Got a cold? Suck it up!

In South Korea, one doesn't just take off work from a cold.  Colds are an accepted part of life, particularly when you are working with small children everyday.  Well guess what-- I got a cold.

If you are coming to SK or planning to come to SK in the future for a teaching job, my advice to you is this:  fill your suitcases with as much cold medicine as you can.  My drugs of choice are DayQuil/NyQuil, cough drops, and Alkaseltzer tablets.  Koreans don't have the luxury of a medicine section in their HomePluses (their version of Walmart).  In fact, from what I've learned there are only a few ways you can really get medicine around here.

First, you can go to the doctor or to the hospital, which is actually pretty cheap even without insurance.  This option allows you to get prescription strength drugs... but sometimes they might just give you an antibiotic when you don't need it.

Second, you can go to a pharmacist, describe your symptoms (with broad gestures and a few Korean words you may have picked up), and hope that what they give you is appropriate for what you have.  Up until a few years ago, pharmacists could actually prescribe medicines for customers.  Since that has been shut down, their domain is the over-the-counter stuff.

Third, you can search for it on the black market.  I've heard of a few places around the Seoul metropolitan area where you can find Theraflu and other Western cold remedies.  These are often bought off of the American military supply trucks, so the prices are sometimes three times as high.  If you can find a place that sells it at a price you can stomach, I say go for it.

I strongly advise bringing your own stash, though.  I thought I brought enough medicine to last a year, but a week-long cold has knocked us down to about half our supplies.

Of course, I could also go try some accupuncture...