Korean Doctor Visit

Ok, as most of you know I have been sick this week. I was terrified to go to a Korean Docctor after reading stories on the internet and to get to the army base, I have to get on two trains. Who wants to get on two trains when they are sick? Not me, so I convinced myself that I would get better in a day or two. The Korean teachers were worried about me, so on the first day of my cold I was handed a package of chinese herbs and a black bottle of some unidentified liquid. I was told to take a sip of the liquid and then pour the herbs in my mouth and swallow. Oh my gosh- it was the worst. The herbs were not the worst part it was the horrible black liquid. It was thick like syrup and super bitter. They told me it would heal me and suprisingly that day I felt better. The next morning was another story. I made it through another day of classes and they offered to take me to the doctor and I refused. Day 3 of my cold, I woke up with the worst sore throat. I had no voice and the cough progressed. On this day I asked my Korean co-teacher if she would take me to the doctor. She agreed and said that we would go after classes were over. I struggled through the day but made it. We left the school and we showed up to the Ears, Nose, and Throat doctor. We walked right in and ther ladies at the counter asked for my alien card. The next 5 minutes I stared into space as my co-teacher and the ladies talked about me. I was brought immediatley into the doctors room. The doctor's room consisted of a chair (similar to the dentist), his desk, computer, and a video camera. Luckily he spoke some english so I was not completley in the dark about what was going on. He did the normal check (when you tell a doctor that you have a cold) but then he put a video camera in my mouth that took a picture of my throat. Way cool. He diagnosed rhinovirus and pharengytis- go figure. The problem was the next part when he asked my drug allergies. As I said codine probally six times, all I got was blank stares. The coteacher and him could not understand codine. Not a good thing when he is about to prescribe cough syrup! He typed in my prescriptions and sent me to the counter where the lady asked me for 2,500 won- equivelent to around 2.50 for us. I was amazed. I had been expecting a huge bill. The next step of my doctor's visit was walking next door to the pharmacy to pick up my pills. My pills were in what reminded me of lollipops all in a row in their plastic. Two pills in each connected plastic bag. I had no idea what the pills were. I also recieved what looked like free shampoo samples but it was my cough syrup. ( I later looked up what the cough syrup was on the internet because it had a name on it- It is a homeopathic remedy made of ivy tea leaves.) The pharmacy lady said 2,500 wons- again just 2.50. I just went to the doctor for 5 dollars, prescriptions and all! This is universal healthcare at its finest. I have read that the USA does not want universal coverage because Canada has such long waits for visits. If we modeled it after Korea, then there would not be any wait time! Just something to think about. After we left my co-teacher told me that her mother used to make her joop when she was sick, so she wanted to get me some. We went to a traditional Korean porriage(umm..not sure if that is spelled right) resteraunt to get joop. Joop is this rice based soup that turned out was actually really good. It is equivlent to our chicken noodle soup. So this was my Korean doctor visit- very different than America, but in a good way. I did miss my medicine in bottles with labels, but it seemed to do the trick on getting me better.

My first Korean Blog

So everybody has been telling me to start a blog since I have moved to Korea to teach. Here is my attempt at it. I live in Suwon, Korea's only walled city. I live in the GyeongiGi-do provence. I moved here with my husband who is in the American Army. I didn't want to be one of the army wives who just stay home (we don't have kids) so I found a job teaching here before I ever left the United States. I teach English to 3rd through 6th graders at Young Il elementary school. The kids and the teachers are great here. Everybody has been so kind.
Korean apartments are different than US apartments. I live over a chinese and italian resteraunt right across from Kung-Hee University. Suwon has 14 university's here. I am about 5 minutes away from the great bars here. I will come back to that though. My apartment is tiny- a studio apartment. There is a top floor, but is like a bunk bed. You can't walk up there because the ceiling is so low! The bathroom is completely different. There is not a tub or shower in the bathroom. The whole bathroom is the shower! There is a shower wand that you use and the water will not stay warm. I have about three minutes of hot water and then 8 of cold. It really sucks. I also never realized how much I appreciate a clothes dryer. I have a washer, but no dryer. I hang my clothes up to dry and they become so stiff! I watch tv shows on my computer- it wouldn't do me any good to have a tv considering that I don't understand Korean.
My husband, Corey, and I have discovered some great bars. My favorite is a fire bar where they light the shots on fire. They have a dart board that has been great entertainment. Also we have made friends with the bartender there-- He watches Sex in the City- LOL! I have so much more to tell but I will save it for next time!