The Random Mandatory Health Check

I should have failed my health check, point blank. Basically, it was me and my new coworker and we were pointed in the direction of each random check point by the director of our school.

First, was the chest x-ray. We were told to change into robes which of course couldn't be normal, easy robes. They looked harmless, but in actuality they had criss-cross ties that took all I had at 9 in the morning to figure out. Then, I was basically told to hug this wall looking thing and stand still. Easy enough.

After changing back into my clothes, I followed Julie to the next room where we were directed to stand on a platform and wait for a metal plate to bop us on the head. Then, it was the sound test...which after the non-English speaking lady sets a pair of headphones on my head, I nod when I hear the noise. It was only later that I was informed that I was supposed to raise the arm that corresponded to the ear the noise was coming from. Whatever. That's not common knowledge, despite what you say.

This room also consisted of the same lady measuring my chest (I didn't even ask why...) and her taking my blood pressure. Then, the eye exam. It was at this point that I realized I should probably have just gone home and came back another day. It's no surprise I'm pretty blind, but first, I held the little metal thing up to the wrong eye. Next, instead of numbers.... I started naming letters. Back home, the eye chart consists of letters. Not in Korea. The whole thing was numbers. Z and 2 look the same, right?

Now that I was utterly convinced I was going to fail, I was sent to take a pee test and give blood. Luckily, I grabbed the stall in the bahroom that actually had a toilet. I also got to walk into a room full of people holding a dixie cup of pee and my director reaches out to grab it from me to give to the lady. No, thank you.. I'll take it to her myself. Oh, and I almost passed out giving blood. Imagine how thankful I was to find out the last room consisted of talking to the doctor.

I wasn't very good at understanding the doctor. I'm not even entirely sure what I told him, since I just guessed what some of his questions were. No wonder I was called back 2 days later...

My liver enzymes were high. Whatever that means. I met my supervisor who walked me to the place I needed to go... arm in arm. I'll never get used to that Korean ritual. Girls locking arms to walk somewhere together. Awkward.

Basically, this time was even worse. My supervisor and the doctor talk the whole time in Korean except for one sentence from her to ask me if it hurts when I pee. No, but even if it did I would probably lie to you. Awkward moment number 2. Even more awkward is when the doctor asks me if my back hurts and when I answer no, he proceeds to get up out of his chair, come over to me, bend me over, and practically karate chop my back. Thank goodness it wasn't hurting. Sheesh.

Then, I was told I needed an ultrasound (which my supervisor kept calling something crazy... and scared me at first until I realized what she was actually talking about). I got dirty looks for having a belly button ring. Then, this is how the interaction went between me and the doctor:

Doctor: You take any (something I couldn't understand).

Me: Do I take any what?

Doctor: (mumble jumble)... h... e.. l... b.

Me: Do I take any h...e...l...b? Helb? Help?

Doctor: Yes. Do you take any help?

Me: Help? Do I take any help? Um. No...?

2 minutes pass by.

Me: Herb! Did you mean herb? H...e...r...b? No, I don't take anyof those either.

Doctor: H...e...r...b. Yes. Your liver looks abnormal.

Then she snarled a bit and sent me on my way. Like it's my fault Koreans like to mix up the letters "r" and "l." Then I was told to yet again give blood. Oh joy. Oh, and I was also told that my mom would be back in a minute if I just sat and waited. Because, obviously, that's who the Korean lady with me must be.

In the end... my health check came back fine. I guess I was just fighting off something the first day. Thank goodness. I like it here... but I don't even like doctors back home, let alone ones who can't understand me. Knock on wood I can last a year without catching any major illnesses... or breaking a bone... or anything that would require me to go through the torturous process of seeking medical help.

"Try a thing you haven’t done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time, to figure out whether you like it or not." —Virgil Garnett Thomson

It waited 70 years until I got here.

                                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

 Almost two weeks ago, it  started snowing here. Not only did it end up snowing a lot, but it was the "heaviest snow recorded in Seoul's modern history." It was awful. Not only do I dislike snow, but having to walk to the subway, then wait for the bus in it, was torture. I happened to be 45 minutes late to work (luckily I ran into two of my coworkers and the director of the school while waiting for the extremely late bus) due to how slow the traffic was and how crowded the subway became. Regardless of how much I hated that Monday, I was extremely amused by the people sweeping off the sidewalks with brooms and the mass usage of umbrellas that day. I decided to do as the Korean's do and use my umbrella as well. I also fell in the middle of the road while running to catch a green light, which was probably karma seeing as I once said I would never run for a green light. I guess that's what I get. I guess that's also what I get for running on ice.

