Not My First Pandemic

By May of 2009 I had been living in Japan for about nine months and I felt it was time to take advantage of the travel opportunities that East Asia provided, so I planned an excursion during the Golden Week holidays to South Korea. It would be my first time in Korea and obviously not my last.

It was a quick flight from Osaka to Seoul. Less than two hours, if I recall. Incheon International Airport was vast and modern, but easy enough to navigate myself to the bus departures for a ride into the Hongdae area of Seoul. I had a reservation at a youth hostel but wandered lost for well over an hour; my printed-out map being of no help. Getting tired and frustrated, I stopped for some food and a chance to regroup. My first meal in South Korea was a chicken teriyaki footlong sandwich from Subway. At that restaurant, I met an American who was teaching English in Korea. He struck up a conversation with me and asked to join my table. Perhaps it planted an early seed in my mind about teaching in Korea someday. He generously guided me to the hostel and I refrained from Western food for the remainder of the holiday.

My hostel room accommodations consisted of a series of bunk beds which, coincidently, were full of teachers from Japan, Americans and Canadians, who also decided to vacation in Korea during Golden Week. My new friends and I did some sightseeing around Seoul and enjoyed amazing Korean BBQ. I spent time at a few of Seoul’s fabulous palaces and toured the DMZ at the border with North Korea.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

DMZ

A few days before my scheduled return to Japan I received a confusing email from my manager at the Board of Education in Japan. After spending some time trying to decipher the English, it wasn’t exactly clear if I was being instructed to come home immediately, but what was certain was that something important had happened and the Board of Education was worried.

An outbreak of Swine Flu (H1N1) had occurred throughout Asia, including South Korea and Japan, but what had worried my manager most of all was the Korean outbreak. Specifically, he was worried that I would bring the virus back to Japan and infect the children at school. I was instructed to go straight to my apartment from the airport and avoid all contact with my students. Self-isolation and a free week home from work. Most perplexing, the other foreign teachers at the Board of Education, who has spent their vacation in Japan, were not required to self-isolate or miss a week of work. Remember, Japan and Korea had simultaneous outbreaks.

Anyway, I landed in Osaka, boarded a bus, and arrived in my town where, not ten steps off the bus, I was met by a group of my students playing in the street. I did my best to keep my distance, but I think my quarantine failed before it even started. Throughout the week I received phone calls asking about my health, and even an unexpected house call from a lackey from a Board of Education to check on me.  

After a week of perfect health, I was asked to stop by the Board of Education, but was required to wear a facemask. Clueless about facemask standards having never worn one before, I picked up a mask at the store on the way to the Board of Education. When I walked into the office I knew I had made a mistake. I was wearing a children’s mask. It barely covered my mouth and nose and my goatee was hanging out the bottom. Credit to the Board of Education staff who refrained from outright laughter.

After my one week at home, worries rightly shifted to the outbreak in Japan. Classes were cancelled for one week as a precaution for the safety of the students. Of course, teachers were required to be at the school every day, much like the current state of affairs in Korea. But in 2009, I did not have a computer at the school nor access to the internet. With no classes to teach or lessons to plan or internet to browse, the week dragged horribly.

A positive that came out of the outbreak was that, once students returned to school, washrooms were consistently supplied with hand soap. A bar of soap was hung from a small mesh net. Not exactly hygienic but better than nothing.

I knew one person who contracted swine flu. A teacher friend, who had vacationed in Japan during Golden Week. He made a quick recovery.

Here in South Korea in the year 2020, I am not totally inexperienced with pandemics and the effect on my role as a teacher and expatriate in Asia. Unfortunately, COVID-19 is much more serious and appears to be an issue for the world. This one feels different. At least this time I have adult-sized facemasks. Please be careful, everyone.