Suwon Medical Center

I left my apartment at the early hour of 9:45am to head to Suwon Medical Center for my E-2 Visa check-up. I walked 4 blocks in the pouring rain to Lotte Mart to find a taxi. It took me a few minutes, but I finally found the line of taxis waiting for customers. I walked up to the third taxi in line, only to be turned down. I went to the next one in line, same thing. I finally walked to the very front, and the man let me inside. (Come to find out, the taxi drivers are really respectful when it comes to waiting their turn. They send people to the very front car until it's their turn at the front.) Good to know. Darren (my boss) had given me a piece of paper with all the information I needed on it. I pointed to the address in Korean for the Medical Center, and the taxi driver knew exactly where to go.

I walked inside and went to "Window 5" with all my information, hoping to talk to someone who knew a little bit of English. The man sent me to a side counter to fill out some paperwork. I figured out a few Korean words like "Name," "Phone Number," "Address of Occupation," and "Date of Birth." The rest was all a blur. I stood at the counter for another few minutes, obviously looking very perplexed. The man at Window 5 came right over, took the paperwork, and filled out all the rest of the forms for me!

I was sent to the second floor for a chest x-ray. Apparently they want to make sure that I don't have tuberculosis. Then, I went to the third floor where I had my blood drawn, urine tested (gross, I know), eyes, blood pressure, height and weight checked. I know pee is gross, but I have to share something:

The doctor handed me the cup to go pee in. As I was leaving the bathroom, I noticed a rack of pee cups sitting on the counter by the sink. There was a big green arrow pointing down at the rack. So, I left my pee cup there along with maybe 8 others, and went back into the lab. The doctor didn't question me when I came back, so I realized I had done the right thing. So bizarre... :)

Everything went as smoothly as it could've gone, considering no one spoke English. There were a few mishaps here and there, but overall it went well. Finding a taxi on my way home was probably the most difficult part of the whole experience. I left the hospital and wandered up and down the block for a good ten minutes before I was finally able to get an available taxi. I definitely need to learn how to be more aggressive when it comes to getting taxis. It's a new experience for me, but hopefully I'll master it soon :)

I tried a new food today. Beth and I had the same dinner break at work, so she took me to a new restaurant. They sell riceballs. You pick what you want inside of it, like chicken, tuna, crab, kimchi, or pork. They take the meat, mix it with spices, roll it into a ball about the size of a baseball, and wrap it in seaweed. It's SO YUMMY!! I had a "chom-chee-salad riceball" which is "tuna salad riceball." It's definitely one of my new favorite places!! They brought us our food, along with a really yummy soup and some vegetables. It was quick, too, which is always a good thing. I only have 40 minutes for my dinner break, so I always have to go somewhere with really quick service.

Tomorrow, my kids have mid-terms. They have speaking and listening tests, and the students always get really stressed out about them. Say an extra prayer for my students tomorrow and for me. I always try to give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their pronunciations, but Darren told me to be pretty strict. He wants to see how well they can actually speak, which is understandable, but I know they are trying so hard.