The magic’s wearing off.
I must point out that’s only the case with my daily taxi ride INTO work in the mornings.
Take this morning as an example - I got the typical Agussi (Grumpy Old Man) driver who, when greeted when I got into the cab, asks me where I’m going. “Industrial complex” I reply. He groans, and mumbles under his breath, and the usual thing happens – He points to the cab waiting in line behind us, and mutters the equivalent of “Sorry mate, I don’t go South of the river!” He gets insistent and continues pointing to the cab at the back. If I get out now, then who’s to say his mates not from the same club.
I sit tight, and continue repeating the address, as if he didn’t get it first time. It’s the only thing I can do, as I don’t have enough Korean to start a full blown argument. He protests. I sit tight. Eventually he gets the message – he’s got someone as stubborn as him in the back of his cab, and either way, he’s lost. We head off, and he kids on he doesn’t know the way, and tries to go the long way round to make it really worth his while. I’ve made this trip a hundred times now, and know the way. The little Korean I have picked up, has probably been the most critical – how to tell a taxi which way to go. Arruncho (right), Wencho (left) and Chic-Chin (straight on). When you finally get to your destination, it’s Yugio! (here). Works wonders!
The reluctance to take me to the industrial complex? – simple, he has real trouble finding a fare to take him back to the city in the mornings. He’d much rather do the local shopping trip, or take the kids to school. I’m hard work.
Monday, 13 April 2009
Sunday, 12 April 2009
Keep arms and legs in the cab at all times….
The taxi trip has been discussed a number of time in previous blogs, but the one home from work is especially noteworthy! I think it has something to do with getting near to tea-time for the driver, and his unwavering compulsion to get down to the local noodle shop for a hit of rammen noodle, or whatever takes his fancy.
Usually the ride starts off well, with little indication of his need to feed. When we get on the straights, it’s a different story. It’s Hold tight and here we go! Pot holes and undulations in the road are disregarded, and the suspension takes a right beating. I half expect a camera half way down the road to flash and capture our fearful expressions and then have the option of us buying a copy for $2 at the end of the ride!
If you have never seen a cab going round the corners on 2 wheels then come to Korea. It’s much cheaper than some fairground rides back home, and way more fun!
Usually the ride starts off well, with little indication of his need to feed. When we get on the straights, it’s a different story. It’s Hold tight and here we go! Pot holes and undulations in the road are disregarded, and the suspension takes a right beating. I half expect a camera half way down the road to flash and capture our fearful expressions and then have the option of us buying a copy for $2 at the end of the ride!
If you have never seen a cab going round the corners on 2 wheels then come to Korea. It’s much cheaper than some fairground rides back home, and way more fun!
On medical matters….
Sue has been suffering the last 2 ½ weeks with a really annoying and sometimes painful cough. We thought it was just a carry on from my cold that I caught a few weeks ago, and took about a week to get rid of. We were under the impression not to go near a doctors until we had received our medical insurance cards, as the fees they would charge would be very high. It turns out, that we only had to show our ID cards, and this got us local prices, and the fact we were covered on our insurance from the day we got here. It got to the point on Saturday morning that I had to get her to the doctors – she was coughing so hard, it was really starting to get her down.
We first called our friends to ask where they went and how to go about it. It turns out, we have a local clinic on site right at the apartment complex (is there nothing this complex doesn’t offer?). They were walking right past the clinic at the time, and gave us the number. I called our executive assistant for help in how to get to the doctors. Kristine called the doctors for us, and let us know that it was a walk-in surgery, and just to go right along as they was an English speaking doctor on site. We headed out, with poor Sue coughing like a drain.
At the surgery, we handed over our ID cards, and Sue was immediately triaged with a digital thermometer stuck in her ear. No fever, thank goodness. We were asked to sit until the doctor could see us. In about 5 minutes, we heard a couple of phone calls going on in the background. I then got a call from Kristine who said the doctor would prefer of we would go an see a buddy of his, who spoke better English, and had all the facilities on-site. The receptionist gave us a piece of paper with the surgery’s details on it, and told us to get a cab. We headed outside and picked a cab right from the stand outside the complex. 5 minutes later, we were at the second surgery, and again, it was just a walk-in affair (how many surgeries back in the UK can you just casually walk into on a Saturday morning?) We were greeted and again, the ID card details taken. The doctor was very polite, and asked Sue what the symptoms were – communication was fair, and we both got our points across. This was one occasion, where Sue insisted I accompany her into the consultation!
