Another Day, Another Doctor

I woke up at 3:30 yesterday morning and felt pretty miserable, worse than I had felt on Friday and Saturday. I hung in there until about lunch time, but when I started feeling even worse, I decided it was time to call H-k and ask if the clinic has an emergency number since it's closed on Sundays. She and T decided I needed to go to the emergency room, and she came to pick me up a little while later.

H-k took me to the Samsung Seoul Hospital. They did a bunch of tests, concluded that I have a kidney infection and pneumonia, and pumped me full of fluids and antibiotics. Six hours later, we were allowed to go home, with an arsenal of medications (with labels!) and a follow-up appointment on Friday.

The emergency room was very crowded yesterday, probably because it was Sunday and most local clinics were closed. There were a few other foreigners there. While I was waiting for an xray, I observed a southeast Asian couple struggle to make themselves understood by the doctors and nurses. I was so thankful that H-k was there with me. Even though the doctors and nurses could speak and understand English, it was such a reassurance to have someone else there who could help me communicate when difficulties arose. I told H-k that she graduated to a new level of friendship yesterday, not only because of her care and concern, but also because at one point she had to help me remove my bra while I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and had an IV in my hand. No easy task, let me say. We joked that it was an R-rated version of the human knot game that we played with our students in the park just a couple weeks ago. It's good to keep a sense of humor about things.

A visit to a medical facility is never my idea of a fun way to spend the day, and in Korea, I find it all the more uncomfortable because of the language barrier and cultural differences, but I have to say that what I experienced in the emergency room was not significantly different from what I would expect in the U.S., with a few notable exceptions.

The first major different was the lack of privacy. Examinations that required undressing were performed behind a curtain, though I had other people walk in on me twice without any notice, but all other procedures and consultations were carried out in a crowded common room. The other major difference I noticed was a different standard of sanitation. The hospital was clean, but the examining tables didn't have linens or paper, and I didn't notice anyone disinfecting them between patients. I'm also used to doctors and nurses at home washing their hands right there in the room before they touch you. I didn't see anyone do that here. No one's hands appeared dirty, but now that I think about it, I didn't notice a sink anywhere around. Maybe we're a little paranoid about things like privacy and sanitation in the West, but I'm not so sure that's a bad thing.

T is teaching my classes again today, and I'm really thankful for all his help this week. I'm getting very tired of staying at home, so I'm hoping I can go back to school on Tuesday if someone helps me with crowd control in my classes. I miss my students and friends.

Not such a happy camper

I've been home sick for the past three days. I felt it coming on for a couple weeks, but I thought I was achy from all the hiking I've been doing and coughing because of a cold that would pass on its own. However, after two nights and one day of serious pain and coughing so hard that I was gagging and having a hard time catching my breath, on Thursday morning, I finally gave up, called in sick, and went to the doctor.

Joy went with me, and while I didn't actually need an interpreter, I was feeling so miserable that it was nice just to let someone else do the talking. One of the nurses even asked me, "You don't talk?" Every inch of my body hurt so much that even breathing was painful.

This was only the second time that I've been to a doctor since I came to Korea. The medical culture is different here than it is in the United States. Perhaps because of the national health insurance program, which makes medical care both easily accessible and affordable to everyone, people go to the doctor much more readily here than they do in the U.S. Medical privacy seems almost nonexistent. People don't seem to ask as many questions of their doctors here, and similarly, doctors seem to have less patience with patients' questions than they do in the U.S. Doctors seem to prescribe more medications but for a shorter duration than they do at home, and medications come in little packets with no labels. I lovingly refer to these as mystery pills. Here's my second round of them, acquired this afternoon.Joy and I arrived at the clinic when it opened at 10 AM. They took my height, weight, blood pressure, and temperature right there in the waiting room, in front of an audience of 4 elderly people who had arrived before us. Since the receptionist said there would be a wait, Joy decided I needed to eat, even though I had no appetite, and took me across the street for samgyejuk--a chicken and rice porridge that is the Korean equivalent of chicken noodle soup for someone who is sick. I generally like all sorts of juk but had no interest in eating and couldn't even finish a third of it, so Joy had them package the rest of it for me to take home.

Then we went back to the clinic. Even though the doctor could speak some English--as most educated people in Korea can--he was obviously nervous about the language and primarily talked with Joy. It made me feel a little childish to be spoken about rather than spoken to while I was sitting right there, especially since I could follow some of their conversation in Korean, but I was also so uncomfortable that I didn't care so much. Living here has made me learn to trust people and also to be okay with needing help. I made sure to describe my symptoms slowly and clearly myself, but I wasn't feeling chatty, so it didn't bother me too much just to be quiet. He listened to me breathe and then smacked me on the back . . . hard. I was in pain to start with, but that felt like a knife was going right through me. "Did that hurt?" he asked as if my wince and moan weren't clear enough indications that it did. Then, just to be sure, he did it two more times in slightly different places, each producing the same reaction from me.

