100% / Emily's Expedition

My last foot appointment!

Hello, friends all over the world! Hillary here, writing this post with a smile on my face (as I usually am). The weather has been extraordinarily beautiful here lately, even with days of rain scattered here and there. Those days have actually turned out to be some of my favorite days -- especially the mornings after a stormy night. The walks to school reveal a misty fog over the mountains in the distance, the river flowing heavily downstream, with my trail surrounded by bright green grass and trees.

Since my last post two weeks ago, I have received wonderful news: I am officially DONE with foot treatment! I had my last appointment on the 19th of April, and the doctor barely took a look at it before I was walking out the door. We had a bonding moment that day, where we both realized a bit bittersweetly that this would be our last meeting together.

Happy in Boseong

At first he jokingly stated, "I did such a great job! There's not even a scar to be seen!" I whole-heartedly confirmed and congratulated him and his team on doing such a thorough job with my foot and for truly taking care of me. After a moment, though, his smile faded and his voice dropped, saying, "Well... I guess this means I don't need to see you anymore..." and at that moment there was a twinge of sadness inside of me. Even after all that I had overcome with this annoying infection for the last six months, a part of me was actually... sad??? Yes, it was true. My doctor and I had spent so much time communicating with each other the past six months that neither of us ever really thought that it would come to an end. Yet there we were, shaking hands and congratulating each other on the great work we did.

"You heal very well, you did a great job!" He said with a smile on his face.

I looked at him, wondering what he meant exactly. I said, "I'm just lucky that I'm young and healthy..."

He said, "Yes, young and healthy, both physically and mentally. Mental aspect is also important for healing."

His comment will stay with me everywhere I go for the rest of my life. Realizing the importance not only of physical strength, but emotional strength and mental strength as well.

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Hiking with the gang!

Aside from the foot recovery, school has been busy as usual, this time with the midterm exams rolling around the corner. The boys have hit a phase of pure exhaustion, struggling to get through the days without falling asleep in class or feeling the immense pressure to study all day and night. After the political parties unit, I decided to take it easy and settle with some easy-thinking English activities such as Bananagrams and USA Bingo.

The teachers decided to host an English camp in the upcoming month, so I am looking forward to that because we will go to a resort in the mountains for a weekend and hang out and do some fun English stuff.

Other school happenings:
- The Gwangyang spring volleyball tournament is approaching, which means one-hour practices after school three days a week which means my arms are severely swollen and bruised
- Tutoring the principal 1-on-1 once a week and being hoarded with food and gifts after each class together... I'm not complaining!
- Still the outcast at lunch (on days where I have to eat alone) because the new teachers are scared of me (life of the foreign teacher...)

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Boseong Green Tea Plantation

Weekend shenanigans: last weekend, a large group of other Fulbrighters and I headed to Gwangju for an exciting hiking trip followed by a trip to the Boseong green tea plantation. Hiking was a blast and I'm surprised at how well the group stayed together considering there was about ten of us. We did about a 4 hour hike Saturday morning, enjoyed lunch at the base of the mountain, then headed to the bus terminal to get to the tea fields.

Suncheon Gardens

Everything went great until it came time to catch a bus to the green tea plantation. We took a public bus to the city bus terminal, when suddenly Emily realized she left her phone on the bus we had just gotten off of! Half of the group had already gone ahead to get tickets to the tea fields, and the other half of us were waiting with Emily. Emily decided to grab a cab to try and sprint up and catch the bus that had just passed, in hopes of finding her phone and catching up with the group. Buuuuut, an hour and a half went by, members of our group faded, leaving two of us waiting for Emily to come back to the terminal, hopefully having found her phone.

Suncheon Gardens

Unfortunately, she came back with no phone. We decided to go ahead and get tickets to the tea plantation and meet up with the rest of the group, defeated that we had lost her phone. In fact, right when Emily had given up all hope, I reminded her of how we were able to retrieve her lost wallet after a New Years party last year. "That was pure luck; there's no way we can get that lucky again..." she sighed.

"I'm going to keep calling anyway - I'm sure someone will pick up eventually." I stated.

"You should just wipe your phone NOW," Kevin urged.

