What the ... high cost of living?!?!?!?

I was talking with a friend about the high cost of dental care in Canada. He didn't think it was that bad. Then I told him that for the price he paid for a root canal, post, core, and crown last year he could have paid to fly to Korea, have the work done, and stay there for the time it would take for LESS than that. A root canal, post, core, and crown will run you around $4000+ here. The same in Cheongju cost $400-500. The prices are bloody insane here.

Inside Korea

Korean Adventure (November 1, 2002 Chautauqua)

I subscribe to an English-language newspaper called the Korea Herald. It gives mostly political and economic news, and a view of what some aspects of Korean life is like. There are profiles of Korean public figures, discussions of artistic endeavours, and bits of traditional lore/folkways.

In the political arena, one of the main points of interest for the past year has been the presidential election, due in December. There are two main parties, the Grand National Party, and the Millennium Democratic Party, which was created about six years ago by the sitting President, Kim Dae-jung.

President Kim received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his "Sunshine Policy" of reconciliation with North Korea. This process was stalled for a time after the election of George W. Bush, who included North Korea in his so-called "Axis of Evil." It is only recently that things have gotten back on track (pun intended). The two Koreas are building a rail link through the de-militarized zone, and working on a permanent re-unification village, where long-separated families can meet.

President Kim has had a very bad year. His administration is under investigation for corrupt practices, and two of his sons are now in jail for profiteering. The president is not eligible to run for re-election, but the voters are turning away from his party in droves. The present candidate has spent more time fighting off challenges from within his party than campaigning. Whether the party will survive to the election is still up in the air.

The candidate from the Grand National Party hasn't had an easy time, either. His son has been accused of draft-dodging, and there have been acrimonious exchanges when the law-makers meet in session. At one time, there were so many charges and counter-charges flying around, the Herald had a "Scandal Round-Up" section in the paper.

News from the north is scanty. There are tales of millions of people starving to death, which makes the need for reconciliation that much more acute. One story said that people were foraging in the hills for anything edible, and others were attempting to cultivate seaweed. The same day that story appeared, another one was printed that said the south's First Lady had sent up a shipment of soccer balls. The thought of starving people being given sporting equipment...

A recent article outlined South Korea's high costs and low quality of life. It is the eighth most expensive place to rent an apartment (three bedrooms): 1,580USD/month, as compared to: Taiwan 1,440USD; China 1,460USD; America 1,675USD; and Japan 2,160USD. Office space runs 523USD/year for one square meter (ninth highest), compared with 245USD in China, 452USD in America, and 486USD in Taiwan.

Korea ranks 22nd out of 131 countries in terms of living expenses, while Korean households earmark 4.9% of their budget for education of children, the highest ratio in the world, followed by the U.S., 2.4%; Japan, 2.1%; and Britain, 1.4%. Despite the high cost of living, the 2002 quality of life index for Korea stood at 5.64, ranking 32nd out of 49 countries and trailing Austria (9.77), the U.S. (8.92), and Japan (6.15). The hourly wage of Korea's manufacturing sector workers averaged 8.13USD as of 2000, ranking 21st of 29 countries and trailing Germany (22.29USD), Japan (22USD), and the U.S. (19.86USD).

A lot of Koreans drive their own cars, and they spend a lot of money customizing them to the particular owner's taste. They also have very good, and cheap, transit systems. I do not have a car, but I can get around the country very well for very little cost. It comes in handy when the freeways are jammed to zip past in comfort on the train.

Mostly everybody has a cell phone. It is not unusual to see a couple walking down the street, both of them talking away, but not to each other. The phones are cunning little items, and some of them have special headsets that make it look like wires are trailing out of someone's ears. A lot of people tap away at their hand sets, sending text messages. The rings are modern pop tunes/classical pieces that almost make up for it when they ring in the middle of a crowded movie theatre. Sometimes I think I'm the only person in Korea who doesn't own one. Even my kids have them!

I don't want this to be taken the wrong way, but sometimes Koreans remind me of big, happy children - easily mollified by bright, shiny objects - but with a capacity to work harder than we are used to in the west. They work hard, and they play even harder. They have the confidence that will surely be rewarded, and it will be more than deserved.
------------------------------------------------
I remember the GNP leader Lee Hoi-chang once being quoted that he was shocked, shocked, at the opposing parties' corrupt practices. The very next week he was under investigation, and he eventually retired from politics.
Despite it's very high standard of living, it was fairly economical to live in South Korea. Mostly because the school paying for your living expenses and health care.
I sometimes wish I was back there earning a living instead of begging for a job, any job back here in the world.
I didn't get a cell phone until my third year there. I probably should have gotten one earlier. I resisited as long as I could, but it just became too impractible not to have one.

