How to use 6 hours of sick time

I’m not sure if it was the smoke at the Fuzzy Navel bar, singing our hearts out for a few hours at the Singing Room (noraebang), or if I picked up something, but over the past week, I gradually lost my voice.

By Tuesday night, I knew I was in trouble. I taught my 7 pm Conversation Class, and a 1-to-1 private student ending at 9 pm, and headed straight home.

I didn’t sleep well. I kept waking up trying to figure out how best to use my whopping 6 hours of sick time. Not 6 days. YBM gives us a whopping 6 hours of sick time per 12-month contract.

On Wednesdays this month, I teach 5 hours from 6:50 am to 1 pm, plus two more hours at night: Conversation Class and a new 1-to-1 student. If I called in sick tonight, I could skip the am but would still have to teach one hour at night and all day the following day.

On Thursdays, I teach 6 hours in the morning from 6:50 am straight to 1 pm. Plus another hour at night. Hmm  I could skip Thursday am, but would still have to teach all day Wednesday, and again Thursday night.

Is that possible?

I take great efforts to make sure I’m always loving being with my students. But it was really hard Wednesday teaching in a whisper. Luckily, my students know me by now, so we could laugh about it and they were really sweet to me, the English Whisperer. I made it somehow until 1 pm.

My director was able to reschedule my 1-to-1′s, got someone to teach at night for me, and someone else to do my two early am classes. So, I had Wednesday night off.  I had a massage and rested. I came to work on Thu at 10 am, taught one class, then we had our xmas party watching a video with my friend’s class …so that was a huge break. I still had to come back and whisper (I mean teach) another class. But because it was the day before xmas eve, we played games and drank tea. It was fun, but by the end of the day, my voice was totally gone.

The schools I’m looking at in Mexico have a concept called “substitute teachers”. HA HA. This is something I didn’t really ask about. Sick time. Substitutes. Not a common concept here.

I always thought, I never appreciated my health until I was sick. Now, I appreciate the ability to go home when I am sick. wow

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