Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Stalin84]

I always, always, always have phelgm in the back of my throat. It started about two years ago when I was in Korea and continued. Does anyone else have this? I thought it was my smoking I still have it despite having quit.

[jrwhite82]

I get sinus infections/allergies A LOT here. Some doctors claim its allergies, others say is rhinitis (spelling?). I think it has to do with working with 360+ 5th graders every week. It being the winter, so we are all couped up inside all day too. Plus the poor air quality. It's a killer!

[iammac2002]

I went to 4 doctors telling them I can't breathe..... only the 4th one told me I have asthma. I've never had asthma until I came to Korea.

[iammac2002]

[qcat79]

i, too, was sick when i came here. just more like a lousy feeling, nothing too serious. now with the food, it took a good 3 weeks for my body to adjust to it. everytime i ate kimchi i had to be within 5 minutes of a toilet to explode it all out. it wasn't good.

but now, so much time has passed since i've been here, i'm pretty much used to it all now. i still notice the poor seoul air quality though. that sucks.

[schwa]

Its somewhat normal to catch a cold on moving to a totally new environment but crossing oceans isnt the big deal it once was. Millions of people do it every year. Think of that bug you've caught as building antibodies (ie dont rush off to the doctor for suppressive medicines).

To those of you who think every encounter with sneezing or coughing children is a license to catch something, get a grip. Its a child's natural job to get sick seasonally in order to develop immunities. Ostensibly, you're an adult now.

Korea is a relatively healthy country. Should you get truly ill here, you have my sympathy, crap happens. But if you're fragile to begin with, maybe you're best off staying closer to home.

[Caffeinated]

Got a flu shot so I escaped the ravages of colds and flu this season. The crazy hot dry air from the heaters in the teachers office give me a bad case of the sniffles tho.

On yellow dust days my eyes and throat feel itchy.

Pizza School and Kraze Burger gave me the runs the first time I ate them. I'm wary of a repeat trip to either establishment. Drank some makgeolli that had gone bad and that did it, too. What I don't finish will get thrown out next time. Got food poisoning a few other times but couldn't pinpoint the source.

Got a massage at the jjimjilbang but the ajosshi put so much pressure on my stomach area my digestion was out of whack for a few days.

Got a body scrub at a different jjimjilbang and my parts felt achy after. I thought I got a UTI from the baths or an STD and had a battery of tests done. My back broke out in spots on another trip. I still love jjimjilbang and body scrubs, though.

Got a skin infection on my arms from rubbing against the broken pads on the chest fly machine. I try to limit the amount of bare skin that makes contact on sketchy surfaces at the gym now.

[JMO]

I rarely get sick so its the same here. I recently had a stomach bug..i think i took that back from ireland. I do get bad allergies in ireland (hay fever, dust etc) I slept on the floor at friends' houses before in ireland and had coughing fits all night. In Korea I always have my mattress on the floor and i never even have a tickle. I never have a blocked nose here also. The dry in comparison korean air really suits as does the (i assume) lesser pollen levels. The air feels nice and light. At home the air has a heavy quality to it. I'm not the only person in my family to say this. My brother and uncle who both live abroad also commented on it.

[DorkothyParker]

About 2 months in I came down with a really bad cold or flu. I was tired, achy, coughing, and I completely lost my voice. I didn't take a sick day even when I couldn't talk at all. It might have been the swine flu because that same week several of my students were diagnosed and we had to shut down for a week. I still didn't go to the doctor. :/

Last year I was sick a lot, this year I've been mostly healthy. I've only had a few colds or what have you.

[ktkates87]

I never get sick back home. *knocks on wood* This year I have been getting cold after cold after cold. Not just your typical runny nose cold, but dirty seal-barking cough type colds. We brought "a year's worth" of cold meds and went through them in about 3-4 months. I don't think I've ever been as happy as the day in Thailand where I found vick's vaporub and robutussin.

[enchoo]

I went to an ER in the countryside without health insurance 1 week after entering Korea. I had dyspnea (shortness of breath), several coughing, continual phlegm of various colors. I tried humidifiers, inhalers, cough medicines, antihistamines, and other meds. I seriously almost died in Jeongeup so I think I had a severe allergy to the Korean countryside air. My first academy job refused to pay for health insurance so needless to say I actively applied to another job.

[PatrickGHBusan]

First few months after I arrived I got a few colds and the flu.

This was a combination of living in a new environment and working with kids 6 days a week.

After that, things went back to normal and I hardly got a cold again.

Amusingly, when we moved to Canada I hit a string of colds and a had a hard bout with the flu! This was a combination of the winter, my kids going to school and a daycare and bringing back all sorts of lovely viruses home!

Some people do get sicker when they arrive in Korea. This can vary wildly depending on your overall health level.

Some people get sick often and for the entire time they are in Korea because they are always dead tired from working full time + going out late at night and drinking a few times a week and eating crap too often. Not getting enough rest is a sure way to expose yourself to getting sick.

Best way to stay healthy is to eat well, get some exercise and get some rest while avoiding running on fumes from not having sufficient time to sleep and relax.

[Milwaukiedave]

I got really sick the first month I was here. Finally after more then a week I went to the hospital (oh that was an experience) and they gave me some antibiotics. The stellar school (NOT) I was at put me in a place that had mold growing in it.

About 2/3rds of the way through my second year, I got a case of food poisoning after eating at a restaurant.

Then about a year and a half ago (I can't remember for sure when it was) I came down with something like the flu and had a fever and couldn't sleep for several days.

Those are probably the only times I've been really sick in 7 years here.

[50ptoes]

nope! i was lucky.

[Mariella713]

Food poisoning, which was a suprise as I've never had it before. In fact, a lot of Korean food gives me stomach cramps.