Strange that he never shut to door to the consultation room.
After a few more questions, the doctor said he would examine her, and asked her to take the obligatory deep breaths. He said that he would like to take some X-rays of her chest just to check it out. At this point I could feel a long day coming on, what with traipsing over to the hospital, waiting for consultants to pore over the images, then get back to the clinic for a follow-up. I was very surprised to find that the X-ray dept was in the next room! The doctor could see the look of surprise when he told us this, and reckoned the look was more of “how much was this going to cost?” He said it was not expensive. I wasn’t really bothered about the cost, as it was going to be covered on the medical insurance anyway.
Sue was whisked into a little cubicle and made to wear the usual sexy open backed gown, which I came to love 18 months ago, when I ended up in hospital for the week with my dodgy guts. 5 minutes later she emerged having had her photographs taken. The images were checked over by the receptionist, who I think doubled up as chief radiographer. We noted during the time that all the consultations being made by the doctor was with an open door! Sue said she had read this is normal practice on the expat forums.
We were ushered into the doctors room again to discuss the results of the images, and were glad to find that the possible Pneumonia was ruled out, but a touch of bronchitis was the culprit this time. A course of antibiotics and a shot should sort her out. Sue was taken to another little room, and the jab administered directly to her bum. I hate shots, regardless of where they happen to be aimed. 2 minutes later, and we were being escorted to the pharmacy on the ground floor, and the medicines handed over. Great service I thought, and the princely sum we paid for all this attention?
Doctors consultation fees, examination, X-rays, injections, prescribed medicines = 2400KRW (£12) Amazing! ....and all done within 2 hours on a Saturday morning.
The downside? (there is always one!) Sue’s going to rattle for the next 3 days. 6 different pills 3 times per day lol :)
We first called our friends to ask where they went and how to go about it. It turns out, we have a local clinic on site right at the apartment complex (is there nothing this complex doesn’t offer?). They were walking right past the clinic at the time, and gave us the number. I called our executive assistant for help in how to get to the doctors. Kristine called the doctors for us, and let us know that it was a walk-in surgery, and just to go right along as they was an English speaking doctor on site. We headed out, with poor Sue coughing like a drain.
At the surgery, we handed over our ID cards, and Sue was immediately triaged with a digital thermometer stuck in her ear. No fever, thank goodness. We were asked to sit until the doctor could see us. In about 5 minutes, we heard a couple of phone calls going on in the background. I then got a call from Kristine who said the doctor would prefer of we would go an see a buddy of his, who spoke better English, and had all the facilities on-site. The receptionist gave us a piece of paper with the surgery’s details on it, and told us to get a cab. We headed outside and picked a cab right from the stand outside the complex. 5 minutes later, we were at the second surgery, and again, it was just a walk-in affair (how many surgeries back in the UK can you just casually walk into on a Saturday morning?) We were greeted and again, the ID card details taken. The doctor was very polite, and asked Sue what the symptoms were – communication was fair, and we both got our points across. This was one occasion, where Sue insisted I accompany her into the consultation!
Strange that he never shut to door to the consultation room.
After a few more questions, the doctor said he would examine her, and asked her to take the obligatory deep breaths. He said that he would like to take some X-rays of her chest just to check it out. At this point I could feel a long day coming on, what with traipsing over to the hospital, waiting for consultants to pore over the images, then get back to the clinic for a follow-up. I was very surprised to find that the X-ray dept was in the next room! The doctor could see the look of surprise when he told us this, and reckoned the look was more of “how much was this going to cost?” He said it was not expensive. I wasn’t really bothered about the cost, as it was going to be covered on the medical insurance anyway.
Sue was whisked into a little cubicle and made to wear the usual sexy open backed gown, which I came to love 18 months ago, when I ended up in hospital for the week with my dodgy guts. 5 minutes later she emerged having had her photographs taken. The images were checked over by the receptionist, who I think doubled up as chief radiographer. We noted during the time that all the consultations being made by the doctor was with an open door! Sue said she had read this is normal practice on the expat forums.
