In the article, the Korean Medical Association is urging schools to shut down for a week or two. Check it out here.
Realistically, that's not a bad idea. If there's one place that can seriously spread an illness, it's a school. Kids are simply germ-producing factories running 24/7. Add in the lack of hand-washing, mouth-covering and other forms of hygiene and you get a time bomb just ready to explode.
My school is shut down this week, and there's a rumor that something big will happen on Monday. I don't know what that might be. What I've learned in my week so far, is that Hambak is no different from my academy. Information is simply NEVER given to anyone until the last minute. And even getting that information might not help you.
Today, Geoff and I were supposed to teach teacher classes in the morning and afternoon. We did the morning one fine. When we went for the afternoon, no one showed. So we were were chatting with the other native speaker, Katie, while we waited.
The head of the English partner came in and saw us talking and pulled Geoff and I aside for a little reprimand. Apparently, we should have gone back to our office instead of waiting for teachers to show up.
But what happens if we leave and the teachers come late? In the morning session, all the teachers were between 10 and 15 minutes late. Oh well. Welcome back to Korea.
That was a bit off topic but fits into how H1N1 is affecting my day. The schedule is just a mess because there are no students. No one knows what to do.
The column in The Korea Times is simple an editorial opinion on the state of Korea's infection at this point, and how best to combat it. Check that editorial here.
The editorial agrees that the schools should be flexible and allow for time for the worst of it to pass. It's a good idea. According to the editorial, vaccines won't be widely available until December.
The editorial brings up an interesting point that panic is playing into this as well. People are buying out all the drugs they can or heading directly to the hospital when they're not even a little under the weather.
My thought is that every time a healthy person enters a hospital, there chances of getting the flu increase exponentially. That's how it works. Healthy people hang around sick people. Healthy people get sick.
Keep checking back as the story unfolds. For now, eat your kimchi, drink your soju and pop on that mask!
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