So many Gods, So many creeds, So many paths that wind and wind, When just the art of being kind, Is all the sad world needs.

It's been a while ... I apologize for keeping you waiting! The stress of the second round of chemo and the business of the Christmas holiday left me with little time and energy to write. Let's get the show on the road once again ...

When Michael and I first went to South Korea everything was great. The people we were working for seemed overly generous-they went out of their way to make sure everything was arranged for us and that we were treated like top-of-the-line employees. When we arrived, we were immediately met by staff of the company who escorted us to a hotel in the largest city in South Korea, Seoul, where we were to be completing a one-week training session. The hotel was fully paid for, as was the bus they arranged to take us from Seoul to Busan, the city we were to be living and working in, which was about a 5 hour drive away.

When we arrived in Busan, we were met by our school director, who took us to our apartment. The apartment wasn't as grand as we suspected-it was like a small-sized bachelor apartment in a Canadian city, unlike the 2-bedroom apartment we were promised. But it took nothing but a quick discussion with our school director to get what we were promised. He said it was a mistake and quickly found us a massive, beautiful apartment five minutes walk from our school. We were taken out for fancy dinners weekly, given furniture for our apartment, and had our very own high-tech classrooms equipped with flat-screened computers and all the supplies we needed. Within the first week of being there we were each given an equivalent of 500 Canadian dollars for moving allowance, and were to be paid at the end of each month, meaning that we would recieve the equivalent of approx. $3000 CAD within a few more weeks. In addition, the school was being sent cheques from the head office in Seoul to reimburse our $2000 plane tickets, which we had to buy ourselves and were to have refunded upon arriving in Seoul and completing our training.

Everything seemed to be going excellent. The wheels were in motion and the money was about to coming rolling in. However, when we were suddenly hit with the crazy boulder of shock that was thrown at us, the attitude of the company for which we were working quickly changed. When I first mentioned that I thought it would be best for me to go home (which was about 8 hours after learning of my diagnoses), a look of sheer panic hit their faces. I assume that through the night they had a big discussion about what they were going to do to keep me from leaving, because first thing the next morning they were at our door asking if they could take us out to eat.

As we gathered around the table to eat (at an amazing fine-dining restaurant with international cuisine, I must add), a look of seriousness plastered the faces of all three managers who escorted me. They got right down to business before we even ordered our food, and wanted to know exactly what we planned to do. Through the night I decided that it was definitely best for me to go home and be with my family and have this disease taken care of in a place where I could at least understand the doctors. So, I had no problem telling them how I felt and exactly what my plans were-- no use beating around the bush. When I told them that I planned to go home and that Mike planned to come with me, there was an awful feeling of discomfort around the table. The lady who spoke the best English told me, without hesitation, that I signed a contract. And on that contract I made an agreement that I would stay in South Korea with CDI for one year. If I did not fulfill this contract, I would not be reimbursed for my flights and I would have to pay the equivalent of $1000 USD for them to recruit another English teacher.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had just been diagnosed with breast cancer at 25 and these people could think of nothing but money. I looked at the lady in the face and told her that this had to be the least compassionate thing I had ever heard. I told her that I was not choosing to leave CDI-- I had a malignant disease and it was urgent that I get it looked after. If they make me pay them $1000 this won't be pretty. Silence. Everyone looked at their menus. A few minutes later they began speaking in Korean to eachother. I guess they had come up with some new proposition.

This time they asked if I would wait a couple of weeks before going home. Again I explained that this was a malignant disease and that every day would count. How could I sit around in a foreign country for a couple of weeks knowing that I had cancer in my breast and it could be spreading through my body? Impossible. They came up with yet another proposition: Mike stay for a couple of weeks or until they could find replacement teachers and I go home by myself. This was more reasonable, but we felt that I needed the support (especially for the 2 day flight home) and it would be painstaking for Mike to stay in Korea by himself as I underwent the most gruelling battle of a lifetime in a different country. We had to leave and that was the bottomline.

Let's cut to the chase. When they realized that our decision was set in stone, they decided that they would not give us anything for our plane tickets and they would withhold our pays instead of having us pay them the $1000 USD to recruit someone new. This meant that we would now be $7500 in debt from plane tickets and would not get the approx. $2000 that we earned from the two weeks work that we put in. This meant that the company took approx. $10,000 CAD from a couple of young people who were just hit with a cancer diagnoses.

I could not believe this. I was shocked. But at the time all I truely cared about was getting home and doing what I had to do-- money was the last thing I needed to worry about.

When I began to settle at home, however, I realized how hard this extra debt would be on me. Afterall, I was in South Korea to pay off the $40,000+ in student loans that I had accumulated after 7 years of university. Now, I had suddenly added another lump of money to that heap. The worst thing is that I would have to take an absense from work as I underwent surgery and chemotherapy and would have absolutely no means of paying on anything.

My family and friends recognized this problem immediately and like the good Canadian folks they are, they decided to get together and raise some money for me to help lift the burden of debt that was caused by my cancer diagnoses. They made 550 tickets for a spaghetti dinner and sold every last one, then spent days getting all the food and supplies ready for the sale. It was amazing how much work they put in to this and it was great to see everyone coming together with such kindness and care to help someone they care about.

Thanks so much to everyone who put in so many hours of hard work to help me. Also thanks to all of you who bought a dinner or made a donation -- every one of you made a huge difference for me. Grand total = $4000.00!!!! Amazing.

Special Thanks to:
Mom
Cathy McMullin
All the staff at Jewels and Gems
Aunts Gladys, Valerie, Cindy
Mike and Debbie Walsh

I will leave you all with a warning: NEVER work for CDI (Chung Dam Institute) in South Korea!!!