"I am sick today"

I am not sure what feels worse than being sick in a foreign country. Waking up with a stomach ache and back cramps so painful that it aches to stand up or lie down...It's a not a happy way to start the day. Neither is losing hundreds of dollars from missing work for two days. It was frustrating to wake up in this situation and feel so helpless. My house provisions included a few packets of Korean Ramyun, some rice and curry, and some yucky ketchup-tasting tomato sauce from the night we tried to do Italian (not a good idea). Our only house computer with Internet died the night before, some strange battery problem, I think. And, with no idea where the hospital was or how to get there, I was beginning to feel very very very small.
I called in sick that day and layed around feeling better and worse and better and worse. Still sick the next day, my friend from work kindly borrowed the boss' car and took me to the "Hospital" (Hospital is a generic word used for doctor in Korea. People say that there are no general doctors in Korea, just Hospitals. However, my experience in "hospital" seemed no different than a small dentist sized office; a specialist office it was). Funny enough, what may have been a 20 or 30 minute walk through the neighborhood took twice that long to get there by death defying swerves and U turns in the car. It's a nightmare and a thrill trying to drive around this town. There are way too many cars and people and not so many left turn areas. Regardless, I eventually arrived at the doctor's office and had my friend translate some of my vitals. I was surprised by the lack of paperwork. They never even once asked for my ID, just a name, birthday and phone number. Within fifteen minutes, I was on my way, only $13 lighter (plus another $12 for prescriptions--the expensive price because I didn't have health insurance). Maybe it was mostly a mind trick, but seeing the doctor suddenly made me feel like I was better. I suddenly got my appetite back and enjoyed a big serving of bulgogi afterwards (Family, does this remind you of the time when I was little and puked in a Coke can in the backseat of the car and then asked for french fries?). The medicine made me feel heaps better too. That, and an evening curled up next to the laptop with a Korean romantic comedy titled "My Sassy Girl" was just enough to get me back on my feet. Today I was back at work, working tirelessly, again doing my recent routine. I also got a follow-up phone call from the doc, who said that I need not worry about having kidney stones or a kidney infection. Some terrible stomache illness with an -itis ending was the cause of this commotion. I think that's good news, since I'm feeling much better today.