This blog post is to update everyone about my decision to come home from South Korea earlier than I had originally planned. For those who just want the short version: I fractured my foot in the beginning of May, fell on a wet stair while trying to go up on my crutches in the beginning of June and had to get five stitches in my knee, and made the decision to come home after that second injury made it impossible for me to return to work. I'll be arriving home on June 11th to receive medical care, spend time with family and friends, and try to figure out what to do next.
And now for the details, for those who want to know more specifically what happened and how I arrived at my decision.
When I visited Jeju Island in the beginning of May, I fell and twisted my ankle and fractured a bone in my right foot. I came home on crutches, took three days off from work to rest up, and returned to work the following week. I had to take a taxi to work every day, since it was too far for me to walk on crutches. The first week or so that I was taking taxis to work, I would ask the ahjussi (older man) who works as a security guard in my building to call a taxi on the phone for me, since he knows the exact location of the apartment complex and he can call in Korean. It would always be a little confusing to get a taxi to come. First, we didn't know what number to call. Then when we ended up on the phone with the right person, sometimes they couldn't send a taxi for half an hour or longer. I could tell he was getting frustrated with having to help me. After several days of asking for his help, the security guard simply told me "I no call". With that option off the table, I was left with the option of "walking" (more like "crutching"!) out to the street every day from my building at the back of the apartment complex to catch a taxi (about a 5-minute walk when I'm able-bodied, but about a 15-minute walk on the crutches).
My classroom was on the third floor of my school, so I hopped up two flights of stairs every day for three and a half weeks. I had to sit down at my desk to teach in order to keep my leg elevated, which came with its own set of challenges. The students seemed to know that they could get away with things if they sat at the back of the classroom, away from my desk. I know they weren't intentionally trying to give me a hard time, but their behavior got worse when I was having to teach that way.
I had to go for weekly doctor appointments to have checkups done on my foot. This involved hopping out to the street to get a taxi, going to the clinic by myself, and trying to understand the doctor's comments between his basic English and my very, very basic Korean skills. My coworker took me to the doctor twice, but the rest of the time I was on my own. It was so frustrating and lonely to have to go to the doctor alone and try to understand what was going on with my injury every week.
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During the whole month of May, I went out maybe two times. Other than that, I just went from home, to work, and back home again. One evening in the first week of June, I called up my friend Suzanne and asked if she would meet me for dinner in Gangnam, because I just couldn't stand the thought of staying in my apartment one more evening by myself. I took a taxi to Gangnam Station, and we found a restaurant to go to. There were just three stairs up into the restaurant, which seemed manageable. I was using my crutches to help me hop up the stairs, but one of the stairs was slippery since it had been raining that day. I fell on my right knee (yes, that's the leg that was already injured!), and ended up with a pretty good gash across my knee. The restaurant staff came out to help, and a random passerby gave us some wet wipes. Suzanne ran down the street to get antiseptic and bandages from the convenience store. I was focused on cleaning up the cut, so I didn't see what was going on. But she came back empty-handed and said one of the restaurant staff chased her down and stopped her from buying anything, and said she would get the stuff herself at a nearby pharmacy. It was so nice of her! We hobbled into the restaurant, and I bandaged my knee. We still enjoyed our dinner and had a nice talk. But by the time I got home that night, I knew I needed more than just a big bandaid. I texted my friend Barb from home and asked her whether I should be icing my knee (since I could tell it was pretty bruised) and asked how much ibuprofen I could take. She asked for a picture, and when she saw how my knee looked, she said I needed to get to the hospital and get stitches right away.
Cue the dramatic music...this could not get any worse! I called Sagar and asked if he could come and take me to the ER. His brother was here visiting, and Sagar said his friend Amit could drive the two of them down to pick me up and take me to the hospital. This conversation happened at about midnight, and they came to pick me up by about 2am. We got the emergency room, and they were able to take us in pretty much right away. Sagar's brother didn't want to be in the emergency room because he can't stand the sight of blood, but Sagar and Amit came in with me. The hospital staff did an x-ray and confirmed that nothing was fractured in my knee, and then they set out to put in the stitches. Sagar sat with me, held my hand, and talked to me during the whole thing. We talked about TV shows, places we want to travel to, food, books, and whatever else we could think of to keep the conversation going so I could keep my mind off of the fact that my knee was being stitched together. We got a game going with Amit where we asked each other questions about capitals of countries, world currencies, the world's youngest country, the first country where women could vote, and so on. I was so grateful to have them there to distract me and help me through that painful experience. The doctor on duty turned out to be an intern, and the supervising doctor wasn't happy with two of the stitches that he made, so they had to undo and redo two of the stitches. I'm so grateful that Amit was there, because he speaks Korean really well and was able to translate while they explained how to care for my stitches at home, what medicines I have to take, and how long it would be until I could bend my leg. And of course I was so glad to have Sagar with me! Even though he can't stand the sight of blood either, he stayed with me the whole time and kept me calm. They dropped me off at home again around 5:30am. What a night.
