Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Now Hear This

Unable to shake off this Korean 'flu I ventured out of the apartment for the first time in a few days to go see a doctor at the hospital. As usual it was just a few minutes from entering the door to sitting in the doctor's office, which was fortunate because I was able to control my terrible coughing for just long enough while we waited. Perhaps it's my paranoia but as much as you get stared at sometimes as a foreigner in Korea, I can't help thinking these stares are particularly probing when you enter a medical facility. Perhaps it's the fear you're carrying a particularly exotic and contagious disease.

Although my voice now seems so low that I sound like I might be possessed, the doctor nevertheless understood my greetings and potentially offered an insight into the Korean psyche by exclaiming 'Thank God he speaks Korean!'. Unfortunately I apparently didn't speak English though because by the time she'd asked me where I was from - in my own language - I'd already lost sufficient interest in the Korean conversation between the doctor and my wife to have drifted off to another place entirely. It's the second time in two weeks I've blanked a Korean talking to me in English, and I must admit, I seem to be developing a track record with this.

If I thought I was taking a lot of pills before, I'm really taking a lot now.

Korean tags: 건강, 영어, 한국어

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