Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ucfvgirl]

I have been here since September and I have already had three colds. Everyday I suffer from the runny nose syndrome and have used more Kleenex in the past few months then I have in my entire life. I seriously believe that our bodies are being exposed to viruses and germs that are completely different than what we are exposed to back home. Thus the continual cold symptoms.

I had my family send me two boxes of Neocitron from back home and I found that really helped. I also brought some Advil cold medication with me. I was forwarned that some Western products were difficult to find so I can ready for ANYTHING.

Also I agree that Koreans do not wash their hands enough and their total disregard of how germs are spread is extremely irritating to me. I take the subway everyday and more than once I have had someone sneeze very close to me and they don't even think to cover the mouth in any way shape or form. I try really hard not to touch the handrails or polls on the subway as I am sure someone just touched it without washing their hands.

Besides the Neocitron, I had my family send me the evaporting Sanitary Hand gel which I use EVERY SINGLE DAY. I am hoping this will help eliminate any new germs from entering my body.

Cheer up everyone; It can only get better.

[ratslash]

i always seem to find that i don't get a cold in winter, it is always in the hotter months.

all you can do is cram yourself full of fruit, five pieces a day at least is the recommended amount, and maybe get some multi vitamins. i find centrum works a treat.

[SPINOZA]

Can you imagine being married to ucvfGirl?

Christ Almighty, what a whiner!

[desultude]

I find that I get a lot fewer colds, now that I am aclimated to the place, than I did in the U.S.

I think that it is actually good to get exposed to as much as possible (considering you are healthy). Teachers, and young students, always catch a lot of colds the first couple of years, and then they get their immune system adjusted.

That being said, I am just getting over my first cold in the last couple of years, and it was a doozy.

[4 months left]

Might be allergies. People who do not get allergies in their home country get them here, myself included. Try Zyrtex and if they are bad combine another allergy medicine with it. Mine are just going away.

[VanIslander]

[vlcupper]

You're just getting used to a new climate, air, etc.

I had 4 colds, mind-numbing menstral cramps, and a UTI my first 4 months here. Of course I lived in Pohang, and it's a miracle I didn't automatically get lung cancer from that hellhole, but moving on...


Honey, get Otrivan. I think that's how it's spelled. It's a nasal spray and it works wonders. Just go to a drug store, and tell them Otrivan. It's the same in Korean. It's a small white bottle with a spray pump on top. It's awesome.


Don't fight the germs with tons of unnecessary meds and antibacterial hand gel. Just use regular soap. You're not going to get malaria or polio from this place.

[Tiny_Tibbo]

I had a crazy cold every month for the first 3 months...i feel ya....my nose ran like a facet...I couldn't figure out where it was all comming from.....lol.....I don't think I had a cold like that since I was the size of the little creatures I caught it from.

[joe_doufu]

I almost always get sick when I move or change jobs. It's almost never due to the cold weather. Tony Robbins has a theory (well it's not original, everything in his seminars is collected from gurus around the world, but he talked about it) that people get sick around the holidays because we spend a good month and a half consuming lots of junk food, eating a couple of huge meals, and being cheerful and energetic... which absolutely exhausts our bodies. Our systems are taxed with all that effort in digestion, maintaining body temperature in the cold weather, and the holiday cheer. The sickness is the body saying "stop! i've had enough."

[jajdude]

I haven't gotten flu too much. But a few years back I was ill quite a bit for perhaps a month until I got a flu shot. Then I was fine for the next few months of winter.

[n3ptne]

I have an uncle who is a doctor, he told me if I eat kimchi alot... I won't get sick... I eat it daily, was sick once, but it passed far quicker than it would have normally passed in the US. Not sure if I attribute it to Kimchi or not, but I feel great.

[canuckistan]

My husband used to work in Dongducheon where the air is cleaner. I lived in Seoul. Whenever he'd come down to Seoul his nose would start running like a tap without fail. It was the air pollution.

[kangnam mafioso]

for various reasons your immune system isn't doing its job. i would suspect overuse of antibiotics, antibacterial hand gels and avoidance of the more healthy korean food.

[little mixed girl]

maybe you just have a runny nose?

i just have a runny nose...all the time & i'm not in korea.

fyi, i go to a uni in the states and there's wayyyyyyyyyyy too many white chicks that take large dumps in the toilet and walk out of the bathroom without washing their hands...
i'd say it's something like...60%...that go without washing.

[Maserial]