Avian Influenza Confirmed

On Saturday the South Korean government confirmed its first avian influenza outbreak in 3 years. As I mentioned before this is going on in the city of Iksan, just a short hop from us here in Gunsan. We've been warned to wash our hands and faces whenever we go home. First it's Kim Jong-il and his nuke testing and now its bird flu...I'm beginning to feel that it's not quite safe here. Last time there was an avian influenza outbreak some South Koreans claimed that the virus simply can't cope with their strong immune systems, powered by their national dish, kimchi...or something like that. I'm not sure about the exact details about how kimchi defeats avian influenza but apparently it does. It must have been an oversight on the government's part in not mentioning eating massive amounts of kimchi along with washing our hands and faces as part of the action plan to contain the virus. I'm sure this will be corrected soon.

Avian Influenza Next Door?

On the front page of today's newspaper there is an article about a possible avian influenza outbreak in Iksan, a city not far from where we are. So far it hasn't been confirmed official yet and investigations are still going on.

My wife has finally finished her job as another teacher from Canada took over her job. She's relieved to be finished with that job but now she's almost as busy taking courses in computers, sewing and Chinese while taking lessons in violin and swimming. She's been looking at part time jobs to get experience doing something new but that's pretty much all she'd be getting. Part time jobs here usually start around $3.00 per hour (3098 won), which is the official minimum wage. Considering the cost of living is not a lot different here than in Canada, the minimum wage is not a living wage. My wife was offered a job at an international coffee house-type franchise a couple days ago but they wanted her to work 7 days a week with only 2 days off per month as is typical in many such jobs. She declined the job and put up some postings for English tutoring. She can make more in one hour of tutoring than she would in a full day of working at a coffee shop.

I've made it official to my co-workers and students that I'm leaving so they can start looking for new teachers soon. I really like my students and co-workers so it's a bit sad giving them the news.