Thank you everyone for your care and support! 💖 People often ask me about the weather in Korea… Koreans themselves like to say their climate is like Greece. I don’t know what it’s like in Greece, but in Korea the cold can feel quite harsh because of the high humidity. It’s very easy to catch a cold. So dress warmly, wear scarves and hats.
It’s also very important to watch what you eat. An upset stomach weakens the body a lot and lowers the immune system. Don’t eat spicy food on an empty stomach. Eat spicy food in small amounts. In Korea it’s considered bad manners to leave food, but they’re understanding toward foreigners, so if it’s too spicy, leave it - your health is more important. You can simply tell the restaurant owner, “It’s spicy…” They understand that even a little pepper can be too much for foreigners, while Koreans themselves use a lot of pepper. And don’t eat too many snacks (chips, cookies and so on), ramen and convenience foods. In general, don’t save money on food. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables!
If you come in winter and the apartment is cold despite the heating being on (ondol - heated floors), go to a mart (a large store like Homeplus or Lotte Mart) and buy a heater (they start from about 1,500 rubles). My neighbors one floor below moved out, the room became empty and it was like a freezer downstairs, so my floors didn’t warm up and my place also felt like a freezer. That was the main reason I got sick.
If you get sick, I think it’s best to go to the hospital and get an IV, because the tablets here are mild. They seem to believe that medicine should help the immune system fight the illness, which strengthens immunity, while strong medicines treat the disease but the immune system doesn’t get that “lesson” and you can get sick again. Anyway, injections and IV drips helped me well. And of course doctors know better what to treat us with. I went to the hospital thinking I had a cold (ARVI), but it turned out to be Influenza A (swine flu). Good thing they found it and prescribed treatment… hospitals here are expensive, but good… there are free ones too, and they’re also good, but somehow less convenient; if you have insurance, it’s better to go to a paid one.
Speaking of the hospital… it was like in a drama… the staff looked as if they’d passed a face-control audition… good-looking, slim, smiling, polite, courteous… there was a handsome, young and cheerful guy at reception… but I liked the nurses more… they put in my IV together, walked me to my place, periodically checked on me and carefully asked if I was okay… I think they just wanted to make sure I was still alive, because I arrived in a completely jelly-like state, and they didn’t know whether I had any drug allergies. Even though I told them several times that I had no allergies, they still checked on me more often than anyone else in the room. Anyway… take care of yourselves… eat well and dress warmly! Don’t get sick! And thank you again for all your caring comments… support and care really mean a lot to me 💖
This text was translated from the original Russian version, so some wording or details may be inaccurate.
