Well, That Was Fun

I don't think i'll be sleeping for a while. Just got back from the hospital. C had an asthma attack that was pretty bad. I had to call the director of our school to take us to Yonsei University Hospital when her machine didn't help. I think we were pretty lucky that the head doctor has a couple of kids at the school. It didn't take long to see him. Before he got there C had already had a nurse and three interns poking and prodding her. She had an IV, oxygen tubes up her nose, and they attempted to take blood. You should see the posse my girlfriend rolls with when we hit the hospitals. If we didn't have someone to translate i think they would have opened up her chest. I couldn't believe the hacks trying to take blood from an artery in her wrist. They must have skewered her fifty times before they finally drew blood. Three different interns took a stab at her (literally). C was in a lot of pain and was very close to tears. One of the interns spoke at least a little English, and i was about to ask if it was all really necessary when they finished. After the doctor looked at her he decided she should have a chest x-ray as well. In Canada she would have got some medication, eventually, and we would have been gone. The emergency was packed with interns and patients. At one point we heard the word "enema" somewhere in the distance. We both looked at each other and i said, "If that's for you we're out of here." In the end everything turned out alright. C is fine now and is getting some well deserved rest.

Last night i decided to take some pills to help me sleep. A good friend of mine that works at a health food store got me some Melatonin. It's supposed to help "regulate circadian rhythms and improve sleep quality related to sleep disorders and jet lag". A couple of hours after taking the pills i really felt like i couldn't keep my eyes open and i went to bed around one. That's really early for me. As i was drifting off i got a feeling like my heart was fluttering and i was out of breath. That kind of scared me, but i was too tired to worry much. About six in the morning i shot up in bed with a stabbing chest pain. I haven't felt anything like that in a couple of years. After the pain subsided i did manage to get back to sleep for a few hours. I think i scared C a bit. Other than that i slept really well. Almost nine hours, i think. A few years ago i was having serious chest pains and a feeling like my heart was fluttering before i saw my doctor and changed my diet. Since coming to Korea i haven't had any pains at all in my chest. I think i'll lay off the pills tonight.

On Sunday we stopped in the stadium near here to watch some kids playing soccer. An old Korean man was walking by us staring a little bit when he saw the "Old Navy" shirt i was wearing. He asked, "Are you in the navy?" I told him we were English teachers and he sat down and had a nice chat with us. He said he works at Yonsei University in Wonju and went to school at Rutgers in New Jersey. It was good to have an English conversation with someone other than kids or the people we work with. At first i thought as he passed he was just staring as the Koreans here do. I'll have to write about the staring thing another time, and teaching as well. I will write about teaching some day.

-insomniac out.