Deja Vu

So yeah it's been a few months since I wrote my last blog- sorry about that. Today my boyfriend D took my to Lotte Mart here in Maryland. I wasn't aware that there was one until a friend heard me complaining about needing a new scrubby cloth for the shower (It's like a mix between sand paper and a loofah in a cloth) on Facebook. You see Koreans use body scrubbing cloths that pretty much scrubs off the first layer of skin. Yeah, it hurts... a lot. But in the end you get beautiful, supple, and glowing skin.

Side note: My grandmother threw away this precious cloth when she came to visit. I was horrified because I couldn't buy it anywhere.

So the second that we pulled up into the Lotte Plaza I knew that I was in for a treat. I was hopping up and down in my seat like a kid going to Disney Land. As I walked into the Lotte Super I was instantly thrown right back to Gwangju. My sense of smell was overpowered by the smell of Kimchi and Asian pears. I was right back shopping for groceries at night after school. It was like I never left and I half expected to see Erin walking between the aisles looking for eggs.

The first words out of my mouth as I entered the store were "It smells just like Korea!". Then I quickly walked past the clementines where I yelled out "God! I had to eat a ton of those cause they were uber cheap". Eventually I made my way to the sauces where I was looking for the galbi sauce since I've been in the mood for some Korean BBQ lately. That's when I happened to look at the Kimchi and sauces and blurted out very loudly "God! These were so disgusting!". That's when D finally blurted out "Babe! You're being really loud and it's disrespectful".

That right there brought me back to reality. I realized with a bit of sadness that I wasn't there a few streets from our old apartment and I wasn't gonna be able to chat with Erin about our psycho bosses later that night. I was also horribly embarrassed because I had been acting just like I had been in K-Town. I blurted things out believing that nobody understood what I was saying.

As I walked around the store I ran from the fish counter (not as impressive as in Korea since the fish were already dead) to the rice blob case. I felt like something was off the entire time then I realized what it was: the people yelling out stuff on the microphones and the giant tanks full of octopi (octopus?) were M.I.A. Also, for a change, I wasn't being stared at anymore. I realized that I missed being a celebrity and having people point and stare at me.

My poor boyfriend was dragged around the store feigning enthusiasm for my sake. I know that he never really cared about the rice blobs or the chop sticks. But I know that he was happy that I was as excited about all the things that I was seeing.

As I was checking out my purchases (scrubby cloths and chop sticks) I Anyun hi keseyo'd and kamsa hamnida'd everyone that looked Asian. They all somehow found what I was saying quite amusing. Maybe I was saying it wrong or maybe they weren't expecting a Latina woman to speak Korean. Either ways, I am extremely happy that I went and had that experience which made me look forward to my bestie's homecoming in January even more.

Yes Erin, I can't wait for you to come home so that we can make our video predictions for the new year. I've missed you hard core bud.

The Arrival

WOW! I has been quite some time since my last blog entry. If I recall, I stopped right after arriving in Hawaii. In short- I arrived in the US that Friday in April at precisely noon. When Ali and I arrived in the airport, I was not surprised in the least to be told by the airline people that my luggage was lost. Yes folks, lost. We were then informed that the bags were shipped directly to Atlanta instead of the flight that we took to Minesota. Either ways after hanging out for several hours around the airport (because I refused to leave without my bags) I finally arrived at my mother's shop to greet her. Remember folks: I had just been sick for almost 3 weeks straight, lost about 10 pounds during that time, and had HUGE purple undereye circles. The point is that I did NOT look good or at the very least decent.

When my mother saw me for the first time she and I both burst out crying. She had been so stressed over everything that she was finally relieved to have Ali and I home. That was a very very long day though. I was very tired and still sickly. I wanted nothing more than to crawl into a warm bed in a dark room and sleep for several days but I also wanted to be with my mother. So Ali and I chose to stay with mom that day. Of course we slept for almost two days after that.

Buffets

Wednesday morning Ali and I woke up early to try to get to the Pearl Harbor memorial. We promptly got ready and went to the breakfast buffet before heading out (as suggested by my mom who told us to go to the buffet about 7 times though phone as well as text messages). When we got there I thought to myself: Now THIS is what a buffet should be.

You see in Korea our friend Christina took us to several buffets including one where the server would bring a dish out and then ring a bell. I swear that as soon as that bell would ring people would literally throw down their forks and run to the buffet counter to get what was brought out. It was sorta funny- you would hear everyone's forks drop in unison and make a mad run for it like there were free diamonds for the taking if you got up there in time. Then you'd see people pushing and shoving each other to get pizza or some Alfredo pasta. Ali and Christina were the most successful people in the place. It was as though Christina knew when that bell would be rung (it also helped that we were seated by the kitchen). Christina may be small but jeez! The girl can run fast. She has no problem being aggressive in the food counter area. It also helped to have Ali tower over everyone. He has long legs so he was able to dash and be the first in the line many times. It was comical how he stood over the others and people would have to look around his body to see what was available. It was like dinner and a movie all in one.