The three of us had completely different mindsets. Which one of us would prevail? Kevin, taking the cautious route? Emily, taking the luck-worn-out route? Or myself, taking the too-optimistic-but-let's-try-to-get-lucky-again route? Take a moment to pick your choice NOW: __________________________


Ok. Here's what happened:

Low and behold, just seconds after our exchange, a strange voice PICKED UP THE PHONE! We were in a sudden dilemma - we were already on the bus to Boseong, but we had magically gotten ahold of the person with Emily's phone!!!!!!! We made the sporadic decision to jump off the bus (to the bus driver's confusion), sprinted to the public bus stop, and followed it aaaallllll the way to the end of the line (over a one hour bus ride). We reached the public bus transportation center, retrieved the phone, feeling relieved. Emily got her picture taken at the terminal with the phone in hand as a memento. You can see it here:

After successful retrieval of the cell phone

But now what? It was far too late to join the others at Boseong, so the three of us decided to head to Gwangyang and crash at my place. We showered, ordered late night chicken, and passed out early. I think we would all call that day a success.

Suncheon Gardens

The next day we decided we would make up for lost time and head to the tea plantation, which ended up being a great decision. It was absolutely beautiful - we enjoyed row after row of green tea fields in the mountains, while eating delicious green tea soft serve ice cream, green tea flavored noodles, and green tea flavored ddeokkbokki (rice cake with fish cake). In the afternoon, Emily and I parted ways with Kevin (who headed back to his city), and we went to the Suncheon gardens with our other friend, Abby. The gardens are absolutely huge, and they have a world garden expo. We explored sample gardens from around the world, walked around, and enjoyed the sunlight. We were pooped by late afternoon after a full weekend, so we went back and crashed early again.

It was a spontaneous, crazy, and exciting month of April, and it's only going to get even busier. Stay tuned for an upcoming story about my not-so-perfect start to the month of May!

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Justice of Korea

Cherry blossoms

Walk to school

Spring is here, which in Korea means that one always has to keep their eyes peeled for the first sighting of the cherry blossoms! These beautifully-colored flowers descend from Japan and are only in full bloom for two weeks or less (especially if it rains, as it often does during the Korean spring season). Luckily for me, I get to walk by rows upon rows of the cherry blossom trees everyday on my way to and from school, so I had no chance in missing out on them! Just like last year, I was stunned at how beautiful Gwangyang truly is. The river flows alongside the mountain scenery, and the cherry blossom trees shade the walking path, guiding the way to wherever you go. I am not sure if I will ever experience anything like this again in my life, so I am soaking it in during these last few months of my second grant year.

Along the river

Made it to the top

Along with enjoying the spring weather, I have been traveling during my weekends to maximize my time. During the last weekend in March, a couple friends and I made the spontaneous decision to travel to Geoje, and island off the south-eastern part of the peninsula. We headed there without any plans, but made sure to make the best of it. We ended up hiking a mountain called Gyeryongsan during the day, showering up, and headed to enjoy the nightlife on Saturday night... which turned out to be creepy. This area is filled with middle-aged men due to the proximity of ship ports and trading. So, we found that most bars were filled with older gentlemen and, unfortunately, women hired for escort services. Although Saturday evening was a bit of a flop, Easter Sunday redeemed the weekend (fitting, right?). My friends and I traveled back to Suncheon to enjoy an afternoon picnic with other foreigner friends at a park. It was a lovely time filled with food and shared laughter.

Hiking Gyeryongsan!

A cloudy view of Geoje

At school, you may recall that my students have been working on creating their own political parties and discussing their stance on five separate issues. After three weeks of preparation, it has finally come down to the presentation period! After just a couple classes' worth of presentations so far, I am already thoroughly impressed with what my students have come up with, especially in using a second language. Their thoughts and arguments are well-articulated, and many of them also show respect for differing opinions from other groups. I am so happy that this unit went well and allowed the students to express deeper thoughts in the English-language. Many of the students understand that English is considered THE global language, and it's amazing to see them taking the steps to recognize that and utilize the language in effective ways. Below are some examples of student work (used with permission):

