Typhoons and stuff
With the exception of one, this one, I love the Korean seasons. I hate summer here! I think I detest summer here more than I detest winter in Canada. While they can be extremely cold and snowy, Ottawa winters are redeemed by the occasional bright sunny Saturdays that are just perfect for horseback riding through the snow. Those days make me happy to be alive, happy to be Canadian and well, just happy.
Summer in Korea is not so much fun. It's hot, very humid and rains much of the time. A typhoon blew through here last week...Ewiniar. It's silly name belies the destruction and lives that were taken by this thing. I read on the internet that 35 people in China had been killed by landslides and such. A number of people in South Korea also lost their lives as heavy rain and strong winds lashed the country's west coast. Typhoon Ewiniar cut a northeast path across the country, dumping as much as 7.9 inches of rain where I live, in Gyongsangnam province.
A summer rain here isn't the same as back in Canada. In Canada after a rain, the temperature and humidty often fall pretty sharply and make things much fresher and more comfortable. Here, before a rain, it's very hot and humid and after the rain...it's very hot, humid and wet.
They tell me that the rainy season is almost over, but still I'm looking forward to fall.
As most people who read this know, Canada celebrated its 139th birthday on July 1st. As planned I went to Joyce's, the bar in Masan. I went with two female friends. But, it had been raining all day and not many people showed up to celebrate. We were there from about 9:00pm till midnight and there were never more than about a dozen people around. We drank some beers, played some pool and that was it.
A couple of weeks ago I started getting a toothache. Fortunately, I have full dental coverage here. It's a bit different here. They don't cover everything. Unfortunately they don't cover preventive or aesthetic dental treatments, i.e. cleaning, scaling, bridge work, dentures, caps etc.. On the up side, those things and everything else cost a fraction of what they do in Canada. Korean dentists make about the same as Canadian dentists, but they have to work a hell of a lot harder for it. A Canadian dentist might see 10 patients a day and make $100,000/year, but a Korean dentist will see an average of 30-40 patients a day.
The dental clinic looks very much like what I'm used to...there's a waiting room with old magazines, a couple of couches, a stand for those all important umbrellas, a couple of attractive young assitants, and a dentist. That's right, just one dentist.
There were no people waiting when I went so I was able to see the dentist right away. He looked at the tooth and determined that it needed a root canal. This has been coming for a while. It was due. He took an x-ray of the tooth. That was different too...he only x-rayed the one tooth. My dentist in Canada would have x-rayed the whole ball of wax. He didn't give me any lead vest to wear for the x-ray and he in fact came into the x-ray room with me and held the gun in place. He didn't wear a vest either.
Since a root canal doesn't fall under either aesthetic or preventive treatment, it's covered. I would have to pay something, but only about $50 total for everything. He did most of the work on the first appointment, but it took about 8 more very short appointments to get it all finished. The same thing would cost $1000 in Canada.
I've had a partial plate since I was about ten years old and one of my adult front teeth was knocked out by a girl whose heel connected with my mouth as I was annoying her and her friends while they were skipping. She jumped in, her feet came up, I jumped in and for some reason had my head down. The tooth was never seen again. True story and that's the tooth.
Anyway, I've had this partial plate a very, very long time. I'd love to get rid of it, but my dentist in Canada said it would cost me $5000 and that it wasn't covered at all since it was purely aestheitic. The same thing here will only cost me $1200. It's not covered either, but I think I'll go for it. If/when I come back here in January for a second year I'll have it done.
The adventure continues....it's July 18th and tonight I'm going to the Hapkido school to hopefully begin the process of beating up this old body. When I've done intensive martial arts training in the past I've lost a lot of weight. I expect the same will hold true now. That'll take care of fitness, well muscle toning, flexibility, strength, endurance etc. Taichi, which I practice at home each day helps with overall toning, balance, mental relaxation and memory. Then, next month I'll do the temple stay at Tong Do Sa temple. There I'll learn the fundamentals of Buddhism, and learn to meditate, to go within so I don't go without. Finally, in October I'll undergo the same process of intestinal irrigation and fasting that I did a while ago. The result I hope will be a new me, inside and out.
The kids start their summer holidays next week. That's about a month later than the kids in Canada. Korean kids get a month off in summer and a month off in winter, plus some national holidays here and there. The new school year begins in March, after winter vacation.
Next week Summer English Camp begins. Unlike the winter camp which was 4 weeks long, this one is only 3. Then, I'm off for 3 whole weeks. My trip to China is booked. But, there's chance it may not happen. I'm booked with a Korean tour company, and they need at least 8 people to book the trip or they won't go. So, far, as far as I know, I'm the first and only person on the tour. Tomorrow I'll find out if anyone else has registered. The total cost excluding souvenirs will be about $800. Last week my co-teacher kindly drove me to the immigration office in Masan to have my visa upgraded from a "single entry" to a "multiple entry". Sounds sexy, but it just means that now I can leave Korea and get back in without any trouble (hopefully!!) whereas before, I couldn't.
I'm not sure if I'll do the temple stay at Tong Do Sa before my trip to China or after. I think I'd prefer to do it after, but it depends on their schedule. I'll find out about that tomorrow too.
Well, that's it for this month. Sorry, no pictures this month. There'll definitely be some next month...English Camp, art exhibition, China, Tong Do Sa and whatever.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!!!
Love
Dad
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