1.29.2004
Diablucous
I have the diablucous. That's my mom's word for any vague yucky illness. And I've got it. It's days like this when I just want to be at my folks house curled up under a pile of afghans waiting for mum to bring me some chamomile tea with honey or dad or sis to come give me a backrub. Or Drew to walk by and tell a joke to cheer me up.
And every time I get sick I remember one night back in my old co-op days when I had a hideous diablucous and it seemed incomprehensible to step outside to get some medicine at the convenience store across the street. Cristin and Taletha went even though it was the middle of the night, and a cold one. They were my heroes.
Today my boss is my hero just because she didn't make me justify my being sick like tell my temperature or anything. I just called her up, "How are you doing?", "Not well," "Why don't you take the day off?" It was like a dream. I had even looked up the celcius (38.8) since my thermometer is in farenehit (102). I don't think it's discrimination because foreign teachers are at the mercy of the corporation as so many burned-out teachers would have you believe. I'm "drinking the kool-aid" I suppose, but the staff and Japanese teachers often come in when they're not well. Today, I just couldn't.
It's a real problem for the school if teachers get sick because they don't have subs and they have to cancel classes. I haven't worked out the economics of it, but I often wonder if it wouldn't do to have a couple more emergency teachers or at least some part-timers on call. Of course I don't want to walk out the door into the cold, but I also doubt my students want to be trapped in a small room with me infecting everyone. Yet there doesn't seem to be an alternative.
So I slept till 6pm and I'm going back to bed now. I've been drinking orange juice like it's going out of style, and I finally forced myself to eat some Ramen. Still, I'll have to go in tomorrow evening and Saturday. Just no way around it. Hopefully sleeping in till tomorrow afternoon will help.
Funny. One of my students is moving to Chicago for his company for five years and he's quite worried. His English is quite good for someone who hasn't lived abroad, but he'll have a lot to learn. He's a salesguy. Pretty cool overall, but I had to laugh when I heard his biggest concern was that if he gets sick in the States there won't be anyone to take care of him. It's so sweet to think this otherwise quite daring fellow is worried about being taken care of.
I mean, I can understand. You get used to it, but there's always the idea of that chamomile and honey. ~sigh~
And every time I get sick I remember one night back in my old co-op days when I had a hideous diablucous and it seemed incomprehensible to step outside to get some medicine at the convenience store across the street. Cristin and Taletha went even though it was the middle of the night, and a cold one. They were my heroes.
Today my boss is my hero just because she didn't make me justify my being sick like tell my temperature or anything. I just called her up, "How are you doing?", "Not well," "Why don't you take the day off?" It was like a dream. I had even looked up the celcius (38.8) since my thermometer is in farenehit (102). I don't think it's discrimination because foreign teachers are at the mercy of the corporation as so many burned-out teachers would have you believe. I'm "drinking the kool-aid" I suppose, but the staff and Japanese teachers often come in when they're not well. Today, I just couldn't.
It's a real problem for the school if teachers get sick because they don't have subs and they have to cancel classes. I haven't worked out the economics of it, but I often wonder if it wouldn't do to have a couple more emergency teachers or at least some part-timers on call. Of course I don't want to walk out the door into the cold, but I also doubt my students want to be trapped in a small room with me infecting everyone. Yet there doesn't seem to be an alternative.
So I slept till 6pm and I'm going back to bed now. I've been drinking orange juice like it's going out of style, and I finally forced myself to eat some Ramen. Still, I'll have to go in tomorrow evening and Saturday. Just no way around it. Hopefully sleeping in till tomorrow afternoon will help.
Funny. One of my students is moving to Chicago for his company for five years and he's quite worried. His English is quite good for someone who hasn't lived abroad, but he'll have a lot to learn. He's a salesguy. Pretty cool overall, but I had to laugh when I heard his biggest concern was that if he gets sick in the States there won't be anyone to take care of him. It's so sweet to think this otherwise quite daring fellow is worried about being taken care of.
I mean, I can understand. You get used to it, but there's always the idea of that chamomile and honey. ~sigh~
