Being Sick in Korea

Well, as I begin this post it is 8:03 on Sunday night. Due to the fact that I have spent the entirety of the weekend in my bed tossing and turning, sniffling, and groaning, this post is going to be my one attempt at doing something even remotely close to being labeled productive.

On Friday I was feeling off...Not sick, but I could feel the start of some illness. I figured I could sleep in on Saturday and knock it out quickly. I woke up on Saturday feeling like a truck hit me. I was incredibly miserable. Headache, stuffed up, cough, sore throat, etc. Gross. I slept the day away and hoped for the best. The night before I had soaked a pot full of black beans. I have been wanting to try out a few new recipes so I figured I could cook the beans while I knocked out my fifteenth or so episode of House. I put the pot on to boil and I went back to my room. How many times have I left a pot of soup on the stove for simmer for an hour? A freaking ton - So I knew everything would be fine. I played some solitaire, I watched a show, and then I got up to check on my beans. I opened my door to a wall of smoke. No Kidding. Floor to ceiling thick smoke. I ran to the stove, turned off the gas, sprinted to the balcony, threw open all of the windows, and tried to vent the apartment. Apparently, the beans had boiled down while I was in my room and due to the door being closed, I had not noticed AT ALL. When I opened the front door of my apartment to get a cross breeze, a ton of the rancid smelling smoke (the handle on the top of the pot had started to melt as well) billowed into the hallway. Of course, Several Korean people ran out looking worried and speaking to me in rapid Korean - I am sure they were asking what was wrong. I just kept repeating 'Ken cha nigh oh' (its okay!) and 'bee ah ney yo' (I'm sorry!) ...finally, when I showed them what was in the pot, they sort of smirked and left me alone. I think they made an announcement: "Don't worry everyone! Its just the stupid American who can't work a stove!" Awesome. So now, I had no beans, my apartment smelled to high heaven, the smoke had aggravated my already irritated throat, and I had every window and door open so that the balmy 20 degree Korean Air could drop my body temperature.

I ran to the little supermarket downstairs and bought some air freshener. I unloaded enough air freshener into our apartment to create a hole in the ozone layer and lit some candles. My apartment smells much better today, but it still reeeeeeks. My roommate freaked out about the smell...I guess I understand, but with my sickness I am sort of annoyed by it. I made a mistake. I'm sorry. I burned some beans. The apartment will smell for a few days. Deal.

I woke up today feeling worse than before. Super. I had planned on getting so much done this weekend. Now I am feeling like a worthless blob as I am currently on my 17th episode of House and this post qualifies as the most I have done this weekend.

To feel a little positive, I think I will write a small list of firsts in Korea:

The first time I cried in Korea was the second the door closed to my apartment and I was all alone.

The first food I ate in Korea was the Fried chicken at the little chicken restaurant across from my apartment building. My roommate and one of his friends took me out on my third day in Korea. He had been in Seoul for the whole weekend and because of how scared I was to leave the apartment and get lost or something, all I had eaten during that time was granola bars.

The first time I laughed in Korea was at the very same Chicken place when I saw that they had fried up EVERY part of the chicken. It was not just thighs, breasts, and legs anymore. I know I recognized a neck and there were plenty of other Unidentified Objects

The first shower that I took was freezing cold. My roommate was in Seoul and I didn't have any idea that in Korea, apparently you have to turn ON your hot water every time you want to use it.

The first time I felt like I was settling in in Korea was when I went running for the first time. I ran three miles out into the country and on my way back in, I got to see my very first Korean sunset. Two-fer-one!

The very first thing that I bought in Korea was a box of green tea. It tasted disgusting. Turns out that it was half green tea, half burned rice tea. Koreans love burned or "brown" rice tea...they also like to mix it with green tea a lot. I learned to check the box labels for "100%" REAL fast.

My first time I laughed at a Supermarket was when I saw a two liter glass jug of Carlos DeRosse cabernet savignon for 15,000 won (about 14 bucks). Because, obviously, the exact same wine that we can buy a gallon of for 6 dollars would be considered classy wine here.

On my first day at work, not fifteen minutes after arriving, one of the kids there performed "ddong chim" on me. Look it up. I won't explain. Fortunatly for me, I had been warned about this particular trick and it has not happened since, but what an interesting first day.