Enjoying Jeju

Enjoying Jeju

Aside from all of this, Fulbright hosts our annual Spring Conference on Jeju Island! Another trip added to the workload, but well worth it. Unfortunately, our conference this year was shortened due to budget concerns, but we still made the most of it! During this conference, all of the English Teachers meet together with Fulbright's Junior Researchers as well. Throughout the weekend, we have small group discussions about teaching methodology, demographics, staying healthy and supporting one another during the grant year, among other talks. It is a great way to discuss with other ETAs in different placements and add more tools to the teaching repertoire. We also have the chance to listen to presentations by the researchers, who presented on a wide array of topics such as the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Metabolic Syndrome in Korea, North Korean Defector Programs, among others. Of course, aside from all this "hard work" we had to do, we found time to enjoy ourselves during the evening.

Wandering around the hotel in Jeju

So, it turns out April is showing to be another busy and productive month. I finally feel like I am back to 100% health after the foot injury, sinus infections, and random colds. I am set for my very last foot checkup next week, and I am keeping my fingers crossed for good news. It has been a long journey back to recovery, but I am grateful to have been in good condition for the majority of it. I am a little bit scared about going back to running, but once I have the A-OK, I am willing to give it a shot. Here's to hoping I'll be back on the road logging miles in no time.

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The Road to Recovery

Merry Christmas!

Happy 2016, everyone! I hope you all had a relaxing, safe, and happy holiday season with your friends, family, and other loved ones. I sure am happy to be back in the States, spending time at home healing up and getting lots of TLC from those around me (and eating all my favorite home-cooked meals from mom)!

It's been nearly a month since the last chapter of my "Hospital Hiatus", and I want to keep everyone updated on how things are progressing with my foot.

The best dog in the whole wide world

Short story: My foot is healing faster than Wolverine's mutant powers are capable of (except not at all).

Long story: It's actually been a slow and tedious process, but my doctors Stateside are telling me that it's looking FANTASTIC. Hooray~!!! My mom or I typically do the daily cleaning and dressing, and I get it checked at the wound care clinic once a week. My doctors in the States as well as my doctor in Korea think that the hole should be fully healed up sometime in February (one month to go)! Besides that, I am just about fully functional - I'm walking semi-normally, can participate in moderate exercise, and am on my feet for long periods of time without pain. I just have to wear shoes with no backs on them for awhile, and I won't be back to running until the spring time most likely. The hole has gotten much smaller and my pain scale rarely reaches higher than a 2 (out of 10). So, I'm feeling pretty good.

Foot update

Being home has been so relaxing and rejuvenating for me. I've been surrounded by friends and family that I haven't seen for awhile, so getting to physically see them and show them that I'm alive and well was relieving for me. Most of what everyone back in the States has seen or heard about my condition is what I've been posting on social media and my blog, so I'm glad to verify my current state with them in person. Being able to pick up and giggle, chat, and be weird in front of each other like no time has passed at all has meant so much to me. I am thankful to have such loving, gracious, and extraordinary people in my life. Love you all!

Mom's homemade donuts!

On top of being filled with love from family and friends back home, I received an unexpected Christmas gift from my Fulbright family in Korea. On Christmas Eve, I was informed that many alumni and current Fulbrighters worked together to raise funds to help cover the cost of my medical bills. I was totally taken aback and overcome with gratitude and tears and other emotions I don't like to admit, but I feel so much love for all of my Fulbright family. I cannot thank them enough for their thoughtfulness and generosity, and I hope that I can repay each one of my donators individually at some point in the future. It was truly a heartfelt Christmas gift, and thanks to all of those who stayed by my side, I will always think fondly on this experience, no matter how trying it was. Love you all to the moon and back!

Christmas Dinner

I have about three more weeks left at home before I head back to Korea to prepare for the spring semester. Although classes don't start again until March, I am participating in an American-Korean student exchange for a week in Seoul, where other ETAs and I will each bring five students and they will get to interact and hang out with American students during the last week of January. I'm excited to reunite with my students and gain some lost time, rebuild those teacher-student bonds. Throughout February, I'll be preparing units and lessons for the upcoming semester, and likely going into school many days as another way to make up for lost time. Of course I'll also enjoy my last month of winter break by reuniting with my Korean friends and other friends I've made throughout my grant. But no hiking... womp womp. Haha!

