Happy Buddhamas
So, there are many Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf stores around here and I just tried what they call a "Hot Vanilla," and it is massively awesome. It is like hot chocolate in texture, sweetness, and everything only it's... vanilla. So great.
On Wednesday I went to a big casino a couple blocks from where I work. You can only enter it, however, if you have a foreign passport (I'm pretty sure gambling is illegal in Korea). So native Koreans are not allowed in (unless they have citizenship with another country). And for some crazy reason each person is allowed to have two free alcoholic drinks and a free entree. So I just walked in with three other instructors, ordered a couple drinks, and got a nice plate of sushi for free. None of the other instructors seem to know why they do this. We guess that they think if they lure us in with free food and drinks that we will gamble a bunch, but there is no requirement. I didn't gamble at all. So it seems like they would probably lose money doing that. I'm sure that people who do go there to gamble spend money on food and drinks, so... I don't know. Whatever. More free stuff for me.
Now let me tell you a little bit about one of my students. I teach him Monday through Friday, 7:00AM to 9:00AM in his office in a big office building. He has a nice big office with big windows, a big desk, and a conference table in the middle of the room with nice big comfy chairs. He seems to be a pretty important guy and speaks English very well. I'm not too sure what his exact position or title is, though. I do know that he lived in Saudi Arabia for two and a half years and Northern Yemen (before Northern and Southern Yemen reunited) for a year and a half. And his company makes power plants and last year they got a contract to build one in Armenia. Anyway, he is a really interesting guy, but also a little bit intimidating for me.
Anyway, I went to go teach him on Friday, and as I'm getting ready to leave I notice that I have a bit of an earache. And as I am on my way to his office, taking the subway, it gets worse. And as I go up in the elevator, the little bit of pressure change hurt my ears (he works on the 21st floor, so the pressure change doesn't normally affect me). And as I taught the lesson, the pain kept getting worse. But I just grinned and beared it. Nothing else I could have done, really. I was scheduled to teach a class at my Berlitz Language Center at 9:45AM, but I really felt like I had better get to a doctor. So I got to the center at about 9:20AM or so. I told my MI (Manager of Instruction, my boss) my situation and she said she could take over my class at 10:25AM, but I would have to teach until then. So I did.
Then before she took over my class, she gave me a page of instructions and information that she had just typed up, along with a map to the nearest clinic (she's so great and helpful). I went there and he told me to go to an ENT hospital down the road. So I went there, and it turned out that I had a middle ear infection. He told me it would get worse before it got better (even with the medication he gave me). He said it would continue to get more painful and then I might lose my hearing for a while, and then it would begin to get better. Since he said it would get worse, I knew I probably shouldn't try to teach my evening classes. And thankfully they were able to find someone to take over my classes for me.
But oddly enough, I began taking the medication he gave me right away and it really seemed to help. The pain did not worsen, it actually got better and better, and today (Sunday) it seemed like it was all better. I guess the doctor just wanted to scare me.
Monday is a holiday. It's Buddha's birthday, or Buddhamas, as my friend Eva just called it, heh. Every year the Korean people buy Buddhamas presents for each other and put them under the Buddha tree. They tell their children that Saint Buddha delievered the presents by his magical rickshaw which is pulled by flying monks. Okay, all of that was a lie. I do not really know what they do on Buddha's birthday. I think they normally go to temples to pray or what have you.
Today was a really beautiful day. Cool and sunny with pleasant breezes. And hardly anyone was walking around downtown. It's normally so crowded, but today it was deserted. And the weather was so nice. Hopefully it will continue.
On Wednesday I went to a big casino a couple blocks from where I work. You can only enter it, however, if you have a foreign passport (I'm pretty sure gambling is illegal in Korea). So native Koreans are not allowed in (unless they have citizenship with another country). And for some crazy reason each person is allowed to have two free alcoholic drinks and a free entree. So I just walked in with three other instructors, ordered a couple drinks, and got a nice plate of sushi for free. None of the other instructors seem to know why they do this. We guess that they think if they lure us in with free food and drinks that we will gamble a bunch, but there is no requirement. I didn't gamble at all. So it seems like they would probably lose money doing that. I'm sure that people who do go there to gamble spend money on food and drinks, so... I don't know. Whatever. More free stuff for me.
Now let me tell you a little bit about one of my students. I teach him Monday through Friday, 7:00AM to 9:00AM in his office in a big office building. He has a nice big office with big windows, a big desk, and a conference table in the middle of the room with nice big comfy chairs. He seems to be a pretty important guy and speaks English very well. I'm not too sure what his exact position or title is, though. I do know that he lived in Saudi Arabia for two and a half years and Northern Yemen (before Northern and Southern Yemen reunited) for a year and a half. And his company makes power plants and last year they got a contract to build one in Armenia. Anyway, he is a really interesting guy, but also a little bit intimidating for me.
Anyway, I went to go teach him on Friday, and as I'm getting ready to leave I notice that I have a bit of an earache. And as I am on my way to his office, taking the subway, it gets worse. And as I go up in the elevator, the little bit of pressure change hurt my ears (he works on the 21st floor, so the pressure change doesn't normally affect me). And as I taught the lesson, the pain kept getting worse. But I just grinned and beared it. Nothing else I could have done, really. I was scheduled to teach a class at my Berlitz Language Center at 9:45AM, but I really felt like I had better get to a doctor. So I got to the center at about 9:20AM or so. I told my MI (Manager of Instruction, my boss) my situation and she said she could take over my class at 10:25AM, but I would have to teach until then. So I did.
Then before she took over my class, she gave me a page of instructions and information that she had just typed up, along with a map to the nearest clinic (she's so great and helpful). I went there and he told me to go to an ENT hospital down the road. So I went there, and it turned out that I had a middle ear infection. He told me it would get worse before it got better (even with the medication he gave me). He said it would continue to get more painful and then I might lose my hearing for a while, and then it would begin to get better. Since he said it would get worse, I knew I probably shouldn't try to teach my evening classes. And thankfully they were able to find someone to take over my classes for me.
But oddly enough, I began taking the medication he gave me right away and it really seemed to help. The pain did not worsen, it actually got better and better, and today (Sunday) it seemed like it was all better. I guess the doctor just wanted to scare me.
Monday is a holiday. It's Buddha's birthday, or Buddhamas, as my friend Eva just called it, heh. Every year the Korean people buy Buddhamas presents for each other and put them under the Buddha tree. They tell their children that Saint Buddha delievered the presents by his magical rickshaw which is pulled by flying monks. Okay, all of that was a lie. I do not really know what they do on Buddha's birthday. I think they normally go to temples to pray or what have you.
Today was a really beautiful day. Cool and sunny with pleasant breezes. And hardly anyone was walking around downtown. It's normally so crowded, but today it was deserted. And the weather was so nice. Hopefully it will continue.