i know, i know. i have been posting more in the past two days than i have in the past two months. I am sitting in beautiful cambodia meeting wonderful people. I had a a 5 hour layover in china, it gave me some time to read some of the stuff i had printed out about Siem Reap, Phnom Pehn, and Sinoukville: three cities i plan on visiting. As we got on the connection to Siem Reap there was a white guy sitting in front of me at the emergency exit and the flight attendant came up to him and say "sir, sir, do not pull this" indicating to the lever to release the door. The white guys face was priceless as it was a very dumb thing to have to tell an adult and i started laughing out loud, the white guy looks at me and says "yeah, that was a pretty f&$*ing stupid thing to say wasn't it?" I chatted with him for a bit, he was from New Zealand but lives here in Cambodia with his wife who works for a NGO. When we got off I asked him where was the best place to get a tuk-tuk(the motorcycle rick-shaws and Cambodia), and if he knew of a good place to stay he called his Cambodian co-worker and started to look at his iphone for info and the Cambodian just said after a bit of trouble with the 3G, 'oh, just come with us'.
So they drove me into town and took me to a hotel where i got to check out the room before i took it. there were two options $22 and $25, oh and btw, they use the US dollar here in Cambodia since the Cambodian Reil is a closed currency and cannot be bought or exchanged outside the borders, so $20 is on the steeper side here in Cambodia, but it was late and in all honesty, really? just $25? its vacation, i have a good(ish) job. The room was the best in the place, balcony and a view of the city, A/C and two beds (not that i needed two). I took it, took a shower and headed to the lobby to use the wifi (there is wifi in the rooms too, but the real reason was to meet people). I met two Brits, Jenny and Ash, who were travelling all over Asia. They were trying to book flights and i offered my advice with a couple websites they hadnt heard of and ended up going for dinner and drinks with them later. The next morning they had a pre-arranged tuktuk to take them all over Angkor ruins to see the old temples and invited me along. so i woke up at 6 and we went all over taking pictures and having good chats. then i enjoyed the city for a couple hours while they took a siesta and i got a haircut and bought some stuff from the markets. I don't want to bore you with all the mundane details, but we went for dinner last night, saw a traditional Khmer dance, got a full body massage for $4, and had a great time around the city. They left this afternoon after i got done talking with my friends John and Anne (co-workers/best friends in Korea), my mom, and my favorite cousin via Skype, poolside.
omg, i forgot to tell you about the one armed Austrian.....
first night i was here after i met the two brits, and they went to go get ready for the night, i met a one armed austrian who was an older guy, 40's or 50's who was also trying to use the computer to book flights.... but he didnt know much about computers, so i helped him for a bit and yesterday got him squared away. Next time i am in Europe i will be sure to look him up as he said i am always welcome to stay with him and his family. In an hour he will come down to meet his tuktuk driver to take him to an airfield where he will take a light-plane to view angkor ruins for $120. i am thinking about doing it as well another day but a half hour one for $80. time will tell.
I will go now and enjoy the 85 degree weather poolside and get ready for a tuktuk around the city.
again i apologize for the stream-of-thought writing, but i am in too good of a mood and enjoying my vacation too much to go back and read my own boring writing to fix it!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
vacation hooray!
So after much debate and persuasion i have managed to capture 3 weeks vacation which starts...... NOW! My co-teacher Hlee has decided to stay an extra three weeks now that her contract is done which will allow me to go to (drum roll) Cambodia. I was thinking of Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, or somewhere close to those in Southeast Asia. I settled on Cambodia because I have heard great things about the beaches. All I want to do is go somewhere warm and relaxing. The backpacking travel bug I had gotten from Europe has faded (though not gone and I assure you it will come back) and I just want to rest and eat good food and meet some cool people. I booked a one way ticket to Siem Reap and plan to see Angkor Wat and other ruins in the area, then head south to the beaches after a quick stop in Phnom Pehn. This plan is all very tentative and subject to change depending on the cool people I meet. I might go by land over the border and head somewhere else but I dont really know and dont really care at this point. I am just excited to be somewhere new.
I am already sad that I will not get to see my students. Remember I have not had a single break other than a couple long weekends, and the 3 weeks of pain in the hospital and recovering at home. All the while i would go into school just to say hi to my students.
I might not post on this blog until after i get back from cambodia but i will keep people up to date about my journey via facebook.
I am already sad that I will not get to see my students. Remember I have not had a single break other than a couple long weekends, and the 3 weeks of pain in the hospital and recovering at home. All the while i would go into school just to say hi to my students.
