Pray for John

I have been telling everybody back home that I have been sick for most of my time in Korea. At times I have a nagging cough, at other times I get really sick and I feel like garbage. This is not uncommon for foreign teachers to get chronically sick the first few months in Korea. Most of my friends here have had a nasty cough since arriving here.

We have a couple of pretty decent hypotheses as to why foreign teachers get so sick when they first arrive; new flu bugs and bacteria that we have not encountered before, mega pollution here in Korea, and less than sanitary conditions at certain eating establishments. Whatever the reason, many of us have been concurrently sick for most of our time here. I would not be too concerned if it were just myself. You see, I am have always been very sick growing up and even for the past few years, and I expected to be sick for most of my time in Korea.

Enter my roommate John who has never been a sick individual. We're talking about him having a well-oiled immune system. Until this week that is! John got really sick earlier this week, he even had to miss a day of work. So on Friday, he went to the clinic to get himself checked out. Turns out that not only is he not impervious to the Korean bugs, but that he somehow contracted pnumonia. Not only that, but you can't just get a prescription for antibiotics and go home and take them. In Korea, you have to stay at the hospital to be given the antibiotics.

So that's where John is right now, at a University hospital in Cheonan. He is sharing a room with 3 other Korean men who are also very sick. Not only that but he doesn't have health insurance so he is going to get slapped with a huge bill on Monday when he gets home. I am worried for my friend who is very sick and who is all alone in a bit of a sketchy room in a foreign land. I was at the hospital all day today to keep him company but it seems like a very lonely place. I hope he gets well soon and comes back home safe and sound. As for me, I am actually starting to feel healthy for the first time since being here. Go figure!

Ronnie out