Something odd to experience in a different country

So, two nights ago, I had an interesting experience. After a typically busy night, giving two piano lessons, then going for a walk with a friend, I felt a little sick to my stomach. Nothing too crazy, just a little indigestion. So, I took some Tums and decided to go to bed early, as I was going to be getting up to hike the mountain in the morning. I ended up going to bed by about 11 (yeah, so early, right? :P ) and not long after, I woke up feeling very uncomfortable. I had realized before going to bed that my dinner didn't agree with me, but I assumed it was just because it was quesadillas, and I don't really have cheese much here. So, I woke up, and my stomach hurt even more than before. I tried to just "sleep it off" assuming that the pain would go away if I didn't think about it. Well, by about 1am, I was on my couch (that's where I sleep these days because of bad air circulation in my room), writhing in pain...I felt like someone was treating my stomach and intestines as a wet wash cloth, trying to wring out all of the moisture. It was awful. I staggered about my apartment for about 45 minutes until I decided (of course with the suggestion from my mom as well) to go to the doctor. I had a friend that was online at that time, and after suggesting that I thought I had food poisoning, he offered to go to the hospital with me. I went down to the mart in our building to get some cash for a taxi ride, hoping all the while that the taxi would actually get me to a hospital that was open. I also bought a bottle of water, and upon receiving my change, looked at my friend Josh and said "Yup, I think I'm going to throw up." Next, I became very familiar with the trash can directly outside the mart. I think that something that's even worse than throwing up is throwing up into a trashcan that wreaks of cigarette smoke. Yuck. So, as we're walking to the taxi, Josh says "You know, I'm usually skeptical about people saying they have food poisoning...everyone thinks they have it when they really don't...well, that pretty much just sealed the deal for me." Haha, I tried to laugh, through the waves of cramps coming and going from my abdomen. We got into the taxi, and the driver seemed a little weird about it when I asked him to go to the Cheonan WerioWon (one of the hospitals near us). I was hoping, once again, that they were actually a hospital with an emergency room and that I wouldn't be taking some taxi ride in vain. So, we pull up, I see the light on at the ER and I feel a slight comfort. Then as we got out of the taxi, I looked at Josh and said "Do you have my jacket?" He had been holding it since I was throwing up back at the apartment. He chased the taxi briefly, in vain, and I dismissed it. Unfortunately, it was a pretty staple jacket in my wardrobe, but...I was in too much pain to care! So, we made our way up to the ER, and walked in. There was a woman sitting at the front, but she didn't really acknowledge us, so we walked past her to the doctor. The doctor looked at me in confusion and I said "Shik Joong Dok"...the Korean word for food poisoning, which I had looked up in my telephone dictionary during the taxi ride over. He said something else to me in Korean, and I was like "I don't know where to go." He said "Ok, but you need to sign in over there first." Wonderful. He speaks English! That was an incredible relief to me! So, I go over to the lady who I need to sign in with, and she hands me a paper to fill out. I take out my ID to write down my address, and I get another incredible cramp. She takes my ID and tells me to just go. After this, it's all kind of history. The nurse asked me what was wrong in Korean, and I was telling her everything, in our broken Konglish. Then the Dr. came over, asked me the same exact things in English, and then told me to lie down and wait for them to take an x-ray. They took an x-ray and a blood sample, and after that they hooked me up to an IV to give me saline and some sort of pain killer. They ended up coming over and giving another shot of some sort of pain killer after they noticed that the cramps weren't going away. During this time, the nurse came up and asked me something in Korean. I answered her, and she said, in Korean "Oh, you understand Korean." So, for some reason, against how I normally decline that accusation, I said "Yeah, I understand some." So the Dr. was there and said, in Korean, "Oh, you speak Korean well, huh?" I said, in Korean "No, just a little." Then, in Korean, he said "Ok. I'll speak Korean then." AHH! No! I was like "No way! Your English is way better than my Korean!!" Haha...Finally, after about 3 hours in the ER, all of the IV had drained into me, and I was free to go home. They told me I needed to go pay and that I would be able to get my medicine from the pharmacy after that. So, I reluctantly went to the front desk lady again, unsure of how much this visit to the ER would be...I knew it would probably be less than in America, but I figured with the x-rays, blood tests, etc. that surely it wasn't going to be a happy number. So, she looks at me and says "Yuk man, Ee Chon, Ship Won." Translated, that's 62,010 Won....converted, that's currently about 50 dollars and 62 cents. Unfreakingbelieveable. She asked me if I was going to pay for it all in one payment, which I kind of laughed at and said yes. After leaving her, I went to the pharmacy, grabbed my medicine, and became aware of the fact that the 50 dollars I had previously paid included the charge for the medication. I should have bounced for joy leaving that place, but I was still feeling pretty rotten. I hadn't had the cramps for a while though, which was good. I thanked the Dr. up and down, then as we were leaving, the second I left the hospital, I felt another awful stomach cramp! I'm assuming it was probably because of the amount of time I had spent standing up and moving around at that point. Anyway, after a fairly uncomfortable taxi ride home, a pretty unrestful few hours, and a call to my school to inform them of my sickness, I was finally able to eat some food and take my first bit of medicine. I didn't want to eat any food of course, but I saw the "30 minutes after breakfast" label on the medicine, and I didn't want to disobey the rules. So I ate some rice and took my medicine. After that, I slept really well, and then came a day of sleep, eat, take medicine, reassure family and friends that I'm ok, feel like I'm going to throw up, sleep some more, repeat. And today, I'm feeling much better. I've eating Jook, which is rice porridge, for the past 3 meals. They say that's the magic cure to food poisoning here in Korea. I also had a teacher from my school bring by some homemade plum juice, which is supposed to be good for digestion. I drank that today after feeling a little uneasy after lunch. And, I've been drinking barley tea like crazy, which I guess is also the magic cure for food poisoning. So, all in all, I've got plenty of magic and medicine to cure me! Lol. And thanks to everyone for your prayers..I'm sure those were much more helpful than my magic Jook. Lol. And everyone can rest assured that I have now lived through my first (and hopefully last) medical crisis in Korea...pat on the back for me. :)