Another fun thing i did this last week just on a random Monday night was to try 보신탕 (boshingtang) also known as dog stew. ^^
I might not post on this blog until after i get back from cambodia but i will keep people up to date about my journey via facebook.
Taxicab confessions: Ansan
So two months ago I decided to hold one of my impromptu BBQ parties at my apartment. I went with Muney to Homeplus to buy hotdogs, beer, and a BBQ to cook them on. It was nice, I bought a little bucket BBQ for $10 that worked out quite nice. There ended up being about 15 people over which meant my apartment was packed but we were all having a great time.
Later we went out on the town and had more fun playing pool.
That was just a fun story that I needed to share. The real big story came two days later on Sunday when I rode my bike out to the University to have dinner with my two friends Peter and Rory at a Chinese place. It was a good meal and we had a great time. At about 9:30 PM I hopped on my bike to head back the 10 minute ride to my apt. The next thing I remember was being in a CT scanner and feeling intense pain. Muney was there as was my friend and coworker Will. Apparently I called Muney to translate for me and take care of hospital stuff. The hospital was busy and there wasn't a bed for the night, they did x-rays of my entire body to see what else was wrong but could see I wasn't in any immediate danger. I was in a lot of pain and there was discussion of me going home since there were no beds. Muney came back and said we had to wait for the doctor's ok, I couldn't wait so I pulled out my IV and said let's go. I don't remember how I got home but I know I did at about 8 or 9 AM. I called home and and let my parents know what happened, then went to sleep.
I didn't sleep well and was still in a lot of pain, I was bleeding from my right ear, my face and legs were scratched up, ribs were hurting and just generally felt awful. I don't know who I called first when i woke up at 2 but I think it was my friends Rachel and Ben that got me set up in a new hospital since I was still in so much pain. I brought my ipod and cell phone with me to keep me occupied while I was there. I get checked in and they go through all the x-rays and CT scanning again. At about 6 my korean coworker came to help with translation, they told me i would have to spend the night in the ICU.... scary right? yeah, i wasn't too scared at first, i just kinda laughed. CH left and i was all checked in at about 7PM which is when visiting time is over in the ICU. The first thing i did was pull out my ipod and cellphone to update everyone. Then the on-call nurse came over and told me in very poor English "no cell phones or electronics"..... fantastic...
I handed them over and he locked them away. Now im sitting here bored looking at the other 12 ICU patients, 5 of them on the opposite wall from all hooked up to respirators, one of whom had it in his trachea. The patient to my left was in bad shape and kept defecating himself, the one to the right had said mental issues and was rubber band tied to her bed and she never blinked. after a couple hours I had to go to the bathroom so I lowered the cage door of my bed and the attending nurse rushed over and said 'no no no' and put the panel back up, retreated for a moment and came back with a jug.....
Not a great night to say the least.
In the morning i found out that i could leave the ICU but was to stay in the hospital for 3 weeks for observation.... fantastic. after a week of hell, where no one could speak english, i finally convinced them to let let me go home so i could be more comfortable. Another thing i hated about this was that i didnt exactly know what was even wrong with me, nor did I even know what happened at this point for certain, i heard a car hit me, but that was it. Also, i was completely deaf in my right ear.
On the way back from the hospital we had to since some paperwork at the police station. On the way i learned it was a taxi who hit me. The cabs here in Korea are equipped with black box cctv's that record in and outside. I was riding my bike down a hill going fairly fast and my light across the walk was green but turned red just moments before i came to it, so the cabs light turned green (immediately in Korea not like the couple second delay in the states). And he just hit my back tire and sent me flying. I was in extreme pain still and signed the paper whatever it said.
I went home and felt only slightly better to be in my own place. My friend Ellen came over and took care of me during the first two nights i was here as i was still in a lot of pain. On Sunday i talked with my mom and thats when the wheels really started to move. She had gotten a hold of my cousin Bill, who married a Korean girl whose father works in Seoul and knows several high people in some high places. she told me to expect a call, which came just moments later. Mr Kim came down and made a couple phones calls to several people and got some information from me. He decided to take me to Seoul to Samsung Hospital, we went to dinner first, then got to the ER by 9PM. during check-in i got morphine (btw i found out later that the only painkillers i was getting at the first two hospitals was Tylonel) so i started feeling better, then i got a CT scan and MRI again and my own bed in the 'foreigner section' of the ER. It was a room with just two beds, a japanese girl was asleep in the other. We went to the Ear Nose and Throat section and talked with a doctor who took pictures of my ear drums and i could definitely see the burst.
Anyway, im doing much better now. sorry this blog came so late after it happened. Been busy is all i will post another much sooner than you would expect.
