WHAT A DRAG IT IS GETTING SICK

I am so sick of being sick. Now I’m coughing all the time, my head is killing me, my body is sore, I’m worn down, and I’m tired of it. Maybe I should just bag it and say the air is killing me. Would that be an exaggeration? Perhaps not. On Saturday I had the intravenous drip for 90 minutes. Saeyoon came for part of the time and the doctor talked to her more than me. I think she was asking him about my diabetes. I’m not sure she believes me that it’s under control and not a problem. It was actually nice that she came but she had to go while I was lying there being dripped into.

That was all I saw of her on the weekend. She had her temple stay on Saturday and all phones had to be off. Good for them. However, I can’t imagine a Korean with a turned off cell phone. I would think they would spontaneously combust. On Sunday she felt sick and played dead in bed. I understand not feeling well but since I was going to take my laundry over there, it wasn’t nice of her to just forget about it. I took it to a laundry place on Monday morning and it’s going to cost me $25. I would rather her mother washed it but I couldn’t wait any longer.

On Friday night Kyle called me and I didn’t answer because I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him. He kept calling and calling and I didn’t answer. He then sent me a message saying I had a serious problem. Of course I was now interested so the next time he called, I answered. He said that the job in Inchon (which they said was on hold for me) was not my job. The agency wanted me to work for them in their after school program so they were just stringing me along so I would have to take their job. He said the same person who told me the job was being held, told him that the job was not going to me. Who to believe?

I don’t trust anyone here anymore when it comes to jobs and work. This seems to be a country of no honor. A person’s word isn’t worth your spit. The agency I am working for temporarily didn’t pay me on Friday as promised and asked me if Monday would be okay. I said yes, but be sure it’s there. On Monday morning I went to their office and told them face to face that they lied to me and it was wrong as I went to work with no problems and the school was happy with what I was doing. I also told them I wanted my pay up until the end of that Monday in the afternoon or I wouldn’t be going back to the school. Believe it or not, they paid me in full Monday afternoon. I know what you have to do is when it’s one day late; don’t go to work. The school suffers more by your not being there than they do by not paying me. So that’s the new way I shall do things. Pay me dough or I don’t show.

Kyle tells me on Friday night that he has a job for me in Bucheon at a high school and do I want to meet the principal? Of course I said yes. He then tells me that I will have an interview Tuesday or Wednesday and he’s 90% sure the job is mine. But we all know that it’s just as easy for him to lie, as it is for him to breath. He said if I took the job, I would have to disappear from the school I am now at until my new job starts because taking a job one place while working somewhere else isn’t done. Something doesn’t sound kosher to me. He said he would pay for me to stay in a motel and he would give me work until the new job started. He also said I should change my phone number. I said yes to everything because I want the interview. If I get the job I will stay at my temporary job until the new one starts. These people are crazy.

In Kyle’s favor, he called me on Saturday to see how I was and if I needed anything. That was very nice and I said no. Then I told him (since he wanted to talk to me) that I would meet him at Pizza Hut since I needed to eat. I ate and he talked. He said we had an appointment with the principal on Monday evening.

Except for my foray to the doctor and Pizza Hut, I stayed in my room on Saturday feeling awful. Sunday was another day in my room. I know it was what I should do, but it was pretty boring and awful and lonely. I think I went to Starbucks in the morning for coffee and a bagel, and to McDonalds at night for dinner. Having to eat out all the time in a country where you don’t care for the food is a pain.

I went to work yesterday and today and felt pretty bad but in Korea you only miss work if you have a hangover. I still like the kids. They make me smile and overall they are a well behaved group. I will know that I need to leave Korea when a child comes up to me to say hello and I say (or think), “fuck you and get away from me”. I still enjoy being approached by them, having my arm hair touched by them, my beard touched, and even my bald head rubbed. It’s a form of communication and bonding.

Of course my meeting on Monday night never happened. I don’t know if the principal screwed it up or Kyle was just lying again. I can’t figure what he has to gain from lying to me but you never know. The interview is supposed to be at 11AM tomorrow morning at the high school. We shall see. If it comes off and the job is offered, I’ll take it. I’d rather live in Bucheon than Inchon as it’s closer to Saeyoon. I also feel almost comfortable in knowing my way around here.

My term with my adults is almost at an end. Some of them ask me if I am teaching again with the new class in May. I tell them I don’t know but I want to. My ophthalmologist pal told me that if I am teaching, he’s signing up. If I don’t teach he won’t sign up but wants me to tutor him. I told him I won’t tutor him but we can be friends and get together. I wouldn’t feel comfortable taking money from him and I would like to be his friend. Tonight I learned that his wife is an assistant professor of English Literature at a university in Seoul. I told him that I would like to go out with him and his wife and my girlfriend. They can talk Korean and I can talk English. It would be nice to leave that class with a friend or two.

On Thursday night the class is going out for dinner. Once again they said “Pizza Hut” and I said no. Everyone knows I’m not crazy about Korean food but I can always find something to eat. It’s sweet that they want me to be happy but I’d be happier going to a place that everyone liked and not being forced (although some do like it) to eat Pizza Hut.

So that’s the news up to the moment. I’m sick. Still. I have a high school job interview tomorrow. Maybe. I still live in a love motel. Yesterday as I was coming back I saw 2 men and one woman enter the motel together. I was shocked. How do you say ménage a trois in Korean?