Amanda Takes Off...

I have a horrible cold and called in sick to work today. I didn't want to because I just started the job, but the response I got was great. My coteacher and my vice-principal both texted me "feel better, get healthy, rest!" messages. Later, my coteacher (the cool one, I have two coteachers) called to see how I was and offered to bring me dinner if I didn't have any food.

Nobody made me go to the hospital for a simple cold, nobody came to my house to check on me, nobody demanded I come into work, nobody grilled me. In fact, my coteacher told me that if I feel better, I should take the train somewhere ("and really relax, Amanda!").

I didn't know coworkers could be sane in Korea...

I bought a new pair of Converse All Stars today. They're purple. Sweet!

While I was purchasing them, the man that worked at the store (two women were helping me) looked at me and said, "Hi."

I thought maybe he spoke English. "Hi."

He switched to Korean and asked if I was a student. I realized I was wearing my Yongin University taekwondo t-shirt. I explained that I was a teacher but that I did taekwondo. We chatted briefly about Korean, shoes, where I bought the Converse I was wearing, and my socks.

Life is weird here, sometimes.

I like my acupuncturist. I went to his office for the first time Wednesday. When I met him he said, "Oh! I am surprised?"

"Because I'm American?"

"Yes."

Master told me to give him a call so he could explain what was going on, but I didn't need to. We did fine without him, which was interesting because the doctor spoke so quickly. Often times he'd speak, I'd make an educated guess using what I understood, and then rephrase what he'd said. That worked. Today he was mumbling 면...면...면...over and over again. I just learned that form last week, so it felt like a victory since I haven't been studying much lately.

He asked me if I'd had acupuncture before. I told him I'd had hand acupuncture and buhang (bloodletting) done one. He said, "Oh! Most foreigners don't try bloodletting!"

I said, "It hurt! Will this hurt?"

"Ah...well..."

"A little? Maybe?"

"Yes, but not like bloodletting."

For the treatment, I was laid out on a table. My right shoulder was the one hurting and various needles (bigger than the ones I saw when I had hand acupuncture, but still fairly thin) were stuck into various points on my body. My left leg, some points on both feet, my left hand and arm and one needle in my right hand.

The doctor was wearing a style of traditional clothing, quiet music was playing. He held some of the needles in his mouth, though not the part that goes directly into the skin. I thought, "Mom would be a bit freaked out by this..." In fact, yesterday I told the doctor and nurse "my parents are nurses, but they don't do this."

Then, a reddish-orange light was turned on over my legs and I got to sleep for 30 minutes. Wha-hoo! A medically approved nap! When he came back, he removed the needles in a different order than he's set them, sometimes twisting or jiggling the needles a little bit as he did. That felt like a stinging sensation, but nothing ever bled. He then had me sit up and moved my arm through some rotations.

I went back yesterday and today, each time the arrangement of needles being slightly different. Tonight one was shoved through my t-shirt into my left shoulder. Tonight the doctor told me that if I still feel pain, I should come back tomorrow. But I feel really good.

So, did it work, what did it feel like, were there any side effects? It didn't hurt much, it felt like a slight pinching. My shoulder does feel much better, and it felt much better after the first treatment. After the first treatment the 덜그덕 덜그덕 sound was gone. Interestingly, various parts of my body were twitching and throbbing during and shortly after the treatments. I ended up with one small bruise on my left foot from yesterday's treatment.

The total cost for three treatments (and six doses of cold medicine) was 12,500 won. That's less than $15 for three doctor's appointment and medicine. Assa!

I know the theory behind acupuncture, moving blocked 기 and all that. I know the Western skepticism or the Western theories behind why it works (flushing the body with pain to make it seem like there's less pain). I know the placebo theory. I personally think that the argument could be made that massage is moving 기 around.

What's interesting to me is not so much the theories behind it but the fact that I'm so open to Chinese medicine here. In my experience, most people in the West who are into "alternative medicine" romanticize the heck out of the East, usually never having lived here. I find that obnoxious and patronizing. Here, there's nothing romantic about it, it's just accepted as medicine. And so for some reason, I accept it.

In short, I would do it again.

When the doctor found out I was sick, he gave me some medicine to eat with each meal. It was not delicious and I told him so today, much to his amusement. I don't know what it is, I don't know if it works, I just know that it tastes bad and I choke it down as quickly as possible.

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