Trip to a Korean ER

In my previous post, I wrote that I had a busy week of parties and fun.  However, the end of my weekend was not fun.  I woke up on Sunday, after a night of celebrating my birthday and drinking, not feeling the greatest.  However, I had to go to my co-teacher's wedding.  I felt fine all day except for the ride back from the wedding.  I started to feel pain in my stomach and chest area.  I didn't think too much about it; I just figured it was a hangover.  It got worse as the night wore on.  We decided that it was heartburn.  I got maybe an hour of sleep total that whole night.  I was in so much pain that it literally made me sick.  This was the worst heartburn I'd ever had.  I called into work that morning.  After Zach left for work, I climbed into bed and was able to get about 3 hours of sleep.

When I woke up, I went to the pharmacy to try to get some relief.  There is a pharmacy within walking distance of our apartment so I decided to go there.  Unfortunately, they were closed.  I had to take the bus to find a another one.  I finally found one and when I walked in I showed them the translation for 'heartburn'. The lady reached for a bottle of liquid and made me drink it on the spot.  It only cost $3.  She then left.  I stood there confused for a minute not knowing if she was getting my real medicine or not.  She saw me standing there and motioned that I was finished.  I couldn't believe it!  All I wanted was a bottle of Tums or Pepcid AC.  I walked out of the pharmacy crying because I knew I was not going to get relief from that bottle of liquid.  Besides, it tasted nasty and was making me sick.  I walked back to the bus stop and found another pharmacy.  This one gave me two boxes of medicine that actually looked like they were for heartburn.  The only problem is that I didn't know how many to take or when.

I came home and took the medicine right away.  I had never been in so much pain from just heartburn before.  It was awful!  The medicine actually worked and I was able to get a little more sleep.  Zach came home and we ate some leftovers from Thanksgiving.  I tried to be careful about what I put on my plate but it was no use.  The pain and burning came back even stronger.  I took more medicine but it did not help.  That's when we decided that I needed to go to the hospital.  I just was not getting any relief.  I called one of my co-teachers to help.  She came to our apartment and took us to the ER.  I was given two separate shots for the pain (one shot was in the hip), an antacid, and an IV because I was slightly dehydrated.

The pain finally died off and I didn't feel quite so sick.  At midnight, we left the ER.  The most positive part of this experience was the ER bill.  We only had to pay 36,000 Won (about $36) for the whole ER visit, shots, meds, IV, etc.  I couldn't believe it!  We caught a cab home and I slept like a baby!  I did not go to school today but I plan on returning tomorrow (Wednesday).

Party Week

As I've mentioned in an earlier post, the members of Soju 2012 celebrate each other's birthdays.  This month, we had two - Tammy's and mine.  The week of partying began on November 17th with Tammy's birthday celebration.  We went out to dinner and then ended up in a bar (or two or three).

 Me & Zach

 The girls of Soju 2012

 Soju 2012

Then, Zach and I celebrated my birthday on November 20th.  In the morning, he gave me my gift of perfume and fixed breakfast.  After school he took me shopping where I bought fingernail polish and two shirts.  We then went out for dinner at a place called Posh Nosh.  It was delicious!

 He even wore a tie!

Yum!  Pizza and wine!

Thursday the 22nd was Thanksgiving.  In our neighborhood, we have a large population of foreigners (non-Koreans).  Most of us, if not all of us, are from the States.  So we decided to have a neighborhood Thanksgiving party.  Zach and I hosted.  I could not believe how much like Thanksgiving it turned out to be.

On Saturday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with our Soju 2012 family.  Zach and I hosted this one too.  Again, it turned out just like Thanksgiving at home and the food was absolutely delicious.  

 We even had two who were celebrating Thanksgiving for the very first time.  Stephen is from Canada and Fran is from England.

 Too much dessert.  Too many wines to taste!

After we ate all we could and more, we switched gears and the party turned into a birthday party for me.  We did some pre-gaming during Thanksgiving and before we went out.  Then we hit the bar(s).  Some of us (me) only made it to one.  It was a great night!

Friends from the neighborhood.

There is a picture of Soju 2012 floating out there in someone's camera, but I haven't figured out who's yet!

The next day, I went to my main co-teacher's wedding.  She is the one who helps me when we have questions about the apartment, banking, living, etc.  I was so happy that I could share her special day with her!

 The wedding was 1 1/2 hours away so we rode a "party" bus to the wedding.  They gave us snacks on the way to the wedding.

