Kim's Gone

Kim's gone.  For good.  She was my best friend.  I knew it was coming, but I'm still totally heartbroken.  She got here one day after I did and we were supposed to leave together, too...but we all know what messed up that plan.

She was one of the best friends I've ever had.  She listened to all my stories...even the really f***ed up ones.  She stuck up for me when it came to me not drinking (not many people will do that).  She prevented me from making bad decisions in moments of slight insanity.  She was there for me when I was going through a couple of rough times.  She helped me move.  She watched Big Brother and dirty reality TV shows with me.  I mean...what more can you ask for in a friend?

Now she's gone and I'm still here.  I sobbed after saying goodbye to her.  All night.

I've been here a whole year.  It's insane.  When did I turn 97 years old where one year passes in the blink of an eye?  When did that happen?

That's not to say I'm sad about being here...it's just...I'm just wrapping my head around it.  I came here mentally prepared for one year abroad.  Now it's going to be almost two.  But, I'm glad I'm still here, really.  I love my new job and my new friends.  I still need to save some more money.  And Korea is still wonderful!

For example:  Meredith and I were walking past a glasses shop on our way across the street in the underground shopping center between Myeongdong and Namdaemun about a week ago and randomly decided to try on some glasses.  I quickly found two frames I liked.

"How does this work?" Meredith wondered.  I wasn't sure, either.

"Let's just see what happens!" I said.  It's my favorite coping mechanism.

 I picked up the frames and handed them to the man working there.  Then I took the glasses off of my face, and said, "Same!" as I handed those to him, too.

He looked under some microscope-looking thing at my existing glasses, and immediately began to whip up the new lenses.  He used a machine to carve them up, right in front of us.  He sanded them down, and POOF!

Less than 10 minutes later he was adjusting my new glasses to fit my face.  It cost $89 total for the two pairs and they are perfect.

I got these purple ones, and green ones, too!

Like I said...there will be a whole lot of things I'll miss about Korea when I return back to the States.  Earlier that morning, (it was Saturday) I had gone to the doctor for my swollen hands.  I actually joined a gym a few weeks ago, and have been working out on the elliptical a couple times a week.  The last time I worked out was two Thursdays ago.  I had gripped the handles really hard, I think.

On Friday, I woke up and my hands were asleep and prickling, and they were swollen like a pregnant woman's ankles.  They took forever to not be asleep anymore, and they were stiff.  Throughout the day they got mostly better, but it was just really weird.

On Saturday I woke up and they were worse.  It was disgusting.  I had really swollen hands and I couldn't even move my left one!  WTF did I do to them?  They were blown up like a balloon...the skin was tight...they were stiff and wouldn't move...

Ew!!!  What happened to me???

Anyways, I went to the doctor immediately.  The international clinic in Itaewon is open on Saturdays and they speak English really well there.  I had no appointment.

I was seen almost immediately after filling out a short form.  The doctor talked to me, then they took blood, urine, and gave me a circulation test, where you lie down on the bed and they cuff your arms and ankles and give them a squeeze...

It was $80 and I got most of the results in about 30 minutes, while I sat in the waiting room.  They figured out that I'm anemic, sold me some special organic iron supplements right out of the office, and gave me a couple of prescriptions to help with the strange swelling.

I went to the pharmacy down the street, handed them my prescription, and they immediately handed me the pills in little baggies, and it was $3.

Why can't America be like that?  WHY???

On the other hand, I really miss dishwashers and clothes dryers.  Nowhere is perfect.  You should see my apartment right now.  I went 5 days last week without running water after someone turned off the boiler and left for Lunar New Year and the pipes froze.  My laundry had already been at that critical point where you just can't put it off any longer.  Today I finally did 3 loads and laundry is hanging everywhere to dry.  Sheets are hanging from doors...pillow cases are hanging on chairs...towels are on hooks on the walls...it's a joke!  But...it's clean!

A week after I visited the doctor I got an email with the rest of the blood test results.  It was Friday night.  I had just said goodbye to Kim...we had just had a goodbye dinner for her in Nowon.  I had met up with them after work.  When we had sat down at the table, my friends had taken notice of my face.

"You look really pale," commented Meredith.

"Yeah.  You're totally discolored," said Kim.

The scariest part about not having water for a week, for me, was not being able to cook!  By Friday, my body was pissed at me!

When I got home I read my email from the doctor.  It was a good distraction from being totally distraught over the goodbye, anyway...haha!  It said I was "severely vitamin D deficient...associated with mood fluctuations, weight gain, and muscle aches/pains."  It also said I needed a follow-up appointment right away.

Oh!  So that's why I'm constantly taking ibuprofen.  I thought it was just from continually climbing stairs and going through murder tunnels and working on my feet all day.  Nope!  Vitamin deficiency.

Oops!  I guess the sunlight doesn't penetrate through the polluted air here?  I mean, it's not like I'm never out in it.  I walk a good ways to the bus stop in the mornings.  I'm out for hours and hours most weekends.  You only need a little bit every day.  OK...now that I'm thinking about it, the sun didn't shine all summer, and now it's freezing and I'm covered all up except for my face...and I wear sunscreen on my face.  OK.  Yeah, this makes sense.

I went back to the doctor the next morning to make a follow-up appointment and buy some vitamin D pills.  They didn't let me make an appointment.  Instead, they just saw me right away again.  The doctor showed me a little chart when I got there.

"See," he explained, "look at this.  A vitamin D level of between 10-30 is considered deficient.  Between 50-70 is a healthy level."

I was a 7.  Corpse status.

Yep, almost died again.  Literally.

Since vitamin D has to do with your absorption of calcium...they immediately whipped off my shoe and sock, lubed up my foot, and stuck it into a little machine.  They were checking my bone density.

"What is it with you and people who want to lube up your feet?" Amy said later on Skype.  She was referring to a foot massage I had gotten a couple weeks prior with Meredith, where they lubed up my feet and went to work massaging them up and down, really fast.  It sounded really...raunchy.  Meredith and I had been in the same room so she heard it all.  Oh, how we laughed about that afterwards!  Such lovely memories I'm creating here in Seoul!

Somehow, my bones are totally fine and healthy.  I'm attributing that to my psychotic love affair with broccoli.

All you need in this life are vitamins, broccoli...and good friends.  It's really quite simple, isn't it?

Goodbye, Kim!!!