This post doesn't have much else to it - just a bunch of sap and gushy feelings that are abnormal for me. But I guess that's what the holidays and being home does to me - and I'm not opposed to it, either. <3

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Hospital Hiatus: Part Four

Precaution: this post contains graphic images of my injury.

Morgan and EJ!

Greetings! Welcome to Part Four of my long and unexpected journey battling MRSA in Korea. If you missed the first three installments, check those out before continuing onward. In the last post, I was getting ready to leave the hospital. Although I should have been excited about leaving, I was distraught, stressed out, and more emotional than ever before. I was on the receiving end of everyone telling me what I needed to do, and I felt like I had no say in the matter. Fulbright was telling me one thing, my school was telling me another, my parents were worried about what was happening, and the doctor had his own opinion, so it was difficult for me to even consider what I thought was best for myself.

My public speaking club welcomed me home ♥

Unfortunately in Korea, the pressure of working in even the most extreme conditions goes above the wellbeing of oneself, and I was held to those same standards by my colleagues. It was finally my chance to leave the hospital, and I almost felt worse than I did before I even got there two weeks ago. Nevertheless, I was put on a train ride back to Gwangyang, unsure of what was to come next. I decided that since it was practically impossible for me to do anything on my own since I couldn't walk, put any pressure on my foot, and had zero energy, I should stay with a friend during my week back home.

Kat and I en route to the hospital

영진 (Kat is her English name) saved my life that week. Without her, I have no idea how I would have made it through that week. She let me stay in her apartment, she cooked, drove me to the hospital each day, and kept me company whenever I was feeling stressed and worn out (which was basically the ENTIRE week...). Kat works as a private English tutor, so her schedule was flexible enough to help me with my day-to-day tasks. I thank her from the bottom of my heart, and I hope I can repay this debt in the future. THANK YOU, KAT! ♥

A hospital visit in Gwangyang

Although I was sent home from the hospital, my foot still required immediate treatment each day. As such, I had to schedule appointments each day at the very same place that threatened to give me surgery, but I didn't have another choice. Luckily the daily cleanings lasted only about 15-20 minutes, and I was able to get in and out of there smoothly with Kat's help. I honestly didn't know how my school and Fulbright could have expected me to go back to teaching right away when I was still receiving treatment everyday and was bound to crutches and a huge leg cast. OH and the fact that I couldn't even walk, so how could I possibly manage to go up and down numerous flights of stairs throughout the day...

The entire week in Gwangyang was spent being the middle-woman between four parties - my school, Fulbright, the Jeollanam-do Education Office, and the hospital. I was exhausted of seemingly endless discussions about what to do regarding school/teaching, whether or not I would have a job next semester, how long the treatment would last, and more. While this week wasn't particularly physically painful on my foot, it took an emotional toll on my body and mind. I was tired of each party telling me different things, and every time I would double check with A about what B said, the story always changed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

FINALLY by Thursday, the conversations reached an ultimatum: either I go home immediately and receive treatment, or go back to Seoul for an extended period of time to continue treatment. With both options, I would not go back to teaching until the next semester starts in March. My initial reaction was, "This is too good to be true... Fulbright, my school, AND the Jeolla office are letting me off the hook with this? This doesn't seem very Korean..." And, of course, my reaction was right. Although I would be guaranteed my job back in March (with a bit of a scare in between there - but we got it hashed out), I had no other choice but to agree to give up my paycheck for the months of December, January, and February, while also paying my own rent during those months. For those of you who don't know -- January and February are typically paid vacation months anyway, and Fulbright/my school is usually responsible for paying my monthly rent. As you can imagine, I was a bit upset by this, especially after already paying insane amounts on my medical bills, but I also want to keep my job for next semester and remain a grantee of Fulbright Korea. So, I agreed to the conditions.

My friend Mokhwa came to visit! 

