Keira Brigit Pauline

"We sail within a vast sphere, ever drifting in uncertainty, driven from end to end." Blaise Pascal

I went to the veterinarian to volunteer again today. I did see one atrocity. A tiny female poodle was there. She had just came from the shelter that day. The poor dog had fur that was so matted that it had pulled away from the skin. The dog's skin was mostly bare and the fur was in long stringy mats. The fur was all shaved off by the vet's assistant. A friend and I did help hold her for a while. A large tick was pulled off her face. I noticed her ears were dirty, so I told the vet to clean them out. His assistant took out lots of black stuff and ear mites. The ear mite infestation was very bad. I hated seeing a dog in such a bad condition. I held the dog while the vet scraped some skin off it to test for diseases. Thankfully it was only dermatitis, but the dog's skin was all flaky everywhere. I am happy to say that dog is being adopted by a friend of mine. It will stay at the animal hospital for a while and will later go home with her. I am glad it has a new c...

My time in Korea is shortening. I am not sure if I will be gone for good or not. I have been thinking of what to do with myself. I just sent out three resumes for other jobs in Korea, and I have also inquired about another one. I haven't had any feedback yet. I am wondering what is going on. At least I can hear "there's nothing available now". I was talking to my friend from college last Sunday (who is also here in Korea) and she was lecturing me on the phone. She told me that I have to start thinking seriously about what I am going to do with myself. If I can't find anything in Korea, I have to look at options in other countries. If I go to stay in the USA indefinitely, then I should be sending out resumes over there for a job. She is right that I do have to think about things like that. So far, going to the USA means living with my family until I leave home again. I really don't want to live with my mother for a long time. I do love my mother, but I ...

One big difference I have noticed between the USA and Korea is the amount of freedom Korean children have in comparision to their U.S. counterparts. I see children everywhere walking to school by themselves, outside playing with other children, and taking the buses and subways without adults accompanying them. The way Korean children live is a far cry from most American children, who usually only leave the home with an adult with them. Parents there are so paranoid about kidnapping and molesting that children have little freedom. Parents say things like "You have to watch your children all the time", "You can't turn your back for a second", and "Things aren't the same as when I was small, it's more dangerous now". Most American children live their lives inside, and leave the house when a parent is willing to drive them somewhere. I have envied the Korean children for their ability to walk the streets without parental supervision. I envied ...

I was given a script that was written by a student for a speech contest. I am supposed to give comments. The Konglish is comical, yet I do understand this person's point of view. Here is the script: To My Dear Mom, and To the Future Hope-to-be Moms I could smell fusty and stinky smell again out of the rest room, and it's the very same thing that I've been used to every morning. What is this smell? Yuk!(seeming like to vomit right away) Bye the way, before long then I became to know that mom's smoking. That beautiful woman, who has such a beautiful daughter, really had been doing it. I was captured by a great shock and even had to stay few days without a word. I began to hate mom. I disliked her. So I decided to write to her. Mom! Are you my mom? I can't live without you but could you? Are you going to leave me alone on this world and would you like to say untimely farewell? No way! Never, Never! Then I'll follow you right after. Ladies and gentlemen, I ...

I am glad to say that my fever is gone now. I am finally feeling a lot better. I like that. I really do wish that I didn't have such bad springtime allergies. I took off some work last week because of my allergies and my work is mad at me. They think I was off having some fun, even though I later came back to work with the skin under my nose raw from so much blowing. During a meeting with other teachers I sneezed and a lot of snot came out of my nose and I had to quickly leave the room. I felt embarrassed and wished I had a tissue on me there. I really do feel tired of working with children. I do admit that I am not very good with children. I don't feel I have good skills with them. I really don't want to deal with children at my job. I know I will be happy to leave this job. I don't want to be cynical or have a bad attitude, so I will try to make the most of things for now. Yet, I am not interested in teaching children anymore. I feel constantly stressed out...

A U.S. military family adopted a puppy I put on the animal rescue site. I was wondering how they were doing. This is the reply: "Hello! Thanks for your message, and for wondering about us. We are doing great with the little girl, who we have named Charlie. She is an absolute gem and other than a little cough (which we will get some meds for on monday in Osan) and a tiny bit of food aggression she is awesome. She loves my kids and plays with them nonstop. She is a little ball of energy! My older dog is getting along okay with her. They have had some scuffles, but they both know their respective places now. I think Matilda is happier now because she gets to go outside more often! We are keeping Charlie in a kennel at night and are in the process of housetraining her. It is slow going but she's getting the idea. I am trying to bribe her with hot dogs and it's been sorta successful. lol. Once we got her home and washed she seemed to settle right in and now it feels like sh...

I have been getting involved with "Animal Rescue Korea" (ARK) lately. I started with it last month. I do have some good things that happened with it, and some things that were not so good. Well, for the good things, I placed a death-row shih tzu with a neighbor. I also had two malteses and a yorkshire terrier sent to the USA. One maltese is living with my sister and the other with a co-worker. I have two more malteses that will go out soon. I do feel good about saving those dogs. On the sadder note, I took in a yorkie that I knew had one working lung. I figured I could just keep it for a while and then find a home for it. It eventually started falling over and having what appeared to be seizures. It is at the vet that works closely with the shelter. Thankfully he is doing a lot better now. I know he misses me a lot. I do have to find a place for him if he recovers. I got a kitten last week and it has been sneezing. Thankfully it has been eating, drinking, and using ...

Since about last Tuesday I have been feeling ill. I have been very tired and having a stuffy nose. I have also been having lots of phlegm and chest pains and it is difficult to talk sometimes. I went to the doctor yesterday and he prescribed some medicines. He said I have symptoms of common cold and tonsillitis. I didn't go to work today. I wanted to rest. I did end up doing some laundry and cleaned my floors because I needed to do that badly. I do think that I should still go to bed early. I am already feeling a bit better, so that is good. Last night Master Kim, my taekwondo instructor, called me because I didn't to to class last week or this week. I told him that I have been sick. I felt good that he cares about me.

It takes me about 15 minutes to walk to work. It's all uphill. Thankfully the road winds a bit so it's not too bad. I quickly got dressed and left the house and was walking to work and realized that there was something in my trouser's leg. I was already running late so I went to work. I soon went to the restroom and pulled out a pair of underpants. Thankfully those didn't fall out in front of anyone. That would have been embarrassing.

I don't feel good today. I woke up being achy and having a sore throat and a headache. I made it through the day by taking naps between classes in the teacher's lounge. I do hope I feel better soon.