Korean Hospital Experience

Unfortunately, I had an epiphany, not really in a good way. Soju is not my friend anymore and neither is any sort of alcohol. See this is what happens, I enjoy too much, and then I fall and hurt the same knee. I mean in real life I am a klutz, but when you add the mind altering liquid to the mix, it is just a bad combination.

So you are probably wondering, how did I end up in the hospital or why is this blog entitled Korean hospital experience? Well the liquid courage got the best of me. I was on a trip to Seoul, with Nickole and my younger sister visiting. We had a blast and the

n I thought it would be a great idea to jump off the stage at a club that we were visiting. Not a good idea, since this the knee that I continue to injure. So, after falling, our trip ended real fast.

We ventured home, and I went to the ER alone, despite my fear of hospitals. I can't speak Korean...so I continued to cry and pointed to my knee. I think they got the picture. They took X-Rays, and messed around wi

th my knee...moving it in all sorts of ways that it did not want to move. After a few shots in my bum, they wrapped up my leg and told me to come back on Monday and see the orthopedic surgeon...my mouth immediately dropped.

So on Monday, I trekked over to see the doctor, he inspected the X-rays and my knee and suggested an MRI, which I had never experienced before. An MRI supposedly will detect, any cartilage or tendon damage. Once inside, I felt like I had entered a time portal. They had wrapped up my knee an

d put head phones on me. I saw lasers and heard loud noises....I am not gonna lie, I was pretty freaking scared. Once completed, my doctor told me to come back tomorrow to get the results. I was hoping for the best...but it didn't look good.

I came back the next day, and I could tell by the doctor's facial expression that the result was not great. I needed surgery. Apparently, it was a long over do surgery and that in time it was only going to get worse. The cartilage that was connecting my knee joints was disintegrating and losing blood flow and the tendons surrounding my knee were torn. I begged and pleaded and hoped that there was another way around surgery, but unfortunately, it was only going to get worse over time. So, the surgery day was set for Saturday...and I was not looking forward to it.

Thank goodness my sister was in town and has been in town, to help me recover. The big day came and I was put in my gown. I wanted to be asleep for the surgery, but it looked like it wasn't going to happen. The

numbed me from the waist down and gave me something to calm me down, because I was a crying mess. After about an hour or so of hearing my knee being pulled apart and cut open. I was finished, luckily the doctor said it wasn's as bad as he thought, however, I still needed to stay in the hospital until Thursday. Luckily, there is a break from school...however, I did not want to spend it in the hospital. However, sleep sounded good and laying in bed with nothing to do...well it did at the time.

I get brought to my room...thinking I am going to be by myself....I get wheeled into a room filled with 5 other ladies...all staring at me and wondering what the hell I am doing here...so of course they ask my Ko

rean friend later that night. I am constantly stared at and feel crippled, I can't move my knee...I need help going to the bathroom and taking a shower...I have never felt so useless. So the first day, wasn't so bad...I was mostly out of it and when I came to, my wonderful friend and sister were here. However, the next day proved to be something entirely different.

First, one is waken

up in the middle of the night and given shots, having their IV's changed and for me, having my blood bag changed. Then the women in the room wake up at the crack of down and have been waking me up for crappy breakfast at 8 in the morning (like kimchi and rice), lunch at noon and dinner at 5:30pm. In between these times, I am constantly given shots and pills. All I can say is that I am never going to take my knee for granted again! I want to go home!

I got some Seoul, but it's not the place for me

I recently visited Seoul...and I realized, that while living in Korea, that it has been and is the spot for foreigners to go. If you want the real culture shock of Korea...you need to head to my neck of the woods...good ol' Changwon. It made me realize, that I love traditional Korea.

Seoul is the place you go, if you are living here, where you either: want to party, want some good food from back home (in my case Taco Bell), want to see and talk to people that speak your language and ride a really cool subway. The system there is awesome...and it really is a nice place to escape to, but not live, if teaching in Korea...if you want a REAL Korean experience. It is basically the New York of Korea...a melting pot of all cultures.

Don't get me wrong, there are some beautiful places there...but it's a little to familiar and a little to close to the North Korean border for my taste.

7 ways to a better Chanel!

