Tonsillitis Day 6

Thurs, June 4, 2009 at 11:50pm

Thursday: I slept roughly 10 hours last night, from 1230-1030am. Much needed and much deserved. I awoke with a slightly sore throat that quickly went away after I spent 30 minutes or so flushing the mucus buildup out of my system. Once again, sorry to be so graphic, but the good news is I continue to feel better.

After breakfast, I headed to the Jim Jae Bang (Korean sauna) to help sweat this evilness from my system. Since today was my first Jim Jae Bang experience, I will share with you some observations. First of all, it's located in the basement below the subway station, so it's only a two block walk from my apartment. Cost of admission is 7,000 Won, which includes shoe locker (located outside Men's locker room) and large clothes locker (located inside Men's locker room). At this rate, you may stay as long as you like, and it is open 24 hours. Apparently, many people will relax and sleep here after the bars late at night when the subway stops running (12am-6am), though I was told price may increase to 9,000 Won during these hours.

Inside the Men's locker room are standard accommodations found in any upscale Men's health club; television, snack bar, barber shop, plenty of fresh towels, etc. Beyond the locker room is the actual sauna; a large tile room filled with many stand up and sit down showers to the left, massage tables and lounge chairs to the right, three steam rooms, and seven water filled pools. It is customary to shower upon entering the room and before using any of the saunas or pools. Each steam room varies in temperature from 58C - 100C (136F - 212F). I spent maybe ten minutes in the 58C room, laying flat on the stone bench, before retreating to the cooler waters of one of the pools. Since everything is written in Korean, I could not determine the difference between the many pools, other than the noticeable temperature. Two of the pools, however, had a noticeable fragrance added to them, perhaps eucalyptus or lavender water? Not sure, but I managed to sample them all. Each of the pools was warm, except one, that was chilled. This, I later learned, is for cleansing yourself after the warmer waters or sauna experience. Apparently, it's good for your skin pores to open and close repeatedly to help flush out dirt and remove toxins. There are coarse wash towels provided next to the stand up and sit down showers. This, obviously, is to help exfoliate the skin. The sit down showers have a small plastic stool and it's just like it sounds, you sit your ass down and wash yourself. Nothing glamorous.

So after two hours spent relaxing in the sauna, I emerged feeling refreshed and invigorated. Honestly, and in spite of the close proximity to twenty naked Korean men, I felt extremely clean and healthy leaving the Jim Jil Bang. A tremendous bargain for 7,000 Won, and any time of day, in my opinion.

Thursday evening I resumed teaching. My voice has returned for the most part, a little husky at times, but I am pleased to be back in action. I taught two classes this evening and got to know the two new students in my Business English class. I was curious to learn the school brought in a substitute teacher yesterday to handle my classes. Apparently, he was/is an American named Tony? I didn't know American ESL teachers worked on standby or substitute taught in Korea, but it's good to know this service is available if needed.

After overcoming my first Korean sickness, I am left with the following thoughts on what may have caused the evil tonsillitis: 1) not enough sleep last week or unhealthy sleep schedule, 2) unsanitary Korean dining practices, 3) kissing strange women in a foreign land, 4) or perhaps iron deficiency? Tiann actually mentioned the iron deficiency in serious discussion last weekend (prior to diagnosis), after I mentioned I felt I had a strong immune system because I exercised regularly and took Vitamin C tablets. He said that is not good enough without healthy iron consumption. Now I am not a dietitian, and normally, I would consider this not to be relevant to my dietary habits, except I have eaten beef only 2-3 times in 5 weeks spent in Korea, because I mostly eat pork. So, he may have a point, and I should probably eat more red meat or consider iron supplements if my diet is to remain the same. As for the other possible causes, well, there's not much I can do about this, other than try for more sleep each night..

KOREA Week V Review

Mon, June 1, 2009 at 11:51pm

The weekend, it pains me to report, was not as pleasant as I had hoped.

Currently, I am suffering day 4 of a nasty cough and sore throat. The sore throat I experienced two weeks ago returned late Friday and became progressively worse over the weekend. Friday night I killed off the Robitussin I brought with me from the U.S., and I consumed mass quantities of cold/cough pills purchased from a local pharmacy on Saturday. I also purchased (and have consumed 3 bottles as of late Monday) a delicious cough syrup which tastes like a fusion of maple syrup and root beer. It's damn good.

Because the true nastiness of this sickness did not start until late Sunday night, I was able to participate in several pre-planned events Friday night and all day Saturday. Considering my condition late Sunday and Monday, perhaps this was not the brightest thing to do, but it's important to note two things; 1) I felt only mild discomfort Friday and Saturday, and 2) I checked my temperature each day before leaving the apartment. This being said , Friday night I met up with Monica, a 28 year old Korean teacher from my school, and we drove her car in to Seoul for late night Vietnamese dinner with a friend of hers. Pho noodle dinner was fantastic, and Seoul remained bustling well into the early morning. After dinner, we strolled around the streets of Apgujeong (trendy shopping/restaurant neighborhood located South of the Han River) and sat outdoors sipping coffee/tea at Tom N Toms Coffee, a 24 hour Korean coffee chain. It's amazing how massively large Seoul is. Imagine the size and sprawl of New York city combined with the mountainous topography of San Francisco or Seattle. The area is connected via numerous highway systems, subway lines, bridges, tunnels, etc. One way trip to Seoul was only 45 minutes with little traffic, similar to subway travel time, though I have been told this trip can be 1.5-2.0 hours with heavy traffic.

