Ruby Ramblings

Regular Programming: Thursday Thirteen

This is a regular meme I participate in. As nothing new has really happened today, people are laying low, hanging out in their rooms, this post is more for that community then to add anything new to the discussion.

 

 

1. I am currently undergoing quarantine in South Korea for possible exposure to the swine flu. The saga begins here. It’s probably easiest if you click on “May” under archives and browse the month if you are interested in all the posts.

2. My belief is that S.K. was not prepared (or was in denial) that a quarantine would ever be necessary. Although everyone has treated us great and as been really nice, the circus of the first few days proved that this was not expected/prepared for.

3. The upside of that is that this is all taken care of by the Korean government. If this were the US we’d probably be handed a bill with our food and medication expenses at the end of the quarantine.

4. I’ve never been in a quarantine before, the positive aspect is that it has been really nice to decompress and have time to think after our whirlwind training.

5. We’ve got a great view of some mountains.

6. Although the jokes have been going around about the belief that kimchi cures everything, Korean food is much healthier than the western counterparts here. kimbap as opposed to pizza, McDonalds, or bacon-alfredo-spaghetti. I’ve lost 2 kg since we’ve been here.

7. So far all I’ve seen of Korea has been inside things. The inside of my hotel, the inside of the training facility, the inside of the subway, and now the inside of the quarantine. There will be an overeager American gawking at all things interesting soon.

8. Got to meet Supertalya from afar, and hope to meet Bybee soon. Book clubs await.

9. Would like to go to a teahouse.

10. Books I’ve read/am reading since I’ve been in quarantine: The Magician’s Assistantby Ann Patchett (of Tennessee), Krakatoa (P.S.)by everyone’s favorite travel journalist Simon Winchester, and Harry Potter 5 and 6

11. The last I heard there were 27 confirmed cases in South Korea. It seems even Australia is getting hit with 16 cases so far.

12. Symptoms and sickness are a little out of order with what needs to be done. It seems that several people in our group weren’t taken to the hospital until after they had gotten sick, and already gotten better. People would come down with syptoms, be given Tamiflu and a swab to test them for the virus, and then two or three days later after they weren’t sick anymore, they get a positive test result back and get sent to the hospital, held for a couple of days, and then released. Those of us who don’t get sick, actually spend the most amount of time in quarantine.

13. I think we’ll all be seeing a lot of this photo. So how did you get the swine flu?

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!

14 Comments so far
Leave a comment