Crisis Averted

***Special Note***
The following post is about a comedy of errors that stars language barriers and details my run in with the Korean health care system last week. I am only just posting this blog because I did not want anyone to be unnecessarily worried. I post it now that I am completely better, the insurance claims form is waiting to be mailed, and I can laugh at parts of the daunting experience.
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I live in a dorm with about 250 other people. The small rooms and shared bathrooms come with the promise of shared sickness. Right before YonKo Jon the first muffled coughs could be heard in the hall, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I came down with something.

All was going well until late last Sunday night. I had been hanging out with friends in the basement and went up to my room around 1 am. I got online and was talking with Kel when I began coughing. Knowing my propensity for the simple cold to turn into a nasty upper respiratory infection I took some meds and promised myself that if I so much as sniffled in the morning I would go to the health center to try to put a stamp down on any sickness.

The next morning I still had a bit of a cough, no real fever but still decided to head to main campus to get checked out. I don’t know if it was because I was a foreigner or was complaining of the first signs of swine flu that they saw me within 2 minutes of my being there (and this was in a room crowded with people). The doctor didn’t speak much English, but after hearing my symptoms prescribed me a few meds. I went and picked up what amounted to a z-pack of antibiotic, some medicated throat lozengers and two different pre-packed dosage packets. Inside one packet were 3 pills that I was supposed to take after each meal and the other packet had some pills for fever. I tried looking them up online, but not with much success. Funnily enough by the time I had returned to my room from the health center I already had an email from the Yonsei IPO officer about my appointment. I spent most of the day in bed, hoping to sleep it off.

Throughout the day I woke up to eat a bit, monitor the temperature and take medicine. Unfortunately that annoying little cough got progressively worse and later in the night I developed a fever. I still wasn’t that concerned until about 9pm when my breathing started to go downhill and the fever spiked past the point recommended on all the warning posters. At this point I was also concerned that the doctor might have prescribed something that I could be allergic to, so when I got to what felt like only a half-breath intake I decided it was probably time to see if I could get a nebulizer to open things up a bit.

Being on a 16 hour time difference from Oregon, I got the fun pleasure of calling an IPO representative at home to let her know I would be heading to the hospital. Thankfully Skype calls are cheap and come in crystal clear. I took a friend who knows Korean with me and went to the school hospital just down the road from the I-House. Severance Hospital is one of the country’s best, so I was expecting a similar experience as if I were to go to the ER in the United States. After checking in right as I entered the door, I had a feeling things were probably not going to go all that smoothly.

Just as with the Yonsei student health center, I was seen within minutes. My friend told the doctor briefly about my symptoms and I was quickly sent to be given a Swine Flu test. Naturally the best place to create a quarantined testing area would be to use a section of the parking garage by the ER. My friend looked in the door at the makeshift hospital wing that had a row of tables, a crying toddler in a hospital crib and a curtained off examination “room” and told me she was heading home but that I should be sure to call if I needed her to translate. I don’t blame her at all, I’m sure if I actually caught Swine Flu it would have been sitting in there.

A doctor came in a few minutes later and we had a brief, muddled exchange where I tried to impress upon him my decreasing ability to breathe. It would have been a difficult conversation if the language barrier were the only thing between us, but the added bonus of both of us wearing hospital masks made communication that much worse. He basically told me he didn’t think I had Swine Flu, but that I should have chest CTs and sent me back inside. At the check in I was told that a single test would be around $500 and that only Korean insurance was accepted (my Linfield one works on the pay now get reimbursed later model). After being told it would be too expensive to admit me I was asked to wait for a doctor from the international ward to talk to me.

A few minutes later that doctor came out and I once again tried to explain to him that I was there to try to get help for my breathing, not to be admitted for Swine Flu. He listened to me breathe, said that it was just fine, and asked “can’t you stand it until tomorrow?”. Seeing that this was an exercise in futility I took his brochure for the International ward and walked home. I got back in touch with IPO and was re-assured that I did not overreact and that they would have Linfield’s health clinic give me a call once it opened. A few hours later I got a call from them and was given some ideas on how to trouble shoot until I could see a doctor. Note for all the asthmatics out there: Using your inhaler in a steaming hot shower can indeed mimic the use of a nebulizer.

Suffice it to say it was a rather long night with less than stellar air-intake. As soon as the international ward opened I called and made the first appointment available with the American doctor, after 2pm that afternoon. I was less than thrilled to see the very same doctor who had sent me home from the ER the night before walk in to take my information. I was finally able to explain to him the whole reason I was at the ER the night before, not that it made much of a difference at that point. Highlights from my time with him: He once again told me I was breathing perfectly normal, that I may or may not have an ear infection (“your ear drums are so small, it's hard to be certain”), called himself an idiot (after I suggested he check the left one against the right to see if there were any difference between the two, as it might show if there was an infection), and then asked me at the end if I remembered what dosage the doctor had prescribed so he could fill out the prescription properly. These are the moments I can look upon with humor now without cringing too much.

