I went to visit a patient today in a Korean hospital. The patient who I visited was my Japanese friend's 6 years old daughter. She had a very high fever and a trouble with her tonsils and was hospitalized during the night before. This family, the mother is Japanese, the father is Korean and the little girl is a half and she speaks both Japanese and Korean fluently. Her mother, who is my friend gave me a call. Soon after I gathered some goods useful in the hospital and left my house. This is Korea. We have no nearby living families to rely on. So we end up relying on our own countrymen in the time of needs. I felt this deeply about this today. I rode subway and taxi, as I checked where the hospital is on the map given out by Daegu Tourist Information Center. But until I reached the hospital and saw my friend and her daughter, I was like, "This is the right hospital,right??". There is only one ○○ Hospital in Daegu, but since it was my first time to ever go there and because of my bad Korean prounouciation, I had no confidence as to where I was going. Luckily, my natural instict had worked right! and I was able to see my friend and her daughter as well as find out what their circumstances were. But visit to the Korean hospital for the first time gave me alot of surprises. First, I found no curtains around each patient's bed. This is no privacy! Although they were children, all the medical drip shots were done on the back of their hands. It looked very painful to me. TV and refrigerator was only 1 in each room to be shared. The catering service by the hospital was very spicy and hot. No restrictions about when the lights were to be out, when visitors can visit and your cellphones are allowed to be on. Compared to Japanese hospitals, it was very different and full of surprises. According to my friend, " This hospital is much cleaner and better than the others in Daegu." This afternoon's visit to the hospital was full of cultural differences.
Dear H chan, I hope you will eat alot and I hope you get well soon!! When you're better, let's play together! Dear S san, I hope you don't worn yourself out from taking care of your daughter. Please take care!