EPIDEMIC

i was running late to school yesterday morning, so i didn't think it was very odd that there weren't a lot of kids in the halls when i got there. as i walked towards my room, clara was in the hallway, and said, "i'm sick, i have a fever." i immediately told her to go to the desk, because they're all about checking temperatures and sending kids home because of ze swime flu. as i turned the corner into class, i saw that there were only four guys. i asked them where everyone else was, and all they could offer was "daniel is sick!" clara came back from the desk and announced that she was going home at lunch, which is absurd because after lunch they only have an hour of class left anyway. at that point craig came over to my room and informed me that he too was missing half his class. apparently over the weekend the moms were talking, and when they realized that some kids might have been sick, they all just decided not to send their kids in.

i was kind of pumped, because it meant less work, less running around in circles, and jin woo and i had time to bond (provided i offered enough stickers). the five of us (or four, after lunch when clara finally peaced) had a really good time, but the rest of the school fared not as well. abby's entire class was sent home before eleven, and she was sent to the hospital to be tested for the flus. unfortunately, apparently the rest of jukjeon was there too (including all of our students that had left, which by that point also included richard's class). she described a refugee scene of tents and lines wrapped around the building, and after four hours of hanging out with her class and waiting outside, she decided it was cold out and she would deal with testing later.

the elementary classes had slightly better attendance, but there were still a good number of kids missing. after school, we received some of the most simultaneously amazing and terrifying news ever. all school is cancelled for the rest of the week (snow day!), with the exception of today, which was used as an administrative day, so we could come in and clean/get our acts together. this seemed all well and good, until it came up that parents are thinking of pulling their kids out of the school for the month or indefinitely, as they apparently believe that we were breeding our own strain of the flu in the kitchen and spreading it through the school in the least efficient way possible (five of the hundred kindergarteners probably have it). this would mean a pretty severe cut in income, which would translate to a cut in pay for teachers (or something). today we were still paid regular wages (i worked an eight-hour day), and we're actually getting paid 30% for the rest of the week, which could be worse (though it kind of blows that we're not getting full wages, since they're not exactly personal days).

so today i went in and had to recopy both of my weekly lesson plans (to accommodate for the change of one day), clean my entire room (with baby wipes and windex, because nothing really matters as long as adults THINK you cleaned, i guess), and i finally got to change a lot of the layout of the room (ryan and john made me a giant pirate ship on my back wall and it is faaaaabulous!!).

at our meeting, we were informed that of john's eight-kid kindergarten class, only one is definitely planning on being in on monday (and she might have swine flu). we are very concerned.

so, where do we go to escape our fears about potential non-employment? obscure beach towns in japan, that's where!