Dog Soup and Chicken Poo House

So... I ate dog.

It was actually quite nice. Far better than I'd expected at least. The flavour was a little like lamb, but with a much softer texture, like that of corned beef. It's served as a soup, with spring onions and spices.

I don't feel bad about eating dog, meat is meat after all , and if you chose to be a meat eater I believe you should be willing to eat any type of meat. You can't be morally opposed to eating dog and then happily eat a cow; they're both animals that feel pain. 

That said, I won't go out of my way to eat one again.

Korean dog soup.

After our dog dinner we decided to get all the weird Korean foods out of the way in one evening and headed for a chicken restaurant for dessert. Korean menus have something that translates literally as "chicken poo house" (닭 (chicken) 똥 (poo) 집 (house)). For the most part I think this is an unfortunate translation of the word "gizzard", although when you're eating it with the term "poo house" in mind, you can't help but wonder. 

It does look like bumholes...

The poo house was not to my liking, very chewy, and the name put me off! 

Something not even Ric likes to eat!!

Hopefully that's it for exotic dinners now, and I can serve the rest of my time in Korea eating pizza and McDonalds!!

Should you wish to try the dog soup, or the chicken butt...
Dog Restaurant: Go to Doojeongdong Lotte Mart, find the corner with Lotteria inside and go out onto the street. Cross the major road directly in front of Lotte mart and continue straight away from Lotte Mart. Take the first street on the left. The restaurant is on the right.
Chicken butt: most chicken restaurants have this on offer, we went to Chicken Boy in Doojeongdong, opposite the Hanjeon, close to the traditional medicine hospital and McDonalds.

One Big Head Ache

For the past month I've had a tension head ache that just won't go away. I've had them before but never quite this bad.  Whilst terrible and depressing, it has lead to some interesting Korea experiences and has offered me a perspective on private healthcare compared with the public healthcare service (the NHS) that we have in England.

First of all I went to the doctors alone, without my token Korean translator/chaperone. At the doctors here you can go without an appointment and usually get seen pretty quickly. All doctors know at least some English, as many of their textbooks are written in English. I went to Samsung Seoul Clinic in Doojeong-dong, the doctor there is the uncle of one of my students! He was very kind but he didn't cure my head ache. As health care is private here you pay a fee for seeing the doctor, whereas in England doctors appointments are free. It only cost £5 and was really easy to get seen, unlike in England where it's near-impossible to get an appointment, especially if you work during the day.

At the chemist, the pharmacist only had 6 of the 7 pills I was prescribed. To compensate for this terrible inconvenience, he gave me a whole packet of prescription-only tramadol, for FREE! It's a shame there's no black market here for prescription-only opiates! That's certainly something that would NEVER happen at home. At the chemist in Korea each drug has it's own price, whereas at home we pay at standard fee for any prescription, regardless of what drug we need.

Next in my search for head ache relief I went to see a neurologist. Now this really impressed me. Back in England, on our public health service, you have to wait months to see a specialist such as a neurologist. Here in Korea I turned up at a neurology clinic, with no appointment, was seen within 5 minutes, had a consultation with the neurologist who spoke to me in English, and walked out with a prescription 10 minutes later! All for the price of £7. Now I don't wish for the privatisation of the NHS at home, but I do wish it was as cheap and easy to go private as it is here. If it were, I think a lot of people would see a private doctor (for £7 it's affordable), and that would cut the waiting lists on the NHS.

As usual I was given a mystery bag of strange pills. Here, pills don't come with any information as they do in England; no details about side effects, when or how to take them, how they work... not even in Korea! Luckily I was able to read the name of the drugs in Korean on the prescription and google what they were.

Mystery blue pills.

Having your boyfriend as your colleague has many benefits, one of them is that he kindly offers to take care of all your students when you're sick, giving you the day off to relax and get better. My wonderful Ric took my classes and got them to make me get well cards to cheer me up (because I really was bloody miserable). The cards certainly did cheer me up, the messages from my kinder students were sweet, funny, and touching. They had me in tears. 