No matter where I go, drama seems to reach me, find me, and rip apart my life here in Korea. I have had to cut ties with some one I love dearly, help those that are going through some difficult times, and because of it all...I find myself a sleepless mess. I needed to break away from it all, hopefully for the better. I did manage to repair a very important friendship which has helped a lot. I question myself constantly...why am I letting such bring me down? I sometimes hate that I am a mess and that I let certain things and people bring me down. So, I am starting a new lease on life...yes, I will admit...I bought a few self help books and started seeing a psychologist that speaks English. I mean I am in Korea for goodness sakes.

Anyways, over the past few months the weather has been amazing. Korea really is beautiful. The perfect getaway from my troubles has been the beach in Busan....a bottle of soju, some good music and a great book and I am set. I am able to relax in the beautiful sunshine and set my mind at ease.

I also have great friends....back home and here that have helped so much. I met a new amazing significant other...that has been there for me through all of the bs back home. My rock, when I needed it most. She also happens to live in the coolest city in Korea...which is Seoul. If you are not familiar with my feelings on Seoul...please refer back to earlier posts.

This month and from this point forward...life is and will be amazing! Vampire Weekend is coming at the end of the month, for those familiar with Washington and the Columbia Gorge...they will be at Jisan Rock Festival...the Gorge of Korea. See picture...an epic show indeed. Happiness is headed my way!

Hadong Nightmare....

The weather has been so beautiful and being the adventurous person that I am, Nickole and I decided to meet up with some friends Camping in Hadong, for the fifth annual Green Tea Festival. I was totally game for taking in some green tea flavored products. It seemed like a good idea...but boy, I was wrong.

The day started at 9:00am on Saturday...to honestly say, it was the earliest I had ever been up, since being in Korea. We took the train from Changwon...which made me remember how much I really love the train. I love the man who bows at the front of each car and the seats and their ability to move. Once we arrived, we met up with our friends and took the next bus to Hadong. It was beautiful; it was sunny and everything we had expected. We booked a room in the nearest motel and headed towards the festival.

The festival was everything that one could expect, green tea all around me. Nickole and I walked all around and were pretty satisfied with what we found. She got painted napkins for her family and I attempted to enjoy the green tea soju and wrote a letter home. After we got our fill, we met up with our friends that were camping.

After heading to the campsite, we enjoyed a few drinks by the campfire and a nice swim in the river. After freezing our butts off, we thought it was time to head back to our room. We started to hike back, but we realized, finally, that we were gonna need a cab. Once we were half way to the road, we had realized that we had lost our shoes...no good...especially while walking through the jungle, well at least that is what is seemed like. We continued to trek onwards anyway, finally we got to the road and into a cab...the downer, is that I had lost my wallet. We had one site in mine and that was heading to our room and then home.

After spending the night and leaving our room, we asked around and looked for the lost goods, but there was no luck. Until, arriving back in Changwon...I had a great friend who was willing to help me recover the damages. So, in the long run...a great trip, that had it's downers, but will never be forgotten.

Taking it easy in Tongyeong

Everyone needs to get away sometimes...even if it's just to a city an hour from here and only for a day. Adventure is necessary...that is why I came to this country...well besides teaching, of course.

Lately, as it may seem, my weekends have been shot. The weekends usually consist of me drinking....waaaaaaay to much both Friday and Saturday nights, that I do nothing all day, except sleep. It's sad but true...I wanted more than that...so last weekend my genius best friend, woke me up and said we were going on an adventure.

You are probably thinking, "why Tongyeong?" My dear friend Nickole, who I traveled with, had an amazing Korean travel guide and we decided that is was close enough, but just far enough to call it a vacation destination. The description made it seemed wonderful...water, fish, boats, islands...it was going to be a great weekend.

After an hour and a half bus trip...we arrived. Much different than we expected...no water, no boats, no fish...yet. We felt like aliens...we can't speak Korean and we had no idea where the fuck we were. Luckily...we found a map, which didn't help, because in order for a map to work, you need to know where you are. So, after enough courage, we got into a taxi, and pointed on the map where we wanted to go. He laughed, of course...but took us to our destination...first stop the cable cars in the sky.


