::A Geek in Korea::

The temporary helper we hired for assisting my wife as she recovers from delivery came for the first time on Friday. She was punctual and well mannered. She kept Yoshi out on the veranda, but other than that went around the house and worked from the beginning of the day to the end. She boiled every utensil, every pot, pan, and everything that would ever come into contact with the baby in some shape or form. I think she would have started boiling furniture and odds and ends around the house if it would have kept her busy.

Along with all that boiling, the helper was also cooking constantly. The gas range was filled with different things being boiled all the time. We have few side dishes prepared, since my wife wasn’t swiping stuff from her mother our refrigerator was looking pretty bare. I took the helper to a butcher shop to purchase a kilo of Hanwo beef (OMG EXPENSIVE!) which went to rebuilding our scant Korean side dish supply. Because she was also cooking for people she didn’t know well, and was probably trained for dietary concerns of recovering mothers, everything she made was good but a tad bland.

I had to go out to buy more gigantic pots for the all the cooking she had done. With all the pots and pans that have been boiling all weekend, we’ve had to start pumping out the air conditioning to keep a reasonable temperature in the house. There are now 8 (!) pots filled with different Korean foods for recovery. Seaweed soup, Chicken porridge (yum!), and even boiled pig feet are among some of the things boiling in the house at any given time. My wife is very displeased about having to drink pig foot water to aid her breastfeeding, and she said that I was expected to finish all the pig feet.   D: (Do not want!)

The first night the helper stayed extra late because I was returning home from work and it was the first time my wife was alone with the baby at home. The helper wasn’t being entirely selfless. Through conversation, my wife learned that the woman was being reassigned at the end of the week. Her new assignment would be on the opposite end of town, while we were in walking distance from her home. It was implied she was trying to get us to put a good work in for her at the agency so that we’d hire her on to save her the commute. This is despite having been assigned a specific helper earlier through our initial contact with the service. The helper never stated that was her goal, but her willingness for selfless overtime seemed a pretty clear signal she wants us to give her a good word. She did do a good job with Glow, who slept a lot better after we used some of her tips.

On the second day, Saturday, we did put in a good word in for her at the agency. We figured that if she was willing to do us a favor and stick around just to keep us in good graces, she’d probably work hard the entire time just so she wouldn’t be sent across town. The food was bland, but the baby was sleeping. My wife called the agency, who denied our request! The person at the place that dispatches the helpers said we couldn’t put in a request for that particular lady for whatever reason, and that the person previously assigned to show up on Monday wouldn’t switch. Once the lady found out she wasn’t sticking around an extra two weeks with us, she finished up her boiling and cooking and left exactly at the end of her shift.

I’m not sure how the next helper person will work out, but the service has proved its worth already. They’ve eased a lot of the first time parenting anxiety we had bring home our girl from the hospital. They look in on the baby, help out the recovering mother, cook, clean, wash, do laundry, and all the house work no one has the energy to do because of the stress of a new child. It’s been very helpful, and I’m extremely glad we thought of this idea.