The Flu Scare

This week my after-school English academy in the Seoul area started checking students' temperatures (via ear thermometer). Also, students are now required to use a hand sanitizer gel before they walk in the door; a staff person is on hand outside the entranceway to make sure that all this happens.

In one sense it seems rather draconian, but in another it is a very realistic approach to dealing with the current influenza epidemic, and also a way of dealing with the fears (especially the mothers') that accompany the scare.

I do find it ironic that across the hall is a small plastic surgery clinic, and we (our school and the clinic) share a bathroom that has a sink but no soap. Plus, the doctor from the clinic smokes in the bathroom: "The good news is that you don't have the flu virus; the bad news is you're going to die of lung cancer via second-hand smoke."

Bastard.

So, this past week, as the new safety measures have been implemented, I have tried to approach the students in a non-confrontational manner; I have lubed my hands up and talked to them about the importance of keeping their hands clean--virus or not--and we have joked about the lemony smell.

Some students told me that their public school has four suspected flu students, and that the Korean government has declared that schools with five flu-positive students must close, so--of course!--they are hoping for a fifth victim. Quite a change from the days of hoping for lots of snow so that schools would shut down . . .