Soul- not the city in Korea

We share everything- a messy nature, snacks people give us at school, the hatred for teenage girls' incessantly loud chatter, and viruses. So when John caught a cold/fever/flu that kept him home from work 1.5 days, I knew it was only a matter of time before I would be the one needing an ice pillow and yuzu tea.

I managed to float through my week with a raspy voice and half-engaged attitude. But Friday was awful. I was at an elementary school, which meant I was the Head Teacher for my lessons. The good news? I'm done teaching by lunch time. The bad news? My stupid contract requires me to STAY at school (even though I'm done working and technically not being paid for that time) for another 4.5 hours. Reeediciulous, right??

And for the cherry ontop of the day from hell, I was at the school with my archnemesis. As I fanned myself/coughed up a lung/sneezed all at the same time, she turned to me and said "Daijoubu desuka?" (Are you ok?). I fought the urge to scream "NO, I'M NOT OK" and crumple to a miserable ball on the floor. Instead, I pasted that smile on my face and silently nodded. I honestly don't know where I get it from- that urge to say that everything is fine when it really isn't. The girl part of me, the athlete part of me, the Japanese part of me?

Anyways, lunch comes and goes and I do everything short of falling asleep on my desk. The Japanese have some sort of silent work rule- unless you are physically dying and need the hospital, you WILL work. Work until you die or until work kills you, whichever comes first.

And then a miracle happened. My archnemesis grew a soul. The room blinked with bright white circles, and I was grated freedom. I bowed graciously to everyone in the room and for the first time... harbored more than feelings of distain for my archnemesis. Maybe she does have a soul...

AND now some pictures that make me laugh... which leads to coughing. But these were worth it.

My new justification

Seriously

PS. I started THREE sentances with the word "And". Pretty sure that's a huge foo-pah in English literature circles. Not like I minored in English or anything.

Also. Today is the last day in June (or first day in July, depending on where you are in the world)... and I've written a total of 5 posts. That's it?!? Remember when I said I was going to blog EVERY DAY? HA! Well, I promise internets- I'm going to be better for you. Except for the four weeks I'm in Malaysia/Thailand/Singapore. All bets are off then, I'll be trying to survive kthx.