He then wanted a urine sample, but unlike doctors' offices at home that generally have a toilet somewhere in the office, this clinic had none. The clinic is located with several other medical and dental offices on the 4th floor of a shopping mall, and they all share the public restroom, which was, of course, down the hall, around a corner, down another hall, around another corner, down yet another hall, around yet another corner, and down still another hall. Joy encouraged me, "You can do it!" So off I went with my little plastic cup to the restroom. As I returned to the clinic, carefully carrying my little plastic cup, which didn't have a lid by the way, I hoped that I wouldn't run into a student or parent--not that it's anything to be embarrassed about really--but carrying a little plastic cup of your own pee in public is generally not a socially acceptable thing to do where I'm from. I didn't run into anyone, however, and when I returned, Joy greeted me with an enthusiastic "Good job!" to which I had absolutely no idea how to respond.

The doctor concluded that I have a bacterial infection in my lungs and kidneys. He sent me off with a prescription for a bunch of mystery pills and told me to drink a lot of fluids and get a lot of rest. Joy took me to the pharmacy where I made them explain to me, much to their frustration, what each pill was--an antibiotic, a cough medicine, an anti-inflammatory painkiller, and an orange pill that they couldn't find a way to describe for me.

Joy took me home and waited while I wrote out a quick lesson plan for T who was covering my classes. It turns out that I wasn't thinking clearly enough to write down the correct page numbers, but he's resourceful, so I'm sure he managed just fine. I spent the rest of the day feeling miserable and sleeping. On Thursday night, Joy, Catherine, and H-k all came to check on me, which I really appreciate. H-k brought me some juice, corn tea, and fruit.

I was actually able to sleep Thursday night, only waking up three times. Friday was a little better than Thursday. I'm a far cry from 100%, but I'm in nowhere near as much pain and am not coughing as much. H-k called to check on me Friday morning, and T stopped by so I could write down a brief lesson plan for him. Catherine and Joy called to check on me in the afternoon and evening. It's really reassuring to know that I have such good friends who are so concerned and caring.

Since I was stuck at home yesterday but feeling a little better than Thursday, I tried to be productive. Between naps, I corrected 9 workbooks and 7 journals, graded 9 tests, and wrote 20 progress reports. The end of the month is always really busy--with progress reports and next month's lesson plans due--so I wanted to get some work done so that it's not such an overwhelming task when I return to school on Monday.

I went back to the doctor this morning for my next round of mystery pills (pictured above) and then stopped by the school to swap books, but I have no other plans for the weekend except continuing to pump fluids and sleep.

Field Trips!

I love field trips. They are so much work and so exhausting, but they're a blast. The kids run around, burn energy, have a great time, and don't even realize that they're learning. Last week we took almost all of our preschoolers through 4th graders to the city's central park for a few hours of fun, cooperative outdoor games. I loved it . . and the kids had fun, too.

Preschool and KindergartenFirst GradersSecond GradersThird and Fourth GradersOne kindergarten class and one 2nd/3rd grade class together

Gyeryongsan National Park

Jackie organized another hiking trip this weekend. We went to Gyeryongsan National Park in the central part of Korea. I was feeling pretty worn out because of a cold and chest congestion, and I wasn't able to keep up so well. The park was crowded, and it was cold out. As we were going up, I got warm and took my coat off, but when I stopped moving, I got quite chilly. It was an enjoyable weekend with a good dinner at the end. Cheers to Jackie for another successful outing.

They say it's (my) birthday!

I had a wonderful birthday this week. My day started with a phone call with Mom and Dad, which is always one of the highlights of my week. Then all the teachers at my morning preschool sang Happy Birthday to me in English, despite being nervous about it. When I got to my regular school in the afternoon, my friends had flowers for me. I got a lot of hugs and "I love you"s from kids all day.

On Friday, I went out to lunch with the mothers' class. As we were walking to the restaurant, one of the moms started walking away from the group. I asked the others where she was going, but they pretended not to me. She showed up at the restaurant a little while later with a cake. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me.

I invited my friends from work over to my apartment for dinner on Friday night--salad, minestrone, and pizza. One of my students had given me a cake on Thursday, so we ate that, too. Everyone seemed to have a good time--I sure did.

It was a very happy birthday. It only would have been better if my family and friends at home had been here, too.

