::A Geek in Korea::

Since I have a reputable employer that actually provides me with a semblence of basic health care, we were asked to have a health check up. This is my first health check for quite some time. I haven’t had any causes for concern over my health since I got rid of my cronic stomach problems of a few years ago. Luckily since then, I haven’t gone to the hospital for anything serious. I went with my manager and one other coworker to the hospital. It was another affiliate of our school, meaning we didn’t have to pay anything.

They did the standard sorts of tests. Height, Blood, Body Fat, Eyesight, Urine, and we even got a chest X-ray. Since I was there with the other teacher, and the nurses spoke no English, if our manager wasn’t available to help us, I was the default translator. Most of it was of the "come here", "go there", "take off that" variety. Thank goodness that my manager gave us enough dignity to not follow us into all of the examination rooms.

On the healthy survey, our manager told us the general idea of the questions.  I could tell what the answers were about and was able to fill it out once I got pointed in the right direction. The drinking question was tabulated by "How many soju bottles do you drink?" (Less than Half, half, one, two or more.) The fact that there is a "two or more" catagory scared me.

We both were told that more detailed results would be given in a week. They said they were going to look into my tests a little more to see if there were any potential problems and tell me. The doctor spoke almost no English, so I’m unable to even guess as to the seriousness of any potential condition, or if any worry is justified. It seemed like there was something he was trying to tell me, but I won’t know until the results return.

I’m already fully insured now for health. I’ve got a policy beyond what is covered by the school that I started last month. I don’t need to push my luck, so a health check like this is good for me.