New Friends

Today one of my coworkers at the preschool invited me to lunch in Seoul with one of her friends. I was a little reluctant to agree because I don't know her very well and was worried that it might be an awkward lunch with stressful communication. It turned out to be a truly enjoyable time. I feel like I know my coworker much better now and have two new friends.

At the restaurantIn the subway station on our way home, we ran into these people dressed up as vegetables to promote farm produce. What vegetable is this? Sweet potato? Beet? I'm not sure.Today made me think that it would be nice to get together with some of the other teachers from the preschool. Even though I've worked with them four mornings a week for a whole year, I've hardly had a conversation with any of the teachers there. Their English skills are limited, and they are obviously very nervous when they have to interact with me. I try not to make them feel nervous. I also have very little free time when I'm at the preschool--15 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and no breaks on Mondays and Wednesdays--so I'm always in a rush and thinking of other things. I'm afraid the combined effect is that I come across as distant and unfriendly at times. I hope they don't think that about me.

We stayed at the restaurant for about 3 hours. Good food and good conversation. I started noticing that I was very itchy, but I figured it was just because of the dry winter air. After lunch, I ran some errands and returned home. This evening, I changed my clothes and noticed I have a little bit of a rash on my stomach, chest, and back. Joy and Chloe have both been sick, and I've had a sore throat since Wednesday, so I hope these aren't related.