Going to the doctor

Last week Britney and I needed to go to the hospital for your checkup that you must get when you are staying in Korea for an extended period of time. We went to the hospital in the next town over, Suwon. Once we got there we had to change into a gown and go from station to station to get various procedures done. We needed to get our blood pressure taken, our weight and our height along with getting our eyes checked at the first station. From there we went to get a urine test, then we had to get blood drawn. From there we had to test our hearing, get an x-ray of our chest taken, our teeth checked and finally we needed to talk to a doctor about our health history. It was a little overwhelming but all of the doctors spoke English.

When I was there I talked to them about refilling my arthritis medication. They said they couldn't do it there, I needed to go to a doctor in Suji and then come back. The next day at school I spoke to my supervisors about this. They said that there was a doctor by the school, who spoke English, that could write me the prescription. One of my supervisors brought me there today during lunch. The doctor was concerned about my meds because he says it is very severe. This may be because they don't use it a lot here. This became very apparent when he told me I needed to go two subway stops over to actually get the prescription filled. Because they don't use it, it is not easily available. After work I took a bus to the subway, went 2 stations into Seoul and walked to the pharmacy. My supervisor had printed off a map for me and circled where it was. She also called ahead to make sure they would be open that late and told me what color the building was. It was much easier then I expected! I walked out of the subway station and the building was right in front of me! Once I walked in I asked the man working and he said 'yes this is here.' I gave him the prescription and it was ready in under 10 minutes. I guess this place is close to a major research hospital, which is why I could get the meds there. It was an experience but I did it and made it back to Suji!!