September Begins...

The past week has been excellent, although it did start off a little poorly. I began to develop another corneal ulcer in my right eye (I had one back in March or so), from the lens getting too dry or something. Anyhow, my eye was killing me, so I went to a store on morning where it appeared glasses were on sale, and I was directed to the top floor of the building and was given a quick eye exam. I explained that I wanted some new contacts and some glasses, because at the time I thought I just needed a different contact prescription and wanted to give my eyes a break. Quite impressively, the contacts, frames, glasses lenses, and eye exam only cost $80, whereas in the States it would've been about $180 (or more). I was pleased with the service. However, my eyes were still hurting the next day, so I was compelled to see the eye doctor near my work. He gave me another brief exam, diagnosed my right eye with the early stages of an ulcer, and prescribed some eye drops. After the visit, I was charged $4. Yes, $4. And when I went to the pharmacy to get the drops and some extra eye salve, the total was again $4. In March, the ulcer had run me nearly $200 for the eye exam and prescription drops, and that was after haggling at the Publix pharmacy to get a no-name brand instead of the usual $150 drops. So I was very pleased and thankful for this excellent care and low cost, and reconsidered my position on national health care.

Other than that small issue, I visited my friend Jason's university one day when I didn't have my usual 1pm class. I looked into taking some beginning Korean course, and so I will probably enroll in November for a 10-week program. The university was quite impressive--it had an Ivy League feel to it that was pretty distinct from UNF.

I also read "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck, and found it to be engaging and quite excellent. I was drawn into the story in a way that doesn't usually happen for me, and though the plot was simple, it held a some powerful lessons. The prose was also quite fascinating, for even though it was on an almost elementary level, it was most profound.

On Saturday, I had a barbecue with some friends. We ate steaks and grilled pork, along with tons of fruit and veggies. The apartment was a two-story penthouse on the 21st and 22nd floor of the building that sported a vegetable garden where were grown pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers, and some smaller items. But over this garden stretched a sizeable vineyard that drooped stalactite pillars of grapes that could be eaten right off the vine. It was like I was in a waterfront mansion in Tuscany with a view of Daegu's not-so-distant mountains. We stayed eating and talking for a few hours, then played Wii and some board games for a while. It was probably the best Saturday night I've had in Korea. But the same night was my coworker's birthday party, and I was obliged to make an appearance, so I went to meet them for an hour. The birthday boy was severely drunk and didn't realize that I had greeted him and wished him well, and so it was easy to leave without staying long.

Sunday I went to church with Jason and heard a message about positive thinking from Numbers 14, based on the tale of the two "good spies." After this I went to meet Jason's parents, then went off to meet some friends downtown. It was a relaxing day with friends, and it made me wonder what I'd been doing with myself over the past year. There was so much available to do in Jacksonville, but I strangely insisted on staying home and secluding myself, whereas in Korea I'm out with people every day and don't begrudge the time spent this way at all. It's been a nice change to be an extremely social person here, and it helps that there are tons of places within walking distance to go. This week I've got more socializing planned, and then this weekend is the Korean Thanksgiving called Chuseok, so we'll be having some get-togethers at that time.

I also managed to get internet at my house, so I am more available for Skype than I previously was. Feel free to look me up (jprkorea) and call me sometime!