Don't worry everyone! I'm fine. I'm not sick and I didn't break anything. I promise. A few months back, I applied to renew my Fulbright grant for a second year. As part of the application process, I had to get a physical done at a hospital to prove to the Korean government that I'm healthy, I guess. Well, the way the health system is set up here, I had to go to a hospital (essentially the equivalent of going to the doctors instead of a walk-in clinic). To make matters worse, I couldn't go to the hospital that is literally next to my school, but instead had to travel all the way to Chuncheon. This was because one of the required tests that I had to get done (as a foreigner getting a physical) isn't a part of the Korean physical and therefore only available at larger hospitals. Great.
Lets set the stage for the day. Since I couldn't go to the hospital in Hwacheon, I had to actually request off early one day to travel the 45 minutes on the bus to Chuncheon, to get to the hospital and have the full appointment before they closed for the day. Because I teach everyday in the mornings, I couldn't take the whole day off or come in late. My co-teacher and I decided I would leave at 12:30 on a Wednesday after finishing my final class.
Oh, yeah. I haven't told you why I wanted to go to the hospital in the morning. I had to fast. It was terrible. Anyone who knows me knows I don't skip breakfast. And because of this physical, and my class schedule, I had to skip breakfast, teach all morning, leave at what would be my lunch time, take a bus (which makes me nauseous on a good day) then go through an entire appointment before I was allowed to eat for the day. Surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be (I drank a lot of water) but it still sucked. Especially since I just happen to have picked teachers day to do this on. So I was given a vitamin drink from the students and there was fruit in the morning meeting that just sat there taunting me, because I couldn't eat it.
Now, just before 2pm I arrived at the hospital, which I have walked past so many times and never knew it was even a hospital. Now, for a country that is usually has enough English on signs for me to get around, this hospital had NONE! I walk in the front door and I can't figure out where to go at all. I see a woman at a desk and show her the paper I needed (I had a sample of the form with English translations that KAEC was nice enough to provide) and she holds up two fingers. No clue what she means, she eventually translates on her phone second floor. Okay. Cool.
Now you think getting to the second floor would be easy. Yeah, it wasn't. Now, the stairs were tucked away (and I found them later) but I didn't want to draw attention to myself by trying to find them, so I took the elevator. Okay, so when you see two elevators next to each other, you would assume that they go to the same places, right? Never assume anything in Korea. I pushed the up button on one elevator, but the other one was already being called and arrived first. Okay. I got on. I tried to push the 2nd floor button, but it didn't light. Apparently this elevator skipped floors 2-4. Great. That would have been nice to know earlier. So to act inconspicuous, I get off with a few people that are getting off at 5 and the elevator continues to 8 for the rest of the people. I call it again to go back down. Back to the first floor. I get off then get on the first elevator I meant to get on in the first place. The correct one, I found out.
Wow. So much happened before I even got to the doctor. I get to the second floor and there are multiple desks, all with signs in Korean above them. I freeze. No idea where to go. One person notices me, and waves me over. I show her my paper and she sends me over to a godsend of a woman. This woman (not really knowing English beyond a few words) literally sat me down, took care of my paperwork and walked me from station to station for each part of the exam.
The physical itself wasn't too exciting. There were a few interesting tidbits, like how I had to give them a passport size photo for my paper (I did know this before hand and came prepared). Another was that for the urinalysis, they gave me a paper (not plastic) cup with a line drawn on with sharpie, and forgot to show me where the bathroom was. The last thing, and most bizarre, was that the last test on the exam was to go over to the dentist next to the hospital and they had to check my teeth. I have never had to go to the dentist for a physical.
All in all, the exam from start to finish only took about a half-hour. So by about 2:30, I was free and could finally eat lunch. I thought it was worth it to walk 20 minutes to the McDonald's to treat myself. It was delicious.
I went back on Saturday and picked up my results to submit them, and it only cost me about 54,000 won (like 50 dollars ish).
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