That was just a fun story that I needed to share. The real big story came two days later on Sunday when I rode my bike out to the University to have dinner with my two friends Peter and Rory at a Chinese place. It was a good meal and we had a great time. At about 9:30 PM I hopped on my bike to head back the 10 minute ride to my apt. The next thing I remember was being in a CT scanner and feeling intense pain. Muney was there as was my friend and coworker Will. Apparently I called Muney to translate for me and take care of hospital stuff. The hospital was busy and there wasn't a bed for the night, they did x-rays of my entire body to see what else was wrong but could see I wasn't in any immediate danger. I was in a lot of pain and there was discussion of me going home since there were no beds. Muney came back and said we had to wait for the doctor's ok, I couldn't wait so I pulled out my IV and said let's go. I don't remember how I got home but I know I did at about 8 or 9 AM. I called home and and let my parents know what happened, then went to sleep.
I didn't sleep well and was still in a lot of pain, I was bleeding from my right ear, my face and legs were scratched up, ribs were hurting and just generally felt awful. I don't know who I called first when i woke up at 2 but I think it was my friends Rachel and Ben that got me set up in a new hospital since I was still in so much pain. I brought my ipod and cell phone with me to keep me occupied while I was there. I get checked in and they go through all the x-rays and CT scanning again. At about 6 my korean coworker came to help with translation, they told me i would have to spend the night in the ICU.... scary right? yeah, i wasn't too scared at first, i just kinda laughed. CH left and i was all checked in at about 7PM which is when visiting time is over in the ICU. The first thing i did was pull out my ipod and cellphone to update everyone. Then the on-call nurse came over and told me in very poor English "no cell phones or electronics"..... fantastic...
I handed them over and he locked them away. Now im sitting here bored looking at the other 12 ICU patients, 5 of them on the opposite wall from all hooked up to respirators, one of whom had it in his trachea. The patient to my left was in bad shape and kept defecating himself, the one to the right had said mental issues and was rubber band tied to her bed and she never blinked. after a couple hours I had to go to the bathroom so I lowered the cage door of my bed and the attending nurse rushed over and said 'no no no' and put the panel back up, retreated for a moment and came back with a jug.....
Not a great night to say the least.
In the morning i found out that i could leave the ICU but was to stay in the hospital for 3 weeks for observation.... fantastic. after a week of hell, where no one could speak english, i finally convinced them to let let me go home so i could be more comfortable. Another thing i hated about this was that i didnt exactly know what was even wrong with me, nor did I even know what happened at this point for certain, i heard a car hit me, but that was it. Also, i was completely deaf in my right ear.
On the way back from the hospital we had to since some paperwork at the police station. On the way i learned it was a taxi who hit me. The cabs here in Korea are equipped with black box cctv's that record in and outside. I was riding my bike down a hill going fairly fast and my light across the walk was green but turned red just moments before i came to it, so the cabs light turned green (immediately in Korea not like the couple second delay in the states). And he just hit my back tire and sent me flying. I was in extreme pain still and signed the paper whatever it said.
I went home and felt only slightly better to be in my own place. My friend Ellen came over and took care of me during the first two nights i was here as i was still in a lot of pain. On Sunday i talked with my mom and thats when the wheels really started to move. She had gotten a hold of my cousin Bill, who married a Korean girl whose father works in Seoul and knows several high people in some high places. she told me to expect a call, which came just moments later. Mr Kim came down and made a couple phones calls to several people and got some information from me. He decided to take me to Seoul to Samsung Hospital, we went to dinner first, then got to the ER by 9PM. during check-in i got morphine (btw i found out later that the only painkillers i was getting at the first two hospitals was Tylonel) so i started feeling better, then i got a CT scan and MRI again and my own bed in the 'foreigner section' of the ER. It was a room with just two beds, a japanese girl was asleep in the other. We went to the Ear Nose and Throat section and talked with a doctor who took pictures of my ear drums and i could definitely see the burst.
This was the first time that could actually know and see what was going on. My ear still leaked cerebrospinal fluid for a couple weeks but finally stopped last month. I still have problems hearing from the right ear but i hope it will continue to improve. It was good to finally get some answers. In the morning i met with the dr who told me that i had two skull fractures along my temporal and parietal bones, along with some contusions on my brain which i got to see in detail via the MRI.
Mr Kim has helped me so much in getting things arranged with money from the cab company. They are going to cover me for 100% of medical costs and 80% of the lost wages from the 3 weeks i was not working. Yay!
Anyway, im doing much better now. sorry this blog came so late after it happened. Been busy is all i will post another much sooner than you would expect.
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