Here are some of my favourites:

 "To: Steph teacher, Steph teacher get well soon and I'am sad because you are sick. I love you so~~~~ much." -Danny, 6 years old

  "To: Steph teacher, Hello Steph teacher. I like you we are doing fine with Ric teacher get well soon"

 - Cherie, 6 years old

 "Get well soon. I like you. Sick is writing your mail Steph teacher. I love you steph teacher"

-Sophia, 6 years old

 "To: Steph teacher. Steph techer get well soon. Today snack is strawberry"

-Alvin, 6 years old

 Annie, 6 years old, thought getting the day off deserved some congratulating. She also spelled her name wrong (Ainne). 

"To: Steph I love Steph fast finish and come get well soon!"

-Daniel, 6 years old

 Ian, 6 years old, drew me some robots.

 Ashley thinks I'm a princess.

 "I love you. I think you are pretty but fast come to Wonberland."

-Olivia, 6 years old

Olivia's card.

Right now I'm feeling much better. The head ache hasn't gone yet, but it's manageable with the medication I got from the neurologist. Hopefully I'll be fully head ache free soon, but in the meantime it's nice to know that I can easily go and see a specialist if I need to. 

The Korean Hair Cut!

After three years of avoiding the hairdressers I decided to take the plunge and chop off all my wispy, split ended, wavy locks.

I toyed with the idea of doing it myself, but when I realised I could get a professional to do it for me for £5, there wasn't really any reason to risk ruining my weekend!

Before....

After...

I was really expecting some problems; LANGUAGE BARRIER, plus Korean hair is really thick, coarse and straight, whereas mine is thin and wavy, but the stylist was amazing. I took in a picture, she nodded, hacked away and 30 minutes later I walked out of there a new woman.

If you're in Cheonan and interested in going... the salon is in Doojeongdong, a block away from McDonalds.

My Korean Hospital Experience

After feeling nauseous and exhausted all week I finally plucked up the courage to tell my boss and ask him to take me to the hospital.

It's not quite as drastic as it sounds, in Korea any room with a doctor in it is referred to as a hospital.

I was expecting my boss, Ian, to take me and act as my interpreter, but no... I was sent with a 16 year old boy!! Andy, the school director's son was less than thrilled to have to babysit me for the morning.

Seoul Samsung Clinic in Doojeongdong was nice, if not over crowded. During the 30 minutes we had to wait to be seen, my companion sat with his hood pulled up over his head and his earphones in, playing games on his phone, he wasn't too fond of small talk.

When my turn finally came I answered all the questions every 16 year old boy wants to translate: When was your last period? Have you taken any illegal drugs? How much do you drink? And then when they pulled up my top for the physical exam I'm not sure who felt the most uncomfortable!

Awkwardness aside, I was diagnosed with colitis and sent away with some strange mixture of pills to take; 12 a day!!!

Hopefully they'll get me better in time for Thursday, as I've got some very special visitors coming!!!

Mum and Dad's Visit. Next Stop: Cheonan

For parents as special as mine, only the best will do (when they're paying at least), that’s why I found them the wonderful Shangri-la Hotel in Doojeongdong. Their room was a turret complete with a [faulty] jacuzzi bath and all the popcorn, bananas and tangerines you could eat. More importantly, it was right opposite Cheonan’s biggest nightclub “Star Night” and a convenient ten minutes walk from our apartment.     

The bright lights of Star Night

A week in Cheonan was spent meeting my kindergarten students, visiting temples, playing cards and sampling the local restaurants and bars.

My students were so excited, perhaps because they knew they'd be getting a day off from studying grammar, but they were also curious to see what my parents were like and each one of them drew an adorable picture for my Mum and Dad. 

We had "muddy duck" one night... a roast duck stuffed with rice and oats and herbs and God knows what else. It was delicious, but I think my Mum was rather put off by the 500 plates of pickled cabbage cluttering the table! There's a trick to eating out in Korea: ignore the side dishes!

We norebanged, my Mum's first ever go at karaoke (and last... I hope), we went to the wine bar, ate some nice food (and some Korean food), had dinner with my boss and generally just enjoyed socialising with my parents.

Beer...

Wine...

Cocktails...

Norebanging: I have a video but the world just isn't ready....

Me and Ric doing justice to Zombie by the Cranberries.

My parents did just about everything there is to do in Cheonan (there isn't much), and they managed to drag it out for a whole week! Retirement has really taught them how to take it easy!