So very sweepy...

I Need Sleep

Today was a bit rough.

It goes back to Saturday night, when I didn't do anything in particular, but I could tell my throat was starting to get a bit sore. That's always the first sign that I'm coming down with some sort of cold-ish thing.

Sunday I woke up and felt a little sick. I didn't have anything planned for Sunday, so I decided I'd spend most of my day resting, which meant getting some extra sleep. Which I think actually worked pretty well, because today I think my minor illness is regressing.

But, the side-effect of sleeping so much was that I wasn't tired Sunday night. I couldn't sleep at all. At 2am, I actually ended up watching the Green Bay Packers for a bit on my computer, which was pretty exciting. I probably won't make a habit out of it because it's so late, but I'm glad I figured out how to watch them.

Anyway, I watched until halftime and then decided to try to go to sleep again. Needless to say, it didn't really work, and by the time I woke up, I probably only had 2 hours of sleep under my belt.

As you can imagine, school was a bit of a drag. My voice held up well enough, but I just didn't have any pep. I also had to teach one of my rowdier classes today, which is difficult enough when I'm not dead tired. Although on the positive side, my co-teacher and I discussed ways to keep them in line in the future. She made up a seating chart so they aren't all by their good friends, and we have some punishments in mind too for when they get out of hand. So, I guess some good came out of it.

I made it a point to avoid taking a nap today, so I should get plenty of sleep tonight. If I nap, I tend to just perpetuate the "cycle of tiredness" by staying up late again, so I'm glad I broke it today rather than later this week.

The Two Words That You Can't Escape When Living Abroad

On a related note, today made me start thinking even more about those "dreaded words" that every foreign traveler hears about:

Culture Shock

I've been thinking about what impact culture shock has been having on me (if any). Culture shock is usually described as a phenomenon that happens in stages, the first one being the "Honeymoon Phase", where everything about the new country you're in seems amazing. To be honest, I don't feel like I've experienced this very strongly, both in Japan and now in Korea. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of cool things here and I've had lots of good times, but I don't think I've had many "highs" that have been significantly higher than doing my favorite things back home.

Anyway, after the honeymoon comes some other stage that I can't remember the name of right now. But it basically involves becoming upset with lots of things about the culture that you're surrounded by.

This leaves me with a question: Is the way I'm feeling today a result of culture shock, or am I just having a crummy day?

The answer? Probably a little of both, but I'm inclined to believe it's mostly the latter. Maybe I'm lying to myself, but I think I'm still holding up alright in this new culture. I've been reading some other blog from people who recently came to Korea, and many of them seem to have a lot more to complain about than me. I'd like to think I'm a bit more open to just going with the flow, so to speak.

(Of course, it's possible I'm just repressing all of my feelings of discontent so they can all come out in one HUGE outburst!)

Okay, I honestly think that's unlikely, but the fact that I'm even writing about this suggests there's probably a little something going on in my head. Whatever it is, I'll deal with it.

So, in closing, don't worry! I think I'm just a bit tired, and overall I'd say things are still going well.

Peace out!

P.S. For those who haven't heard, The party's in DAEJEOONNNNN!