Today I ate Pig's Feet!!!!

It was actually the second time that I ate pig's feet. Both times were at school, after our weekly volleyball game. I wondered if they do it after the first game of each month, because we had a similar feast after the very first volleyball of the new semester; but one teacher said they usually do for special occasions, i.e. after holidays or vacations. They have the entire faculty gather in the main meeting room which is also the vice-principal's office. They serve beer, juice, soda, pig's feet (sliced of course) that you wrap in these little lettuce leaves, add a slice of raw garlic clove, hot sauce, onion, radish, etc. wrap it up in a ball and pop the whole leaf in your mouth. YUM YUM good. The entire table is loaded with tons of food & drink; we sit at a long table with approx. 25-30 chairs lined up on both sides of the table. The vice-principal served me a few glasses of beer, (in a very small lil dixie cup sized glass) and I returned the favor to him. In Korea, you never pour your own drink, traditionally someone else pours it for you. It was spicy, garlicy and good. I stayed away from the HOT green peppers b/c they burn like crazy. We actually switched the volleyball game to Monday this week, because this Wednesday is another Korean holiday & they evidently can't let all these holidays cut into our volleyball playing time!! Heavens forbid, right?? Priorities right? I'm glad the Koreans place their priorities in the right areas!!! On my way home from school, I stopped by the Acupuncture Clinic for my second visit (I went on Saturday afternoon with Lisa, another English teacher from the States). They put me in this room with many other beds covered by a wrap around curtain; I laid down, rolled up my pants and sleeves and they stuck several needles in my arms, scalp, forehead, hands, legs, and feet. I am going there to help relieve the slight numbness (pins & needly tingling) that I get from leaning the wrong way for too long or sitting cross legged. They place this bright red heat lamp & heating pad on my legs and added this herbal medicine called Moxa or Mugwort on my body. It's this incense-like herb that they burn and put on top of your skin. It has this really funky marijuana-like smell to it that is supposed to relieve the pain. It's a very very relaxing procedure that I enjoyed immensely both on Sat & today. After they removed the needles that were stuck in me & took of the Mugwort, they put me on this massage table where I slid my legs into the long sock-like device with all these tubes attached to it; then it fills up with air, squeezing & pressurizing (constricting) my legs, feet, and ankles. It reminded my of those blood pressure bands that wrap around your arm. That lasted 10 minutes, then I was free to leave. I had to pay a "copay" of 4,500WON ($4.50) Which is such a bargain. It cost more on Saturday. Lisa paid a copay of $5.00 and I had to pay b/c it was my initial visit & the doctor met with me to diagnose my condition. He said that he would concentrate on my heart, lungs, stomach and kidneys to treat my symptoms of poor circulation in my extremities. He is a very nice doctor, with a decent grasp of English. Everyone at the clinic is very polite, warm, friendly and very accommodating. You get the feeling that they really enjoy the work they are doing there. So, b/c the doctor met with me for 15 min, my copay was a WHOPPING $5.50 on Saturday. I don't even have my Health Insurance card yet that I get provided by the school. I pay $53 and the school matches $53 per month to pay for this plan. I was shocked the first time I bought aspirin here. He gave me a box and asked for 500 WON ($.50). I hardly could believe it was that cheap... I thought maybe there was only one tablet in the box, but I found out there were 10 tablets of 500mg each. I heard about how cheap medicine & medical procedures are in other countries from watching Michael Moore's documentary "Sicko" and now I'm actually experiencing what he was talking about. I will go back again tomorrow (Tues) b/c Wednesday is another National Holiday in Korea. We (lots of English teachers) are planning to go bowling tomorrow night and then head out for drinks afterwards). Wednesday we are thinking of taking a drive out to a famous Buddhist Temple to hike in the mountains, by the river for the day. There is a lantern festival in Jinju some people are going to & the Pusan Intl Film Festival that we may go to as well.
Lots and lots of things to do these in the Southeast corner of the South Korean peninsula these days. Stayed tuned for more updates soon.