Today I had to get my temperature checked just like every other day and something special happened--I had a high fever! Being in this moldy and under construction building with 70 people made me catch a really great cold. Despite the fact that I knew I had a cold and just needed rest, the camp staff leader told me that I was to go to the hospital with the other sick people who had high fevers. Many questions ran through my mind and I pondered going to a foreign hospital...would they draw my blood? Would they give me a shot of antibiotics in my rear? Would they give me mysterious medicine? When I told Michelle I needed to go to the hospital she ended up having to comfort me as I freaked out. She then asked if I wanted her to come with me. We role played the customary process of Korean offerings. The first time she asked me I said, "Oh, I don't want to you have to sit through that..." she told me she didn't mind and I said, "No, you really don't have to..." she, again, explained she really didn't mind. I finally said, "Okay, it would really help me out if you came along." Michelle then had to ask the staff if it was okay that she came along because I was really worried. I'm pretty sure the camp staff now thinks I'm crazy.
About twenty minutes later, the camp staff handed out face masks to eight people. We all put them on and took pictures of ourselves, as we and the rest of the camp found it very amusing. Only three of us were technically sick but all of the sick people's roommates had to go with us as well, in case with passed the virus to them. Michelle went to give me moral support and Justin came along out of curiosity and to take pictures. Masks on, we piled into a van to get to the hospital. As we were in the van, we stared out the window the entire way to take in the sights of Wando that we've been locked away from. We "Ooooed" and "Awwwwed" at buildings and people around us. This was our first time actually seeing Korean life.
When we arrived at the hospital, all eight of us walked into the building. Two minutes later, all eight of us walked back out of the building. We were not allowed to be in the hospital since we could infect people in it. Hmmm, irony? Danielle, Megan and I all shared a bench outside so that the doctors could ask us questions and take a cotton swab to our throats. The rest of the people had to sit and watch us in boredom. We were told we would find out the results the next morning.
When we left the hospital, the plan was for all of us to go to the grocery store. For some reason, our camp staff leader allowed us all to walk into the store WITHOUT our face masks on and buy whatever we wanted (I think he was making it up to us or something). We happily wandered around like children in a candy store. We immediately picked out some soda. I found the some Kellogs and Post cereal boxes on their shelves except the box was written in Korean...I thought it was so cool that I took a couple of pictures of it. We also went to a discount store that had a ton of random things to buy. This is were I picked up a few gifts for people at home.
After walking through a couple of stores, we were able to stroll around the city of Wando. It was a surprise to find it was actually a pretty big city with semi tall buildings. I took a ton of pictures of all the Korean signs.
On our way back to the camp, we had a discussion about whether or not to wear our face masks. Dan thought we should all wear the masks to be considerate of other campers...I and some of the other passengers agreed it would be uncomfortable and that we didn't want to be singled out. Not to mention the fact that if we had a cold back in the states, we would not be expected to put on embarrassing masks. The fact that the masks don't actually keep the germs away, makes it seem even more ridiculous to wear them.
We returned to the camp after our exciting day. Michelle, Shannon, Susan, Ally, Marty, Justin, Kyler, Kelly and I were planning to put on a skit for the talent show for that same night. The purpose of the skit was pretty important. We were going to poke fun at a situation that happened on Michelle's birthday. Apparently some people were offended they didn't get any cake and were mad at us for the way we handed it out. The skit was supposed to make fun of us for handing out the cake to only campers who have to stay at Wando for the next few weeks. Since this camp is so gross, we thought it would be nice to give them cake. Other people, however, were very upset with us and even took to being rude to us the next day...so the skit was also supposed to poke fun at the people who threw a fit. We practice the skit a few times through and I got super excited about it.
As soon as we finished practicing, I went to my room to take a shower and make myself look pretty for the first time on this trip. I was really excited when I had my hair blow dried and put my make-up on. Yo-sun suddenly walked into the room and handed me a giant blue face mask. She said, "I am so sorry Christine, but you have to wear this."
I didn't leave my room after Yo sun had given me the mask of shame. I sat on my bed and stared at it for about ten minutes. I finally put on the mask and looked in the mirror. I felt so embarrassed wearing it. I realized it was dinner time and I started getting ready head down to the cafeteria when Yo-sun walked into the room again with a tray of food. She placed the tray in front of me and said, "You are not allowed to go into the cafeteria." This is where I lost it. I started crying and Yo-sun held me and told me she was sorry. She said, "Don't cry! Don't cry! You are not bad, we just have to be careful. I'm so sorry! I believe that you do not have the swine flu and that if you are infectious, I am infectious. It will be okay and everything will be back to normal tomorrow morning." I explained to her that I understood it was not in her power and that I was not upset with her but with the whole situation. I explained that the reason I am sick, is because of this extremely moldy building and the fact that there are 70 other people in a small space. Yo-sun agreed with me and then finally had to leave me alone with my tray of food.
After Yo sun left, I was alone with my thoughts and whomever decided to stop by and visit me. I impatiently waited for Michelle to come to my room. Her and Susan showed up with Snickers bars, juice, cookies and a card they made for me. It was so sweet. :) I sadly told them I could not do the skit with them and then sat on my bed to type my blog on a word document (one of the only things I could think of to do with my time since there is no wireless internet in my room).
After about an hour had passed, the two other sick people, Megan and Danielle, knocked on my door. When they came in they told me some of the worst news I'd ever heard.Megan said, "We got the test results back. They say we have the swine flu."
I sat there dumbstruck. Danielle explained that they had to move into my room and Yo sun had to move out. She said that we are not allowed to teach next week and that we will have to say in our rooms at the camp for the entire week. Then Megan and Danielle moved their belongings into the room and set up camp. We all stood around talking about how stupid this whole situation is and how we seriously doubted that we have the swine flu. We complained of how embarrassed we are and how it felt like a bad dream.
The leader of the camp stopped by our room and shared with us some even more horrible news. The whole first week of camp had been canceled and none of the 70 people could go and teach. We asked where we would be and he reluctantly told us that we would have to say here in Wando for another week.
As I am writing this blog, the staff of the camp is holding a mandatory meeting for everyone else at the camp to break the horrible news to everyone. All of the campers will need to wear the giant blue masks. We don't know how people are going to react. All we know is that they are holding us for another week and that they are going to have an emergency meeting with the governor to decide if they will close the next camp.
I am laying in my room with two other girls. We became sick on this trip and because of us, they are holding 70 people in this building, that everyone hates, for even longer. We are watching Friday Night Lights on a laptop to distract us from our thoughts. Maybe by tomorrow, we will know more...maybe not.
****
Today I woke up feeling just fine. Not sick at all. Words cannot express how I feel, being a healthy person locked inside a room of a horrible building. I feel completely healthy and my "Swine Flu Test" that read "Positive" is the reason everyone is in quarantine for another week. This time, we are not even supposed to go hiking. The camp staff leader got in trouble for taking us around town yesterday...so this time he is following the rules and not letting us do ANYTHING.
