Doctor Death

Today brought me another Korean "first" in a trip to the local doctor. The reason for this was due to me feeling sick as a dog, and while some of that can be attributed to a Soju fuelled session of the classic"Drink While You Think" game on Saturday, I also firmly believe I must have some little bug on top of it. Playing DWYT with Soju is probably not advisable, and the fact that we were drinking the more palatable Lemon and Cherry varieties made it all the easier to forget the lethality of the bastard beverage!

In short, we spent the day in Insa-dong, having planned to visit the nearby Changdeukgung Palace and being foiled by not having booked into a tour group. Apparently in this palace, you can't just wander around at your own leisure like the last one, but we plan to go back and go on a tour next weekend. Anyway, Insa-dong is a cool area, and given the proximity of the palace and a few Buddhist temples, it has quite a mystical feel to it, with numerous monks there buying incense and candles alongside all the tourists. Pah, I hate tourists, clear off you fat Americans! But I'll post about Insa-dong when I put the photos on.

Back to the possible reasons I ended up in the doctors waiting room today. After Insa-dong, we were quite drunk and got the last subway home, drinking 2 small bottles of wine en route. Now, don't be shocked! You are allowed to drink anyway, anywhere, anyhow in Korea, so it's not completely minky drinking on public transport, and in certain circumstances (such as an hour trip between being drunk, and carrying on drinking), it's pretty much neccesary! However, this "traditional Korean wine" was the most shockingly vile shit I've ever tasted, and if it hadn't came from the presumably reliable Wal-Mart (which Koreans all pronounce "Wah-Mah-Tah"!), I would swear it was 5 years out of date. Off wine sometimes has a leafy taste, and this was like pureed ferns and cat piss all mixed up. Of course, I drank it anyway, because I'm a retard.

After getting back to our beloved Jungsan (which just enjoyed the opening of 2 new restaurants, a pizza place, and a frozen yoghurt place this weekend, quality place!), we went into our little Hof you heard about in the previous post. It was just us and the Ajumma (you can safely call any slightly older woman Ajumma, literally meaning Auntie. Derived from Koreans feeling they are all part of the same family), and as usual she spoiled us with beer and nibbles and tried to impress us with her few western CDs. This time it was Michael Bolton followed by Celine Dion. I'm actually struggling to think of a more offensive musical tag-team, if the Hof wasn't so cool it would be like some auditory torture chamber. Using the menu we also practised our rapidly improving Hanguel reading skills, we basically can read everything already, but still sometimes get the pronounciation wrong. This is very good going by the way, give us a clap! After numerous drunken exclamations of Mashisossoyo ("delicious!") to the Ajumma regarding her omelettes, we went upstairs and I foolishly drank another bottle of the fern/piss concoction while terrorizing people with phone-calls. If you didn't get one, believe me, you should thank the Lord or something as I was a complete disgrace. I'm sure my Mum will agree.

Well, to fast forward to today (yesterday obviously being similar to the "cold-turkey"scene in Trainspotting), and it was doctor time for me. Koreans refer to the doctors as the hospital, so already I should have been prepared for the overkill and dramatics to follow. After an hour wait with our boss James, who claimed this was a "famous doctor" (I'm sure Harold Shipman was a famous doctor too), I was seen by said celebrity who could thankfully muster up a bit of English. Now, I knew there was something wrong with me, not just a loooong hangover, but I presumed it was just a "run-down" sort of bug. However, after a thorough exam the doc decided I had tonsilitis AND gastro-enteritis! Bad luck eh! I really really doubt it. Maybe he is just the most pessimistic doctor in Korea. I got sent into a little room and injected in the arse with god knows what, and sent off with a presription Ozzy Osbourne would be proud of. I've no idea what was in the needle, or what this mountain of pills are, as thats where the language barrier kicked in. I'm sure I'm in safe hands though, he IS famous after all. The picture below shows the 15 pills I've been prescribed each day, alongside the 2 sachets of pink goo I'm also required to take.



I've not seen someone need so many pills since Tom Hanks in Philadelphia, so either I'm actually very ill and really need it all and they didn't know how to explain, or I'm a little bit ill and Korean doctors are mental. It remains to be seen, but I better go back to work tomorrow, ill or not.

In other unrelated news, I have located a nearby Bosingtang (dog restaurant). Still unsure about all that, especially after hearing that it really smells and tastes like, well..... a wet dog, but knowing where one is would be the first step. For those of you who know Ross (for those who don't he and his girfriend Amy are friends who have been working in Cheongju for about 10 months), our schedules finally allow us all to meet up later on this month. Ross and I are being a pair of idiots and getting tickets to see Korn. I almost can't believe it, how embarrassing haha! But for the sheer novelty of it being in Seoul, and of course the nostalgia, I bet it will still be a really good laugh. Would I go see Korn if they were playing Glasgow SECC? Don't be stupid, but like everything in Korea, it will certainly be an "experience"! Our love of Kimchi continues to grow each day. Looking for tickets to Thailand for Xmas proved fruitless at first glance, turns out everyone books multiple seats ages in advance as there's no booking or cancellation charge. Bollocks, will keep looking. Hope you are well, bye for now!