't know where this from. But it's pretty haha.
Temple
A road that goes through a building. That's right cars go THROUGH the building. How would you like to work in that building?
Temple in Tokyo right near the hostel we were staying at. Also by our hostel was an amusement park. That was joyous...
More Temple at night.
There was this big aquarium outside of the Sony Building. I especially like this picture but I feel like, (is this a shark?), he is sad! He looks like he has no teeth and he just stayed right near the corner of the tank with his face pressed up against the glass. Poor thing :(
On our way to another temple.
These are wooden plates that you can write your wishes and gratitude to your family. Most of them wished for their parents prosperity and others about love in many different languages.
Funny sign in Tokyo subway.
The most AMAZING sink I have ever seen. Found in a Wendy's bathroom I believe. The far left is soap. The middle is water. The end is where you dry your hands. I love this sink!
Goodbye Japan!
