Weather Changes
When I arrived to Seoul in the last week of August it was really hot. On any given day, the humidity reached 90% with weather in the high 80s to low 90s (Fahrenheit). The days felt really hot and the nights were no better. This type of weather lasted all the way through September. One tip for that is to buy a xiaomi battery pack and a mini fan you can attach to it. It will save your life and both combined cost less than 30,000W at the Hyundai Outlet mall in 동대문 (Dongdaemun) right outside the 동대문역사문화공원 (Dongdaemun History and Culture Park) stop on line 4. Anyway, So summer here was rough, hot and unbearable to me, Then again, I am from a city where it is a constant 65-75 with a nice ocean breeze 24/7/365. So now it is October and autumn has arrived and the weather is cooling down drastically. One day it was 80 and the next it was 69 which is about 20 degrees Celsius (all these temperatures are in Fahrenheit since that is the only weather measurement we grow up learning in America). My friends here have been saying that snow is expected to fall in the end of November. Since I am used to this constant 65-69 weather I have no problem going out in a thin sweater and t shirt, but there are those mornings that start in the mid 50s. So keep that in mind.
Flu Season
Since it is fall now and the weather is cooler, that does mean it's flu season. Here there are no doctor's offices but there is the 중앙대학교병원 (Chung Ang University Hospital). In America we have a doctor's office for non serious ailments such as a cold, flu, nasal infection, cut, sore, etc. and the hospital is for more serious and life threatening ailments such as surgery, cysts, cancer, etc. However, in Korea everything is in one building, 병원 (the hospital). The hospital is the massive building right in front of the university. It is hard to miss. There are usually people in hospital gowns walking around right outside, an ambulance outside and more people in gowns sitting in the little eating area next to it. The hospital can be seen from 흑석역 (Heukseok station). Healthcare in Korea is free so that is one nonissue. All you may need is your proof of insurance from your home university or the insurance you get from the university. I don't know where prescriptions can be picked up but I do know there is a pharmacy in building 310 (next one over from the dorms) on B2 I believe. Also, if you have a preexisting prescription, you do need to make an appointment to see a Korean doctor and get a Korean prescription. The doctors in the hospital do speak English too.
Eye Care
Recently I did do something that is helpful. Like a lot of people, I use glasses. Therefore, also like a lot of people, from time to time we will need new glasses. I recently needed new glasses. The last time I got glasses in America, the frames alone came out to $650. Then I got protection on the lenses, transitions, etc. Luckily my insurance covered 90% because I would not have wanted to pay $800+ for glasses. I asked a friend to take me to get glasses in Seoul (and there are a lot of places right in front of the university) and he took me to Lens Story which is directly across the street from the front gate. all the stores look different and some cater specifically to men, others to women but this one offered services to both. I got an eye exam and that was literally 5 minutes. I looked through a machine and it examined my eyes and printed out a sheet with all these numbers. Then I did the basic "read these numbers to me" game and the glasses with the "one...or two..." thing they do. All that was another 5 minutes. Then I picked frames. The frames were 82,000W but since I was a university student, any frames in that store were 50% off and the exam was FREE!!! Awesome deal. So then I chose the lenses I wanted and that came out to 66,000W total. It took only 20 minutes for my glasses to be ready. It was super convenient and I would highly recommend that place because the owner was super cool and he provided awesome service and the three of us spent a lot of time in there just talking and joking around.
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