Health Check and Swine Flu

All English teachers when they arrive in Korea are forced to partake in a completely superficial health check. Originally we thought it would include chest x-rays for TB or cancer to make sure you weren’t there for health treatment but when I discovered what was being tested I was annoyed. The check included a drug test, HIV test, weight check, height check, eye test and colorblindness test just to make sure you are fit to teach, because you don’t want your kids learning the color orange if it is green. They also usually do a dental check but we got out of that. All of this cost over 30won (30$) and would have been more if the dental check was included. Although this is not a big amount it was out of pocket and I was unaware I would have to pay for these costs or even that I would have to undergo the check, so on Monday I was a bit taken aback when they told me to be ready for my check on Thursday morning.

Immediately I became slightly nervous and annoyed that it was so early in the morning and it was on the morning after a preplanned night out I was invited to. In addition I was told that normally health checks don’t occur until you have been in the country for more than a month, so ours was early. I was told that the health check was pretty much a joke and when the Korean government first instated these health checks on foreigners they had so many people failing the drug test that they were forced to change when they had to be completed by, go figure.

There were five of us who entered the downtown hospital at 9am Thursday morning. I already don’t like needles so as I arrived after a night of socializing and drinking I was a bit worried about the needles and what my tests might reveal. I was still slightly intoxicated from the night before and was worried about alcohol or sugar levels in my blood, after all they did tell us to not consume anything after 11pm and I got home at 3am, woops. When I woke up that morning I began to drink liters and liters of water to try and “fix” my BAL (blood alcohol level), and by the time I reached the hospital I started to feel slightly ill. I drank so much that I thought I would start peeing every two minutes but as it turned out I must have been seriously dehydrated and I am just happy I had drank enough to give them the small sample they required.

The Korean hospital is slightly bizarre and was a bit of a culture shock. There is no privacy and most things are done right in the open. There were different buildings and we had to go from building to building to get all the different checks done. There was an outside waiting area which was covered for rain. People were waiting in this area and patients were also sitting and enjoying the sun IV’s and all. This area is in the middle of the city and patients could come and go as they please. First we went inside, filled out the necessary paper work and went and got our numbers. It was like a meet department. You got a number and bar code assigned to you then when your number is called you go up to the counter. Here sat four women behind a long desk like counter similar to a bank. They had a number sign on each desk and when your number came up you went forward and sat down. The woman pulled out new gloves and needles and began to take your blood. The process was like a Ford assembly line. It was in front of everyone and after they draw your blood they place your barcode on the vial then put it on the conveyer belt to head to the lab. When it was my turn I was a bit squeamish and the girls thought it was kind of funny and kept talking to me in Korean. Overall it was pretty quick and painless, and after I was handed a cup with my barcode on it. I got up and could fill it whenever I was ready in the public toilets, completely unsupervised, I guess that is so some foreigners can pass the drug test.

This was my first experience with a squat toilet which was interesting. I halfway filled my cup very proud of my accomplishment. After I dropped my cup off on the designated stand in the middle of the waiting room where anyone could taint it or take it, I was a bit concerned and it makes you wonder. After this process we left the building to go to another area where they weighed us, measure us, and tested our eyes. I discovered I was slightly taller than I thought and my eyesight is better than perfect, not so bad. I even passed my colorblind test! What a good little patient I was. After the whole ordeal they told us we needed another blood test because they already threw out our samples and didn’t get a cholesterol test, as if! We all refused to do more testing and were allowed to leave. Everyone survived the experience, and successfully passed the tests though some were looking more green than others. I just hope that I never get sick in Korea because I never want to go back to the hospital!

As an aside, I have noticed since I have been here that Korea is the type of country that is all or nothing. The people are workaholics always pushing their kids to do more, master more and study more. They expect very little of their kids in the way of household chores but want them to study till midnight and get up at 6am, master the piano, be a star baseball player and math genius. On the other extreme they are a society that does not wash their hands all that much, never has paper towels and sometimes no soap in the bathroom but as soon as someone gets sick they freak out, put antibacterial spray everywhere, wear face masks, demand a health check on foreigners and at the slightest chance of someone being sick with swine flu, they close the schools. Swine flu here is associated closely with foreigners and they already quarantined over 50 newly arrived teachers one week after I arrived because they assume we are bringing the virus with us. In addition the school next door to me has had 5 suspected cases of swine flu and has had a mandatory closing for a week. Because of this scare our school closed Friday as well. It seems that Korea is afraid of what foreigners will bring back but they are not as worried about the daily preventative practices of their own population.

