Sickness and hiking

I lived in denial of being sick for as long as I could. After my stomach got better, I joined most the other international students and decided it would be best to be sick. I spent Tuesday a little under the weather, but overall just glad that I could eat again. Wednesday was pretty bad, but I felt that I would be back to normal by Thursday. And then on Thursday, the worst day yet, I figured that the hardest part was over and it was all sunshine from that point on. On Friday, I did feel better, but a friend ordered me to get medicine from health services.

At the beginning of the term, I paid about $20 to cover all my medical expenses from health services. Essentially, it was miniature universal health care. By paying the $20, I could use the service as much as I want and that covers most (maybe all?) the medicine.

I went to the office, grudgingly, and waited behind this woman. When she was done, the nurse asked me in English what was wrong with me. I told her my nose and throat were bothering me and I was looking for some medicine and possibly cough syrup. She told me to wait until a doctor (OSU uses Registered Nurse Practitioners, so maybe this woman was one as well. She wore a white coat, though) was ready to see me. I waited a good minute and then she called for me.

As a quick note, because my passport uses my full legal name (Erik Thomas Hagen), all my official documents list my name the same way. My classes don’t take role for “Erik Hagen,” but instead “Erik Thomas Hagen.” The doctor didn’t call for “Erik,” she called for “Erik Thomas.”

I walked back to her and sat down. She asked me what was wrong and I told her. She typed in my answers to a box on her computer screen.

“Headache?”

“No.”

“Coughing?”

“Yes.”

“Do you blow your nose a lot?”

“Yes.”

…

Skip ahead another minute. She took my temperature (it was .3 degrees Fahrenheit high, giving me a slight fever) and checked my throat. I was with her, literally, less than five minutes. And in that time, she discerned it was best to prescribe four pills and cough syrup. She said the names of the pills, but I had no idea what they were. She then told me to feel better and go over to the pharmacy (it was in the same room).

I sat down to see “Erik Thomas” as next in line for medicine. I waited another three minutes and the pharmacist handed me my medicine in a bag. She gave me general instructions for the medicine (they came in sealed plastic bags) like to take it after a meal…actually, that was all she told me. One of them was an antibiotic, which didn’t make any sense to me because I am pretty sure my illness was caused by a virus.

“Hope you feel better Erik Thomas!”

“Thanks…”

Total time for the whole visit: about 15 minutes.

Some international students were going to go hiking on Saturday afternoon, followed by a visit to the Seoul Art's Center. Originally, I wasn’t planning on attending because the group was gathering pretty early. But I was able to wake up by 11AM, grab my breakfast and meet them at noon in the lobby. The hike was actually quite fun, but I could tell how out of shape I was because of how quickly I started sweating. The view was beautiful from the top. Pictures found below:

Seoul from the top of the mountain. Actually, let's change that to hill. I don't think hills become mountains until they have snow at least 3/4 of the year and also possess snow when neighboring areas don't.











This rock structure was also at the top. I have no idea why.













We had one PEACE buddy with us. I thought it would be really cool to see what was inside...













But she pointed to this sign. I wagered that any mines left were likely duds and we would be fine exploring. Nobody wanted to come with me...













I took this picture as we walked to the Seoul Art's Center. Nothing special here, just a typical Korean intersection.