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With the knowledge that I wouldn't be able to bend my leg for 2-3 weeks, I started to think about how on earth I would be able to return to work, hopping up two flights of stairs every day. I knew it wasn't possible to use a classroom on the first floor, but I also knew I couldn't continue with what I had been doing for the past few weeks. The reality started to set in that I might not be able to return to work at all.
After lots of time spent on the phone and on Skype with my parents and friends, I decided to resign from my job and come home to get healed up. This was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make, because obviously I didn't intend to leave Korea in the middle of my contract. I had so many more things I wanted to do and see, I wanted to become more proficient in Korean, and there are still some Korean friends that I know from Western that I haven't able to meet up with in the eight months that I have been here. It breaks my heart to have to leave in this kind of situation, but I truly believe it's the best thing for me right now.
I intend to return to Korea in the future, after my leg is healed completely. To my friends that I didn't get to see or say goodbye to, I hope you understand that this was not the way I would have wanted to leave. I promise to come back so we can be reunited! To my kids, who I didn't get to say goodbye to (and who of course won't be able to read this post), I'm so sorry that I didn't get to explain why I had to leave, say goodbye, and hug each and every one of you. Remember that it's "rock, paper, scissors", not "rock, scissor, paper", and if you tease your friends, you have Alyssa Teacher to answer to. And to my friends and family at home, thank you so much for your support and understanding, and for welcoming me home with open arms. I appreciate everyone's help and encouragement in this difficult time.
I am flying out from Korea on Wednesday, June 11th, around 10am, and I will arrive home on Wednesday, June 11th, around 9am. Time travel! I will not be able to say goodbye to everyone in person in Korea, and I will not be able to see everyone at home right away. But please keep in contact if you would like to talk, Skype, or meet up! <3
This past weekend, Adam and I went on a trip to Jeju Island with WinK (When in Korea), the same group that I traveled to Busan with earlier this year. We left Yangjae Station on a bus at 11pm on Friday night, and settled in for an overnight bus trip. Unfortunately, around 1:30am, our bus was sideswiped by a semi truck and one of our windows shattered. Thankfully, no one was injured, but we were all pretty shaken up by the accident.
We had to wait for two hours for another bus to come to retrieve us. When the new bus arrived, we piled in and tried to get some sleep from 3:30am until 7am when we were scheduled to arrive in Wando, the city where we would catch a ferry to Jeju Island. Because we had lost two hours of time on account of the accident, however, this bus driver FLEW down the road to get us to Wando on time. I hardly slept because I was just waiting for us to hit something. I will be honest and say that the second leg of our bus trip was far more terrifying to me than the bus accident earlier in the night. Needless to say, we were all relieved when we arrived in Wando on time, all in one piece.
7am at the ferry terminal in Wando!
Super crowded ferry terminal.
We hopped on the ferry and settled in for a 5 hour trip. The ferry was crowded, but it had a small convenience store, a water dispenser, and a bathroom, so...what more do you need?
And finally, after a grand total of 13 hours of travel, we arrived on Jeju Island!
We had a few hours to kill before we were able to check into the motel, so our group leaders brought us to Loveland, an erotic sculpture park... Adam and I decided to skip that particular activity. We walked up the "Mysterious Road", sat in a coffee shop, and had some snacks.
There is so much volcanic rock on Jeju Island! This coffee shop was just full of it!
We eventually made it to the motel, got checked in, and got freshened up for dinner. Out motel was just a one minute walk from the beach!
View from our motel window.
Our group (all 91 of us!) went to dinner at a Korean barbecue restaurant just a few blocks from our motel. The restaurant overlooked the gorgeous beach, and the sun was going down as we were getting seated. It was one of the most beautiful views I have seen in Korea!
Korean barbecue is my favorite because you get to eat lots and LOTS of ssamjang on everything. Adam and I sat at the "vegetarian table", where we grilled garlic and kimchi instead of meat. Because Adam is a vegetarian, he hadn't had a chance to try Korean food yet. He enjoyed the food and we enjoyed talking to the other vegetarians at our table!
From there, we all headed down to the beach to light off some fireworks and have drinks and snacks on the sand. We met some other foreigners who lived on Jeju Island, and chatted and took pictures of the amatuer fireworks show that was going on. I should note that people were buying Roman Candles at the CU and GS-25 (convenience stores)! You would never see that at home!
The next morning, we were up early for a day of touring around the island. Our first stop was Olle Trail #7, which is a small hiking trail that runs down to some beautiful rock pools along the ocean.
Some brave souls in our group decided to go swimming (I will note here that it was not hot or even warm outside!). They jumped off od a rock cliff, and the rest of us who were less adventurous took pictures and counted down for them to jump off. We drew quite a bit of attention from groups of Korean people who were visiting the same area ;)
Our next stop was Cheonjaeyeon Waterfalls. First, we stopped at a small temple and fountain at the entrance to the area where the falls were.