With the situation finally starting to improve, I felt a large weight lifted from my shoulders and could finally relax. I decided that I would go to Seoul for 3-4 weeks to continue treatment until daily attention wasn't needed, and then I would be heading home to the United States to continue my recovery and rest up before next semester. The logistics of getting back to Seoul was settled smoothly (thank goodness), and I have been staying at the Fulbright Building for the past three and a half weeks while still receiving daily treatment from Severance Hospital. I am thankful for all my Seoul Fulbright friends who have helped me settle in and keep me entertained while I've been stuck inside this apartment the majority of my time here.

Upgraded to the Walking Boot

Now that I am staying in Seoul, Severance has been sending a home care nurse who visits me every day (except for weekends), cleans my wound, and re-wraps it. Each Tuesday I go to Severance Hospital for weekly checkups with my Orthopedic doctor. After my first checkup with the doctor, I was relinquished of my crutches and now use a walking boot. I have been walking just a little bit, but still use my crutches at times for support. I try to walk a little bit more each day, but I am cautious of opening the wound any wider. So, although I am mobile, I use my mobility at only the necessary moments. The next two weeks were much of the same - checking on the progress of the wound, and adjusting my medication as necessary. I'm now on this 500,000 Won ($450) epidermal cream that is supposed to create a whole bunch of skin cells and muscle tissue that will help it heal super fast. Thank goodness for the insurance I have...

I just completed my last visit this morning, and I am happy to say that I will be going home to the United States TOMORROW MORNING (Wednesday) until January 21st. While home, I will still be getting my foot checked up and be receiving treatment, but I will be much more mobile! By the time I come back to Korea, my doctor at Severance thinks that the hole should be just about fully recovered. I am so excited to be able to spend the holiday season with my family and friends this year, after a miserable and lonely holiday spent alone last year.

With Krystale at the Stanley Kubrick exhibit!

During my week in Gwangyang, I was able to hang out with a lot of people. My buddies EJ, Morgan, and Krystale all took some time to hang out with me, which I was quite grateful for. I was especially happy to see them because they weren't able to visit me while I was in the hospital (the commute is far)! I also hung out with my group of Korean friends that I meet up with regularly, and it felt like home being with them again. Although I couldn't drink alcohol, we enjoyed a nice barbecue dinner and some coffee. I did end up visiting my school for a day because I missed my co-workers and students so much (and I needed to suck up hardcore to the principal and vice principal... LOL). I was greeted with open arms and a million comments from my boys, "I miss you teacher" "Teacher are you ok?" "God Bless You" "I love you" "No playing soccer or basketball?" "Get better fast", which made me feel like a celebrity. I am sad to be missing this year's winter camp and our school festival which I was anticipating a rap performance with some students. But I will come back strong this Spring, I promise.

My home for the past month

While in Seoul, I celebrated Thanksgiving Day with other Fulbrighters and have been hosting some potlucks and hangouts for all of us to get together. I am thankful to have all of them around - they've almost set up a rotation system on whose turn it is to visit me, haha. With a bit more free time than what I am typically used to filling with exercise and teaching, I have been staying busy with the Fulbright Korea Alumni Relations committee, blogging, and taking Korean classes. I hired a private tutor to come in three days a week while I am here in Seoul - one of my goals is to become as best of a Korean speaker that I can during my time here, and what better way to use my free time than to hire a language teacher!? We went through an entire textbook during my month here in Seoul - my brain is fried. Many people assume I get bored, but I honestly haven't felt too bored since I've found ways to occupy my time. I am especially grateful to my friend Krystale, who came all the way up from Gwangyang to hang out with me during my last weekend here until next month! We visited the Seoul Art Museum and walked around the exhibits and attended a Fulbright friend's orchestra/choir concert later. It was great to hang out with a Gwangyang buddy before heading back to the States for the next five weeks. I also want to thank all my other friends who came to see me during my time here, as well as all you blog readers sending your love from afar! All of your support means so much to me and has been my fuel to keep me going throughout all of this. Your words of encouragement have kept me optimistic and high-spirited, and now it is all paying off. In just another month or longer, my foot should be fully healed and I'll be as good as new, ready to conquer the spring semester!

Photo from today's (12/15) hospital visit!

