Job Discussion Forums

[contented]

Thank you everyone for your advice and responses.

@artemisia: I try not to touch my face and I wash my hands between classes. I wipe down my laptop during the day and my table. I'm a pretty clean person and I don't see what more I can do. I will try a stint of not eating at the cafeteria. The cooks wear gloves and the food comes out of hot steaming bins and it's covered. They wash off the fruit, it's just the bread bin that everyone puts their hands into. And I don't eat from there.

I never had a problem with my health before working at this school. Of course I'd get a usual cold/sniffles once a year or the flu every 2 or 3 years, but that's normal.

I'll start bringing my own lunch and see if there is a difference in my health. Thanks.

[naturegirl321]

I've thrown up on a moving train halfway between Portugal and Spain, out the window in China, and in hopsital in Korea. The first two were due to food posioning, the last due to pitocin.

I think my health is abotu the same, barring the food posioning.

[wangdaning]

Exercise and be sure to get a healthy diet. It could be that you were trapped away from diseases (in a small place without exposure), try to get some local bacteria in you. Watch your diet and keep your body fit, or go the vodka route (it is not as fun as it seems). I occasionally get sick here, but no where near the severity you express. Maybe the doctors are confused.

Anyway, keep healthy and hydrated. Best of luck

[contented]

[sohniye]

I hope you are seeing a difference and feeling better Contented

I am in a good health but I always worry when I go abroad as I am a vegetarian and someone who has (but struggles all the same to maintain) a 55 pound weight loss. I want to loose 50 more by the end of 2012 that should be tough especially in cold Russia.

Anyway I am going to keep to the basics: plenty of fruit/vegetables, vitamins, green tea, water and exercise. ..and SLEEP which world over people to neglect. I am a calorie counter too.

This is easier in some places than others. I gained weight in Turkiye and lost a lot in Japan due to all the walking and healthy food.

Oh Glenski how can you hate Japanese pizza?! Believe it or not I loved it. I forget the chain but someone made 'Seafood cream' or something like that and it was the best! I also loved the Sushi from 711

[johnslat]

My time in Saudi made me almost criminally healthy. Since there was so little else to do, I spent a LOT of time exercising: at least three weekly gym sessions, lasting about two hours apiece and home exercises - sit-ups and push-ups.

Now I KNOW you're going to find this hard to believe, but I eventually got up to 25,000 sit-ups and 2000 push-ups a WEEK. And yes, I AM a tad obsessive /compulsive.

It's amazing how boredom can be constructively channeled.

Regards,
John

[Glenski]

[contented]

@sohniye-- Thanks! I started taking my lunch to school the other day. I'm starting to eat a little peanut butter everyday since it has resveratrol in it and that helps your body to fight off bacteria and viruses. I hope I see a difference within a month. I'll have a break coming up soon and I'm planning on a lot of relaxation. I get a good amount of sleep each night. I'm one that doesn't like to sacrifice my sleep for other things. Otherwise, I'm a little cranky.

At work, I just wish when people would cough, they'd do it in their sleeve or cover their mouths. Just coughing into the air around people is so inconsiderate.

I wish you all the best in your health programme for the coming year.

@johnslat-- Sounds like you were training for the army! I exercise, but nothing close to that degree.

@Glenski-- If the Japanese pizzas are anything like the Korean pizzas, then I agree some things just don't belong on top. Corn, french fries......

[sistercream]

If I move to a new area - specially when teaching kids - I often find that I come down with assorted lurgies for the first few months until I acquire the requisite immunity to the local bugs.

Couple of old-fashioned folk remedies from long term expats in the PRC: a small coca cola (zero or light will do as well as original) a day to fizz/ acid-bath intestinal germs into oblivion, and a glass of the same with a couple of slices of fresh ginger heated up in the microwave for coldy-fluey things.

[johnslat]

Dear contented,

"Sounds like you were training for the army!"

Army, hell. Marine Corps - Semper Fi.

Regards,
Ex-sgt. John, USMC

[sohniye]

[Prof.Gringo]

Most places in the world really leave something to be desired in regards to food safety & sanitation. Everything from picking of crops to transport to the warehouses and meat packing plants to the stores and markets which sell them to the food stalls and places that prepare and sell food.

Only a relatively few countries like the USA have comprehensive training, mechanisms and awareness in place when it comes to the safety of the food supply chain, from the source to the plate.

I should know, I have the training:

ServSafe Certified Food Service Manager

http://www.servsafe.com/Foodsafety/solutions/what/contents/

Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) Certified:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HACCP

http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/HazardAnalysisCriticalControlPointsHACCP/default.htm

[sharter]

Kuwait seems to have a lot of nasty bugs going around. I've only been here 4 months and many teachers have already had sickies, some of 3-5 days. In a country where there's no alcohol I find the number of sickies astounding. I myself have had a chesty cough for weeks and have had to cut down to 20 a day. I spent many years in Poland, where colleagues were rarely sick and that was with the brutal winters and endless darkness.

Something not touched upon in this health thread is mental well being. Many teachers become really twisted 1 or 2 months into a contract. I don't know whether ELT attracts people with issues or whether it causes the problems in the first place. Living in far flung places can certainly exacerbate them. There a plenty of nutjobs in TEFL and I find that disconcerting.

[contented]