Apr. 18 - Apr. 22: Yellow Dust

Well, I know I'm starting to sound quite repetitious, but this past week was another boring, uneventful five days of teaching monotony. My only adventure was a visit to the doctor. Ever since I arrived here nearly six months ago, I have been fighting a recurring chest cold/flu/lung failure. I know it's a combination of snotty children wiping their grimy fingers on my face and the severe air pollution in this lovely city.

The icing on the proverbial cake came about a week ago in the form of a thick yellow dust that's blowing over South Korea. Apparently, this nuisance is an annual event that lasts several weeks. I have heard many explanations for the yellow dust, from it being simple air pollution that hitches a ride across the sea on April winds to goats in the Gobi Desert that eat all the remaining vegetation, therefore causing the sands to erode into the air. Whatever the far-out reason that the Koreans and other foreigners give for this phenomena, one thing is certain: these lovely, lung-shredding dust particles hail from China.

I had been finding my last few soccer practices nearly unbearable, and I attributed it to my being out of shape. However, when I was steadily feeling crappier than ever by Tuesday, I decided to finally suck it up to the dust and visit a doctor. One thing I must say is that I love government-funded healthcare! I honestly have never in my life visited a doctor solely for a cold, or any other ailment not pertaining to my knee, for that matter. However, when all you have to pay is about $3 to have a doctor look at you and receive some drugs, I am all for being a hypochondriac!

By Thursday I was feeling a bit better (and quite loopy...God knows what that doctor had me taking!). I made it to practice Thursday night, and by Friday I was ready for the weekend. Here's to hoping this yellow dust blows on out of here!