gallimaufry

gal-uh-maw-free

I'm just gonna touch on a few things here. Each individual topic couldn't sustain its own post, but together they'll hopefully be worth something.

Remember Tommy, one of my least favorite students? He was absent all last week. Come to find out he had to have his appendix removed. It made me feel bad for disliking him in the past, and when he showed up the other day I was happy to see him. However, within five minutes he'd aggravated me enough to restore my disdain for him.

I watch a lot of sports these days. I started watching a lot when my medicine made me only have to sleep 5 hours a night. I'd wake up at 6am with nothing to do. So I bought the NBA and NHL accounts that allow you watch all the games online. So for the past 4 months I've seen almost every 76ers and Flyers game. Now I have the MLB package as well. The Flyers got jobbed by the refs today.

I yelled at a kid today. I mean I really yelled at him. He's this punkass 12 year old who talks throughout class, so not only does he not learn anything, he actively prevents other kids from learning as well. I don't recall exactly what I said, but I know I managed not to swear at him. I just got in his face and yelled something along the lines of, "Why do you come here? Do you realize you waste your and everyone else's parents' money by being here. Shut up!" He got really quiet and muttered stuff to himself in Korean. Then I assigned him 5x as much homework as everyone else. I don't think I've ever yelled at a kid like that before. I'm usually the cool teacher.

Last night I had dinner with a friend. We had a soup called "gamja-tang". It's pork-spine soup. It's a really spicy soup with kimchi and vegetables in it, as well as a hunk of a pigs spine. The meat pretty much just falls off the spine because it's so tender, and there's bits of cartilage as well. It was one of the best things I've ever eaten. If you ever find yourself in a Korean restaurant, order it.

On the health front: It's been three weeks since I last saw my doctor. My next appointment is for a week from today. The last time I went I didn't see my normal doctor, but the doctor I did see was one who treated me when I first got sick and was in the emergency ward. She seemed surprised that I hadn't relapsed yet. Then she cut my dosage of corticosteroids by more than half, saying, "This might cause a relapse." I thought, "Hey maybe can we not try to make me sick again," but I just went with it. I guess I trust her.

I'm interested in what my next blood test shows. I think I could be relapsing, but I'm not sure. I've got a couple tiny red spots on my arms which resemble the bruises which covered me when I first started spontaneously bleeding. But isn't it normal to sometimes find tiny red spots on your skin? I think I remember seeing things like these before and it not being cause for alarm. I don't know. I don't remember what it's like to be healthy.

I thought about cutting a finger or something, and seeing if the wound clotted quickly, or if I'd bleed for a while. I hope you appreciate living a life in which you don't have to think about doing that.

My appetite is back to normal; I'm no longer eating insane amounts of food. My weight increase peaked at +15lbs. As I am now, I'm 7lbs heavier than I was the day I was admitted to the hospital.

I saw a really bizarre English notebook the other day. I didn't write it down, but I remember it had the phrase "instantaneous coffin" on it.

I have 9 weeks left on my contract. 9 weeks from today I'll be on my way home. I seriously considered re-signing at my school. I thought about re-signing because I like the kids, I'm good at the job, and I have healthcare here. I'm quite concerned that when I go home my body will try to kill itself again, and I'll be stuck with loads and loads of medical costs. But, I gotta go home. I miss it.