We arrived, and were immediately turned away...from what it seemed they were sold out for the day. However, Nickole and I were soldiers...we came this far and were not giving up. We were gonna play the "we are stupid foreigners who have no idea where we are" card. Which works sometimes...we continued trucking on...and sure enough a man came up to us and sold us some tickets...and we got to cut to the front of the line...fantastic. The one thing I hate and I don't think I will ever be used to is getting "eye fucked" by every Korean person. We had to stand in line to get on our car...and everyone literally undressed me with their eyes...I know I am not super skinny...but what the hell? It gets better....every Korean that had a kid wanted to impress everyone else and forced their child to say hello to us. Seriously ladies....everyone knows how to say hello...your children are not uber geniuses. Anyways...the cable car was great, I attempted to get over my fear of heights...but was still a nervous wreck. Unfortunately, the family riding with us thought Nickole and I were a circus side show attraction and wanted to take pictures with us...uuuggghh...seriously Korea, I am American...not a freak or a celebrity.

After our experience with that, we were lost once again. However, feeling adventurous we started walking hoping we would find something exciting. Instead, we found a man that thought he was the coolest thing ever, because he can flip his eye lids inside out...and continued to do so, point and make weird noises...it was at this point Nickole and I knew we were no longer in Changwon anymore. Laughing hysterically, we questioned why were here again. We defiantly were in the ghetto town of Korea. We saw no cabs...but managed to get on and feel gutsy enough to ride the bus. Then, we found water!

We got off the bus in a central part of town...and alas we found the fish market...I loved it, but not the smell. Fish were everywhere...and were alive. I was so worried that one of the workers were gonna knock over one of there big bins with fish and live fish were going to be everywhere. Luckily no such thing occurred. Once our exploring there was done....we found a hotel and were off to look for some food. A much harder task then we thought.

Until we found a little piece of heaven. We must have walked around for what seemed like hours. There was arguing and frustration in the air...and I didn't like it. Finally, we found it. La Vela...a taste of Italy that is very much missed here in Korea. It was simply wonderful. I ate real Parmesan cheese...which may sound funny...but they don't really have that sort of stuff here...so it was a delicacy. A perfect dinner with a perfect friend. Once dinner was finished...we were determined to find friends...we are good at that...and it has become a habit. No matter where we are, we look for new Korean friends to hang out with and look for a foreign bar that we had read about.

Which we did...however, we almost got kidnapped and dragged to Jinju with these older drunk Korean men. Damn me for asking for directions....it led to me getting grabbed and having to run, with Nickole to make a get away. I do wish I remembered our new friends names or remembered to take pictures of this portion of the evening...but I don't and didn't. We enjoyed their company over some soju, beer and snacks. They were very sweet, but shy. The helped us to find "condition," a drink that is supposed to cure hangovers...while tasting like shit. After saying goodbyes to our friends, we managed to get home in one piece. Tomorrow was going to be when the fun began...mass sight seeing with little time to do it.

We woke up...way later than we wanted...the front desk called us and was kicking us out of the hotel...check out was 12 and it was now 1. The sight seeing for the day was reduced a lot. So out of all of the things...taking a boat excursion to the islands around the city seemed like the best option. It was a confusing and insanely packed...but we managed to find a boat. The ride was beautiful...it made me miss Seattle...the water and the smells.

We got to one of the islands, walked around...saw the different temples and then saw a place where you could put on traditional war clothes...and get your picture taken...I had to do it. everyone was already staring at Nickole and I for being foreign...so now I was giving them an excuse to look more. I knew I was probably one of the first foreigners to go to this island and be so stupid. The workers ate it up. I rocked it.

After we had our fill of the islands, it was time to take the ferry back. We were lucky enough to make friends with an old dancing man, who was kind enough to get our pretty toasty on soju. Let me just tell you drinking soju on an empty stomach on a boat is not the best idea. I needed food...so Nickole and I ended our trip, getting a pizza and some beer, sitting on the port having a picnic...it was a trip that won't soon be forgotten.

Korean Massage...not a happy ending.

I can't lay on my back, it feels I have had the shit beaten out of me...you are probably wondering why I am feeling this way...and the culprit is the Korean massage I subjected myself to earlier today. I normally love going to the Jimjibang (the public bath house) , like I mentioned previously, but today I left very unhappy. Let's recap...shall we?


