Crutches in Korea.

This weekend I was supposed to go to Gyeongju with Adventure Korea for one last trip with the tour company. However, yesterday I fell over and damaged a ligament near my ankle. I am currently on crutches. Considering how clumsy I am it was bound to happen eventually. The bonus of it happening here is that I get an amusing story to go with it, and I got to see that the kids are as attached to me as I am to them.

I met up with Viro after my adult class in the morning and we went to our new favourite café-Canmore-home to freebies galore and some interesting décor. As we were leaving I was joking around on the stairs (penguin dance), when we got to the bottom I stepped awkwardly and went over on my ankle. I sat there panting on the floor for a while as Viro looked on helplessly-partly due to me screaming “Don’t touch me!” before continuing to pant. An impatient Korean woman walked past and gave us such a dirty look, despite the fact it was obvious that I was in pain. Viro took me to the nearest doctor who happened to be a paediatrician. She got to experience sweary in-pain Jo. The doctor told me I should get to a hospital, have an x-ray-and probably see a doctor for grown-ups. I didn't have my insurance card on me and I was pretty certain that I had just sprained it so I got a taxi home and packed a bag for the trip. But when I saw my ankle, it was very, very swollen, and tried to walk to my hagwon, I realised that it wasn't alright.

I asked Charlie (the Korean English teacher) if he could take me to the hospital, and we took a taxi there. Bizarrely in a country where the taxis beep you every five seconds it was weird how they all seemed to vanish when we needed one. The receptionists panicked when they saw me, but thankfully poor Charlie could translate. The doctors x-rayed it and found out my ligament is damaged. I am not entirely sure how, but looking at the x-ray my bone is being pushed out of place by the swelling. So now it's in a splint, bandaged up and I am on crutches. The hospital seems to still be under construction because I was placed in a room full of odds and sods, and everyone who walked past came to nose at the crazy foreigner, and her hilarious attempts to use crutches. A shot in the arse later, and I am on my slow way. We grabbed a taxi back to the hagwon, eventually-the sight of Charlie in the middle of an intersection sighing and yelling “taxi” and “진짜!” will hopefully never leave my memory bank!

We got back to the hagwon and I had to teach all day as well as cover Christina’s lessons for the second day in a row. This is despite the fact I was clearly a bit woozy from the pain medication, oh and unable to stand up! I didn’t mind the teaching so much as the fact I had another day of combined level classes, which I had to control from a chair. Christina took my prescription sheet and said that she would be back before I finished, of course she wasn't and so I have no medication even now! She rung me today to say she couldn't move (she couldn't move?!) and she will hopefully be round before midnight with my medication.

I am gutted that I couldn't go on the trip, as I won’t get another chance to go to Gyeongju and I have already written off plans to go to Jeju Island. Thankfully Killian has gone in my place and he will give me the money which is very handy as medical care isn’t free in Korea.

The kids were so concerned when they first saw me on crutches, even the older kids, it was so cute! Andy looked like he was about to cry and when I asked what was wrong he just pointed at my leg. I had to improvise, more than normal, as I was sat down the whole day. Normally I am so active in my classes, so it was a real challenge. Still I got a few giggles with “What’s in Teacher Jo’s bag?” “Oh a shoe!” In one class we needed to erase little white boards and I hadn't been able to buy tissue, so I just cut up the sock I had no use for! But my favourite moment was when the more advanced students tried to figure out the English name for “crutches” we had everything from fake legs to imitation legs (these kids know their words!) thrown about.

I have to go back to the hospital on Wednesday and hopefully by then the swelling will have gone done and I will be crutch free for the rest of my time here.