Everybody Panic! Swine Flu is in Korea!

It's hard to write sarcasm down, so please read the title sarcastically to yourselves.  Good, that's the proper tone.

So, officially, swine flu has made its way to Korea via some dirty, dirty foreigners who came to Korea infected after apparently licking some wild pigs.  So, now they (and 56 other teachers) are under quarrantine in this strange land.  It's hard enough living here some days, so I can imagine how much it sucks for them some days.  In any case, you can read about it here: http://underquarantine.tumblr.com/.  It has some quite amusing antecdotes into Korea, as told by the quarrantine members.  This is my personal favorite line in regards to Korea:  "Think about where you are, then think about what makes sense…now do the opposite!”

Of course, the school that they were teaching in has been shut down, along with some of the sattelite schools, including one here in Pyeongchon.  So, while being in quarrantine is probably not the funnest thing to do, at least you're getting your name in the paper and not having to be around kids all day!

Of course, our school, while in no way affiated with the "swine flu" school, is already in damage control.  Just today, both of us signed forms saying that we would not hang out with other foreigners.  Mmmm....right.  The chances of us not hanging out with other foreigners is somewhere around 0%, but if it makes everyone happy, then fine, I'll sign the stupid piece of paper.

After being in Hong Kong during SARS, I don't really have the patience to deal with another over-hyped illness.  Everybody likes a good story and all, but can't we worry about Malaria, which kills a hell of a lot more people than swine flu.  Actually, just worry about the regular flu, as that one is actually more deadly.

On a related note, I've had a nasty cough for the past 2 weeks because of the poor air quality here.  I feel as if I get looked at strangely when I cough in the streets and I'm sure there are a few people out there who probably are worried that I might breathe in the general direction of their kids.  To all those people: I don't have swine flu, but if you want to panic, please panic to my school director so that our school can shut down for a little while and I can have a nice vacation!