Yu-Jin Has Been Sick

Yeah, he wasn't too well from Saturday afternoon. It was quite obvious to us that he had another ear infection. We thought that we could leave it until the next morning but at about 10pm he was really complaining about it and couldn't sleep. So we called a doctor to see us rather than drive to the childrens' hospital and wait for 3-4 hours. That cost $A100. Am I losing my frugality, I hear you ask? Not really, we'll get most of the money back from Medicare. Besides, the doctor comes to our house and eliminates a 40 km round trip and all that waiting.

Our plan was to pick up my mother- and sister-in-law from the airport at 6am. Suprisingly, with very little sleep and no medication (what the doctor had was too strong for him), Yu-Jin still wanted to go to the airport and he didn't fall asleep. I think perhaps he recognised his halmoni (grandmother). She just wandered out of the customs area by herself without any luggage. I knew that meant they were having some problems and so I knocked on the door to see if I could come in and lend a hand. Sure enough, they were going through every item in my sister-in-laws bags. Of greatest concern were the food products that they had brought over, particularly dairy products. After they had identified a cappucino pack, clearly labelled in Korean, they asked if it was a product of Japan (their flight had originated in Japan). This question was asked several times - obviously they don't notice the difference between Japanese and Korean scripts. Then they discovered that Korean dairy products were ok. No more hassles. Enjoy your stay.

What's In A Name?

I used to play indoor soccer with a Macedonian team. They all knew each other very well and I worked with two brothers who were in the team. As such some of the introductions lacked names. One particular player wasn't introduced to me too well. Every time he got the ball they all yelled, "Naza, naza." I thought that his name was Naza and so called it too. His name is Slava. Naza means "pass".

It reminds me of my days as a cub, you know, before boy scouts. One of the leaders was called Baloo, another Bageera and another Shere Khan, after characters in The Jungle Book. Years later I would greet these grown men, in their 50s or 60s with a "Hi Baloo" or "G'day Bageera". It took a long time to realise that they weren't their real names.

That first introduction is really important. Perhaps I am too literal minded.