Today it snowed a little, but luckily it stopped before I left for lunch this afternoon.

"Nature has no mercy at all. Nature says, 'I'm going to snow. If you have on a bikini and no snowshoes, that's tough. I am going to snow anyway.'” --Maya Angelou

Things change. People change. Shit happens. Make Lemonade.... or something like that.

Even people with an amazing path in front of them fall flat on their faces sometimes.  Put yourself out there and get nothing in return. The heart can be my least favorite organ.

How to get over it? Book a trip to Taiwan for later this month and apply for a visa to go to China in May.

It may not help completely, but it sounds like a pretty damn good start. I can't wait.
 
 
 

"You're going to come across people in your life who will say all the right words at all the right times. But in the end, it's always their actions you should judge them by. It's actions, not words, that matter."

Fukuoka, Japan

I had to make a visa run to Japan, and despite having a couple obstacles along the way, I ended up having a really good time. My coworker, Julie, and I left on December 28th at 5:45 a.m. to head to the Incheon airport for an 8 a.m. flight. We caught the bus and made it exactly 2 hours before our flight was supposed to take off. Luckily, the Incheon airport is really fast, so we got checked in and through security with enough time to grab a McDonald's breakfast.

At this point, I still didn't have my visa number required to apply for my visa since my superviser forgot to give it to me the prior week. I kept checking my e-mail on my iPod Touch to see if I had gotten any word from my her, but nothing. We boarded the plane, and I kept my fingers crossed that I would have an e-mail by the time we landed. I knew my phone wasn't going to work in Japan.

The Korean Consulate

Well... basically, here's the things that ended up going wrong for us:
1. I still didn't get my visa number by the time we arrived at the Korean Consulate.
2. My iPod Touch didn't work in the consulate to check and see if she had gotten it to me.
3. I didn't know how to make a phone call from the stupid pay phone.
4. We found out that the consulate was going to be closed the following day (the 29th) through January 4th. Which means the trip was a big waste of time because we wouldn't be able to pick up our visas the following day as planned.
5. I still didn't have my visa number by the time we convinced the lady to do them in one day for us.

Eventually, the super nice lady agreed to have them done before the consulate closed that day and looked up my visa number for me. In the end, everything worked out and we had all day Tuesday to explore Japan until our flight left at 8:50 p.m.

My favorite things about Japan:
1. The vending machines on every corner, which included things like Coke, cigarettes, and beer.
2. How polite and calm everyone is compared to here. Not once did I see anyone run to catch the subway or crosswalk.
3. The ladies behind the counter at Family Mart who laughed and handed me a fork with my cup of Ramen noodles.
4. The toilets in the airport that made a waterfall noise when you started peeing. Awesome idea.
5. Ease of getting around and seeing everything possble in one day (shrine, temples, mall, dome, etc. etc.) And the fact that we got to the airport, checked in, then decided we wanted to go to McDonalds which was like 8 subway stops away... and still made it back to the airport with 45 minutes left to spare. It's so easy getting from place to place.

6. The awesome shrimp tempura lunch we ate, delicious!

7. 100 Yen stores.

8. Clothing with completely random English phrases written on it.

9. Japanese sticker booths, and trying to figure out how to work them with no English in sight.
10. The mountains, ocean, cool houses, trees and beauty of the city.

Yes, I want to go back. There's actually a 311 concert in April which I think would be tons of fun, so if I can pull off the weekend trip I may do that. Why not?

"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world."

Korean War National Museum

It was cold outside, and I wasn't feeling particularly well, but it was a nice little trip to the War Memorial and Museum. Off the Samgajki station only a few minute walk leads to this large museum that costs only 3,000 won. Not only is there a lot to see inside, but outside there are statues, tanks, and airplanes to play around in and look at. Too bad I was freezing, otherwise I would have loved to go explore the airplanes. We didn't make it that far.

Supposedly, you can rent headphones and listen to information about every display in the museum, but we decided to just look around and read whatever signs were translated into English (which luckily, most were). It wasn't overly exciting, but it was cool nonetheless.

We went about about an hour before the museum closed, so we didn’t get to spend too much time there. Considering I didn’t feel too good, one hour was enough for me.

My New Favorite Food: Thai

My Thai in Itaewon was delicious. The chicken phat tai... a glass of white wine, so good. I will definitely be going back.