Winter Travels: A Diary

Sat. Jan 17th

7:00am

Awake, awake, awake.  Fiddling on my phone keeps me in bed an extra 10 minutes. I should consider teaching in a rural island community--the break from technology and the Internet would do me good. As much as it can be a blessing, I feel it sometimes stops me from seeing what's right in front of me. But for now, it's a useful tool for a last-minute checklist. 

Always running late. The trash didn't get taken out, but the apartment is clean and I seem to have everything I need for my trip. In the end I opted to bring my computer, which hopefully will be worth the weight and worry if I can keep busy and edit photos and videos.  I meant to leave 10 minutes ago, and while the bus station is close by car, I don't need a stressful repeat of my journey to Seoul two weeks ago. If there's one lesson I've learned in traveling, it's that one mistake in connecting transportation is like a butterfly flapping its wings: you never know what disastrous repercussions can come from something so seemingly small. 

7:50am

Boseong may be a small town, but there are always people bustling about.  The 직통 (direct bus) to Gwangju is filled with students, farmers, and a few of my fellow foreign teachers. Seats aren't assigned, and I'm lucky I managed to get one--several people end up standing in the aisle. I doze a bit, but am awoken by a very pungent, very Korean smell... Someone's decided kimchi is an appropriate breakfast food...

Korean Hospitals, Doctors, and Health Care

I'm six months in to my stay here, and it was bound to happen at some point.  Some good ol' Korean nasties have settled in my system and blessed me with a pretty brutal cough.  I'll spare you the details, but I'm typically a very healthy person and get over illnesses quickly.  So, once I hit the one-week point without seeing much progress, I decided it was time to see a doctor.

Korea has a fantastic health care system that even covers us native teachers during our contracts.  I think the cost and efficiency of this system comes as the biggest shock to Americans, who have exorbitant costs and wait times associated with hospital and doctors visits.  Here, when you mention that you're unwell, the first suggestion a Korean will make is that you go to the hospital.

The hospital?!  For a general visit or check up?!  It sounds strange to those of us from Western countries, who associate hospitals with serious medical issues, long-term stays, or emergencies.  But here in Korea, the hospital is the first stop when assessing your health problems.  Only after you've been checked out would you possibly receive a further recommendation to see a doctor, who is a specialist in a particular field.