Then we crossed a gorgeous, ornate, steep bridge that overlooked the falls.
And then we headed down to the falls!
I have never seen such blue water in my life!
For lunch, we stopped at a Korean restaurant that served galbitang, bibimbap, and bulgogi. We were able to score vegetarian Korean food again (a truly rare find!) by asking for bibimbap without meat. It was delicious!
The next stop on our tour was the Jusangjeolli Rock Column Formations, natural rock formations that form small peninsulas out into the ocean.
We made a quick stop at Jungmun Beach, because it's a popular beach that many tourists visit when they come to Jeju. However, it was starting to rain, so we just ran out, grabbed a few pictures, and headed back to the bus.
The last stop was a visit to a temple and some caves, but I stayed in the bus with about 15 others who decided that no temples or caves are worth seeing when it is dumping rain and you have no umbrella or coat. We sat in the bus and shared travel stories while we waited for the rest of the group to trek around in the rain.
Adam went on this part of the tour though, so I'll share some of his pictures here. Any questions about these places can be directed to him ;)
We all loaded back into the bus to head into Jeju City. After being stuck in traffic for over an hour while rocking out to some funk on our bus's loudspeakers, we arrived at our dinner destination. We went to an Indian restaurant where we had samosas, paneer butter masala, and naan. The food was delicious and much appreciated after a full day of adventuring!
While out with the group after dinner, I turned my ankle on a stair and hurt it pretty badly. I made it back to the motel and decided to see how it felt in the morning. When I woke up, I was in a lot of pain and couldn't put any weight on my foot. I talked to a friend at home who is a doctor, and she said that I needed to go have an x-ray. I took a taxi to the only hospital on the island that was open on a holiday (Monday was Children's Day, which was why I had time off from work in the first place). The doctor confirmed that I had fractured the base of my fifth metatarsal bone, and I would need a splint and crutches. They fixed me up, and I took a taxi back to the motel.
I decided I would rather sit in a coffee shop and enjoy the view of the beach than sit in the motel room all day, so I hopped over the the Cafe Bene that was about a block away and spent the afternoon Skyping with my best friend, reading articles on my phone, and drinking coffee.
When I couldn't stand sitting in one place anymore, I hopped across the street and watched people playing volleyball and playing around in the sand.
Two girls from our trip approached me and asked about my injury. We got to talking, and I mentioned that I was hoping to crash in someone's room that was on the first floor of the motel, since my room had been on the third floor and I didn't want to attempt the stairs on crutches. They piped up and said that they were staying in a four-person room and it was just the two of them, and they invited me to stay with them! I was so grateful to have someone who was willing to take me in. On the way back from the beach, we went to dinner where I had the most enormous herb burger I have ever seen!
(photo cred to Anna Mittower, who was behind the camera! Anna and Jess were so helpful to me.)
Once we made it back to the motel, the girls helped Adam move my stuff downstairs, made me a bed, and sat with me to watch Harry Potter instead of going out on our last night on Jeju Island. They had a card game going for a while with Adam and one other girl from our group, but I was so exhausted by that point that I slept right through it!
The next morning, we packed up and got on the bus to head back to the ferry terminal. The girls got me a seat on the bus where I could put my leg up, and they helped me on and off the bus. Adam carried all my bags off the bus, through the ferry terminal, and onto the ferry. The ferry trip was only an hour and a half on the way back, since we were riding with the current. When we got off the ferry, I was just so tired from using the crutches to get around. One of our group leaders gave me a piggyback ride all the way from the exit of the ferry terminal to our bus, about three blocks away! I was so grateful for the help! I joked that now I can say I have used all possible modes of transportation in Korea...airplane, bus, car, subway, taxi, ferry, and now piggyback! ;)
The bus trip on the way back was beautiful...the Korean countryside is so green and so different from the views in the city.
Sunset on the way home.
We made it back to Seoul around 8pm, and Adam and I hopped in a taxi back to my apartment. We got home and decided to just chill for a bit before figuring out dinner. I asked Adam if I could get the pictures off of his camera to use for my blog, and the look on his face was one of total devastation. He realized just then that he had left his camera in the taxi in the flurry of moving all of our bags and helping me out of the car. We mildly panicked for a minute, and I started searching online for how to retrieve items that have been left behind in a taxi in Seoul. About 15 minutes later, we heard a knock at the door, and the taxi driver was standing there with Adam's camera in hand!! It was SOOOOOOOOO nice of him to take the time out of his evening to double back and bring the camera back to us. Mr. Awesome Taxi Driver, whoever you are and wherever you are, THANK YOU!!!!
I expected our weekend in Jeju to be eventful, but I was not expecting the kind of events that we ended up with. However, I'm really glad that we had the opportunity to visit Jeju Island, and I hope to go there and do some more exploring again in the future!
I'm on crutches for the next 3-4 weeks, and I had to take some time off of work to recover. Wish me luck! If anyone in Seoul wants to come hang out, I'd appreciate the company! ;)
