Had a slight scare yesterday, babies. I didn't want to mention it here until I knew exactly what we were up against, but apparently my grandfather had a slight stroke and they were all set to go in and do brain surgery. But the doctors have decided it's not necessary. He's lost the use of his left arm from the elbow down, but that should recover after some time.
It makes you think, doesn't it? I know a lot of foreigners here in Korea, and a lot of my other friends living abroad have had experiences like this that really make you question your choice to live so far from home. We get precious little time with the people that we love, and life is fragile. What can you do?
Well. Hopefully none of the Koreans who consider proximity to their families so precious (and rightly so) decide to say anything insensitive to me about choosing to be so far from my family this week. They're well-intentioned, genuinely confused comments that usually roll off the back, but I don't think it'd go down too well just now.
At any rate, I didn't get too much sleep last night and I think just startled the shit out of my grandmother trying to have a mumbled, pre-coffee conversation on the phone. It went a little something like this:
"Mmmmfuuuhmmuuhnuuuhwhereya'llatnow?"
"..... What? Are you okay?"
"Okay. Coffee. Mmmuhgettinreadyforwork. [Cough cough.]"
"...... Are you sick?"
Sorry, Grams. I'll get it together. I promise.
- I'm no Picasso
- This is a tale of the seaports where chance brings the traveler: he clambers a hillside and such things come to pass.
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2 comments:
I'm so sorry, Liz. In my experience, Koreans have generally been VERY sensitive and thoughtful during these times (unless they are your boss and you are requesting time off to fly home--which seems to be 50/50 supportive and total jerk). Don't be afraid to reach out to your friends here. It really made a huge difference for me when my dad got cancer.
Thanks Diana. It was nothing major, luckily, and everyone's doing alright now. I was going to keep my mouth shut about it at work, because Koreans usually are *so* hospitable in these situations that sometimes it's a little overwhelming for me. Obviously if they know about it, they would never say something like that -- I just meant the general kind of comments we get from time to time.
But now, sitting here in a total daze at my desk, I think I might need to mention something so they don't assume I had some kind of a wild bar hop last night or something. I look an absolute state...
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