Here is my story:
Last year when I was in Korea, 5 days before I would leave again I went to eat some (delicious) Korean pancakes with a girl from Hong Kong (who I met in my guesthouse). We also drank some soju and since I didn't eat anything before the alcohol got straight to my head. Later on we went to 'prince edward' for some karaoke and there we shared a can of beer together. She had a cold and I was at the point where I had forgotten sharing a can wouldn't be smart.
So what happened? The next day my throat felt like there was something stuck in it. It wasn't a big deal first, because I thought It would just be a harmless cold. The next day I went to Lotte world with a Friend of mine. We had lots of fun but I started to feel sick. Thou I thought it was because of all the scary rides.
Now, when I got into the subway to get back to the guesthouse I slowly started to feel sicker by any passing minute. When I finally reached the guesthouse I felt just weak and hot. The Italian girls that stayed in the room next to mine gave me a thermometer. Turns out I had a fever. I wanted to go to the pharmacy on the next day but I just felt so horrible that I couldn't stand it anymore. So the awesome and very very nice guesthouse owner went with me to the next hospital (I don't remember the name sadly). There was no one who could speak English so having the guesthouse owner with me, was very helpful. It also didn't take long until I got to a doctor. They measured my temperate and ask what symptoms I had. I told them everything (also about the light pain in my throat) but they didn't even mind checking my throat. They motioned me to lay down on a bed and I got an injection on my hip, they also gave a me a prescription. A few minutes after the injection I started to feel way better :) I payed the medication(?) and went to the pharmacy right next to the hospital to get my medicine. All together cost me 26.000 won. Which is soooo cheap for going to a hospital and getting medicine.
I needed to take these pills 2 times a day for 2 days.
When I came back to the guesthouse I felt awesome... I felt like I could do everything... I actually would like to know what was in that injection to be honest ._. The next morning the effect was gone. I felt horrible again but took the medicine and hoped that I'll get better. This day and the following day I stayed in the guesthouse and watched movies. I didn't feel like going out. Until the second day, when a french girl from the guesthouse ask me to eat samgyeopsal together. So we went to the nearest restaurant. I couldn't enjoy the samgyeopsal at all because swallowing hurt so much. The only thing that was pleasing was drinking the free cold water (BTW the people at the hospital told be to avoid drinking and eating cold food/drinks). The next day after I took a shower I brushed my teeth and saw something very weird. My Tonsils where very big and.. looked gross. Now it was totally clear to me what my real diagnosis was 'Tonsillitis' I put some cloth on and went straight to the guesthouse owner. This time we went to a way better hospital the Yonsei University Hospital. When we went in there was a woman who spoke English and assisted me all the time. It took a little longer this time to get to a doctor but still not too long. He just needed to look once into my mouth and gave the diagnosis that I already knew myself. They asked me if I was allergic to something and gave me medicine. This time the bill was quite more expensive, but to be honest I wasn't that surprised when I saw 210.00 won standing on the bill. Listen If you are a German than get a 'Reiserücktritsversicherung' you'll get all the money back. This medicine helped me a lot and made it possible for me to get to the airport 2 days later and get back to Germany.
So the end of the story is:
1st Be prepared that you can get sick when you are traveling so make sure to have a travel insurance or something that will make you get most of the money back.
2nd Always take that little piece of paper with you that tells what you are allergic to (I never had angina before so of course I didn't know I would have an allergic reaction to the medicine that they gave me at the 2nd hospital)
3rd Go to the university hospitals because there will be a person that can speak English and translate.
4th Don't be afraid of going to a hospital If you start to feel sick. At first I also thought it was just a cold but turns out its something way worse (Infectious mononucleosis aka Pfeiffer's disease and Tonsillitis)
and 5th NEVER, NEEVEEEERRRR share a glass/cane with someone who is ill.
That's it I hope I could help you out with this little post of mine. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment. I'll answer as fast as I can. (And sorry for my horrible English -.-)
Stay healthy~~~
xoxox Mary