Thank you for tuning in to my four-part series, "Hillary's Hospital Hiatus"! I'm still debating whether or not I'll write another post related to the injury (full of more random instances, stories, etc.) - so be on the lookout! Otherwise, I hope to see many of you back in Illinois during the next month~

If I don't update before Christmas/other Holiday celebrations, Season's Greetings and Best Wishes to you all! Stay safe, stay warm, STAY HEALTHY! ♥

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Hospital Hiatus: Part Three

Straight up chillin'

Precaution: this post contains graphic images of my injury.

Greetings, all! Welcome to Part Three about my unexpected journey in the Korean healthcare world. If you missed parts one and two, check them out! Part one explains some of the background about how my injury happened, and the beginning phases of being admitted to the hospital. Part two continued with my journey of hospital admittance, and a loooooong road trip that potentially saved my life. Part three will venture into my second week of my hospital stay, where I start to feel all too comfortable with my adapted hospital lifestyle. I also had the opportunity to escape from the hospital for a few hours in order to attend Fulbright's Thanksgiving Dinner, and was tempted to run away forever... This post is full of my scatter-brained stories and struggles, so I'm sorry in advance for the lack of continuity. Let's get started!

Hope and Dawn

While week one of my hospital stay was mostly filled with uncertainty, immense pain, and wrapping my mind around everything that was happening, week two became much more relaxed and A LOT less painful. I think my usual outgoing personality showed, too, as I warmed up to my doctors, nurses, and neighbors on floor 12. The second week kicked off with a new roommate, who turned out to be closer to my age and seemed to be spending more time in the hospital than I was (yikes!). She was admitted for an infection in her jaw, which she had to get some fat/muscle taken out of her calf and placed in her mouth. I am not quite sure how it happened, but she had an outgoing attitude about everything which made it easy to get along with her. I hope she continues to have a healthy recovery and maintains that positivity!

Sunrise photo waiting for the doctors

The IV from Hell

My schedule throughout the second week was much the same as the first (except I upgraded to only one cleaning per day!), so I won't bore you with that. Instead, I want to write about some random incidents that were quite entertaining and unexpected. One story has to do with switching my IV antibiotics; the doctor told me that I needed stronger medicine now that they had identified the type of bacteria. And since MRSA is a super strong, it can take many forms and becomes resistant easily. So, my first day on this new IV was insane. The doctors and nurses repeated multiple times about the side effects of this drug (rash, itching, swelling), and that if I had any side effects I should push the help button immediately. Me, acting nonchalant because I've never had a bad reaction to medicine, didn't think too much of what they were saying. Don't get me wrong - I was cautious, but confident that I would be okay. But oh man, the first time they hooked me up to the new drug, I could feel it. The nurse even made it drip pretty slow, but they weren't lying when they said how strong it was. I felt like I was hallucinating - my head suddenly became itchy and I was scratching uncontrollably. I think I moved too quickly because I got some blood on my gown, which was likely from the IV that I ended up ripping out... Needless to say, I pressed my help button and the nurse rushed back in as I told her what was happening. She sat by my side while the remainder of the IV dripped, and I finally settled down. After that first dosage, I was extremely cautious, and luckily I never experienced any intense side effects after that (besides some skin peeling).

On the mend during week two

Unfortunately, a natural side effect to taking multiple drugs at a time is an imbalance in the bacteria in a female body part down south. Week two caused some aggravation with all of the medicinal changes, so I requested to see the gynecologist. Randomly, while I was hanging out with two friends one evening, a male doctor, maybe a gynecologist (??? still don't know) stormed in and requested to speak with me in private. My friends and I were confused, but I said okay and was wheeled off into an examination room. I put two and two together and figured that this guy was related in some way to the gynecology department, and I saw an exam chair and thought he was there to take a look. But nope. INSTEAD, he just asked super invasive questions about my sexual history which seemed entirely irrelevant to treating a yeast infection (a common thing for females to experience when taking multiple antibiotics). So, after about a fifteen minute interview which was awkwardly conducted in Konglish, he shuffled me back to my room. As he was leaving, I asked if I would be receiving medication or at least going to see a gynecologist the next day, and his response was "Maybe?" LITERALLY. I'm like.... what does that even mean!? Needless to say, I didn't hear back from the gynecologist until the day I was discharged (which was five days later). Basically, they did nothing about my yeast infection, even though I kept nagging to the nurses and doctors every day, but it was out of their control too because they're just there to take care of me. They kept passing along word, but no action was taken until D-DAY. Finally, my all-star nurse took matters into her own hands and got me some medication before leaving. Why did it take so long for that to happen... I'll never know.

