I decided to leave school early today in hopes of speeding my recovery. I woke up today to superficially worse symptoms—a nose running like the Han after a summer storm and approaching deafness, among other things—but I was hopeful this meant my body was purging itself. After my morning classes, then, I decided to forgo samulnori and taekwondo and head home right after lunch. As I was closing my room down, I started hearing some screaming in the halls. I came out to see that dusk-like darkness had ascended and in the unlit hallways, it was indeed a bit spooky. Kids were running, screaming, down the halls; girls were shrieking in classrooms in which the light switch had conveniently been flicked off by sniggering boys….chaos reigned. And I left.
I thought afterwards this was perhaps ungallant of me. I mean, what if it actually became an emergency at the school? The skies seemed threatening enough…I envisioned a flood, definite electricity loss, candles, a schoolful of shuddering, shivering kids…but I still walked on. Sure, I was risking the last battered remains of my health, but when it comes down to it, I really needed my books.
So I came home and read the day away. Most of these aren’t fun books, to be sure—I am currently making my way through Teaching Languages to Young Learners and PACE Yourself: A Handbook for ESL Tutors (which I finished today) to try to build my embarrassingly inadequate foreign language teaching skills; I am reading my Korea guidebook in hopes of both soaking up the culture and identifying the places I absolutely must visit before I leave; and I am starting to page through my Trans-Siberian Railroad guide in anticipation of that journey next fall. I also try to study Korean every day, but I forgot today until just now and alas, it’s time for bed! It’s funny how studious I’ve become since leaving college—I did need a break from the intellectual books at first, but now I enjoy working my way through them. I was also reading a volume of Korean history, but I finished it on Saturday and am waiting for a current history my dad’s bringing me next week. I usually wake up early and read all this before breakfast, making me feel very accomplished and scholarly, but I’ve been indulging my health. Anyway, this afternoon was a delightful foray into academia, especially when accompanied by my novel of the moment (I, Claudius) and Korean bread and cream. I feel quite content and serene and even on the downhill side of recovery! The only thing that could have made it better was if the promised storm had actually arrived; instead, it just rained on me most of the way home and then quit.