Saturday morning, I had plans to meet B.H. at 8am for a day trip to Daebu Do, an island located approximately 40 minutes West of Sanbon in the Yellow Sea. After confirming with B.H. and informing him of my sore throat earlier that morning, we met at the subway station shortly after 8am and took the train to Oido, the final stop on the #4 Line. Train ride to Oido was maybe 40 minutes, as Sanbon is located half-way between Oido and Seoul. Since Oido is a coastal city, we had to take the 790 bus to Daebu Do via a long man-made causeway, similar to something found in the Florida Keys. I have attached a map link below and if you zoom in close enough you can see the causeway and bridges that connect the islands. After the 790 bus, we took another bus to the Western-most island (Yeong Heung Do) and spent the majority of our time here. Total travel time one-way was around 1 hour 45 mins.

http://www.maplandia.com/korea-south/kyonggi-do/oido/

During the first bus ride, B.H. met another Korean man and together they shared a lengthy discussion in Korean. I, obviously, had no clue what they were talking about, but it turns out the man lives in Sanbon and owns/operates a "pension" (small resort hotel) on the Western-most island. Graciously, he invited us back to his Hawaii Beach Pension, which we, of course, accepted. There, we sat on the deck with our new friend, Mr. Chew, and had coffee, ate melon, and enjoyed the view. His property looks North, toward Incheon Island and the airport, but unfortunately, it was hazy so we could not see Incheon very well. There were, however, many large fishing boats and container ships we could see off in the distance. The Yellow Sea, unlike the Sea of Japan, has a famous tide, which was enjoyable to watch lower during the five hours we spent there. After two hours at Mr. Chew's, B.H. and I thanked him for his hospitality and left to find lunch. A short walk down the road we found a large bay with several stores and restaurants. Lunch was a bubbling clear broth soup with shellfish and noodles, a Daebu tradition, or so I have been told. It was quite good, and was not spicy; a welcome relaxation for my throat. After lunch, we visited a large indoor fish market and patiently waited for the 790 bus for the return trip home. On the train back to Sanbon, I do believe, we both took short naps. Another beautiful day spent with good people. Total travel cost was perhaps 10,000 Won round trip.

Saturday night, Alvin telephoned and we agreed to meet for dinner. He also was suffering from sore throat and minor congestion, so we shared a bottle of brandy from E-Mart in hopes of ridding ourselves from the congestion. Tiann (Alvin and Marcus's teaching partner from KOREA Week II Review) also joined us for dinner. The teachers from their academy live just one floor above their school and in single apartments on one floor, similar, but different to a college dormitory. Later that night, Chrissy and Kelsey, two other teachers from their school, invited the three of us to join them on the roof of the building, along with two of their friends. So, late Saturday night the eight of us sat listening to music, drinking wine and brandy on the ninth floor rooftop discussing teaching English and life in Korea. It was a fun night. The stars, unfortunately, could not be seen from Sanbon.

Sunday, I laid low for the most part until around 10pm, when my discomfort worsened and I registered a temperature of 101.2. This, combined with reports of 10-15 American ESL teachers in Seoul testing positive for swine flu, prompted me to visit the hospital. The hospital visit was approximately 30 minutes including the one block walk from my apartment. Diagnosis at the hospital was tonsillitis, and I was given a shot in my left ass cheek (no joke) along with a 1 day supply of medication. I am extremely pleased to have a Korean-English dictionary built in my cell phone, because the communication without this was near impossible. Total hospital cost including medicine was 45,000 Won. The best part of the visit, however, was the pharmacy. Since many Koreans often have difficulty pronouncing and distinguishing between "f" and "k" sounds, I was only slightly caught off guard, yet very amused, when the pharmacist, attempting to speak English, told me one of the pills was for my "cock" instead of my "cough."

I awoke Monday with very little to no voice. Fortunately, school was closed (previously scheduled administration day, not because of my illness) so I used this extra day to recover. After finishing the last of my medication Monday afternoon, I sought a second opinion at a local Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist. He confirmed the tonsillitis and prescribed me with an additional two days worth of medication. I was also told to revisit the hospital if my condition does not improve by Wednesday. Great, two more days of this shit.. Cost of ENT Doctor and medicine was 25,000 Won.

As of late Monday; I remain without voice, popping medication like candy, and wishing for better conditions. Total cost of tonsillitis, including hospital, ENT doctor, and medicine is 80,000 Won and climbing. Although I really do not care at this time, I sincerely hope my voice returns for class tomorrow morning or else I will be teaching classes silently via written words on the dry erase board. The cough syrup, however, is so good I saved my Monday night dosage to accompany my dinner; Baskin Robins vanilla yogurt and green tea ice cream. Seriously, it tastes that good.

My temperature, as of 12am Tuesday morning: 98.9. Congestion: mild. Cough: unpleasant. Throat condition: still sore.