Everyday I am thankful that I work with people who are also my friends and have become my family here in Korea. I love this picture. Back, L to R: T, H-k, M, Catherine, Jenny. Front: Chloe, Joy, E and L (on Joy's lap), and myself.

Flesh-eating fish

About a month ago, my friend Catherine told me about "Doctor Fish," small fish that eat the dead skin from your feet. Since then I've heard about them five or six times but hadn't given it a try until tonight. It sounded too unique to miss, so when H-k suggested tonight that we check out a new cafe that has doctor fish, I more than enthusiastically agreed.

It was a really strange sensation--somewhere between a tickle and a scratch. They all swarm around your feet and nibble away. H-k joked that they seem to like "ethnic food," meaning American feet, for a change.

Here are some pictures.

Songnisan National Park

My friend Jackie organized a hiking trip at Songnisan National Park in the central part of Korea this weekend. I took the train about an hour south of where I live to Cheonan and met up with everyone. From there we took two buses to the national park. We visited the big buddha at Beopjusa and then hiked halfway up the mountain to the hut where we'd stay the night. Half of our group of 10 stayed at the hut Saturday afternoon and the other half of us hiked up to a small hermitage near the ridge. From there, Scott, Jackie, and I continued to the highest peak in the park--Cheonhwangbong--at 1058 meters. Jackie and Scott are pretty serious hikers and left me in the dust when I stopped to take a couple pictures, but I eventually caught up with them.

Then we headed back to the hut for some excellent Korean food for dinner--and a lot of it. We sat there around the table next to the wood-burning stove and talked and laughed for a few hours. Then we called it a night. Most of us got up early Sunday morning, due to some extreme snoring in one of the rooms were were sharing. We gathered around the table and ate and talked some more. Jackie, Scott, and I had talked about hiking to another peak on Sunday, but a combination of laziness, tiredness, and sore muscles kept us sitting until it was time to hike back down the mountain to catch the bus home again.

All in all, it was an excellent weekend. Mega kudos to Jackie for pulling it all together. While she was the only person there whom I knew before this weekend, I feel like I left with several new friends. The weather was beautiful, and the views from the ridge were amazing.

On our walk through the town to the national park, we passed this man and his performing monkey. I felt sorry for the monkey.The 33-meter bronze buddha at Beopjusa:At the mountain hut--EMH talking and everyone looking annoyed. Oh no!From the hermitage, almost at the ridgeline:The hike to Cheonhwangbong at 1058 meters:Dinner:Representing 5 countries, here is the whole crowd, minus 1 who got an early start down the mountain:On our way back down:While we were waiting for the bus, there was this old man blowing on a single-note pipe whistle like a little kid. He just kept blowing and blowing on it, making a lot of annoying noise but nothing even close to a tune. I was amused.

Signs

I got up at 7:00 this morning and went downstairs for breakfast with Nina, and we met Grace down in the breakfast room. She had had a good time hiking the Great Wall yesterday and was planning to walk to the Temple of Heaven today. That's a really long walk from the hostel, so we suggested that she rent a bike or take a taxi today.

After breakfast, Nina and I shared a taxi to the airport. Her flight was an hour before mine, so I had plenty of time to roam around the airport. I love to walk around airports and look at the monitors at each gate to see where the planes are going. On my way to my gate, I passed this monitor:In case it's too small to read, the destination is Pyongyang. I realized that that's one city I've never seen on an airport monitor before, and I hope I see the day when I can pass a similar monitor and not think that it's an unusual sight.

On the topic of unusual signs, here are a few of my favorites from China.

On the bathroom door of the hostel: City of Beijing is short of water. Please treasure the water and don't forget close the faucet in the toilet after use. By the way, We do not suggest you drink the water in the toilet. (Ummm . . . no, neither do I.)At Tianamen Square: Construction on the spot. No admission. Thank you. (I'm glad they get right on it.)At the Lama Temple: Fire-fighting equipment is strictly prohibited to be diverted.At the Great Wall:All that belong to the nation belong to the world civilization is the most important. (And there we have it.) Be civilized visitor, set up the ecosystem together! (We're really keen on civilization at the Great Wall.)Appreciate the Great Wall lovely view, do not forget the fire is heartless!Speaking cellphone is strictly prohibited when thunderstorm.
Heart cerebral disease sufferer ascend the Great Wall to please watch for.At the Ming tombs: No Scribbling. No Climbing. (So if you're going to deface the tombs, at least stay in the lines.)In Beijing, the amuseful/happy customer easy meal restaurant.The wet towel on the airplane on my way back to Korea: This refreshing towel also has a sterilizing effect. (I hope not.)Now I'm back in Korea, but I have a long list of things to see on a return trip to Beijing someday!