What a Day!

Thursday was quite a day for me! I spent all day helping with the 6th grade Tech Camp. Our school has a 1:1 laptop program where every student in grades 6-12 get their own laptop assigned to them. Needless to say, the 6th graders were the last to get their laptops and they needed a lot of training on them. I think this may be the most fun I've had since school started, though! They were very entertaining--the things that were important to them, the things they already knew, and the things they couldn't seem to pick up were all very different than what I might have expected! Because I have no set role when I don't have to be subbing in a classroom, I basically get to pick and choose what I want to do during the day, so I try to find the area with the most need--this is only a problem when there isn't anything going on!

So, I actually really enjoyed my day at school--the trouble started after school. I won't normally work Thursdays, but this particular Thursday my job share partner couldn't work, so we traded. I decided to take advantage of this, I join the Thursday afternoon Costco trip. It was easy for Eric to go home and be with the kids, and I could go to Costco by myself--I was really looking forward to it! The trouble started not too far into the drive. It takes about 45 minutes to get there, and this week there were only 4 of us going, so we took a small van. I may have mentioned that drivers in Korea are CRAZY! They weave in and out of traffic, they slam on the brakes a lot, and when these bus drivers get the chance to drive a small van, they seem to really enjoy it! You may have gathered by now that I was starting to feel sick. I was trying to converse with the other people in the van, but I had to look out the window rather than at them. I was trying to breathe steadily, and I even tried taking some ibuprofen. None of it worked. I waited until the very last possible moment to warn the others that I might throw up. It was seconds before I really did throw up. I was grateful to have my huge plastic Costco bags sitting in my lap at that moment. They were really nice even though it must have smelled awful in there, and I now have a new special bond with these 3 people!

Once we got into the store, I was feeling better and grateful to find cold water and get to throw away my bag. I still wasn't 100%, but I was improved. I managed to get the things I needed on the top floor and then make my way down to the floor with the food on it. It was shortly after I arrived on the 1st floor that I realized I no longer had my iPod touch. I keep my grocery and Costco lists on there, so I'm never far away from it when I'm shopping. It turned out that the only way to get back to the top floor was to leave the store entirely and re-enter. So, I parked my cart near the food court (this is something new in Korea--everyone lines up their carts full of groceries they've purchased and go get their hot dog or Bulgogi Bake and no one touches the carts--it's very different!) where a couple of other staff were sitting and exited the store so that I could re-enter and look for my iPod. It was, of course, very stressful because the store is packed (all the time! Imagine Costco in the States right before Thanksgiving or Superbowl--here I would never dream of going before a holiday--it would be a waste of time!), I didn't know where to look, and I had limited time; I only had about 20 more minutes before we were supposed to leave and I still hadn't purchased my groceries yet! I didn't find it, of course. It really is like looking for a needle in a haystack!

So now I had thrown up in front of my new co-workers, lost my iPod touch, and still had yet to get back home. Thankfully, I managed to not throw up on the trip home, even though we took this little van down the most narrow alleys I've ever seen. The one positive side to the little vans is that they will take you right to your door, so I didn't have to tote my 3 Costco bags, my laundry soap, and my package of paper towels across the parking lot!

I was excited to go to bed and wake up to a new day on Friday!