Overworked and Underplayed

So I had Saturday off (yesterday) and enjoyed the day freezing my butt off and doing what I love, rock climbing. I got to go with some of the Koreans we've met at the climbing gym here in Suyu. I wasn't able to find the camera at 5 in the morning, so I don't have any pictures. But maybe next time. 5 in the morning, you ask why? well i had to meet woo-jin (sound like oo-j/chin; the j and ch often mix together in the korean language) at 5:30 at the station in Suyu, then ride the subway about 40 minutes to another station, then get a ticket for the korail, which is a train, not subway, that took us to ghanyun (Konglish for canyon), about 2 hours eastward ( i think) from Seoul. the climbing was interesting and pretty fun. it made me feel lonely at times though because the only person there who really spoke much english was woo-jin. it made me miss rebs and i was very glad when i got home around 10pm.

Anyway, that's not really what's on my mind right now. Having been away for a day helped me to step back and have a little perspective. Often times when you're in the middle of a metaphorical storm, you can't see your hand in front of your face. That is what I'm witnessing right now. This past weekend there were just over 60 teams of between 12 and 16 kids, which rounds out to about 700 kids. I got to miss most of it on Saturday, which was my day off for the week, but Rebs was working. And she worked today with me. I can witness first hand the effects of not getting enough rest. Besides Rebs, there are many other teachers who are getting or have been sick for a while. I'm not sure why I haven't been stricken, but I haven't yet. And believe me, there's alot of stuff going around.

But I think the thing that gets to me the most is the look on people's faces, the body language that shows they're exhausted. I hurt for them. And the worst of it is that it isn't a single person's fault. It is the way the business world runs. The administrators over us have been working in a panic for about a week now, getting ready for this weekend's Christmas event, and also for the beginning of Winter Camp, which starts tomorrow. That means no break between kids... and Winter Camp runs for 10 days at a time with a one day break in between sessions. The whole course of Winter camp runs through the end of January, three different rounds. I still don't know what it is we're doing with the kids yet. That's how disorganized they are. But don't worry, we find out on Monday at 12:30. That's besides the point. The point is that it's all about the money. The head guy, Mr. Kim, leaves registration open until two days before sessions start, so schedules are always being changed at the last minute. It causes alot of stress on alot of people, but he doesn't seem to care. I truly despise money in the way that it manipulates people's minds to put it as a higher priority over a person's health. But not really because usually the decisions regarding money in a business are made by a person who's work schedule is already set. It makes me want to work for a non-profit organization for the rest of my life. What do you think?

So, I'm sorry for the soap box. And I'm sorry we haven't been keeping up too much lately, but everything's been overly busy that we feel good if we just get an hour to ourselves to collect our thoughts at the end of the day. Working in Korea seems to be more work than we had hoped for.