The good news is that I was given a strong antibiotic and an obnoxiously large container of cough syrup that did the trick. So much sleep and countless emails exchanged between Linfield IPO, Yonsei IPO and myself later, I am now just about 100% better. I am hoping this will be my one and only medical experience here.


For those of you who are interested in what Korean packaging of medicines looks like...

Writing this entry has made me once again reflect on my initial assumptions as an American when I went to the hospital. I’m used to walking in and receiving care, medical questions asked first (and my answer understood…), and insurance being talked about later. I found out that I was not the only student turned away that week, there were a handful of others who actually were seeking attention for suspected Swine Flu. None of us had so much as our temperatures taken because we didn’t have Korean insurance. In a country that has been paranoid since our arrival of the flu’s spreading, we were surprised that we were all given masks and sent away. This strikes me even more as the debate over health care is raging back in the states. I have always been a proponent of universal health care, but after this experience am even more affirmed in my stance that a person’s ability to pay a hospital bill should not be a factor in determining the amount of care they receive.

Yon-Ko Jon!

Last week was Yon-Ko Jon, the yearly friendly matches between Yonsei University and cross-town rival Korea University. It's a two day series of sporting matches that are more about cheering and camaraderie than anything. All the international students bought special Mentor’s Club t-shirts that were a wonderful shade of baby blue, a much lighter variation of the Yonsei color that allowed all of us to stay together more easily during the event. We met at 9am to head over to the Olympic Stadium to watch the day’s events (rugby and soccer).



I had absolutely no idea what I was in for! We were greeted with free stuff and music so loud you could feel it vibrating in your chest. The stadium was split, half of it dominated by Yonsei blue and the other by Korea’s red. No one was really watching the games, but the attention was rather focused on the cheerleaders who danced, shouted and sang the same songs over and over for hours non-stop. It is hard to describe, so I’ll let some video and pictures suffice.







One of my favorite memories was of jumping up and down, arms linked with everyone around me and singing “I Love Yonsei”. It is a pretty incredible feeling to be amongst thousands of people enjoying a day of friendship and school spirit.




Later that night there was a concert on campus with student groups, famous alumni, and popular groups (4Minutes and Psy). This place sure knows how to throw a party! The main campus road was lined with tents handing out free popcorn and beer, selling snacks and different gatherings of student groups. The most popular singer of the night was Psy, this older singer/actor who performs like he is Backstreet boy whose favorite move is jumping in place. He ended up doing three encores before the night ended and the cleaning crew came out to return the campus back to its normal shape.


If you’re interested check out the full album from the day:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034337&id=65202369&l=7c26574ef7

Reconnected and It Feels Soo Good!

After weeks of going without a phone, I have finally procured one! Here is how I was finally obtain re-join the electronically connected world:

I was assigned a language partner through one of the clubs on campus, and when we set up our first meeting I asked her if she would be willing to help me sign up for a cell phone. We met up in front of the Global Lounge and walked to Sinchon for dinner, stopping at one of the umpteen Show stores along the way. What I thought would be a simple process turned into almost an hour of her translating back and forth for me as the salesman went over an infuriatingly complex contract. I will say that there are many fees and kind of hidden costs that made me rather distrustful of the process. I felt bad that our first meeting was of her helping me through this, but what a trooper!

After all was said and done I got a brand new Sky phone that has beautiful features like a subway map and Korean dictionary, AND I got out of paying 34,000W worth of fees that typically went with the special deal. This was largely due to the fact that as we were going through the contract (which largely consisted of “blah blah blah, now this fee+…this fee…) I became increasingly annoyed with the additional fees and started asking about how much the pay per use contract would cost. All the technicalities aside, it is a beautiful thing to once again be able to get in touch with people at a moments notice. All of this for what will end up being less than $20 each month, much less than the US.



We finally did go to dinner at the nearby Tofu shop. I ordered a tofu and noodle soup which came with rice and lots of bachan (or Korean side dishes). It was nice getting to know Yeonji and I’m looking forward to hanging out with her this semester. She is a junior Atmospheric Science major who spent almost a year studying in Utah of all places.

노래방-Korean For Karaoke

No trip to Korea would be complete without going to a Noraebang where you can assail the ears of your friends with anything from Disney favorites to today’s latest pop song. A few weeks back I went out with some friends for the evening in Sinchon and made it to my first 노래방 of the semester. There were about 8 or so of us at any point (people tend to wander in and out quite a bit…), so all told we each spent about 3,000 per hour.

