힘내!

Well things just seem to be going kind of shit for a lot of people right now. Co's just made the incredibly difficult decision to split with her boyfriend of 8 years, which involves all kinds of tragic drama that I'm not even about to get into, and another one of my closest co-teachers finally told me today that she's separated from her husband. She's got two small children, who are lovely and who likely have no way of comprehending what is happening to their family. My other closest co is going through all kinds of trouble because her brother's baby has been and will remain very ill, and her parents have moved up to 'help out', but it's just created a situation where my co is now taking care of three people instead of one.

I don't even know what to say to any of these people at all. They just look so sad and beat down and not themselves. Hwaeshik today was kind of a disaster and I spent the majority of the time making everyone laugh by speaking Korean to the five year old at the table to an extent that my coworkers have never heard me do before. They are well aware of how much I understand, but they had no idea how much I speak, and how funny it sounds, or how it comes out all in mixed up levels of politeness when I'm dealing with small kids and am not really sure what the fuck form I should be using, with polite set as my auto-default.

I don't know what else to do when people are sad, other than try to distract them. I don't want to tell them everything's alright, because that's patronizing and belittling of their emotions. I don't want to ask loads of questions and make them talk about it if they don't want to.

In other news, I got to bond with the PE teachers on a whole other level thanks to Busan's excessive attempts at exposing me to basketball culture. By that, I mean, I was able to rattle off a couple of team names and players' names and that was about it. But they were well pleased with the whole situation. And then the conversation turned to how I had become aware of such things, and then it entered a whole other level of awkward and now I'm pretty sure the entire school will be aware of way too much of my personal business within 24 hours. So, hooray for that.

Gutted that I was hit in the face with a surprise goodbye hwaeshik this Friday evening (which I honestly should have been expecting) and so I won't get to finally meet Burndog after all. But with the fever I'm running after carrying around a small child for most of the day, it might be for the best. This year is going to be a really hard goodbye, anyway, as two of the co's who are going have become very, very dear to me. Especially my main co. Luckily, she's just moving to a neighboring school, where she will become the co of one of my weoneomin friends, so I'm sure we'll still be in touch and seeing each other from time to time.

I mean. It's spring. Things are going pretty well for me, other than the illness I can't quite shake. I hate to see the people I care about feeling down. It makes me feel pretty helpless. But things are bound to get better. They really are.

Tomorrow I'll be out to Bucheon to bake cupcakes with another coworker's daughters. That'll lift anyone's spirits. For sure, for sure. And I've got a hell of a weekend planned anyway. Chins up, everyone.