After visiting the saunas, pools, getting my body scrubbed...I decided to be adventurous and end my nice visit with a relaxing massage. However, in this massage there was not one minute of pleasure. First, the two ladies that worked there...laughed at me because I am a foreigner who does not know how to order a freaking massage. Next, I stripped and they laughed some more. There were two ladies that were going to massage me...normally that is a plus...but not in this case; it was double trouble. Next they put this smelly oil on my back and went to town. They applied the most shocking and painful amount of pressure for two little Korean women. I tried to tell them to stop or apply less pressure, on numerous occasions...but they did not listen and continued to laugh maliciously. I was on the verge of tears. They popped my fingers, sat on me, walked on me, jumped on me, whipped me with a towel, punched and slapped my back and stretched way to much. Maybe I had a lot of tension? This however...did not cure it whatsoever.

The most interesting thing, which ended up hurting the most, was this suction device contraption. She used what we call in Korea, "Bu Huang" which is basically cupping. In European history, leeches were placed on the skin and a cup was fitted on top of the leeches, creating suction. The leeches would then do what leeches do and suck out what was thought to be bad blood. In doing so, there are now bruises all over my back. In Korean culture, Bu Huang is used in traditional Korean medicine.

To tell me I was done, they basically slapped me until I got off of the massage table...a terrific way to tell someone goodbye. "See you next time," they said as I was walking out...that would be a negative. I definitely learned my lesson and will pass the advice forward. Today's lesson...if one comes to Korea, never get a massage...unless you would like to feel like you got your ass kicked, and look like it as well.

P.S. The pictures included are not of me, obviously...but are what the bruises look like, from the cupping...except mine are just everywhere...and not neat circles...I just have one giant bruise that covers my entire back...no joke. The other picture is just one of the lovely stretches I was forced to do.

I've Got Friends in Low Places

I am getting really bad at this...there is not enough time during my insane week to keep up, and for that I'm sorry. I did not realize that I would be living at my school. Don't get me wrong, I love my children...they are my world...but the days are long and painful. The new semester started March 2nd. On that day, my world was turned upside down. I now have my own Pre-K class in the morning and starting at 3 I have and teach a bunch of elementary school children. The morning is consistent and the same. However, in the afternoon I teach a bunch of different classes and subjects, which are different everyday. It's insanely confusing and I know it is going to take a long time to get used to...luckily I have 3 other amazing foreign teachers that have been helping me along the way.

Thank goodness for the weekend though...they have been much better these days. I have made some wonderful friends that have truly made a positive impact on my life. First there is Nickole, my co-teacher who has become by new best friend and sister. We have gone through so much together. Our job is stressful and the days are long and tedious, but I know that I can count on her and that we can relate to one another...and understand how the other person feels. Then, there is Doug and Steph, my token married couple. I have become their roommate on the weekends... I call us either the three musketeers or I am happy to be know as their third wheel. They have shown me so much of the Korean culture. They are lucky and have the chance to work with adults, so I have been tagging along to dinners and meetings with them. I am so thankful that all of my friends can read and speak Korean...it really comes in handy....I will get to it one of these days.

The past few weekends have been amazing. I managed to go on my first road trip to Busan, with Doug and Steph. Busan is the closest major city, it's about an hour away, but totally worth the drive. We found Costco...and I almost cried...they had everything one could ask for...even ranch dressing! Then we hit up Haeundae Beach...it was magical. I flew a kite, which I have not done since I was maybe 6 or 7? It was beautiful and definitely somewhere I will go more often. Besides our trip, my weekends have been pretty mellow...Friday night rituals begin at Roddeo Bar with Steph's toast masters group...it gives Koreans and other non-native English speakers a chance to practice their English...it is a lot of fun and it has given me a chance to meet some really interesting people. This past Saturday, Doug and Steph through a get together with a lot of their students...I am pretty sure my favorite part of the weekend, was watching Koreans take soju jello shots and smoke tobacco out of a hookah...it was classic. For recovery on the weekends, I have previously stated that I love Jimjibang...the spa...seriously it has been my life saver. A nice detox, to end my week. Which starts tomorrow, oh joy! Friday, please come soon!