They Melt Your Heart, and Split Your Sides

March 21-27, 2011

A chilly start to the week was a quick reminder that we are not yet out of the reach of old man winter, but the weather forecast promises to improve in the coming weeks.
Monday morning, after a set of hard games the day before, I slept in until just after 11. After I got up, I set about making some food to take to work, as well as doing some laundry before I completely ran out of clothes. Mondays being my long days, I started right away at 240 my class of first graders at the DSC-4 level. They are a smart bunch, who speak well for their age, and for homework they were supposed to write a story to share with the class about a trip they had taken to the beach. After the first couple of students shared their story, one of the girls named Ella crept up to my desk and asked me to lean over so she could tell me something. I did as she asked, and received the following non whisper in my ear, "I'm a wimp." I was a little confused at what she said and when i asked her to repeat herself, "I'm a wimp Teacher. I can't read my project.", is what she told me. My heart instantly melted, and as I reassured her that she was a great student, I couldn't help but give her a pass until the next week so she could practice it at home. After my long day to start the week, I went straight home to watch some T.V. and get some sleep.
Tuesday I got up at 10 feeling well rested, and set about making some food and folding the laundry I had washed the day before. I had planned on going to see Wes but my time management was not working in my favour and by the time I would have gotten there, I would have missed the visiting window. Instead I went to the gym to get in a jog to shake out the aches of hockey, and before long it was time to go to work, which was a cold and windy walk this week. Work went by quickly, but every free moment I had was filled by marking the kids' in the LSC/D program essays. It is frustrating to be responsible for marking essays that the children are given zero instruction on, outside of what little work I have began working into my days with them. When it was all over, I hit the gym to work out the left over stiffness of hockey, and do a bit of lifting. After the gym, I rekindled my association with the Spam and egg combo meal, then read a little before going to bed.
As I did on the Wednesday of last week, I got up and went to the hospital to see how Wes and his family were doing. His cousin Nicole had flown in for a couple weeks, and was outside the NCU when I arrived and filled me in on the latest news. Wes had been running a fever since Saturday due to a flare up in his pneumonia, and as a result, all of the progress in spontaneous movement had stopped. The doctors were optimistic that antibiotics would have him fixed up in a few days, and that within the next couple weeks they would be able to move him out of the NCU. I had a chance to get back and see him with Casey, and aside from the pneumonia, his swelling was almost entirely gone and his colour back to normal. After seeing him, then talking with his family, I headed to work so that I could send Casey some information on things they could do between visiting hours. Work was full of essay grading again, because my class load is quite light on Wednesdays, but even with all the time available, getting the essays done seemed like a never ending struggle through a sea of horrendous grammar and loosely put together ideas. After work I went to the gym and got my workout in, and then went home to read again before bed.
Thursday morning I got up and made my food for the day before going to the gym. The gym was good, and I had a chance to get a good run in, before talking with one of the trainers for a while about what I had been up to as of late. After the gym I went straight to work and started editing my way through the pile of online essays that kept coming in. John and I put a healthy dent in them over the course of the day, but there were still about a dozen left at the end of the day. While teaching one of the few classes I have on Thursdays, I had another student come up with some great lines while doing his project. We were talking about a favourite meal we have had, and he described his trip to a hamburger place called Smokey Saloon. I know of of and recognized the burger he was talking about immediately. He described his experience with the Ambulance Burger, to which he attested that "They call it that because after you eat one, you have o go to the hospital." You can't make this stuff up. Background on the burger is that it is topped with lots of bacon, cheese, and a fried egg. After work went back to the gym for a ride and some light lifting, then it was off to my apartment for some T.V.and sleep.
Friday morning I made sure to get up when my alarm went off, because I wanted to call home and talk to my father, which I hadn't done since coming back from Shanghai. My first tempt was a fail, but after a bowl of cereal, I tried again and he answered. We chatted and caught up on news from both sides for just over 2 hours before it was his bedtime, and my time to go to work. In the first 4 hours of work, I was able to get the last of the essays edited, thus being through with the horrible first draft blues for another 3 weeks. After work I went to the gym again so that I could keep myself out of trouble, and be home a decent time to call Ash on her birthday. The gym was relatively empty, which made working out much nicer, and I was able to get in and out by 1130. Once I got home, I jumped on Skype and called Ash. I was lucky to catch her before she went out for lunch with one of her friends, and we talked for a solid hour about work and some parties they had been to recently. After talking with her I watched some T.V., then dozed off for the night.
Saturday morning came earlier than I had wanted, but I got up and got ready to meet Frank, Alex, and Louise so we could go and visit Wes. We met at the subway station just a few minutes before 11 and then walked over together to the hospital. Since Wednesday Wes had been moved out of his private room in the NCU, to the open floor, all of which was located behind the doors of the intensive care section of the NCU. When we got there Nicole and Monita were back with him, so we gave them a few minutes to be with him before we started taking turns going back to see him. His fever had lifted, and the pneumonia medication seemed to be doing its job, and there was even talk of reinserting the piece of skull they had removed to decrease the cranial pressure of his swollen brain. After our visit, and a talk with his family, we went down the street to Dos Tacos again for lunch. After lunch we all headed in our separate direction, which for me was home to get my grocery shopping and house cleaning done, because I had to play the early game Sunday and knew I wouldn't have the time then. Once that was all taken care of, I watched some T.V. for a couple of hours before getting ready to meet up with Angelica in Itaewon for some dinner and drinks. We met at the subway station at 8, and from there went for some pizza at Crow's Nest, where I had been the previous weekend for beers only. The pizza there was great, and really fairly priced. After dinner we went over to Sam Ryan's Pub, where we bumped into John and a few other friends, and had a couple of drinks. Eventually some of here friends called her and wanted us to stop by RMT, so we did, but it was dying out so we went over to Wolfhound to see what was going on. It was equally as dead there, but I had to use the washroom so I excused myself from the group and went upstairs. When I came out, I ran into a few hockey guys and started talking to them for a few minutes. Before I knew it, ten minutes had gone by, and when I went downstairs, the group had left. I finished my beer while I waited to hear from them, but after 10 minutes, I gave up and went to get some food. Even while I ate I thought I might hear from them, and when I didn't, I jumped in a cab for home. I got home just after 3am and got ready for bed, and it was just as I was crawling into bed that I got a text saying they had gone to some club. I was already in bed, so I said good night, and passed out.
The dreaded early game of the ball hockey league I play in belonged to us this week, so I had to be up and out of the house by 11. Luckily I had gotten my stuff ready the day before, so all I had to do was have some cereal and I was set. I got to the rink 20 minutes before we had to play, and warmed up with my team while getting pointers from the veteran defensive hockey players on my team. We ( the X-Men) played Shanks team (The Dublin Dynamo), who have a lot of talent up front, but lack in the defensive zone, resulting in a two game victory for us. After losing as bad as we did the week before, we came out playing hard and determined, and were really fast on the ball, so our victories were not just by a margin of single goals, but by handfuls of them. It felt good to be back on the winning side of the game. After my game, I stuck around to have a few beers and talk with a bunch of the guys until John played at 4. John's team splits their games, both of which could have gone either way in the final minutes. After John's game, we stuck around to do stats, and keep time for the 6pm game, and of course have a few more beers. When the games were all finished, we helped clean up and then jumped on the subway back to Bongcheon. Once home, I showered, then called home before putting on a movie and going to bed.


From hockey to the gym, it feels nice to be getting back in touch with my athletic side that I had let die for a while. Here's to the coming spring, and outdoor activities.