Needles, X-rays and Other Assorted Paraphernalia

Well, I sorted out the hospital stuff. It was probably one of the most interesting two-hour sections of my life, but I sorted it.

I only had two lessons on the Thursday so I got to head home early. Having dropped off my gear I quickly took a walk to the Cheongju medical centre, armed with a list of what I should bring and a handy piece of paper written in Korean by my coteacher saying, "do not trust this man, he will r" "this man needs needles sticking in his w" Aaargh, *f<censored>g autotranslator!*

right..."This man needs a blood test, a chest X-ray and a sound and a CB (colourblindness) test." There we go.

Anyway, the hospital was around a 15 minute walk away.

That's a photo of the Cheongju ballpark, pretty much right next to the hospital. I'd like to
get to watch a game at some point.

And this is the hospital.


Once inside I managed to speak enough pidgin-Korean/English coupled with shoving my piece of paper at anyone I could find to make myself understood, and went through a blood test (I hate needles, so it was somewhat traumatic), chest X-ray and having to stand on a metal plate with your shoes off while attractive nurses check your height, weight and pe chest size. Once that was all done, I was asked to go back in 5 days for the results. At least that's what I thought the nurses gesturing at my test sheet, saying "Tuesday 5pm" and looking at me like I'm a typical idiot Little Englander meant. I've really got to get learning Korean more.

Anyway, after that I grabbed a baguette from Paris Baguette (a quid for a baguette that'll probably last me 3 lunches is a good deal, I think) and went home and crashed out. Befor that though, I went through a part of Cheongju that had a dozen shops devoted to selling:

Yes, they're dogs...and NO, YOU SICK BASTARDS, it's not what you think. Pretty much THE fashion accessory for Korean women between the age of 8 and 38 at the moment is a tiny dog (Paris Hilton, you have a lot to answer for) so there is a fairly roaring trade in little pets for affluent Korean females.

The following day (today), was just another school day, but I did take some cool landscape photos:

The first one was the view from a corner of my school, the other three I took on the bus coming back home. You can just make out the hills and mountains in the background in the last three - apparently a couple of them rival Ben Nevis in height so I might be looking for a repeat performance of the Foxes of Nevis' epic charity climb if I get the opportunity! The countryside really is awe-inspiring - I don't think these photos do it justice but they're all I have.

I also managed to get involved in a game of football with some of the students at lunchtime today - my team lost 4-3 but I scored all our teams goals, which as anyone who has actually seen me play football knows is a near-miraculous event. I just did what I used to do when playing school football - goalhang. ;-)

Anyway, time to get going - off out in Cheongju tonight. Another update soon - in the meantime, RRC people!