Thanksgiving Dinner 2015

With the Fulbright Family

Anyway... each year, Fulbright hosts a Thanksgiving dinner for the ETAs to get together and enjoy some American goodness! I was worried that I might not be able to attend due to my stay in the hospital, but luckily for me, my doctors and nurses were able to hook me up with a temporary leave approval (thank you nurses! ♥). I was so excited to wear normal clothes again! I was granted VIP access to the Fulbright van and rode with our executive director, who is so fun to talk with and share stories. Last year I was a little bit intimidated by her, but during my second year I've had more opportunities to talk with her, and she's a very warm and kind-hearted person. I am thankful to have her as our director! At the dinner, I was able to see a lot of friends and tell the story about how my foot got hurt over and over again. I felt lucky to have such a caring community by my side throughout all of this. Thanks Fulbright Fam! AND THE FOOD. Man, it was SO NICE to have an American Thanksgiving. And the fact that I had been eating hospital food for two weeks straight made it that much more enjoyable. I ate three plates of food. Turkey, stuffing, pie, mashed potatoes, casseroles, cakes, everything. I felt like I was going to explode. It was sooooo delicious. Thanks for another great Thanksgiving dinner, Fulbright!

Having fun with my equipment

Helping me get food

FINALLY, a few days after the magical Thanksgiving dinner, was the day of my departure (Monday, November 16th). I couldn't believe that it was finally here. I felt like I needed some sort of training program to teach me how to be functional in the real world again. Unfortunately my condition still wasn't anywhere ready to be back to teaching again, let alone walking. I was still on crutches and wrapped up in my cast. I was so scared about what was going to happen, and nobody was telling me what was going on. I felt reassured when the doctor said that I should just go home and rest this week, but yet Fulbright and my school were telling me otherwise and wanted me to get back to teaching right away. I was so stressed out and emotional, and I broke down. It was my first time crying since I was admitted to Severance. Hospital life was like living in a dream. I didn't have to do anything but worry about my health and I had people to take care of me. And all of a sudden I was expected to be functioning 110% by everyone around me which was not possible whatsoever. Stressed, confused, emotionally and physically exhausted, I left the hospital and was on a train back to Suncheon (near my hometown of Gwangyang), unsure of what was going to happen next. My next post will talk about what happened after D-DAY, so I'll hold that thought! Stay tuned for PART FOUR of Hillary's Hospital Hiatus. Until then, enjoy some random ramblings:

Week Two Stats:
- 16 visitors (Hope Schaeffer, Dawn Barcelona, Erin Hassanzadeh, Kelsey Williams, Deborah Ok, Arria Washington, Erin Deskin, Teresa Baek, Emily Lembo, Katrin Marquez, Emily Shoemaker, Morgan Fryer, Kevin Duong, Zerin Tasnim, Amelea Kim, Kelsey Hagenah) - THANK YOU!
- 3 people who washed my hair (Deborah Ok, Teresa Baek, Amelea Kim) - THANK YOU!
- 2 new roommates (One who had a jaw infection, one who had carpal tunnel in her hands)
- 5 nurses who laughed at my corny jokes
- 3 doctors who started talking to me about things other than my foot
- Ate 4 burgers, 12 chicken nuggets, and 2 McFlurries from McDonald's
- Ate 10 donuts from Krispy Kreme
- Received 8 boxes of Pepero (Korean version of the Japanese snack Pocky)
- Nagged about my yeast infection to the nurses more than 7 times

Other miscellaneous struggles faced during my hospital stay:

Kevin and Zerin

- Communication barriers: Although my Korean skills are decent enough, knowledge of any vocabulary related specifically to my condition was lacking. I don't even know what a lot of medical terminology means in English, let alone in a second language. My doctor spoke fluent English, so I never had an issue understanding what was actually going on with my healing process, but most of the nurses used limited English. I remember one instance in particular when a nurse and I were exchanging dialogue in our respective native languages, giving giving each other completely blank stares and using a lot of body language. It was like talking to a brick wall and it sucked because I knew what we were trying to communicate was important. She eventually went to go get an English phrasebook, dated back to 1999. The phrase she was looking for wasn't even in there... #FML. Some way or another we ended up getting our points across, and I think we formed an odd friendship after that due to the fact that we both struggled so hard and really tried to understand what the other one was saying.