My First Morning

As I awoke to the morning sun streaming through my bedroom window at 5:30am I noticed my sparsely furnished apartment and unfamiliar surroundings. Already I could hear feet beating away on the gravel playground outside my window and the sound of a man counting at a roar in Korean. As I laid awake I wondered if this was going to be a daily thing or if I would eventually get a peaceful night’s sleep. I tossed and turned a couple more times hoping that I would doze off again, but my frustration grew as my confused body fought against sleep and I finally made myself get up at six and give up all hope of rekindling my previous state of euphoric dreaming.

As reality set in I rose from my previous joyful slumber and started to unpack. Those five and a half hours of sleep after a never ending day just didn’t cut it but somehow I was wide awake. I began to slowly arrange and rearrange my living room and bedroom and despite my small bright orange couch in my large living room, my lack of TV on my TV stand and my small table and chairs set it somehow started to feel a bit more mine. The big windows and bright sunlight gave my apartment a sense of calm and cheerfulness and my girly pink, purple and blue comforter put a smile on my face. I was finally home for the next year and feeling content, in all ways but one. Where was my morning coffee?

As my craving set in I quickly dressed and ran out of the house to find the nearest coffee shop. I walked towards town and had a permagrin on my face. I was feeling happy to be finally here. I wondered towards the main street and took in all the surrounding area. I noticed the school playground my apartment overlooks on one side and how there were small plots of land dedicated farming all around. Here they let no space go unused. I could see corn, peppers, squash, tomatoes and all sorts of vegetables and on one of the plots was an old man tilling the ground.

As I neared the main street I saw the banners that advertised for the school I was to work at and was pleasantly surprised by the status it seemed to give off. Tomorrow would be my first day of training at the new school and I was already excited. As I neared the corner I stumbled upon Kenya coffee. Perfect, it was exactly what I was looking for, and a couple minutes later I was taking a sip of my first Korean Kenyan coffee. I was surprised and impressed that it was so delicious and I felt filled with a sense of accomplishment as I only half made a fool of myself trying to order. I relaxed and enjoyed my cup of coffee at the shop before I had to head back to shower and meet my bosses and two other new English teachers for lunch.

After nearly 48 hours without a shower I was desperate for a nice refreshing shower, I just didn’t realize how refreshing. During my tutorial the night before of how to turn on the hot water I was half asleep and couldn’t remember so I proceeded to take a cold shower. I peeked into my bathroom and remembered the explanation the night before of Korean bathrooms. They are fully tiled with a drain and a high lip for a threshold. There is no shower or tub or even shower curtain, only a shower head, which hangs awkwardly on the wall over the sink and is attached to the sink faucet with a hose. I was warned to be careful because it sprays everywhere and turned on the tap. The cold shower invigorated my body and helped me feel less jet lagged. I finished and dressed and was ready for my first proper Korean meal.

We arrived at a Korean BBQ, removed our shoes and followed the women into our own private BBQ room. We sat at a proper table which had a grill that sat flush with the table top and a bell on the wall which called the waitress. Korean dinning is very different and very intriguing. All restaurants give you scissors, metal chopsticks which are very challenging and a long metal spoon. They place little bowls of kimchi, and other pickled vegetables, sea urchins and different sauces around the table. All of the items on the table are communal except for your soup and you are expected to eat from any dish you like which is not rude and is expected. For the BBQ we had thinly sliced beef and a tinfoil of garlic that was placed directly on the grill. One person cooked the beef flipping it with tongs then cutting it with scissors into bite sizes. As the beef is finished you take a leaf wrap, place your beef inside, add sauce or veggies and eat in one bit. Everything was delicious and the chili paste went fast.

