Possible TMI

Being sick is never fun, but the level of nastiness is increased ten-fold when overseas and far away from one's mother.

Wednesday night had all the potential to be a great night: I walked to Myeong-dong, following the 1020 bus route, had my Jamba Juice, enjoyed the beautiful weather before catching the bus home again, and then skyped with my dad.  And then I got sick.  Sick as in wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-throwing-up sick.  Throwing up is quite survivable (if not pleasant), but it isn't any fun to be all alone and have to clean the mess up by oneself.  I thought it was a one-time thing; I did the adult thing and cleaned up, and then I told myself that whatever was in my system was gone and I could go to sleep.  Nope.  No sleep, no rest, and never far from the toilet or a bucket for the rest of the evening.

I think it is the terror of being alone and not comprehending why it is happening over and over and over again.  Surely whatever I ate must be gone?  And then my mind starts to play tricks on me.  What if I accidentally inhaled some teeny-tiny, almost invisible bug on my walk earlier that evening?  What if I had some unknown Asian illness that my North American body wouldn't be able to handle?  What if I passed out from dehydration and no one came to find me and I died?! Those thoughts seemed logical at 3 in the morning with only a half hour of sleep to go on.

So I called my mom.  Lord bless my wonderful mother!  I called her at work and in between my tears and the static in the skype call, she comforted me and prayed for me.  I think it must have been slightly heart-wrenching to receive a phone call from one's (adult) daughter and not be able to help.  But it really is amazing what the sound of your mother's voice can do. 

I went to work the next day because I was told we don't get sick days and I knew I was feeling better, just weak and tired.  (Don't worry, I washed my hands like crazy and kept my distance from my cute and healthy kiddos.) My co-teacher was INCREDIBLE and told me to go sleep in the teacher's lounge for a little over two hours.  Then, when I returned to the classroom, it was nap-time! Adding to the blessing, our two trouble-makers were absent that day so we only had three students.  Riding the bus was a bit much after school, but I survived.  I even managed to get my alien registration card too. My friend and coworker took excellent care of me and bought me groceries when I was too sick to go out myself.  And then I went home, skyped with my family, and slept until my alarm went off at 7:30 the next morning.

Today I am feeling MUCH better and even had real food. But may I never get the stomach bug again because that is a nasty, gross, awful experience.  Especially in a foreign country, far away from home.