So, sometimes, its the little things that make it frustrating living in another country. For many people, the most obvious frustration might be the language. For others, it might be that all of the Koreans look alike; how do you tell one apart from the other? However, for me, its often the little things that make it incredibly frustrating.
Take for example my situation from just the other day. For those of you who don't know, I'm over eighty percent deaf in my right ear. I've had tubes in the ear for a long time, and I've tried surgery, but to no avail. Before I left Canada, I tried a different tube that's supposed to last longer than the typical tube. Exciting, I know... True to the tubes word, it lasted longer then the normal tube(for me); it stayed in for a whole two months, or just slightly more. The tubes in my ear come out in stages, and when they don't completely come out, they start to make a crackling noise in my ear at the most inopportune times. The sound is comparable to having someone put rice krispies in your ear, and then pouring milk; the sound you get from pouring milk into a bowl of rice Krispies (and the snap, crackle, pop) is about as close as I can get by way of comparison. Getting back to the story....
This weekend is the Mud Festival weekend in a city south of Seoul. They basically flood a big field that's pretty much useless, pump in a lot lot of ocean water, make the whole thing a big slosh pit, and then set up soccer pitches, volleyball nets up, and everyone goes crazy. So I figured that I'd get my tube popped out completely, and do myself a favour. I'd noticed that my hearing had dropped from minimal to nothing, so I thought I'd check it out. After going into the wrong office (I love it when Koreans who know English tell me; "Uh, why'd you go in that office - he's the doctor. You want to go in there", pointing to another sign with Korean writing on it - and the two signs? Identical except for one Korean symbol....oooooohhhhhh, that's right, I'm stupid, sorry)
After I visit with him, I find out that my ear is fine. After I give him a weird look, he tells me the bad news. You're ear is infected, and its swollen shut. "So it's not fine?" I ask? "No, its fine, its infected".....He goes back to doing his work as I try to figure out his "wonderful" news. To make a long story short, my weekend's sorta ruined, and I still can't get the tube that's halfway out of my inner-ear out; its still crackling. What was supposed to be a simple tube removal has turned into me needing to take a whole smorgasboard of antibiotics (four pills, three times a day) for four days. That's not the best part. I'm not supposed to let water (much less mudd) touch my ear, and I'm not supposed to have a drink of alcohol. I almost felt like telling him I'd put it off until after the weekend; my weekend beer is what I look forward to on Friday; its going to be a long day. "Waiter, I'll take a water please?"ugh. Maybe I'll see a movie.
what I wouldn't have done for even my old ear doctor who's about as sharp as a marble.....The redeeming part of this weekend? Without using my medical coverage,the whole doctors office and prescriptions came to less then ten dollars; Six dollars for the doctors visit, and Three-fifty for the prescriptions......Need an argument for privatized health care? Come to South Korea....
well, I need to go take my antibiotics and eat some breakfast.... Next time you see your English doctor who understands what you're talking about, say thanks....
Sorta living the dream......and saying "whuh? every third second......

Bryan