Today's lesson comes in two parts:
2. Nearly everyone gets sick within their first month or two in Korea.
Regarding #1: From what I've been told, the Korean FDA doesn't really regulate soju ingredients, the alcohol percentage, or much else regarding the cheap drink. That probably explains why I woke up Saturday morning with a swollen lymph node that hurt so badly that I couldn't sleep on my right side, nor could I eat food on that side of my mouth. The only other times this happened were when I consumed a significant amount of beer - this reaction usually indicates that one is sensitive to fermented barley. I stay away from beer in larger quantities because of this. Time to stay away from soju.
Regarding #2: My swollen lymph node went away last night, and this morning I woke up to a stuffy nose and sore throat. I ached. All I wanted to do was sleep. I spent my day eating udon noodle soup with a homemade chicken broth base and feeling sorry for myself. I was cursing the reaction to soju until Holly informed me that everyone who comes to Korea gets sick within the first two months of being here. It's usually a respiratory-related illness or sore throat because of the pollution. Well, I've been using my inhaler pretty regularly here, and now I have a killer sore throat.
I was so proud of my immune system. All of the other teachers have been dropping like flies and I was fine the whole time. Until now. Need more Vitamin C!
There's not much getting around the lousy air in Suwon, is there? Can you buy good vitamons or "green food" supplements (like what your bionic Grandmother ingests to keep her climbing mountains) over there? It might help to keep you strong despite the environmental challenges. Do Koreans, on the average, get sick a lot? Is there a lot of asthma there like there is here?
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of impossible to escape the bad air quality. Funny thing is: 33% of adults smoke cigarettes.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any "green food" stuff around here. Then again, everything's in Korean.
I did a little research about illness in Korea and found that most reported illnesses are chronic. I would assume that there is a decent amount of asthma, considering how awesome the air quality is.