Day 104: Went to the hospital

When I woke up today, my throat hurt too.
Having finally had enough of waking up with either a fever, stomach pain, or a headache, I decided it was time to go to the doctor to get some penicillin to kill it off.

I contacted my travel insurance providers to ask how to proceed and also Wonjun to ask where exactly I should go.
I talked to a really nice man, who told me that I should pay for the doctor's visit and medicine first (and save the bills) and then to contact them again once I'm back in Denmark. I felt a bit nervous about this since it's my general understanding that insurance companies always try to avoid having to pay their costumers. But oh well, I didn't think this would go away by itself.

Wonjun told me I could go to Yonsei's Severance hospital on campus, which I was mode than happy about. I wouldn't have to walk too far and I have so much respect for the doctors there. I don't remember what I wrote about them when Celine and I went there to have our tuberculosis tests taken but if I said anything negative, it's been due to lack of sleep and the stress of not having our luggages with us. I only have good things to say about them, really.

Even so, now that I was a little nervous about the insurance being involved, I asked Hajun to come with me in case of any important information given to me in Korean. His first class of the day was pretty late so he was more than happy to come with me.

When we came to the hospital around 12, Hajun asked where we should go and a girl, the same I'd talked to when we came for the tuberculosis tests, sent us to the room for international patients - the same place as I'd been to before as well
Consultation had just stopped, though, and they wouldn't be checking patients again before 14.00.
I was feeling too uncomfortable to walk all the way back to my dorm only to return here so we both just sat down in a corner of the room and relaxed. After maybe an hour or so, one of the doctors/nurses came over and told me that they had a room in the back where I could lie down and get a blanket if I wanted to relax a little. It was so sweet of them!
I politely declined, however. The chairs we were sitting in were just fine and it was but a sore throat and some minor pains. I will not forget that act of kindness.

I was seen by two doctors - the first probably being a student - and once again had no troubles. They were good at English (the second being completely fluent), listened to my symptoms, asked questions, etc. The second doctor even quickly asked about my family's medical history as they still had my journal from the first time I went to Severance.

The doctor told me that she'd prescribe me penicillin for ten days and then some gargle to take away some of the pain in my throat. We sat down for a few minutes and then I was called to the desk to pay and get the receipt for my doctor's visit. It still is a pretty strange feeling paying for seeing your doctor like this.

All this time, Hajun had stayed with me even though I didn't need his help. He skipped his first class and stayed with me until I got the medicine even though he was going to be late for his afternoon class.

This pills are surprisingly big! And the gargle is pretty much the same colour as the green on the wrapping of the pills and tasted pretty bad. When I use it, it stings a bit and feels like it numbs the back of my mouth a bit so I guess it works.

After picking it up, we swung by the bakery inside the hospital to get something to eat before going back to school.

On our way there, we passed by this 1:50 model of the original school that would later become Yonsei's medical school.

It's sort of surreal seeing these old traditional Korean buildings, knowing the original story of the university - and then seeing to super high tech hospital today that is Severance.

Closer to the bakery, in the lobby, we walked past these little wishing walls where people left handwritten cards. The text says: "Severance prays for your wishes"

It makes me really happy to see things like these during Christmas time. And they were beautifully decorated! Koreans truly know how to please the eyes.

Beside these wishing walls was a big fake Christmas tree! I have yet to see a real tree being used here in Korea but I have to say that their fake trees are really pretty.

We bought a bunch of bread and shared (Hajun is a bread lover as well!) before I sent Hajun on his way to school and headed for my Korean class. I took a shortcut through the hospital and discovered 5 more trees on my way out!

When I got to class, there was still about an hour left and luckily this hour was the most important part since we're always doing grammar point during the second half of class with our new teacher.

After class, Isabella and a classmate of ours, Angel(?) asked me to join them for dinner but after having spent the past 5'ish hours at the hospital, I was ready to return to my bed.

I was there for the last hour (the important part with grammar). then went back home.