Teaching in Korea can be fun, boring, long and straining. It's a great source of joy and the stricter I get over the years, the more fun it gets to pick on students, make them clean my classroom and lord over them like a tyrant. I love it.

Unfortunately this requires tremendous energy and if I'm are not careful it will kill my voice, my energy and my evenings off. It might even claim my weekends as I sit in front of the TV completely worn out from the long physically straining week.

So how do we overcome this problem? Obviously we can't let teaching at a school claim all of our energy, can we? Here are some tips that will give you more sympathy from your co-teachers and encourage them to send you home.

We do it by being intelligent. Most schools have a policy for sick days. You should find out what it is and understand it completely. Ask one hundred questions about it at the beginning of the year so you can clearly establish the system the school uses for assessing how sick you are. You'll also want to ask around to find out whether you should call in sick or go to school sick and have them send you home.

If you have to go to school sick, here are some things you should be doing in the hopes that they send you home early: At your desk, fold your arms and laid your head down and go to sleep. When you're sitting up, stare at the computer for long lapses of 10-15 minutes without doing anything. Ask your co-worker sitting next to you, ideally the person who has the power to send you home, if there is a place you can go lie down, since you feel like hell right now.

Make it look as like you are fighting through it and doing your best to survive on the school's property. Incidentally it would help if you actually were sick and feeling groggy. Of course none of this works if you look healthy, alive and well, so don't do it when you don't need a break.

Some things you don't want to do to attract attention are hold your hand up to your head. No one will send you home if you have a headache. Take a pill instead. Don't walk in a zigzag as if you're about to collapse. All that does it makes it look like you're trying to appear drunk. Do you know what the punishment for coming to work wasted is? I'd rather not know.

Finally if you're feeling really sick make sure you visit the school's in-house doctor, and make sure everyone in your work area indirectly finds out that you're visiting her 3-4 times a day. Loud coughing, sneezing, eyes watering, blowing your nose, sitting bent over a garbage can also helps make it visually acceptable that yes, indeed, you are sick and should be sent home.

Depending on your contract you'll have a certain number of sick days. You might as well use them and get as much of the full day off as possible.

Dan teachers Native English Teachers how to survive in Korea by cooking, giving and being loving at their schools. Join his free newsletter: http://www.survivalinkorea.com