lately i have been tremendously run-down and overly exhausted. a huge part of my personality is to constantly stay busy, always be on-the-go. it's great for productivity, but terrible for your health. i want to try to cram as much as possible in my day without having any downtime and sometimes it just catches up with you. having a packed schedule for the past month and a half without any downtime finally caught up with me this weekend. i've been really dragging the past couple of weeks - even taking up coffee-drinking just to make it through the day. i've hated the stuff for the past 23 years, and still don't necessarily enjoy it, but it has been my lifeline lately. this weekend, my body sort of shut down - and i kept falling asleep wherever i sat down! so embarrassing. i stopped in a friend's room to say hi on sunday, and almost mid-conversation, my body decided that a 2-hr nap was in order. what the heck?! today i was at work and thought i was just going to pass out. my head felt like it was full of lead and i had a fever and some dizziness. i decided to take a half-day to come home and rest. i laid down for a little nap - and woke up 4 hours later! i couldn't believe it. my body is definitely trying to tell me something so i am finally going to listen. i'm cutting back on my schedule and taking more time to rest. it's miserable to feel this way! the weather definitely contributes - it's been rainy and gross here lately. and work has been a daily struggle, as i have mentioned before. so morale is a little low here these days - please keep us in your prayers!
having said that, i am tremendously blessed with a great support system here! we really try to take care of each other. my friends do a lot for raising my morale without even knowing it. tonight, someone was just in the area so they stopped by my room to say hey and bring me a vitamin water. after a crappy day, a smile was just what i needed! then i got to share dinner with a korean friend and it also did wonders for bringing up my mood. i don't know how i could make it through this experience without having my dear friends around me.
all of that crap out of the way, there are definitely still some great things happening here in korea! koreans live and breathe soccer - they claim it as 'their' sport. so the world cup is a HUGE event here. it's so different from being in america - where i don't even remember ever watching a single world cup game. saturday was korea's first game (vs greece) and as you may or may not know, korea dominated! i watched it at a restaurant with 2 other foreign teachers and one of my korean friends. it was quite the experience. american football has NOTHING on korean soccer. the fans are crazy! hahaha. it's so cool to watch. americans are definitely proud to be americans and have a definite grasp on patriotism. but koreans have national pride like i have never seen. i guess when your entire country is the size of 1 of america's 50 states, you will have that. it's such a cool experience to be here, though, and see the entire country rally behind something like this. if you ever get the chance to visit korea, come during the world cup! :)
i got a late birthday package from my sister last week - chock-full of american boxed dessert mixes! i was thrilled out of my mind. hahahaha. i whipped up some american brownies last week and shared them with both korean and american friends. the americans were drooling over them - a little taste of home. and the koreans went nuts! some of them said they were a little too sweet - all american foods are much sweeter than anything in korea. but some of them LOVED them. like - they won't stop talking about it! hahaha. fortunately, my sister really stocked me up so i will be making more soon. :) recently, i also found a shop here that serves dr. pepper. WOW! this is a big deal. all of the americans have been frequenting the place because we haven't had a dr. pepper in 4+ months. it's really hard to find here. in fact, none of my korean friends have had it before! one of them tried it for the first time tonight and his eyes lit up..."wow! really delicious!" and he chugged it. hahaha. i love being able to share a piece of america with my korean friends.
it's 9.30 pm here so i'm signing off to try to get some extra rest tonight before i go back to work tomorrow. please keep all of our 50+ teachers in your prayers...as well as the 10+ new teachers who are preparing to come from the states next month. it's taxing to live in a foreign country...even seemingly normal, mindless tasks are much more challenging and draining. and a large part of culture shock is more susceptibility to illness. your thoughts are appreciated!
until next time...
korea fighting!
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