The Medical Check

So we've cracked, and decided to create a blog. Rather I have, but I'll force Bob to post often.

Bob and I had our medical check at a hospital in Seoul this morning, and then returned to school for the afternoon. Can't say I've ever given a urine test in a Dixie cup before, but there is a first time for everything, right? Such as squat toilets....

The hospital was very new, clean and bright. We had our chests x-rayed, our blood pressure taken, our hearing checked, our eyes check (colour blindness too), our weight and height recorded, a urine sample taken, and our blood taken, all within 1 open room, with many other patients watching. I guess South Koreans aren't used to privacy.

We were then taken downstairs to have our teeth checked. They found my first cavity ever. I'm not very happy about it, but the doctor told me that it would cost about 10,000 won, so it will be much cheaper to have fixed here than in Canada. I'm nervous though - hopefully they'll understand when I show up at the dentist!

We then met with a doctor, who spoke very good English. He was very interested in our lives in Canada. He also asked us if we were crazy, and if we were paedophiles. Hopefully we passed that test.

We did all this at the hospital, in under an hour, and without an appointment. I think the Korean medical system is fantastic.

We then went for "secret coffee time" with my co-teacher, Ja-young Lee, and her husband, who is a lawyer. It was special coffee time, because we were supposed to go back to work right after the examination. She's really cute, and her husband is really nice. He is always driving us around in their brand new car, and he doesn't understand any English. They are both very young.

Now I'm at school, where I've been since 11:30 am. We had rice, curry, pizza, and concord grapes (that are everywhere here) for lunch. It was really good. I was very nervous about eating lunch every day at school, considering they served clear noodles with octopus legs in it for the first lunch I was here. I didn't eat much, and they noticed, and we haven't had seafood since, which is fantastic, although I feel a little guilty.

I get to ride the bus home at 4:40, just before rush hour starts for the afternoon. I'm going to do some serious lesson planning tonight, to make up for all the goofing off I've done all afternoon.

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- Maureen