It is funny to see what songs everyone in a group will know, especially with such a culturally eclectic one as I was out with. We had people from Sweden, Italy, Germany, Japan, Korea, and the United States. Themes from Aladdin, Lion King, and The Little Mermaid seemed to be universally known (and at some points in the night could be heard sung in 3 different languages at once). I will say the best part is watching Korean friends grab the microphone. I swear if Karaoke were a world competition they would win every time, hands down!

Lunch With Jenny and a Soccer Game

Last spring I got to know three Yonsei students who came to Linfield. This Saturday I got to have lunch with one of them, Jenny. She was kind enough to help me with my ongoing cell phone saga and have lunch with my friend Katelynn and I. We went to one of the umpteen Show mobile shops where Katelynn was able to get her cell phone working, but where I was unable to set up an account because I did not yet have a bank account set up (this was due to the fact that the bank was closed by the time I got out of class on Friday). So thwarted yet again I gave an aggravated sigh and we headed to lunch at Mr. Pizza.



Now you would think pizza would be something recognizable, a nice reminder of the American food I’ve begun to miss just a bit. Not quite, as everything here is somewhat “Koreanized”. We had a grilled chicken pizza, but there was sweet potato of all things in the crust. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but it was decent nonetheless.

After lunch Jenny showed me a mall near campus so she could go shoe shopping. I ended up buying a new pair of flip-flops as well. I did come with two pairs but one I only use in the dorm and the other have taken quite the beating from all the walking I’ve done so far.

On the way home I ran into a group of people who were heading to the national soccer game between Korea and Australia. One of the guys grabbed the strap of the bag I was carrying, so around I turned and headed to my first ever professional football game. The friendly match was held at the World Cup Stadium, what a huge place! There was a mall on the inner part of the Stadium and just a lot of people in a comparatively small place. Outside the stadium I bought a shirt for 19,800w ($17ish), but this was for a jersey style shirt. You can’t even buy a t-shirt for that at an American sporting event!



All of a sudden a large group of people shouting and waving huge flags walked by. We decided to go join in, and all of a sudden we were linking arms, jumping and cheering. After that we started up the steps to the stadium when we saw a group of police officers and a mascot dancing. We stopped to take pictures but were quickly asked to join them, so of course we all ran up there! I don’t know if it is their intention, but what great PR! (Perhaps LCS, or whatever they are calling themselves these days, could learn a thing or two from them….)



The game was rather crowded and what energy! I’m not a soccer fan, but I was definitely converted for the game. There were constant chants of “Dae Han Min Guk” (sounds a bit like “Hey A-migo!) which is the formal name of Korea, much flag waving and even torches lit. Korea ended up winning 3-1.



Everyone was high energy on the way home, and we had fun calling out to each other some of the weird blue blood laws to each other on the metro (like in Washington a group of 4 women living together constitutes a brothel, or something like that). All of a sudden this man comes over shouting “You! You shut up! Shut your mouths NOW!” I get it that we are loud, but the last time I have seen someone screaming that aggressively was in gridlock on the 405. A few people went up and pulled the man away, but it certainly put a damper on things. It was just weird to go from having a crazy afternoon where we felt like we were being accepted into a group of people to being reminded of some of the great cultural differences and distances that will remain.

Classes Actually Begin

So last Wednesday all of my classes got underway. Here is a breakdown:

My Political Economy professor is the youngest and least experienced with English. On paper the man can communicate wonderfully, but it takes a patient listener to get everything in class. I really think I’m going to enjoy it though. After the first lecture I made sure to tell Randy that this guy is teaching it with “political” acting as the adjective, meaning that the course is centered on explaining political phenomena through economic theories. I’ve wanted to take a class like this since my freshman year, so excited to finally get one in.

Korean class is rather challenging, and the first day was about 10x worse than my first day in Japanese. I’m not fond of their teaching style or textbooks. Reason number 1: We had to learn the alphabet and there were no pronunciation charts or CD recordings that just went through the entire alphabet. There are some sound combinations that we don’t use in English and there are some that I have a hard time pronouncing as an English speaker so the first day or so were a nightmare. For those of you who think my pronunciation of words like color (comes out collar) or corn (sounds something like kuh-or-n) are special, boy would you get a kick out of hearing me learn to say the Korean vowels and “r” combinations. I felt like the illiterate kid in the corner so have spent a lot of time studying, so things are going better now.

I didn’t realize that I was able to enroll in a grad class since I am a senior, but once I heard I emailed a professor right away to get into one. I dropped the idea of taking East Asian International Relations in favor of taking the grad level North Korean Politics and Foreign Policy. There were only about 20 spots open in the class, but on the first day well over 70 people showed up. The prof was great, opened unlimited enrollment to be able to meet the interest. He has worked at the leading private intelligence think tank, highest government agency and actually been to the North a couple of times. He has a great sense of humor to complement the stories, so it promises to be one of my favorites this semster.