 They gave us more snacks (and beer) on the way back.

 First kiss.

Traditional wedding ceremony.  I could not stay for that one (family only) but they let me take pictures before they got started.

It was a pretty busy week but a lot of fun!  It definitely helped to keep my mind off the fact that we weren't home for the holidays.  However, we did spend the holidays with friends and even family (Soju 2012)!

A Motherless Daughter

This isn't written logically or very well at all.  It's just my feelings.  It's more for me than for anyone else though you are more than welcome to read it.

One of my favorite books is titled "Motherless Daughters" by Hope Edelman.  I encourage any woman (any age) who has lost a mother to read this book.

I feel so much but don't know how to put it into words, but I feel that I must.  It's been 9 years since Mom died.  I hate the term 'passed away'.  Let's face it, she died - and it sucks.  Cancer sucks!

I wish I knew Mom as a person.  Being almost 17 years old, I only knew Mom as Mom.  Though she shared a lot with me, I still feel that I never got to see her as a real person.  We experienced things together, but she experienced them as an adult.  That's very different than seeing it through a child's/teen's eyes.

There are so many things I wish I could have talked to her about: prom, my first serious boyfriend, graduation, sex, college, getting engaged, getting married, living abroad, marriage, etc.  What kind of advice would she give me?  Would she be able to help me in only the way a mother can?

I watched an episode of "Parenthood" tonight, and like I do during every episode, I cried.  This particular one had a scene where one of the characters had to get chemo for the first time.  I wasn't there for Mom's first chemo treatment, or any of them for that matter.  Yes, she had many, many friends to help and support her along the way, but how scary that must have been.  I always wonder if there was anything I should have done differently.

I do remember the moment I realized Mom was probably going to die.  It was the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep.  I went into the living room and picked up some pamphlets lying around.  One was about the stages of death.  I could pick out which stage Mom was in.  It wasn't long after that, that she went into the hospital and never left.  That was the longest week of my life.  Even though I knew it was going to happen, I didn't let myself thing about it.  I'm pretty sure I blocked out a lot of this time period because I don't remember a lot.  I don't remember being in her hospital room a lot.  I remember thinking that I could not get behind on homework.  Denial?!  I remember wishing she would die.  She was in a lot of pain and I didn't want that for her.  I remember her last breathe.  I also remember feeling very lost after that.

It wasn't fair!  It isn't fair!

I want to give her a hug.  I want to see her laugh.

Yes, 9 years have gone by.  Yes, it has gotten easier with time.  There are days when she doesn't cross my mind.  But, there are also days when I can't get her out of my mind and I am flooded with emotions.  I miss her!  I am thankful to have such a loving and supportive group of family, friends, loved ones, family friends, etc.  I love hearing stories about Mom and comments about what a great person she was.  Those are what makes the tough days easier.

Well, my thoughts are everywhere right now.  I should probably stop writing before it gets hard to read.

Love you and miss you, Mom!

Helping in a Soup Kitchen

During the past few months, Zach and I have made friends with several married couples who live in our neighborhood.  One of the couples invited us to a Facebook group called City Lights.  According to the 'About' section,  "City Lights exists to mobilize the people of God to be an active influence and transformative presence within our local community."  I joined the group not knowing if I would actually get involved in any of the activities.

A couple of weeks ago, City Lights posted that they were going to help at the Busanjin Soup Kitchen on November 10th.  I literally thought, "why the hell not?"  Haha.  Before coming to Korea, I'd like to think that I was a fairly active volunteer.  Since coming here, I've not volunteered for anything and I thought it was about time I did something.

I want you to know that I am writing this, not to toot my own horn, but to let you know that there is a homeless community in Busan.  And, if you are in the area, this is a great chance for you to get involved.

Outside of one of the Busanjin subway exits, a large tent is set up where the soup kitchen is.  Several churches are responsible for running the kitchen.  Several people from one of the churches wake up really early to prepare all of the food.  There is a church service that begins at 11 am and when the service is over, the food is served.  Our group and a few other volunteers lined up and the members of the church filled the trays with food.  We then took the trays to those waiting for food.  The whole process of serving the food took less than 30 minutes.

It definitely felt good to help those in need.  Though I probably won't go every Saturday, I plan to go as often as possible.

Someone made a video of what happens at the soup kitchen and I will share that video with you to give you a better idea of what it's all about.