Reality Check

The last couple of weeks have been challenging. I had a small fender bender, Lauren has been having trouble at school and the the girls came down with Bronchitis. I've been here seven months and was beginning to have a comfort level that lulled me into a false sense of thinking I know what i'm doing.

I was turning left at a light on my way to Top Mart when a cab hit me from behind. I pulled over, grabbed my cell phone and called ST. ST talked to the driver and settled everything. I have no idea what transpired and I wasn't asked any questions. I stood there surrounded by men who seemed to just walk up to check out the situation. Two tow trucks showed up and the drivers got out with cameras in hand. Thankfully, it was just a bump and no real damage was done to either vehicle. I can't describe the feeling of being involved in something and then just sitting back like an uninvolved bystander. I'm not complaining because we are very thankful that we have a point of contact to handle things for us. It's just odd.

I have been to the Dr. here a few times with good results. However, this week there were problems communicating and due to cultural differences the Dr. thought I didn't trust him and was offended. I was having trouble understanding the diagnosis and also wanted to make sure I knew what the three different medicines he was prescribing were for. Evidently, Dr's here aren't used to patients asking a lot of questions. To make things worse, because I didn't understand, I asked the same questions more than once. We were able to work the problems out but it was extremely uncomfortable for everyone. I felt sorry for my friend Eun Young who tried to ask the nurse a simple question and was lectured due to my unintentional rudeness. It was the first time i've really had any problems and It was very difficult to stand there knowing the conversation is about you and not being able to understand. It was also interesting to me that the nurse never let me see her frustration. She kept a smile and positive attitude while trying to communicate with me. When my Korean-American friend came back to help translate she told her exactly how she felt. Thankfully, my friends here were very supportive. Pam had the ladies over for drinks and made a very stressful day more bearable.