On Thursday my Politics of the North and South finally made an appearance. As it turns out, he was stuck in Hawaii during the first class. He is such a hoot! The man walks in wearing this very baggy gray suit and brown shoes. Between the suit, shirt and tie there were three different directions of stripes going on. He is a self-professed absent-minded scholar who has gotten by doing the bare minimum. Today he started really lecturing though and I was surprised how knowledgeable and captivating he actually is. There will be a lot of cross-over from this class and the North FP one, but it should be interesting nonetheless.

My final class comes with the funniest story. I looked at the syllabus for Tae Kyun, national treasure No. 76 and very traditional martial arts. It was in English so I assumed that I could enroll. Let’s just say that on the first day I was the only non-Korean student in the class and got to sit through a lecture where I could understand nothing but what I could piece together from his gesticulations. The man is funny though, I could tell that. I did speak to the prof after class and he told me that if I was comfortable then he would be happy to see me remain enrolled, since after the first few lectures it is just all body movements. It’s a pass/fail class so if I show up I’ll be fine. Besides, I figure it will be an incredible experience and a way to hopefully meet more Korean students.

So that ends the academic news. Obviously as I fall into the more normal pattern of school and life my blogs will get more spaced apart, but I will do my best to keep everyone up to date of all the highlights.

First Day of School?

Today was supposed to be the first day of classes, but my professor didn’t show up. We waited around for 30 minutes before leaving and then stopped by the UIC office to ask if the class had been canceled over all. My mentor Jae was working in there and told me that they follow the 15 minute rule here where if the prof hasn’t shown by then class is canceled. Glad to see that some things are universal. Oh well, I know that Korean classes for sure start tomorrow.

We went for an early lunch, or rather joined the massive 12-1pm lunch crowd that is all of campus. I had ramen from the cafeteria, which cost less than $1.50. You may be realizing a pattern in my diet-ramen for lunch and rice for dinner. I know its not incredibly healthy, but I figure the sodium for fat in the diet trade off has to equal out somewhere. For dessert I couldn’t resist buying “Crunky Nude Balls”, the name alone suggested that they would be amazing!


Afterwards I stopped by the activities fair on main campus. I bought my Mentor’s Club t-shirt that I will wear to the large Yonsei-Korea University friendship games next week. We saw some amazing mascots running around and of course had to take some pictures.
Some students from the Yonsei Global club asked me to help them recruit Korean members. They basically match a foreign student with a Korean one as a language partner/friend, and I was the token white girl sitting at the table to show that foreign students really can be friendly. It was funny because a lot of the members of the club remembered me from when they came to the I-House to get students there to sign up. I was just joking around with them, but apparently made quite the impression. I still feel bad when I don’t remember their names (its partially that I can’t pronounce them or hear one thing when it is definitely another). I am looking forward to getting to know more Korean students though.

Interesting Metro Ride and Film Festival

Everywhere you go in the city there are these banners and posters for CHIFFS, the Chungmuro International Film Festival. Chungmuro is the equivalent of Hollywood here. Anyways, I figured it would be a fun thing to do so got a group of people together to see a film. Movies here are typically expensive, so I was excited to see that tickets for the festival were less than $5.


A group of five of us left from the I-House and hopped onto the metro to get over to Dongdaemun where one of the theaters was. On the way I was holding onto a handrail and talking to my friend when I feel a thwap on my butt. I know I am standing in front of some elderly people, so turn around afraid that I have somehow offended them. This old lady is yelling at me kind of aggressively, and I of course don’t understand her. At this point I realize she is smiling and is motioning to her face. My friend who speaks a little bit of Korean translates for me-the lady wants me to know that she thinks I am pretty. I of course blush and respond in English with a thank you, but then use one of my two Korean words I know to eek out a butchered version of thank you in Korean. The lady and her husband laugh and get all excited that I spoke Korean to them, think it is the cutest thing ever apparently. When they get off at their stop the old man and lady come by and kind of grab my elbow and say a few more things to me that I can’t really understand but from the smiling and nodding can tell were nice things. Def made my day.

We went to try to buy tickets to “White Butterfly”, the only Korean film that was being shown that day. One of the guys had said on the way over that it was a total chick flick, so was excited when it was sold out and we saw “Tracing Shadow” a Hong Kong film that ended up being a martial arts comedy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PsKVOph1z0). I didn’t know if it was supposed to be a comedy until the end, but there were some tell-tale signs. There were some hilarious music bits and this one part about people trying to find Jackie Chan (his son was in the movie). The screen was bigger than the ones I’m used to in the US, and the cool part is that they had English subtitles on the bottom and Korean ones on the side of the screen. I did get to go home with a cool poster too-they were taking them off of the table and when I asked to have it before they threw it away they brought out 5 new ones for me. All in all it was a great way to end the last free day before school starts.