Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Globutron]

I figure I might as well carry on, since I did in the UK. But, can I trust it here? Being in a different country naturally gives me doubts to their procedures - England was bad enough.

Also, where would one go to donate? Doesn't seem as advertised here (at all)

[ttompatz]

[Savant]

Us Brits are all infected with that Mad Cow Disease so thinks the Korean Government Health Officials.

They don't need our stinkin' blood.

[crossmr]

[toonchoon]

[Globutron]

Damn, I knew my beef binge would come back to me in some way. Not worth trying, it seems.

[Tundra_Creature]

[jonah47]

Funny thing as I was not allowed to donate blood here in San Jose, CA because I spent too much time in Korea. Something about the place being a hot spot for malaria or some such nonsense.

[Ruthdes]

It's similar in Australia too. You can't donate blood there if you have lived in the UK for more than 6 months between a certain time. It's because you can't test for being infected with BSE (Mad Cow). Even when you start to show symptoms, they can only confirm the diagnosis on autopsy. If I were in charge of a blood supply, I wouldn't want to be responsible for people dying such a horrible death. Then again, other people die b/c there's not enough donor blood. It's all a matter of risk management.

It's the same with HIV infection risk reduction. In Australia, you can't give blood if you've had man to man sex, or have had sex with a man who has had man to man sex, in the past year. I was prevented from giving blood last time I went home b/c I'd had sex with a South African less than a year before. The fact that he had the HIV test to get a visa to teach here, and that we used a condom, is completely irrelevant to the regulations.

Korean is considered to be a malarial area (well the south is, anyway, so they just count the whole country). Therefore, if they had taken my blood, they would've only taken the plasma, and not the red blood cells.

I'd be interested to hear the actual blood giving regs for Korea. Do they ban all foreigners? If it's just Brits, I can understand it. Running a blood donation service is fraught with risk. It seems silly to deny willing donors, but higher risks groups need to be considered. A blanket ban on all foreigners would seem to be a knee-jerk reaction to risk management though.

[ttompatz]

[blackjack]

[bluelake]

[crossmr]

[ttompatz]

Even after many years I have not be able to donate ....

The book may say one thing.. the person in the bus says another and her word is law at donation time.

No foreigners in the bus - thank you but no thank you.

.

[Harpeau]

I donate regularly at the Red Cross in Myungdong, Seoul. Not a problem. Been doing it for quite a while now. Getting iron levels down in most men is a good idea. We generally have too much iron in our bodies. Heart attacks + iron oxygenates the blood and destroys heart tissue. The less iron, the better IMHO. (Just don't become anemic.)