Teresa

- Bathing/showering: I couldn't stand, put any pressure on my foot, or get any part of my leg wet, so showering was a major struggle. Unfortunately I had to resort to giving myself sponge baths. Every other day I decided I should clean myself. I went to the bathroom, stripped down, wet my towel, lathered up, sat on the toilet and scrubbed away. The whole process was so exhausting for me and it took [what seemed like] FOREVER (maybe 20 minutes). I couldn't wash my own hair either, so I always had to wait until a friend came to visit and have them help me with that. My roommates must have thought I was crazy because I refused to let the old ladies scrub me. Besides, those ladies only came on Tuesdays and I wanted to be bathed more than once a week. Hygiene is such a different story here than it is in America. I consistently had to ask my nurses for new patient gowns rather than a fresh one magically arriving in my room every day. And I swear my four roommates never changed their gowns either. I don't even remember them taking showers or having someone help them. I decided it was better to just not ask questions about this and do my own thing. My superstitions were confirmed one evening when my [Korean] friend was washing my hair in the sink, and roommate number 3 made a side remark to my friend about why she was washing my hair in the sink. At the same time she was saying this, two doctors came in to talk to roommate number 3 and started giggling at the sight of my friend washing my hair. I guess patients just don't want to be clean when they're in the hospital...

Deb!

- Asking questions: Why don't doctors and nurses like answering questions? Is it because I'm an American, or is it just the Korean way to never ask questions? This question will probably never be answered...

- Hospital food: The cooking ladies, bless their hearts, are the sweetest people ever, but man, did I get sick of that food. Thank goodness for friends who brought me snacks and food. I tried to save face by eating all that I could and returning my food as strategically as possible... and also removing my name from the tray so that maybe they wouldn't realize it was me who consistently wasted food... :(

- Having control of the TV remote: ALL FOUR of my roommates ALWAYS stole the TV remote from me. I was always civil and kept the remote in the designated spot it was supposed to be, but my roommates always strategically placed it with their personal belongings, making me feel bad if I wanted to watch something but didn't work up the nerve to ask. I remember on one instance it was about midnight, I was exhausted, my roommate was already passed out, and the TV was blaring. I'm a light sleeper, so I was ready to turn that damn thing off. Unfortunately, my roommate had fallen asleep with the remote in her hand... Somehow I mustered up the energy to sneak over there and stole it from her without waking her up. +5 points for me.

Done being poked

- Being tied down to my IV: I swear every time I wanted to go wander around in my wheelchair or needed to go pee or actually do something was the EXACT time that my nurse would come in with my IV, which thus pinned me down to my bed for an hour or longer. On that note...

- Nurses poking me with needles: Both of my arms were bruised like never before after two weeks in the hospital. Some nurses were much better than others at sticking the IV needles in my veins -_- AND it's like they would come in randomly in the middle of the night and poke me in the dark while I was dazed and confused about what was going on. Oh well.

Sunset

- Trying to make small talk: I typically don't find myself an intimidating person, as I usually have a big smile on my face when people meet me (even in the hospital I thought I was pretty close to being my usual self). But, in the land of Korea, foreigners are the scariest thing to roam this Earth. I had to work really hard to get my doctors, nurses, and roommates to warm up to me throughout my hospital stay. I'm a fan of talking, and while I had visitors to keep me company, the majority of my day was spent with nurses and doctors who I saw a lot more frequently. First week was a major fail but by week two I think people warmed up to me. I just had to be a bit more invasive than I normally would be... and make a lot of jokes. At least they laughed at my corny jokes. But nonetheless, they are all friendly people and I'm thankful for their comfort and care throughout my stay. They are very good at what they do.

See you next week! Thanks for keeping up with my blog!

Erin and Kelsey

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