Castlevania Korean Style! (AKA The Medical Exam)

Well I have to admit, I was/am pretty scared of the medical exam. I have pretty bad teeth and there is always that paranoia that something is going to come up like TB or some type of Cancer. So far so good...right?

The university hospital I went to was a labyrinth of elevators and stairwells. I was just waiting for the flying Medusa heads and the zombies to start the welcoming party. Exams go super quick in Korea. They have this assembly line of doctors that are locked away in several rooms. First they had me put my stuff in a locker. Then they bombarded me with various tests.

The first one I went through was the eye exam: my left eye is shot so they did not tell me anything that I don't already know. I am near-sighted in my left eye and far sighted in my right. My right eye is getting a little bad though. I used to be 20/20 out of that eye but maybe I am getting weaker in that eye.

The next one was the hearing test. Dealing with a bad left eye really heightens the other senses because I passed with perfect hearing!

Next was the blood pressure test. I have a slightly high systolic rate and a low diastolic rate that has been the same for years. Nothing new there. I have been sitting at a 140 systolic for umpteenth amount of years with no sign of it really going up so I should be fine there.

Next was the dental exam. For personal reasons this section is censored. I'll just say my teeth are bad shape and move on.

And then I went up to the clock tower to battle Vlad himself...or so I thought. Vlad took the form of a cute Korean nurse in her mid 20s. I was totally caught off guard with the whole process. Usually examiners take up to 2 pints of blood at the most, but this Vlad in disguise was definitely making a withdrawal today. So I wound up getting 4 pints of blood out of me! She wanted me to pee for a diabetic test, but I could not do it right away so I had to come back. Before her fangs protruded for seconds I made haste to the X-ray machine.

The X-ray exam is one of the final tests for the procedure. After that they did a BMI which the results were strange. I actually shrank a little, but it could be do to bad posture. My back doesn't hurt so I am not going to dwell on where my 4 centimeters went! I actually like the idea of being a little shorter! To me that was great news. Maybe my head will suffer less concussions. I am surprised there wasn't a reflexology exam as well, but back to the second encounter with Vlad!

I came back with my vial of holy water or holy bladder (your choice!) and I gave it to her. My urine tested low for blood sugar so I shouldn't have diabetes.The whole procedure had me feeling super faint was after I passed out at work from her withdrawing four pints vampuric embrace. I was out cold for about 2 hours waiting for my classes to start. I basically pigged out at Lotteria (pronounced Lotto-ria) (and no you don't use lottery tickets as tee pee there; it is a hamburger restaurant).

Hopefully everything goes fine here. I do not want to be deported because I shrunk or my left eye is a little bad. That would not be a good way to start off Korean New Year's. Hey with my superhuman hearing, I could be a superhero that wears an eye patch that magically shrinks on command! Sweet I have bizarre super powers after leaving Reno! At least I got something out of the place! Or I could just be a pirate =P. I better start working on enunciating my "ARGS" I mean my r's.

Sorry I couldn't resist.

Laundry: by far the most troublesome chore in Korea next to crossing the street.

Okay. I have have to say this will be a two part post. So I figured I'll talk about the bad first. And yes, I mean bad.

So I am doing laundry today for one week's worth of clothes and this is with me even going a little college clean on some days. I have a grand total of 3 loads to do =(. I really need to figure out a system where I do not have as many. I can only wash so many clothes per hour as well. My laundry hanger is sprawled out throughout the room. And no, I did not make any grammatical error: it literally is sprawled out throughout the room.

So what does this mean of me? One of those class days will have to be devoted towards washing those tighty-whites that I had put off for the longest time. Another thing it means is that I have to break up the sessions it takes to dry laundry. Usually eight to twelve hours does it for laundry drying. Other than that, I like my place a lot. I feel that I am able to concentrate on things without much interruptions, loud room mates, people inviting me over to parties or to LAN sessions. (Not that the occasional LAN session isn't fun; I'm burnt out on it right now.) And for the last month in the states, it was a pain attending all those going away parties and studying Korean at the same time even though everyone meant well. So if I am lucky, maybe my clothes will be dry by the time I sleep. If not, they will hang over me while I sleep.

Being schooled in pizza by Koreans

Wow, life in the fast food lane can be pretty harry. I can't seem to wrap my head around certain restuarant themes. There is Mr. Big Hamburger: they serve small, medium and extra large burgers. No I did not make that up. They actually have size catagories for burgers. I refuse to eat a Large burger simply because I do not even see the point off living up to the America sterotype that everything is big. Burgers are small in America. You have rare exceptions but compared to Korea, burgers are small.

My next point: pizza. Between Japan and Korea, I have been totally schooled in the fine art of ordering pizza. Today I had a Rion Pizza which was pizza with wrapped ham with a sweet potato filling. Call me crazy, but who thought of this? It was killer. I would probably have never thought Koreans would school Italians and Americans in pizza, but I stand corrected. Next thing is variety: Korea has it but it doesn't. Every store I have gone to, I wind up with coffee or Coke for my drink selection. Other drinks have a voice too. And Korea make some good drinks, but I would like to at least order a diet Coke every now and then. Pizza School is one of the best places to go for food in Korea. There is pizza, pizza, and more pizza. And if your insides need a break from Kim-chee, Pizza School is a winner.

Dabbling with size conversions!

Well I have to say the past week has been entertaining. All day I have been hearing this Korean couple have lover spats in Korean. At least the dishes havn't started to fly yet. But anyways, life goes on. So I mentioned before I had accidently taken someone else's luggage. I am guessing  that the airport will not check into it, so I am forced to rely on other options. I had to go to 24 Hour Mart and grunt, build fire, find clothes for wild man search land for clothes that fit. Okay you get the idea. While I didn't have any problems finding my size, I went ahead and made a conversion chart for all my dress sizes.

Shoes are 292
Pants are 97cm x 81cm
Shirts are size 110cm
Undies are 105cm

One of the websites that has a great conversion chart for people who have giant sizes (interesting enough I never shopped at Big and Tall because I was told my neck was too small for any of their clothing). Nine times out of ten I was usually in the right dress size at Wal-Mart anyways. Anyways here one of the websites I used: http://www.cutiecode.com/index.php?main_page=sizeinfo#1712 . Have fun and take care!

안 녕하새 요! This is Charles coming to you with another reporting! Gently. But anyways, Incheon has been easier on me today. I actually got around to trying out Pizza School where they serve pizza from around the world. Kind of like your slice of your country's food delivered on a slice of cheesy goodness. I found ordering food was a lot easier than before.

It is like my mind in naturally adjusting itself to everyone's body language and I am naturally figuring out the parts of when I pay and what not. I thought about buying a watch today because I am borrowing a co-workers, but decided to refrain until I can figure out the words "this one" and "that one". At first I did not want to leave the house due to the last two days of frustration, but decided I was better off to do so.

Nothing like being back in Asia drinking a tall bottle of Calpis. Nope, I am not spelling it wrong and yes it sounds the way you're thinking. the Japanese Family Mart in Korea has their own brand of goodness all over. At the 24 Mart I found undies for less than 3 bucks! That is a phenomenal deal! (Now let's just hope they fit ;) ) I also bought socks but they might not fit. They are about an inch and a half undersized, so I will have to see.