Thumbs Down to Alternative Korean Medicine:
So I had some acupuncture done today for the first time. We met a Korean doctor at a bar last night, he said he’d give us free treatment if we had a conversation with him. I let the boys do the talking and I took advantage of a free anything. "Acupuncture?" You say. I’m a free thinker, I’ll try anything once. God knows I’ve tried enough unnamed, uncooked foods here...I can handle some measly pins. I realized several things at this "medical" visit:
1. I don’t know my address. If I had to tell someone where my house is, near the 7-Eleven is the best I could do. This might be a problem in the future. I only know my phone number because I have it written in my wallet. If I get mugged, I’m in serious trouble. But atleast I’m not lying when I use the excuse, for guys, that I don’t know my number or where I live...I should have thought of that sooner.
2. When talking to older foreign men, always pretend your in a serious relationship. This particular doctor mentioned he was 36 and single, and I was 22 and unmarried...convenient. I told him I was likely to be married soon, and infertile. He tried to sell me a $300/month medicine plan...I’d rather kiss the toothless vendor selling fried pork feet.
3. Don’t ever do acupuncture. First off I "have trouble with my small intestine"...why? how? I don’t know...apparently "faulty intestines" tattooed on my face. The needles at some points on the body weren’t painful, but others like the toes and palms...GOOD GOD, it hurt, bad. The worst part (if you’re squeamish, don’t read) is that I could literally feel him move the needles around inside me, touching my innards. So I had my 15 minutes of torture, ready to get out of their ASAP. I go to sit up and see a HUGE pool of blood by my left calf. WAIT, I don’t think I’m suppose to bleed after this. The nurses freak out, I freak out, check for any gushing arteries, then leave with no promises to return. No more puncturing anything on Alicia, not even for free.
PS they have corn and sweet potato ice creams here...butter not included. yuck.