The Best End to the Worst Week

I made a mistake when I created this blog. I couldn't think of a clever title, so I used our names. Unfortunately, I feel like this prevents us from writing about some of the more negative aspects of living and working in Korea. Please don't get the idea that we only write about the positive experiences because we only have positive experiences.

Last Wednesday, I got pretty sick at school: fever, chills, headache. Thursday and Friday were also frustrating for a different reason. A VIP from our curriculum came to visit our school. Our schedules were scrambled and we spent two days on edge, being watched, videotaped and critiqued by those in leadership over us. Sick as I was, I stuck it out at school the rest of the week, surviving three full days of work and one out of two surprise, after-school meetings. Lucky for me, I heard that the second of the two staff meetings (the one I was allowed to miss) was of the kind that makes English teachers want to find a bridge to jump off of.

Anyway, now on to the good stuff. Greg had mentioned that he had a date planned for us on Saturday. I was worried that I was too sick to go, so he told me ahead of time what we would be doing. He had booked us a "couples spa". I'm not sure if those exist in Canada because until Saturday, I had never been to a spa for anything more that a pedicure/manicure. We got a little turned around trying to find the place, but it was so worth it. We spent a half hour in a hot tub (another luxury that we haven't had since Canada) and then an hour and a half massage. I'm converted. I love the spa.

However, because of my lack of spa-experience, I feel the need to ask a few questions to find out if some of the "treatments" were normal or purely Korean. Has anyone heard of ear treatments? Basically, the lady doing my massage covered up my face with a towel; only my ear was exposed. She said, "Don't move"and then proceeded to put something into my ear that snapped and cracked like a sparkler. When I started smelling something burning, I was worried that she actually put a sparkler into my ear!

After the spa, we headed to a nearby mall to grab something to eat. In the process, we found an import store that sold some things from back home (at reasonable prices, too)! Canned soup, blueberry tea and peach rings came home with us that day. I finished the day off with a coffee date with my new friend, and coworker, Dana.

Sunday was spent with our friends, Cornel and Anneke, at the zoo. The zoo here is ridiculously cheap (like $2.75) and it's one of the closer attractions to our apartment (only fifteen minutes on the subway). The sun was shining, we ate an amazing picnic lunch and saw all our favourite animals. My favourites were the sloth and the baby monkeys. Cornel is a bit of a Discovery Channel fan, so it was no big deal that all the signs were in Korean. I didn't take many pictures. In fact, most were of the crowds. I guess the spring weather is bringing everyone out of hibernation.