From one South to another...: Under the weather

I begin every class by asking how the students are feeling that day. They always answer with the same conditioned response "I'm fine" and then ask me how I am feeling. Today I decided to switch it up a bit and said to them, "I'm feeling a little under the weather today." As soon as I said that my students started looking out the window and one kid actually said "it's sunny." I then realized that this 4th grade class had been studying the phrase, "How's the weather" for the past few days and since I only see each class once a week I was not aware of this fact. Needless to say they were confused and my co-teacher had to explain to them that I was sick and feeling under the weather is just an expression. It was just the comic relief I needed to start the day.

When Koreans get sick they go directly to the "hospital" which is what they call the doctor's office. They don't waste time seeing if their illness will worsen. I have been sick with cold like symptoms for a few days now. Given the cost of healthcare in the US, most people don't run over to their local doctors office every time they get a cold. Thankfully Korea is different in that regard. I have heard many reports that state that Korea has one of, if not the best heath care systems in the world. During lunch today, in between sniffles, my co-teachers and our PE teacher were hounding me to visit the "hospital." I explained to them that we Americans don't often visit the doctor unless we are severely ill. The PE teacher insisted that I visit his friend who is a doctor to get some medication so finally I agreed. I had visited the same doctor once before when I got food poisoning. He called his friend to let him know that I would be stopping by sometime after 2pm. Once I arrived, the ladies at the front desk immediately ushered me into the doctor's office, not a check-up room, but his actual office. There were about 3 people in the waiting room when I arrived and I know there is only one doctor at this particular location. The doctor asked me to sit down and describe my symptoms so I did. When I finished he gave me a once over, checked my temp, looked at my throat and diagnosed me with "the common cold." No surprise there. He wrote me a prescription and I went back to the front desk to pay for my visit. The ladies and I stared at each other for a minute, so I pulled out my wallet and pointed to the cash. One of them pipped up and said, no, no, free, free. The language barrier kept me from questioning the free doctors visit so I headed for the pharmacy. Once there I handed the man behind the counter my prescription and he began to fill it. I was given 9 little baggies filled with various sized pills and some liquid chest decongestant. The prescription cost me 3,300 won, which is equivalent to a little over $2 in the states. It took a total of 15 minutes to visit a doctor and get the prescription filled and I only spent 2 bucks in the process. I guess knowing the right people, no matter where you are is never a bad thing.