Amanda Takes Off...

The Mother of All Bruises has demanded physical therapy.

I never thought I'd get to use 말랑말랑하다 when I learned it meant squishy two weeks ago, but indeed, I got to use it last night and today! My leg is still swollen and squashy (물컹거리다) so I asked Master about it. He looked at both legs again and told me to go get an X-ray. He was afraid it might be broken or fractured. He wrote a note for me, detailing the days we played soccer, when I iced, and my 부항 experience, then helped me find a hospital near my home. He demanded I call him from the hospital.

At 9:30 in the morning I ran to the hospital. I live near the subway off of exit 3, the hospital is off of exit 8. Once inside, I realized that I had no idea where to go. I showed someone my note and she took my digital dictionary and looked up a word that meant "betrothed." I looked at her, shook my head and said in Korean, "No...taekwondo kwanjangnim." Experiementing with my dictionary, it looks like there's a word that means "enfeeblement" that starts the same, so perhaps she was trying to say something along those lines?

I got one of my recruiters on the phone to find out that they couldn't do orthopedic X-rays there. The nurse/secretary wrote down the name of another place and I found out it was at exit 5. So I ran over there, met the doctor, gave him my note, got X-rays, and was told that I have hematoma. He told me that I needed to use some patches on my leg and get physical therapy. I am due back in his office on the 28th, no appointment needed.

I asked him if I could do taekwondo, no kicking targets, no sparring, just "gentle poomse." He said, "Poomse?" I started doing my previous form in the middle of his office. He scoffed, then scolded me in Korean, "아니요! 하지마!" No! Don't do that! I think he was a bit annoyed that I had him talk to Master and then asked him to tell me what was wrong. He said, "Didn't he tell you?" I said, "He doesn't speak English." He looked at me, confused, so I added, "He needs to know what's wrong with me, though, since he's my kwanjangnim." I'm sure he thought I was crazy.

So, it looks like I won't be testing Friday. No taekwondo till the 29th at least. I don't know what I'll do with myself.

I was afraid to try the physical therapy and intended to skip it, but on the way out the nurse said, "Therapy is downstairs, 40 minutes." It was only 10:20, but I needed to meet the internet guy at 11:00. I said, "Twelve, OK?" (America needs to wake up. Hello, no appointments, no insurance, a language barrier, two different places, and that's all the time it took? I love Korea.)

Meanwhile, my cell phone was out of money. I ran back to exit 8 to get some money put on, then back to exit 3 to get a prescription for the patches filled, met the internet guy (Bliss! Connected!), called my stepdad to ask what in the world hematoma was, then ran back for physical therapy.

Physical therapy consisted of flirting with the Cute Tech Guy as best I could. He asked what I did. I said in Korean, "I practice taekwondo. We play soccer. My leg, friend leg, here. Ball, there. SMACK!" He said in English, "Man-to-man?" I laughed and nodded and we spoke in a blend of languages about taekwondo and the military.

They lasered my leg for 10 minutes, then wrapped it in some big, hot compresses for 30 minutes. Then they shone a greenish light against my leg for 5 minutes. I have no idea what any of it did, but none of it hurt, and the compress was so comfortable that I fell asleep.

Another guy came in to finish and said something to me. I looked at him and said, "I go?" He nodded. I met Cute Tech Guy and said, "Monday, Tuesday, I go?" (I couldn't recall "to come.") He said yes. I told him I'd be in Japan and I'd "go" on Wednesday instead.

1:00 PM and it was all over. Korean health care is fast.

Also, Master claimed it would be expensive (비싸다). The X-rays, doctor visit, and prescription came to less than 40,000 won (about $40). Without insurance. I don't know when I will pay for the physical therapy. Master told me to ask for a discount. Is he kidding? When I had insurance in America my co-pay was more than that!

This morning was kind of exciting. Back home everything is so easy (or maybe not: at home I would have had to visit my GP, get a referral to an orthopedic surgeon for the X-rays, get another referral for the physical therapy, make appointments for all of the visits...) Here everything is harder; it makes me feel like SuperAmanda when I tackle things like this, even with the help of my recruiter on the phone and Master's note. It's not frustrating or boring like it would be in America, it's an adventure, a puzzle needing to be solved. (Except for the DMV and immigration, they're both just headaches.)

I ran by the Kyobo Books near my house, a smaller English language section but much, much less busy than the one I usually go to. I picked up Ultimate Flexibility: A Complete Guide to Stretching for Martial Arts and Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do: Bruce Lee's Commentaries on the Martial Way, a sequal to the book I really wanted, but which they didn't have.

Met Michael for some dinner and a Korean lesson. All in all, a pretty fabulous, eventful day.