Sick days in Korea

In my 9 months in Korea I have had to take 2 sick days from school.  both of these times i have been reminded of the cultural difference between the US and Korea.  As the video above shows, Korean students and teachers (and i assume most people in the workforce) do not take sick days unless they have to go to the hospital.  

The first time i took a sick day i had a bad cold and decided to take one of the sick days i knew were in my contract.  So i called my mentor teacher that morning and informed her that I wouldn't be able to go to school.  That evening She called me and asked me if i had gone to the hospital and how i had communicated.  I had not thought my cold serious enough to go to the hospital so i hadn't gone and i told that to my teacher.  I had just gotten some medicine from another TaLK teacher who lived across the hall.  Even so, the next day all my teachers asked me if i was ok and i was given uncountable cups of tea, as well as my mentor teacher taking me to the nurse and taking my temperature and giving me vitamin C tablets.

The more recent time (this past week) my throat had been bothering me for a few days and when i woke up on Wednesday and i could hardly talk. i decided to take another sick day.  at 3 one of my students called me (it was during the class that i would have been teaching), and asked me where i was if i was ok and "where i was sick".  

In all my time at my school, only one teacher, besides me, has taken 1 sick day and she went to the hospital for stomach problems(?), but even she was back at school the next day though she clearly hadn't fully recovered.  other than that there have only been three instances where teachers have not been at school for non-school related reasons.  Both my mentor teacher and the preschool teacher had family members pass away this year, so both of them missed a few days (2 in both cases i think), and the 5th grade teacher  just had a baby so she is on maternity leave until December.

It is pretty much the same story for my students.  I have had a few kids be in the hospital, but i have also had many instances of my kids being, or at least seeming, to be sick in class.  in Korean culture it is better to go to school sick so not to fall behind in their studies.  I'm not saying this is good or bad, it is just how it is.  Must stay diligent.

Luckily, my immune system hasn't suffered too much for this, and in fact it may have become more resilient because of it :)