feeling icky
So I had my first trip to a Korean doctor today. I can't say it was much of an experience since I didn't understand him and I'm not really sure what his diagnosis was. I woke up this morning with body aches and couldn't keep anything down at all, even water. I went to work even so, out of a sense of obligation and my intolerable work ethic. At around 10 or so, the other teachers took note of how disheveled I was looking, and I'm sure they noticed my watery red eyes from throwing up. They said that I should go to the doctor right away (because apparently they go to the doctor for things even as small as colds here). At around noon Mrs. Kwa and I headed down the street to her doctor's office, which thankfully was within walking distance.
Mrs. Kwa translated for me and told him what was wrong. He then listened to my breathing, had me stick out my tongue, etc. (though he did not take my temperature, which I thought was rather odd). Mrs. Kwa said that he thinks I just caught something because I'm in a new environment and also because the weather here has been changing from day to day...in other words I don't think he was able to really pinpoint what was wrong with me. In any case he prescribed me some medicine, though only about two days worth since I'm supposed to go back to him tomorrow if I'm still not feeling well. The whole thing (doctor's visit and medicine included) cost me only 4500 won (about $4.50). Amazing...
So even though I don't know if what he gave me will work I am pretty happy that my healthcare here will be so cheap. Compared to back home it's a real bargain. I can say however that I have already been able to keep down all of the Gatorade I was drinking this afternoon in addition to some rice I had after I got back. So all in all, things are looking up. Now if I could only just stop feeling miserable...plus my temperature is still lingering at about 99.6 degrees, which does give me some cause for concern since I'm paranoid it'll shoot back up again at any moment.
I better be feeling well by tomorrow though cause I still have to go buy a swimsuit for that trip this weekend, and there's no way I'll be up to that tonight. Oi...
posted by Jen at
5:39 PM
3 Comments:
I just stumbled onto your site from the Korea Blog List. Have to say that I love your pics, especially the ones of the city views from Namsan. I hope you get better and take more pictures! I don't know if you take requests, but if you do, could you take some pics of the street vendors selling the sweet korean pancake thingies? I loved those when I visited Korea!
How was the trip on the weekend?
Korea.net kimchi fried rice
Contrary to a cool reception at home in the wake of a recent ruckus of its tarnished image, kimchi is gaining popularity with Americans and other places abroad following a spate of news reports to the effect that the traditional Korean dish has an inherent preventative effect on bird flu, the fear of which is now gripping the world.
It was last March that kimchi's curative effect on avian influenza began to be known well outside of the country, when the British public broadcaster BBC aired the results of a research team led by Seoul National University professor Kang Sa-wook.
Quoting the team's test results, BBC said of the 13 chickens stricken with the influenza, 11 had shown telling curative effects after being administered kimchi extracts.
Back in 2003, when the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) broke out in Asia, there was a ‘kimchi rage' in China and Southeast Asia on the strength of reports that the Korea-originated pickle was working in heading off the epidemic.
In recent weeks, the American media were into handling kimchi's efficacy in treating avian flu.
The ABC network, South Carolina's largest state newspaper, the Murtle Beach Sun News, Centre Daily Times of Pennsylvania, and some 100 media outlets across the United States reported kimchi's curative effects on the epidemic.
The ABC reported on Tuesday that with the interest in kimchi growing in America, sauerkraut, the U.S. version of kimchi, is also enjoying a boom. Sauerkraut, a pickle of German origin made from shredded cabbage fermented in brine, is normally inserted into hot dogs or sandwiches.
Journal Times, a publication from Racine, Wisconsin, reported scientists speculated that the bacteria which were detected in kimchi, help cure avian influenza, adding that the same strains were also discovered in sauerkraut.
Kim Jae-soo, the agricultural attaché to the Korean embassy in Washington, D.C., said that contrary to the perception of misgivings Koreans have at home, the American press has given an intense coverage of kimchi's curative effects on the poultry epidemic.
He noted that although the U.S. media had not paid significant attention to kimchi when it gained popularity as a curative to SARS in Southeast Asia, it is watching carefully this time around.
Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Korea Agro-Trade Corp. on Thursday (Nov. 10), despite the recent unsavory episode involving tainted kimchi, Korea's exports of the item amounted to 26,275 tons in the first 10 months of the year, up 81 tons from a year earlier.
In particular, shipments to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia have surged partly due to Hallyu, or the Korean cultural wave, prompted by Daejanggeum, a Korean TV drama aired in those countries. In the January-October period, exports to Taiwan totaled 561 tons, up 72 percent from a year before. Hong Kong and Malaysia saw their imports increase by 15 and 150 percent respectively.
Besides, prospects for suspended kimchi shipments to Japan to resume were bright as the Japanese authorities were about to end their investigation into the Korean products soon. About 93 percent of Korea's total exports of 34,827 tons last year went to Japan.
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