sniffle sniffle, cough cough

today marks my 2 month anniversary as an inhibitor of korea. i can't decide if that seems like a very long time, or very short. but either way, it feels good to have accomplished 2 months here and to feel as content as i do. with my 2 month anniversary came my third terrible cold since i've been here. i woke up with it friday morning and it seems to have gotten progressively worse and worse throughout the weekend. it's the same thing every time i've gotten it--sore throat that feels dry and scratchy, stuffy nose that won't let me sleep at night b/c everytime i start to relax enough to let my mouth close i can't breathe, the wait-is-my-head-connected-to- my-body-anymore??? feeling, earache, the whole bit. at least i'm fortunate to always seem to get it on the weekend so i have time to rest (and rest i did--last night i went to bed at 7 pm!!!), but i wish i could just kick this thing for good. from what i can tell, however, foreign teachers that live here seem to be sick a lot and it's sort of a once-sick-always-sick sort of thing. i wonder why. could it have something to do with the fact that we have hundreds of germy, sneezy, never-wash-their-hands, snoty-nosed, couldn't-remember-to-cover-their-mouth- when-they-cough-if-there-was-a-huge- sign-written-in-candy-dangling-in-front-of-their-eyes little korean kids hanging all over us all day long? perhaps.

so i've stayed in most of the weekend. i did, however, have a search of energy yesterday afternoon in which i ventured to the drug store and got cheap medicine that would most definitely need a prescription in the states, and then went for a nice long walk to lake park. it was the coldest day since i've been here by far--not much over 50 degrees--and it was beautiful. sunny, a little windy, crisp. absolutely and totally fall-esque. i bundled up in hat and mittens and a hoodie and really enjoyed walking and not running for once. it almost made me grateful i didn't have the energy to run and could instead just take the time to stare at trees and changing leaves and little korean kids playing and connect with God in God's Creation. i even did some of my newly-learned yoga moves in the grass for awhile.

as i was about to leave lake park, i walked past another foreigner who was running with his korean friend. he wasn't hard to notice as he came toward me b/c he is probably the first white person i've seen in lake park besides myself, and he was speaking in english, another thing i don't hear very often. we said hello and smiled as we went past each other and i turned back, and he turned back, and we kept turning back and even a minute later when i could barely see him, i looked back, and sure enough, he looked back and it made me laugh b/c it kind of felt like..."wow! you're white! i'm white! you speak english! i speak english! you like to run! i like to run! we have SO MUCH in common. we will most definitely be friends.." it's just the way it goes when you're one of a few white people around for miles. maybe i'll see my new look-back friend again on one of my runs.