The Cheongju Cough

After being in South Korea for a month or so I developed what would come to be called the Cheongju Cough. Every foreigner I knew who lived in Cheongju had it at one time or another. It never really seemed to go away completely. It would vanish for a time and then come back. We just ended up calling it the Cheongju Cough but foreigners I knew who lived all over Korea had it.

I got sick a lot in Korea. Some of it can be written off to teaching kids. Other times due to environmental factors such as "yellow dust" or just plain old air pollution. I got a LOT of sinus infections living in Korea which my ENT Doctor blamed on the air pollution. Then there was cellulitis. I got that at least once a year my last 4 years in Korea. The 1st time was the worst because I didn't know what it was and ignored it for a long time. According to my doctor cellulitis is common in Korea. I blame the damn mosquitoes while my doctor blamed bug bites and ... pollution. No wonder so many Koreans wear surgical masks when they go outside.

I have been home almost a year now. It will be a full year a week from now. Since I have returned I haven't really been sick. I haven't had any major sinus infections. I haven't had any cellulitis. Hell, I even shed a lot of weight. Strangely enough, with my 1 year anniversary home looming, this is one of the first things that came to mind.

Health Care Differences 2.

At times I really miss the access to health care in South Korea. It has it's problems but the facilities are there and easily accessed. Here ... it makes me want to smack someone in government around until they get some common sense.

What the ... health superiority complex?

Talking about being sick in South Korea reminded me of something. have you ever have a friend who would act as if they were superior than you for one reason or another? I had one, a fellow Canuck

If you got sick a couple of times it would be lorded over you. "You get sick easily. I don't." If you and others had been sick, even once, in a period of time you would hear "I guess I am healthier than you guys." or "I am tougher than you guys." You might be sick once in 6-7 months and she would bring up every time you had been sick in the last 5+ years. All the while going on about how she rarely if ever got sick.

One thing to keep in mind is that when you are working with kids it is a lot easier to catch something than working with adults. Their hygiene is dodgey at best. Hell, you can say the same about a lot of Korean adults.

Parents send the kids to school and hagwons even if they are feverish and hacking up a lung. Koreans never seem to cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze. They don't usually wash their hands after using the bathroom. As I mentioned before, one of the nice things to come out of swine flu is that Koreans were TAUGHT how to wash the hands and told to wash after eating and using the bathroom. unfortunately once the hype over the illness died down so did the attention to hygiene. I taught kids and my "friend" taught University students.

Of course she was also ignoring reality. She was conveniently forgetting the times she was sick. The times you listened to her whine about being sick. How she was dieing. Not once throwing her bullshit back in her face. For some reason I put up with it. Mind you, we aren't friends anymore.

Not having someone go off like that anymore is nice. It is something I have noticed in the last couple of days. No one seemed to take pleasure in my being sick and going on and on about how healthy they are.

What a difference.

What a difference being sick in Canada compared to South Korea.

I got sick Wednesday. It struck out of no where. Nausea. Chills. Aches. Extremely tired. Gas. Good god the gas. I took something for the aches and fever. Ate dry toast. Drank water. And stayed in bed. (Or on the futon.) Within 24 hours I was starting to feel better. By day 2 it had passed for the most part.

In South Korea umpteen people would have been telling me to go see a doctor. All the doctor would have done is given them a needle in the hip. It would have given them analgesics, vitamins, and distilled water. Maybe they would have gotten something for nausea. Nothing you can't get on your own here, or in Korea.

Due to the ease of access Koreans go to the doctor more easily than Canadians or other Westerners. They go to the doctor for the sniffles. For a common cold. There really isn't anything a doctor can do for a cold or a 24 hour bug that you can't get at a pharmacy and take care of yourself. Really, you don't even need the pharmacy. Rest and liquid is the most important.

No doctor. No problem.

Health Care Differences.

I have always liked how easy it is to see a doctor in Korea. No appointment needed. I have also been lucky enough to find some good doctors with decent English.

Before I left South Korea I picked up a case of cellulitis in both legs. It pretty much cleared up in the left leg but the right leg started getting bad again. It is MUCH easier to get treated in South Korea. Most doctors do x-rays, take blood, do IV's, etc right in their office or clinic.

Not so in Canada. To be properly treated I need an anti-biotic IV. In Canada this means I have to go to the local ER. On a bad day this could take 5+ hours. Luckily, today was a good day. I was in and out in 2 hours. In South Korea it would all be done in my doctors office.

Also in the lucky category I only needed the IV today. If they decided I needed the IV every day for a while I would have to go to the ER and wait EVERY day.

While I do like health care in Canada I miss the easy access in South Korea