These days I have been overwhelmed with the number of things on my to-do list. I am working more than I ever have in my life, doing research for my trip around Asia, and trying to begin a nonprofit back in the States. By doing all of this, it would be an understatement to say I am spreading myself pretty thin. By the time Friday comes around I am completely wiped out, and end up sleeping until the afternoon hours on Saturdays. I see the finish line in 6 weeks, so I am not too worried about how I will make it through this chaotic time. But today, I realized that for some the finish line is no where in sight. This kind of lifestyle is all that many Koreans know.
In Korea the normal working hours are between 9-7pm Monday through Friday if your lucky. This is basically the minimum as many people work on weekends as well. Now that I am working 50+ hours a week I can truly relate to the exhaustive state that they must be living in. It is no coincidence that with these work hours the suicide rate it quite high in Korea. I have absolutely no doubt these facts are related.
Beyond that the children I teach also are on a 9-7pm minimum school/activity schedule throughout the week. Today I was talking to a child who explained his insanely long days to me. His schedule was such:
Mon/Wed/Fri: elementary school from 9-2:30, academy from 4:30-7, tae kwon do until 8pm
Tues/Thursday: elementary school 9-1:30, 3:30 soccer 5:00 piano lessons 7pm: studying English through rosetta stone, reading English books, and doing homework.
On weekends he said he learns more tae kwon do for about 3 hours, and then finally has time to play and have fun. Throughout the week, when he is finally done with his extracurricular activities and school, he does not get time to play. He is home at 7 and needs to eat and shower before he can relax. If he get's a chance he watches some tv around 10pm. He has lots of homework, reading, and studying to do for his activities that consume most of his evening. After hearing this, the shock and amazement was all over my face and I said to him "Isn't that too much to do? Aren't you tired? You never get to have fun and just be a kid." His response was "Yes, but it will make me successful. I need to do these things. I can have fun on the weekends."
This is the norm for most of the children I teach in Korea. I personally can't fathom growing up and having such a minuscule childhood that was only played out on the weekends. Throughout the week it would be all business, all hard work, and no time for play if I lived in Korea. There is a distinct reason why we are told early on that we can't live our lives with 'all work and no play!' We have to let loose or else we can't get through another 10 hour day. We have to take time to nurture and feed our soul not just develop our brains and talent.
I am realizing just how important this is as I am in my fourth 50+ hour week of work. I have had two melt-downs thus far and realized I can't have a third. The4se moments came purely from being too tired to function, so tears just came out. I felt like a little kid that was so incredibly tired, crying to their mother because they needed sleep. Well, I thank God that during my childhood my exhaustion came from too much time running around after my friends in the summer heat instead of 10 hours of work work work. Childhood, time off, time to let loose and act your age (or like a kid again) is all too important to put to the side. You won't get to it tomorrow, and you can't work it away. It's a need we have to fill.
Moving forward into my next 6 weeks of working over 50+ hours, I have realized I need to feed my soul. Whether that means Starbucks in the morning, or fighting through the monsoon season to still be able to skype with my family, I need to replenish what is being drained. I know what I need to get through the tough hours that I am working, and I will stay focused on the end result.
The end result is Mama coming to Korea in 43 days. Praise God for a finish line.
Yay counting down!!!!
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