As Erin and I just watched this scene be repeated over and over I though in amusement of what it would be like if the US did the same thing. Think about it... There would at least be a mass murder being committed over a plate of fried chicken. A couple of stabbings over the mac and cheese. In the US the idea of a bowl of food for one restaurant is ludicrous. No serious buffet restaurant would even bother with the idea of a little of this and a dash of that. It goes against the idea of what a buffet is about: consumption of a large quantity and variety of food.

Back to the buffet at the hotel. It was a massive waste of money on us only because I could only eat a little bit and Ali ate only 4 tiny waffles. We were def. food coma'ing. The juice though is heaven sent. They had this passion fruit, orange, and guava juice that is the greatest concoction know to human kind. It was so good in fact that our server had to bring Ali a fish bowl sized glass because she had to keep refilling his other glass way too often.

So I am heading out to see the sights. Aloha!

How in the hell did I end up in Honolulu?

OK so in the following blogs I will talk about what happened when I left Korea. Before I do that I HAVE to tell you what is happening NOW.

So I am sitting typing this blog in a hotel on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. Yes, THE Hawaii. Why would a girl who was supposed to fly from the Korea to Maryland be in Hawaii right now? The answer is simple- Our plane in Tokyo was overbooked. I wasn't too miffed. As the gate people called stanby passengers at the gate I thought to myself- Whatev. I've been really stressed, sad, weak/sick, and overwhelmed by my last month in Korea so a little travel snafu isn't that big of a deal. It's not like I'm running to catch a cruise ship or get to a wedding on time- you know?

So we were rebooked by an adorable little gate agent who bowed a lot and cracked up when I pulled out my googly eyed cow (more on that later) pen to sign some papers. I guess the cow brought us some good mojo cause he re booked us to Honolulu to catch a flight from there to Atlanta and from there to Baltimore. Let me tell you that I still am and was beyond exhausted. I was anxious and couldn't de-stress to save my life.

I didn't sleep on any of my flights but we finally taxied onto Honolulu International Airport. That's when I got the brilliant idea of exploring the island while we were here since our connecting flight wasn't until that afternoon. I was told by the airport people that everything was really close so we could def. explore. Then that afternoon idea turned into an overnight one which in turn turned into 2 days. I mean- essentially we are in Hawaii unexpectedly and why not take advantage of it. We are already here so let's see it all!

Fast forward to Ali (my quasi-cousin) and I getting into our room. We pass out 30 minutes later and wake up at 4PM. We promptly decided to get something to eat so we went to an open air market where I had the greatest grilled chicken kabobs ever! It felt like the greatest and most filling meal in the world only because I've had some pretty inedible food in K-Town. Ali and I went shopping on the streets for a bathing suit, towels and things that you need when you go to a tropical place. Seeing as how ALL of the clothes that I packed are for very cold weather.

So tomorrow Ali and I plan on seeing the Pearl Harbor memorial and we plan on going shark cage diving (which if anybody knows has always been one of my dreams). By the way- I am beyond confused by the time. I don't have ANY idea what time it is here, Korea, or Maryland. I am so messed up by also going through the 20th of April twice. I forgot that we crossed the Date Time line which threw me off... a lot! Also- hearing people speak English is mind blowing! I keep responding with Anyoung Hi Keseyo whenever I leave sales person. I keep reminding myself that I am in a bona fide US state. The problem here is that there are many many Asian tourists here so I keep thinking that I am back is Korea. Whatchagonnado?

Well Aloha for now or is it Ma halo? Whatever!

Side note for my former roommate and dearest friend- I miss you a lot and will call you once I get back home.

The Devil doesn't cry, her eyes were just sweating.

The day that I told Ruby that I was leaving was the day that I was at my sickest. You see on our way to school Ali had to pretty much half carry me up the street. I hadn't slept the entire night and I had this dizzy fog thing going. As we approached our street Grunter pulled up with Ruby in the passenger seat. If I have ever been given the death glare then this was it. The one that would have had me dead and buried. Grunter just squinted her evil eyes and twisted her mouth while Ruby gave me the motherly caring look (I was kinda thrown off b/c let's face it- El Diablo isn't really supposed to be able to do that). Then Ruby asked "What's wrong?" really lady?! WHAT'S WRONG?!!! What the H do you think is wrong? I've only been sick for...oh I don't know 3 weeks and I've gotten progressively worse and you don't care! That's whats flippin' wrong!!! As all this raced through my head I realized that I had to get a grip. So I told Ruby in the most stern voice that I could muster "We need to talk".

