That Time I Broke My Ankle In Korea
Today I had the following message from Facebook pop up on my newsfeed:
“Alex we care about you and the memories you share here. We thought you’d like to look back on this post from 2 years ago.”
It was accompanied by the above image.
Yes, thanks Facebook I’d love to fondly look back on the memory of the time I broke my ankle in Korea and the painful double surgery and recovery!
Actually it was a pretty funny story in retrospect so I thought I’d share it with you.
As I was being prepped for surgery the surgeon whips out his phone and, using Google translate, types out “Don’t be nervous” and shows it to me with a smile.
He then types again. This time he shows it to me and it says “Alex, I will lie by your side”.
Wait…. what?
After a minute of complete confusion I realize he meant for me to lie on my side. Oh, right.
Then the surgeon and anesthetist, while holding me in a ball with a needle in my spine slowly making me go numb from the waste down, tell me that the nurse who is standing right there likes me.
They ask me what I think of her. I say 괴엽다 (“cute”) and the surgeon and anesthetist roar with laughter.
The nurse practically runs out of the room in embarrassment.
After that the anesthetist asks me if I want to sleep or stay awake for the one and a half hour surgery.
Is that even a question? Lights out.
Korea. Never a dull moment.
So what can you get from this?
Well I guess it proves that Korean medical care is very good. I’m now completely recovered after sticking the bone back together and reattaching the ligament. Ew, I know right?
It’s also very affordable. A lot of it was covered by the medical coverage you get when teaching here.
This by no means made me broke on my teaching salary and I still saved a lot of cash.
So that’s something you can look forward to when teaching in Korea. That is, the medical coverage – not breaking your ankle hopefully!
Alright that’s it from me for today.
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Speak to you soon,
Alex