We were ushered into the doctors room again to discuss the results of the images, and were glad to find that the possible Pneumonia was ruled out, but a touch of bronchitis was the culprit this time. A course of antibiotics and a shot should sort her out. Sue was taken to another little room, and the jab administered directly to her bum. I hate shots, regardless of where they happen to be aimed. 2 minutes later, and we were being escorted to the pharmacy on the ground floor, and the medicines handed over. Great service I thought, and the princely sum we paid for all this attention?
Doctors consultation fees, examination, X-rays, injections, prescribed medicines = 2400KRW (£12) Amazing! ....and all done within 2 hours on a Saturday morning.
The downside? (there is always one!) Sue’s going to rattle for the next 3 days. 6 different pills 3 times per day lol :)
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Yellow dust
Back in the UK, we used to see the occasional day when the car was covered with a fine layer of dust after a rainy night. We were told that this was sand from the Sahara desert which had got drawn up into the atmosphere, and had blown across Europe and dropped down by precipitation. It was a rare occurrence, but an interesting one.
We have the same phenomenon here in Korea. Same mechanism - different desert. This comes from China’s Gobi desert, but is exacerbated by collection of airborne pollutants and deadly toxins, much if which is from China’s industrial centres. It gets carried along high in the atmosphere by the jet stream, and settles over the Korean peninsula and Japan for a few days, before being blown onwards.
It’s apparently seasonal too. Millions of tonnes of dust gets picked up from late February to May each year from dry winter weather conditions combined with the winds, and it’s getting worse each year.
Most of the time here, the visibility is usually poor at best, but gets much worse during one of these “storms” We have a river runs past the apartment, and the views are fantastic, given a nice clear day, but these are rare, due to the amount of dust in the air. I though it was just humidity, fog and weather conditions which were the reasons for the visibility, but it seems we are breathing this in most of the time. A lot of Korean folk’s wear surgical masks while out and about. I originally thought this was because it was considered impolite to spread your germs if you were sick with flu or something, but now I know different. Looking like Michael Jackson on a road trip might just keep you healthy! Schools are ordered to be closed during heaviest storms, as the children have low immunity to infections, and people are advised to keep all doors and windows shut. My earlier post about dust in the apartment now has nothing to do with us shedding our skin!
Korean Times has reported that to clean a jumbo jet took 6,000 gallons of water, 6 hours and at a cost of 3M Won (£1500)!
But we think we have it bad? I spoke to some of my colleagues in Shanghai, and they reckon we have good clean air here! They reported an air quality index of 500! The US considers 300 hazardous, and anything over 200 is unhealthy!
We’ll see how it improves after May is over and done with
We have the same phenomenon here in Korea. Same mechanism - different desert. This comes from China’s Gobi desert, but is exacerbated by collection of airborne pollutants and deadly toxins, much if which is from China’s industrial centres. It gets carried along high in the atmosphere by the jet stream, and settles over the Korean peninsula and Japan for a few days, before being blown onwards.
It’s apparently seasonal too. Millions of tonnes of dust gets picked up from late February to May each year from dry winter weather conditions combined with the winds, and it’s getting worse each year.
Most of the time here, the visibility is usually poor at best, but gets much worse during one of these “storms” We have a river runs past the apartment, and the views are fantastic, given a nice clear day, but these are rare, due to the amount of dust in the air. I though it was just humidity, fog and weather conditions which were the reasons for the visibility, but it seems we are breathing this in most of the time. A lot of Korean folk’s wear surgical masks while out and about. I originally thought this was because it was considered impolite to spread your germs if you were sick with flu or something, but now I know different. Looking like Michael Jackson on a road trip might just keep you healthy! Schools are ordered to be closed during heaviest storms, as the children have low immunity to infections, and people are advised to keep all doors and windows shut. My earlier post about dust in the apartment now has nothing to do with us shedding our skin!
Korean Times has reported that to clean a jumbo jet took 6,000 gallons of water, 6 hours and at a cost of 3M Won (£1500)!
But we think we have it bad? I spoke to some of my colleagues in Shanghai, and they reckon we have good clean air here! They reported an air quality index of 500! The US considers 300 hazardous, and anything over 200 is unhealthy!
We’ll see how it improves after May is over and done with
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