In Korea you never finish your meal unless you would like more, so they refilled our sides and sauces until we were all perfectly stuffed and then cleared the leftovers. We sat and talked as we all digested and agreed that we would all go into town to walk around to see my first time, downtown Gwangju….

Touch Down!

Less than 24 hours ago I was just arriving at the airport in Seoul S. Korea after flying 14 hours from NYC aboard Korean air where the flight attendants were beautiful and impeccably dressed women with decent English, striking men and delicious food. My first taste of Korean food was on this flight and what they call bibimbap. They told me it was rice and vegtables but it was so much more. It is delivered with veggies in a bowl and steamed rice and a set of directions. You take the steamed rice, add it to the veggies then add a container of chili paste, my favorite, and sesame oil. You mix it all together and the spicy dish is wonderful. This came served with a side of seaweed soup, not bad for my first meal.

By the time I had arrived at Incheaon airport I had been up for over 24 hours and still had a 4 hour bus ride ahead of me. I left the plane and was immediately stopped by quarantine. Everyone had to pass through a line of medics taking some sort of skin reading. While on the flight I had noticed on average that the Koreans wear a lot more surgical face masks then the average and realized after getting an information card that the Koreans were afraid of Swine flu. They handed out anti-bacterial wipes for everyone and seemed slightly obsessed with national health and the swine flu scare.

Once through immigration I made my way outside to find my bus to Gwangju. I was happily surprised to arrived at the bus and see that they all were like first class. As a confused foreigner trying to read my ticket a fellow bus goer and Korean jumped to my rescue. He showed me my seat and even used his cell phone to call ahead to let my ride know I was on my way.

My Korean bus guide sat next to me during the ride and with his bad English told me his English name was James Chon, like James Bond. He did a nice little gun demonstration so I knew what he was referring to and started asking me lots of questions. He told me all about the baseball we were watching and gave me chocolate and gum. I know its sounds strange, but he was just being friendly, and not looking for a western bride. He was a business professor at one of the University's, and was 49 years old. Telling your age over here is quite normal as your age shows your status and the respect you deserve. After talking the first hour my comfy chair and the baseball game put me right to sleep and I awoke to the Gwangju bus terminal.

I was picked up and brought to my apartment at 11pm where I passed out promptly and awoke in the early morning hour to my first day in Korea...

New Beginings

I am sitting in Glasgow at my boyfriend Chris's place alone and contemplating the life changing decision I have just made to move to South Korea to live and teach for a year. At the moment this undertaking is both exciting and overwhelming, which is making my chest a bit contracted and my stomach a bit loopy.

Three months ago I returned from a six and a half month solo backpacking trip around South America. It was this trip and South America that taught me to follow my dreams and not to let fear prevent me from going anywhere or accomplishing anything. I gained my independence and sense of self during this journey which allowed me to experience the world, make my own decisions and rely on only myself, and now here I am only 3 months later preparing myself for another hurdle.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous and sick with the thought of missing my family who I seldom see, and the possibility of another Christmas away from home. Despite my free spirit and roaming lifestyle I am very much someone that relies on the support of my family and friends to encourage me to take huge leaps and bounds in my life. I love them and the support they give me and I would not be able to do many of these things without them.

I have been told that my lifestyle is irresponsible, but for me it is a way to explore the world, visit new cultures and discover the new and exciting things the world has to offer around every bend. I am 26 and financially I owe thousands to the government for my education, which I do contribute to monthly, and career wise I have found an inability to accept a 9-5 monotonous day job with two weeks vacation a year. I don't have a pension plan, a car, a house or any of those other things normal people have and strive for yet I feel like I am starting to become more complete.

The more places I visit, cultures I see and people I meet the more I feel fulfilled. I know my heart and my head have yet to unite on the same page because my heart tells me to go to Korea and see the world and my head tells me that I should be logical and precise by wanting a stable job, a house, a car, a pension plan, to be married and have kids, but my heart also knows that this will come in good time and there is no need to rush.

I am starting to feel the anxiety is passing for the moment and the excitement is taking over, so here goes my next adventure...