Cold and Flu Shot

Whew boy, was I sick a couple weeks ago.  I had a sore throat that felt like my throat was shredding every time swallowed and my nose was insanely stuffy.  So it's a good thing we have this doctor friend that works in Inje.  All Koreans must do two years of service, usually serving two years in the army after they turn 18.  But some guys can chose to do their service in a different way.  So this guy chose to be a surgeon in a small town.  His English is superb.

So, I hate to bother him about medical stuff, but I really just wanted to ask him what name of drug I should buy from the pharmacy.  But he simply asked me if I was at my apartment and I said yes.  So he stopped by and dropped of some pills for me to take.  He said take them three times a day for three days.  He didn't even tell me what they were...well, he said one was for rhinitis, which I know means stuffy nose.  Instantly, I felt better and with lots of rest and fluids (not beer) I felt better in those three days.

Then I kind of got everyone sick at school, so then everyone wanted to get a flu shot.  But you can't get a flu shot when you get a cold, so the two other teachers and my boss couldn't get one because they were sick.  But I was able to.  Woo hoo!

When we arrived at the hospital, everyone was prescribed cold medicine, but I was able to get the flu shot.  The doctor spoke English and he happened to be the father of one of my very smart students.  He asked me if I was sick and I told him I was last week, but now I felt better.  He asked me if I took any medication and I said yes.  He asked me what I took and I told him I didn't know.  He laughed and didn't really say anything.  He probably thought I just swallow pills for fun.  That's not true.

He listened to my chest and heard that I was in top shape to get the flu shot.  So that was it.  All is good.  The flu shot was a little expensive because we don't have insurance here, but the school still paid for it.  It's about $30.