Snow is fun but avoid the stairs... and doctors if possible.

 So, uh, going to the doctor in Korea is an interesting experience.... Run down, after working double shifts for the last week, I woke up the other day to find that the glands in my neck had swollen to the size of golf balls and I had developed a headache that promised to split my skull in two every time I moved.  I waited a day to see how I felt, and with no improvement (or rather a much worse condition) took myself off to the doctor to get something to ease my aching head and neck. First the doc had a look-see in my ears, nose and throat - pretty standard doctor behaviour in my book... but that was where normality ended and bizzaro began.  He then proceeded to stick a long metal tube up my nose and with the flick of a switch began sucking all the, erm, stuff out of my sinuses - an uncomfortable yet incredibly pressure-relieving and all out weird experience.  I wondered if he slipped, would he suck out my brain through my nose in a modern day twist of  the ancient Egyptian mummification technique? Hope not.  After my nose was sufficiently cleared of goobers he did a bit of work on my throat.  This involved a swab (not sure that it was necessary form him to stick it into my larynx though) followed by a quick spray of the throat, a short stint breathing some weird air from a weird tube, et voila, a diagnosis of tonsillitis.  Too bad my throat didn't even hurt... although whatever drugs he gave me worked a treat and I was pretty much back to my old self within 2 days!

 

The other big news of the week is that it snowed again!! Apparently this is almost unheard of in February - particularly as we got quite the dump of snow! Not wanting to let this opportunity pass, Ellen (who finished up in Korea on Saturday - boo hoo, come back!) and I decided it was necessary to try out a little something we'd been thinking about a few weeks ago.  We call it BRIDGE SLIDING...

For bridge sliding you need: a) snow, b) a foot bridge, and c) something to slide on.  A toboggan would be preferable, however, we improvised with a Winnie the pooh rubber coated foam mat (functional AND stylish - what more could you want?).

We started off with a straight-up seated butt slide (we did, after all, get a lot of experience in this while snowboarding on death mountain).  Then, we moved onto a slightly more difficult knee slide and steadily progressed to the backward-side-slide (pictured above) and other equally impressive maneuvers.

This one required a run-up and belly flop... scary at first, but not when you're a pro at bridge-sliding like I am.

This is the face of someone having TOO. MUCH. FUN. 

My first snow angel!!!  As if my clothes weren't wet and frozen enough from bridge sliding...

These Koreans really know how to make a snowball. This is, in my humble opinion, the Best. Snowball. Ever. 

Meet Wilbur, our strapping young snowman.

We made Wilbur (with the help of Mardi, our newest work colleague) before we went bridge sliding.  We returned to find him in a state of nakedness (no buttons - shock horror!). Who would violate a snowman in such a way?  Everyone knows a snowman is naked without his buttons!

P.S. Wilbur was still there in the morning, but alas, as I came home from work that afternoon, he was missing.  I found remnants of his ample head of hair and beautiful face, shattered on the side of the hill. Such senseless violence... and to such a nice snowman. R.I.P. Wilbs xx

As I arrived at school the next morning, I was met by dozens of our kindy kids screaming and pelting snowballs at each other... and then at me... who was I to deny them their fun?? And in that case, who was I to deny ME that fun?  That's right, I pelted snow right back at them. Their puny little snowballs did nothing to withstand my boulders of snow (minor exaggeration, yes). They've gotta learn somehow right?  And before you say that I was mean, at least I wasn't flinging snow onto them with  a shovel like one of the Korean teachers was doing!

Amy... My mini-me.  The kids like to identify the things that make little Amy and I the same. Aside from the obvious name similarity, we both have glasses, bangs, earrings, bracelets, parents, arms and teeth (they actually cited these things).  She also has a mini version of a red jacket I recently bought and waves at me every time I walk past (which is frequently). So cute.

Jeff, packing snowballs with his uber-cool Power Ranger gloves (note the matching snow boots and his ear muffs that inadvertently cover his cheeks).

Nathan - the object of Jeffs snowball throwing wrath... I think he looks like a baby mouse in this picture.

So yeah, snow is so much fun!! Who knew precipitation could bring so much joy?!   But do you know what's NOT fun about snow?? I'll tell you what.  It's in the days after, where you are forced to make very important and possibly life-altering decisions such as whether to take...

The Stairs of Icy Peril.... OR,

The Ramp of Spinal Jeopardy...

May I be a good friend and recommend that you stay away from both.  I have learnt the hard way... well actually the numerous people I saw stack it down both stairs and ramps learnt the hard way for us all, I just laughed (quietly of course).