First, this has nothing to do with the post, but I must share my experience this morning. On my way to work, there was a man walking toward me. I didn't think much of it, until I heard the sound of his head colliding with the metal pole I had just passed. I turned around and watched him - he was a bit stunned, but he managed to figure out how to get around the pole and keep going. 9:00am on a Monday, best time for drunk people watching.
That aside, wow, I'm sick. Last year I was sick every few weeks it seemed, but this year I managed to hold it off for eight months and then it all jumped me at once. It's been about two weeks. I went to do the doctor once, he told me it was "the common cold," prescribed me a pack of pills for three days, and then I got worse. So I've been teaching and living life while not being able to breathe through my nose and coughing and feeling generally crappy. Today during lunch I was desperate, so I went to this ENT that I have been hearing so much about. So I walk in - no one is there. I gave my insurance card and ID card to the nice lady who put it all in the computer, and then she walked me back to the chair. Dr. Lee came right out, glanced at his computer and said, "Hi Aimee, how are you today?" I was impressed. So I told him everything that was going on, and he asked me if I had been around anyone with a cold. I said I work with five year olds, and he started laughing, "Oooooh...I understand." So he sticks this metal thing in my ear, says, "Hey! Let's look at this together!" and shows me the inside of my ear on screen. That was kind of cool. And it was normal, so I don't have an ear infection, yay. Then he says he's going to look up my nose, and I tell him I'll pass on looking at this part, but after he looks up there he tells me oh no, I have to look. So there, on screen, the inside of my nose. Then he looked at my throat, and he made me look AGAIN at all the crap draining into it. I almost threw up on him. He stopped making me look. Then he gets out a thingey and sucked the crap out of my nose and throat and for a miraculous few minutes, I could breathe. He then proceeds to get out a human skull and show me all the holes and cavities, then draws a picture on his whiteboard of my nose to show me where everything is coming from. It ended with, "You have a severe sinus infection. But it will get better, don't worry." He prescribed me a pack of stuff, which he actually explained to me, and I was out the door. The whole thing took maybe 15 minutes, because he really liked to talk, and it cost me 3900 won, or about $3.67. Then I went to get my prescription at the pharmacy, from another guy who spoke perfect English. A antibiotic, an anti-inflammatory, something to widen my nasal passages, and something to soak up all the yucky stuff. Enough for three times a day for three days. Total: 3000 won, or $2.82. AMERICA, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.
When I think about going back home, I panic. Here, my apartment is paid for, I use public transportation or I walk, my gas, electric, cable, internet, and phone bills are fairly inexpensive, and the medical insurance and pension plan are fantastic. The only reason I would go home is that I want to get married and have children of my own, and I think that will be impossible here. Not that it was possible in the 32 years I spent there, so maybe I'm just destined to not have it all, I don't know. But to think about finding a place to live , and buying a car, and getting in the middle of the massive Obamacare mess...I don't want to. Even more so, having babies here is amazing. Ultrasound every month, 3d imaging and photos included every month, and THE GOVERNMENT PAYS FOR IT. They give $500 to help with expenses, which, with our insurance, covers all doctor's visits. And if you have a C-section, it's an automatic 6 night/ 7 day stay. Total out of pocket - usually less than $2000. Now, the nurses don't do anything for you beyond what is medically necessary, but COME ON. I could fly both my parents over for less than what the whole thing would cost in the States.
I feel like I live in a very protected bubble, away from real life, and I'm afraid to leave it. I know that's ridiculous, and I'm going to have to do it eventually, but for right now I'm just going to stay here and get loved on by kids, and grow closer to Jesus, and hope that The One will happen to live here, too, at some point. Whatever happens, I know that I don't want to go back to a job that I hate, just so that I can barely afford to live a meaningless life. I also don't want to chance getting into debt again, and I don't want to be a burden on people. I want to wake up and never dread a day. I want to live my calling.
