Health care in South Korea

September is turning out to be tough month so far. But I think the worse is over and it will soon be October!

It all started on the 8th. I was fine all weekend, but on Sunday night I started to feel sick. Around midnight I was sick on the hour until 6 am. It was awful. I couldn't even drink water. The next day I slept all day and tried to eat plain bread. The worse bit was the Tuesday. I couldn't stand up I was in so much pain around my middle. I needed to go to the hospital. I couldn't travel to the international clinic, because I was in too much pain. The new native English teacher speaks Korean, but she didn't have a phone yet. I ended up waiting in the hall for her (we live the the same building). At this point I couldn't stand up straight because of the pain. Finally, I saw her and got permission off the school for her to take me to the hospital.

There is a hospital 2 minutes from my apartment, but the doctors were not in yet. We had to wait 40 minutes. When we saw the doctor he was really nice. My friend translated for me. I had an ultra sound then they put me on some IV. The nurse doing the IV couldn't get a vein. The first time my arm swelled into a ball, until they realised it wasn't in a vein at all. The second time she tried to draw blood first but no blood was coming just bubbles. She asked if it hurt. Yes! Of course it hurt!!! I still have a nasty bruise there 2 weeks later. At the end she just put the needle into my hand. She was nice though but she put me off injections for a while.

The next day the doctor told me my kidney was swollen from some bacteria. I don't know if this made me sick or vise versa. I got my tablets and they made me feel better straight away. This is the reason I will miss Korean health care. Sure, it is free in the UK. But, you have to wait hours and it's impossible to see a doctor straight away. They would never of given me a ultrasound and IV. It would of taken longer to have got better. Over here they even gave me the needle in the bum (it hurts so much!). I heard the needle in the butt is common over here. It must be full of vitamins etc. 

You pay your health insurance with your work and a small fee every time you go. I think medical insurance is around 65,000 won (35 pounds) every month and I paid 90,000 won (45 pounds) for that visit including the ultrasound and IV. Though, the UK is good for people with health conditions that require a lot of money. So both health systems have their positives and negatives.

We also had our last open class this year. No-one turned up to any of the subject teachers open classes. It was great, though a bit annoying after preparing so much. 

But, on the positive side of September it was Chuseok (Korean thanksgiving). We got 5 days off including weekends. I didn't do anything this year. I was sleepy from the tablets and still recovering. I went to Hong Kong last year but I need to save money to visit Paul in Spain next year. I also hope to visit Sarah in America in two years. 

I watched city of bones last week. I really enjoyed this movie. It was just fun to watch. I might actually buy it on DVD one day. 

I have training on Friday. It's stupid. People who just finished orientation are going too. they just had training 1 month ago!! And I am leaving in 5 months! Talk about pointless.... SMOE should of done it in November or December when they knew who was staying. They did that last time. Anyways, I looked at the schedule and it is the same as the one I went to before. In fact, I still have the file. At least we can leave at 3pm this year. Last time they made us stay until 4.40 walking around in a tour group. Me and Paul snuck off mwhahaha.

One of the lessons is pointless to me. Storytelling. I do listening and speaking only for 5th and 6th grade. I don't do reading. Blah! Last training day..... last training day...... must remember, last training day....