Happy Birthday, Dear Emily...

So Monday, January 23rd was Emily's birthday. I (Jon) had to leave for work at 9:30, so we had to get up a little earlier (at the crack of 8:00) so that she could open her presents. I got her a black goldfish (two, actually, but one didn't want to be present and died beforehand), a hair blow-dryer and a new scarf, among other miscellaneous items.

I then went to the school while Emily stayed home and received birthday congratulations from a variety of people over the phone (thank you to everyone that phoned and e-mailed - it meant a great deal!). She then came into the school because I had a test that she supervised for me.

(When the kids have a test it has a speaking and a writing portion, so I pull the kids out of the class one at a time for the speaking portion and Emily supervises the writing portion and then entertains them for the remainder of the class.)

Several students remembered her birthday and gave her some gifts and cards, which was very sweet and cute. We finished the day and then went for supper at VIPS (Very Important Person Society), which is like a salad bar/steak restaurant. It was fairly nice and the food was pretty good.

Anyway, we got to eating and Emily and I ate nearly identical portions of everything, except that I tried the chicken pilaf, whereas she did not. After I had dished it up, I noted that it smelled funny. After I had put it in my mouth, I noted that it tasted funny. However, being in Korea and having tasted some of the things that I have, I just figured that this was chicken pilaf done Korean style.

Boy, was I wrong.

Halfway through my ice cream dessert, my stomach started to seize up. I wasn't sure if I was suddenly full or if I was ill, but we figured it was a good time to go home regardless of the circumstances. I made it to our apartment and proceeded to have the worst night of my life in recent memory.

I made at least 10 trips to the toilet to violently expel the contents of my stomach in a most noisome and unpleasant manner. While not puking my guts out, I laid on the couch moaning in agony because of my stomach cramps. I was up no less than 3 times in the night to continue the routine, finally emptying the last bit of chicken pilaf at about 6:00 AM. Emily was kind enough to teach for me on Tuesday, while I lay at home and recuperated.

Minus the ending, the birthday was good.

And my advice to you: Don't eat the chicken pilaf.