So talk of swine flu is taking over my life….
When I get to school on Monday, I’m told that the entire 2nd grade (which is 1/3 of my school) is shut down because too many girls had H1N1. In fact, I was told later that day that a girl in one of my classes just officially found out that she had swine flu. On the principal’s orders, every teacher was supposed to ask their homeroom class how many girls had swine flu symptoms (cold, cough, and fever). So my coteacher asked his class right after I taught them and more than 10 of them raised their hands! Seriously?? Why don’t these kids just stay home if they have a fever? I understand that Korea is serious about school, but if they are going to freak out over things like H1N1, doesn’t it make sense for them to encourage students to stay at home instead of infecting the entire school?
The best part is that my girls decided to share their sickness with me. I’m fairly sure I just have a bad cold, but the teachers at my school are convinced it’s H1N1. After hearing crazy stories of Eastern medicine from some of my friends (think using suction cups to take blood from your back), I think I’m just going to stick to American meds and bear it out. Unfortunately, sick days don’t exist here. My host mom keeps making all of these Korean remedies for me. So far, I’ve had boiled mushroom broth in honey (gross) and honey citron tea (delicious). She’s trying to get me to switch out my over-the-counter drugs for some herbal powdery medicine that she admits tastes horrible…. not happening.
Gwangalli Bridge, Busan
I just hope I get better before I head over to Tokyo next week for my brother’s wedding! The airports are so picky about sick people right now and I don’t want to be given a hard time in Tokyo or Busan.
On a lighter note, I went to the Int’l Fireworks Festival in Busan last weekend. The fireworks were nice – it was a 45 minute show, so pretty long. But the crowds were insane! The last time I’ve seen so many people in one place must have been Times Square on NYE. 
Korean parents and American parents aren’t so dissimilar. Here parents send their kids to school sick because they have no child care, no paid sick days, and no options. If the schools had actually hit the 20% absentee rate cutoff and closed in October when the H1N1 epidemic crested, it would have damaged the local economy significantly.
It is hard to tell the difference between a cold and H1N1. In any case, sounds like a good idea to stay away from the blood-letting. And from now on you may well be immune!