Death of a Hamster

On Saturday, Hammie the hamster passed away.  I noticed this week that she was lethargic and seemed to have lost weight.  She didn't run on the wheel anymore and appeared to just sleep all the time.  On Friday, I moved her into a wooden basket lined with a towel.  She was weak and breathing quickly.  I took her to the vet at E-mart.  I didn't think he could do much but I would feel bad if I didn't try my best to help her.  As I suspected the vet at E-mart didn't offer any help.  He gave me a peculiar look when I told him my hamster was lethargic, then he shrugged and said he didn't know what to do.  Later that night, her condition deteriorated. She was breathing heavily and very weak.  Early Saturday morning when I got back from a party, Hammie could barely sit up and she was gasping for breath.  She died that night.  Today, Fraser and I spent Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) having a picnic by the river.  After the picnic, we sent Hammie down the river in a little soapbox.  Luckily her sister doesn't seem to be ill.  On Saturday, I handed over custody of Samster to her new adoptive mother, Amy, who is a friend of a friend of mine.  She was really excited and she is going to buy Samster a new friend to play with.  It was tough saying goodbye to both my hamsters this weekend, but it's for the best because I am leaving soon.

The Home Stretch

I have less than a month left in Korea now.  On Tuesday, Fraser and I booked our tickets for the Philippines.  We are leaving Korea on the 3rd of October for Manila.  The plan is to tour Manila for a day or two and then take day trips to Mt. Pinatubo and a military island that Fraser wants to see.  Afterwards, we are going north to see the rice terraces for a couple days and then back down to Manila to fly to Palawan.  After 2 weeks with Fraser, we sadly have to part ways.  He is going back to Scotland and I'm going to visit some family in Iloilo for a week before flying back to Canada.

I packed one box yesterday.  It's full of books I want to keep and clothes I don't need.  It also has a lot of souvenirs I bought in Korea and China.  This weekend, I plan to pack a suitcase full of clothes that I don't need.  When Fraser comes back from Wales, he's going to help me lug everything to the post office to mail home.  It's so handy having him around.  I'm going to send my last suitcase home right before I leave Korea, so I can travel the Philippines with only the stuff I need.  I hate packing.  It's such a pain, but I don't want to leave everything until the last minute. 

I'm excited to go to the Philippines and see my family in Canada, but I've been getting bouts of sadness when I think of leaving my students, Sa Beom Nim and especially Fraser.  He's been in Wales 3 days and I already miss him terribly.  But that's life.  We've decided that when we part ways, we're still going to stay a couple even if it means flying across oceans a few times a year to see each other. 

Steve's Typical Weekend

I asked a class of middle school students to write about a typical weekend.  This is what one student named Steve wrote.  I found it very amusing so I decided to post it.

"On the weekend, I get up in 2AM and tern on computer. Play the computer. 1 hour, 2 hour, 3 hour, 4 hour, 5 hour, 6 hour, 7 hour.  Mom say crazy boy! I say ha ha ha!  After breakfast, play the computer, 1 hour, 2 hour, 3 hour, 4 hour and sleep.  Get up 4PM.  After lunch, play computer until 12 AM.  Steve is sleeping.  Tomorrow I get up 11AM.  Mom say crazy boy!  Eat breakfast. And sleeping.  Get up.  Steve is shower.  Play computer.  And sleep."

It's easy to see how obsessed kids are with computer games here.  Steve isn't the most hardworking student I have, but he is good natured and really funny.  He also wants to be president of Korea one day.  I'm not too sure about that though.