Hey!
I thought I had evaded catching a cold in Korea and was pretty pleased with myself, but I guess I jumped the gun. I've been running non-stop the past few weeks (literally, as at drumming practice we literally run in circles, and figuratively) and I guess it finally caught up to me. I had a scratch throat on and off the past week or so, but it would go away during the day, so I figured it was the air pollution (which I still think was a big contributing factor), but today, I woke up and had no voice. awesome.
So, I didn't go to class, and went to this semi-sketchy clinic instead. I really don't feel very sick except my throat feels swollen, not even sore really, and I am coughing a bit. Boo. What poor timing. I have finals and my drumming performance next week. I felt like I was getting sick yesterday, so I skipped drumming rehearsal last night and obviously, am not going today either. Luckily, tomorrow is a national holiday, Children's Day. So, I don't have school, although I do have practice from 2-6 and I really should go... Ah! Hopefully, my voice will have come back a bit by then.
So, I went to this local clinic, run by a Yonsei Univ. graduate. It was kind of old and run down looking but that's where my host mom took me. Amazingly, my host mom told the nurse that I was from America and asked if she could put me under her insurance and they let her! crazy! So, after being seen by the doctor, my final cost for the doctors visit was a grand total of W3,600, or roughly 3 USD. I think that is the cheapest doctors visit of my entire life. Then I went across the street to the pharmacy to get my perscription filled and it ended up being under $4 as well! wow. way to go Korean health care system.
I just think that going to the doctor here is a bit odd because you never know what they're doing. The doctor totally spoke English, so it wasn't a communication issue. But he didn't ask if I had any allergies to drugs, or ask me if I was already taking any drugs or had any pre-existing medical conditions or anything like that. And then, at the pharmacy, I just received a bunch of packets of unlabeled mystery pills. weird. whatever, as long as I get better, I don't really care.
Other than getting sick, I've just been busy with drumming practice. The weather has been so weird, which is also why I think I got sick. It was really cold the first part of last week, and we had practice from 6:30-9:30 outside. Then, randomly the weather decided to get really humid. Gross. There was no spring this year. It jumped from winter to summer. weird.
I bought 5 bootleg movies on the way home yesterday. Good thing I did, since it gave me something to do today. I bought Avatar, Up in the Air, It's Complicated, The Frog Princes, and the Blind Side, all for $10. Nice!
Last night, my host sister decided to decorate her hand and my hand with stickers. Cute! So, in Korea, kids get gifts on Children's Day. So, I got my host sister a bubble blower gun thing and my host brother a top game. I remember when I was little and I used to be jealous that Korea had Children's Day, my mom used to tell me that in America, "everyday is Children's Day." Yeah, that may be true, but I certainly didn't get presents everyday! haha.
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