Expats Stick Together, No Matter What

April 18-24, 2011

Having been out in the sun most of Sunday, both John and I were very burnt out on Monday. I didn't know John was feeling as bad as i did until I got to work, but I had my suspicions when I slept extra late and struggled to get myself to work on time. During the day, we both agonized over how draining the sun is after the long winter without. I mustard enough energy to teach my classes, and at the end of the day was so relieved to just go home and crawl into bed.
Tuesday was a much better day, and after a good nights sleep, I was up and ready to go before my alarm even went off. I started off the day cooking my lunch for work while I ate some cereal, and then went to the gym to work out the stiffness from hockey. After the gym, it was off to work, where I got to work marking the students second round of first draft essays, which made me question why I even bother teaching them, because hardly any of them used the information I had given them. It was only Tuesday, and with so many more essays to go, I was certain I would lose my marbles before the end of the week, but tried my best not to take it out on the kids. After work I went back to the gym to try and stay on top of my workout schedule, and then went home to get some sleep.
Wednesday morning I was woke by a call from John at 8am, the contents of which I can't remember, and in jumping out of bed to grab my phone, my big toe nail that has been dead for a while finally fell off. At first I didn't notice, but when I laid back down and the blanket touched the top of my exposed toe, I realized what had happened and got up to take a closer look. The nail was under my blankets, so before the cat could get at it, I thew it in the trash. Since I was up, I got my things ready for work, and then went to see Wesley and Monitta. Since having his skull put back in, his condition had taken a couple of steps back, but that is to be expected after any operation. He was running a bit of a fever, and had stopped his regular yawning and movement, but the doctor was positive that it would only last a couple of days. After the hospital Monitta and I grabbed some pizza for lunch and talked about life, and our families until it was time for me to go to work. At work, I edited more of the students first draft essays, and when Jean had time, got him to order the kegs for the weekends fundraiser. I decided to go with 12 kegs since any that you do not open you can send back and will not have to pay for. After a flurry of essays and a couple of classes, the day was over, and I went off to the gym to get a workout in before going home to get some rest.
Thursday morning, I got up and went to the gym for a run and workout to get my day started while I ran through the fundraiser plans in my head. After the gym, I went to work to pound out a few more essays and finalize all the plans for the fundraiser with Emily, who was going to have to pick up the food from Costco since I didn't have a membership. After work I went back to the gym for workout number two, hten went home to have some food and get some sleep.
Friday I got up and went to the gym again, then went to work to finish out the week. Work was relatively painless, with only a few essay to do, and a few classes to teach. After work I went and had a couple corner store beers with John and talked about the tournament/fundraiser that we had the next day. We didn't stay out long since we both had to be up and on the subway by 7am, so we could get to the rink by 730 to set up for the fundraiser and get ready for the first game at 8. Once I was home however, I couldn't sleep. All I could think about was the fundraiser, and how much work we had done to get it set up, and wondered how well we would do. Eventually I fell asleep around 4, which didn't leave me much time to rest.
6am came early Saturday, and reluctantly I got up and got ready to make a day of it. I met John at the subway station at 7, and we grabbed a beer and some snacks to start the day. The ride was a good wake up, and when we got to the sports complex we met Emily who had all the food and set up our tables before all the players started showing up. Everyone was really geared up, and games started just after 8. By the time the kegs showed up, we had gone through all the canned beers, so the timing couldn't have been better. The players were more than generous all day, and together we played and drank all day, raising a lot of money for Wes. The team I played on was the worst in the tournament, and we lost all four games, but had a great time doing so. By mid day most of us had a pretty good buzz on, and were no longer concerned with playing hockey, and had turned our attentions towards the kegs. The games and tournament finished by 430, with a team of superstars from the league winning the Kimchi Cup, and by that point most of our goods were sold. We packed up what was left, and cleaned up while the rest of the players headed off to the tournament dinner at Big Rock. I had to leave before everything was all cleaned up so I could get to the dinner myself, and finish with our 50/50 draw. After some funny awards, and some more ticket selling, I drew the wining 50/50 ticket, and as luck would have it, Rob Gibson who helped us set up the fundraiser won to $100. Then, in another act of extreme kindness, he donated it all back to our cause. After a couple more beers I headed out to catch the last subway at 1145, and made a call to Emily to see how we made out. In the end, after everyone was repaid for the money they put into the day, we made 1.4 million Won, which is approximately $1200. Feeling good about how it had gone, and exhausted from the days events, I went to bed following a shower as soon as I got home.
After a long day of sports and drinking, there weren't enough hours in the day for me to sleep away. Unfortunately, I had to be at hockey again for 1130, because I had to play the 12 o'clock game for our regular league. I didn't feel too bad, and after a quick warm up and stretch, I was good to go. We were playing Doyles team, The Travelers, who were strong but beatable, especially since they were missing the number one goalie in the league. Off to a slow start, we narrowly beat them 4-3 in our first game, and then ate them up 4-1 in the second, when our team really came alive with our play. During our second game, I took a nasty tumble backwards and had banged up my glute muscle pretty bad. I played the rest of the game with it, but after, it began to stiffen up while I was goal judging for the games between mine and John's at 6pm. While I stuck around, there were several people who approached me about my play and how much I had improved since the start of the season, and about how I had stepped in a a rookie to do so much for the league. It's was nice to be noticed and appreciated, my only wish is that I had of known about the league before. After a few beers, and watching John's games, I headed home to get some groceries, and a pizza to fill the hunger gap. Before I went to bed I made my weekly call home, and then tucked myself in for a much needed sleep.