If there were any 4 scarier words in the English language than those then I don't know them. Ruby looked scared and gave me a half whispered "Oh, OK". She was scared merde-less. I finally had the upper hand. Ali then helped me walk to the class. Ruby retreated into her office.

I made my way to the teachers lounge where I gave away my stickers, marking pens, paper, notebooks, and most importantly- germ sanitizer gel. Then I summoned my courage and walked to her office. As I'm walking I am conjuring up images of being taken hostage/ prisoner, of being set-up so that I ended up in a Korean prison, etc. I mean these people have the way and the means to pull of something like that. Then I remembered- Hey! I have a Dominican mother who would beat the bloody pulp out of this woman and anyone else that would cross paths with her children. I mean my mother had my elementary,middle, and high school teachers scared stiff. Side note: Dominican women have slightly shorter fuses and have a tendency to be kinda scary if you mess with them.

Anyway I straightened up and opened her office door (without knocking) I told her that we needed to talk. She replied "do we have to do this now? Can it wait?". I said "No, It needs to be done right now". The color drained from her face when informed her that I was leaving and that I couldn't work in Korea anymore. My health was deteriorating, I was getting weaker, and that if I didn't come home very soon then my mother was gonna have to come and get me...and that she would be really pissed about having to do that. Ruby then tried to offer me 2 weeks rest and then I could return. When she said this all I thought was what part of -the Yellow Dust is making me ill- do you not get?

Finally I said "I am too sick and I gotta go home. I will be leaving now".

Suddenly, Satan started to cry. I sat there sorta trying to figure out why her eyes where watering up. Did she have something in her eyes? Maybe she was currently taking medication and this was one of its side effects? Maybe she had recently heard a very tragic story in the news and was NOW crying about it. There were many possibilities but I NEVER thought that she was crying about my leaving. Either ways- when it finally dawned on me that she was in fact crying, my eyes got a bit wider and I mouthed "Oh" (perplexed stare).

Suddenly she opens up her arms sorta like Moses did when parting the Red Sea and I didn't get it until seconds later that she wanted a hug. A HUG?! WTH! I forced my body to half hug/pat her on the back but I did it the same way that you would hug a feces-covered baby hippo. With disgust, some anger, and a minuscule bit of pity.

When I left her office I told Ali that we could leave and as we put on our shoes I looked back at my desk, my BFF, Tooly,and my classroom for one last time and walked out.

Called out yet again.

So I didn't go to work today. While some of the meds are working, I know that they give me horrible stomach pains. They make me nauseous and dizzy. My voice isn't entirely back to normal either. I am super ready to go back home. I miss clean air and Purell-ed hands. I miss people with manners and soap in the bathrooms along with paper towels. I miss people sneezing into tissues instead of one's face. I really really miss my family.

I will tell you this. I can't wait to see Ruby's face when I tell her that I am finished with her and this school. I am anticipating it.

Clinic round 2

Wednesday morning I was woken up by sharp ear and throat pains. They were so bad that I decided then and there to go back to the clinic. I knew that they really didn't speak English but I figured that they had my records so I wouldn't have to start from square one. It was sorta nice. Scary because Christina wasn't there but sorta nice because the I had the same doctor again. When he checked my throat he used a metal Popsicle stick. Much like their American wooden counterparts but these were made of metal. As the doc placed the metal stick in my mouth I wondered exactly how many people had the exact same stick in their mouth.

Then the doc pulled out a note pad and wrote acute pharyngitis. I thought to myself that I knew this had to be something bad since it hurt so badly. He printed my prescription and I went back out to pay my tab. it came to the shockingly low price of 8,500 Won. that's about 7 bucks.

When I went to the pharmacy I was told that I had to take 4 MORE pills 3 times a day. That comes to a total of 20 pills in one day! I returned home and that's when I decided to go to work. I was sleepy, dizzy, really tired, and the meds were giving me a stomach ache. I told Erin to tell Ruby that I would eventually be in even though I was very tired. I walked into work about 5 seconds after Ruby had arrived with Juvie. Apparently Erin had already told her what was going on with me. As soon as I arrived Ruby said "oh, you are still sick, it's OK you can go home if you want".

I swear you could have heard a pin drop. Erin's eyes got huge, Ali's mouth flopped open like a bass, I just stared her in the face. That's when I said "No, I can take it". If I was a naive girl I would have happily turned around but I know better than that. Lucifer doesn't do something out of the goodness of her "heart". She would have made me pay for going home. She is evil and would have probably told me to work on the weekend to make up for it. So I sucked it up and dragged throughout the day. BTW- my first student didn't come to the school because he was "very very sick". Oh really? I wonder why.