My Third Knee

A couple weeks ago I got injured while playing soccer. Surprisingly enough, I was going for the ball, and instead of the guy kicking me, I somehow ended up kicking him in the bottom of his shoes with my left leg. A few minutes later, I had a huge bump on my leg the size of my knee!

Anyway, I went home, iced it and took some ibuprophin, and it seemed as though my leg was going to be okay soon. However, after about 5 days, nothing had changed, so I decided to go to the hospital.

The doctor did some X-rays, and as I assumed prior to going, I didn't have a broken bone. The doctor then recommended that I do some physical therapy, so I went to the physical therapy room at the hospital.

When I got there, there was a group of nurses at the front desk, and they seemed very surprised to see a foreigner. Their English also wasn't the best, so it took them awhile to tell me that I should sit down and wait until they were ready for me.

The experience ended up being both funny and inexpensive. When they were ready for me, one of the nurses escorted me to an area sectioned off with curtains. At this point, I was of course assuming that they would now be doing something to my left leg, so I thought perhaps she wanted me to roll up my left pant leg. However, I also thought maybe she wanted me to take off my pants instead!

Now I can't remember the last time a girl asked me to take off my pants, but the thought of this young girl struggling to ask me in English to take off my pants was quite amusing and a bit awkward. But considering I was in a hospital, it seemed like a pretty ordinary question to ask someone. I think because of the whole language barrier it made it seem a bit awkward, but also amusing enough that we both stood there in silence, with me having a big smirk on my face :)

Jesse: Hello

Nurse: Hello

Jesse: So...Umm...should I lay down or something?

Nurse: Ah...do you speak Korean?

Jesse: Not really. Do you speak English?

Nurse: A little. Ah....모라고지? Umm...okay.

Jesse: (Does she want me to take off my pants?)

Jesse smirks. The Nurse feels nervous

Nurse: Short pants!

"short pants" is a Konglish* expression for shorts. So she brought me shorts and left so I could change into them.

Amazingly enough, after everything was over I paid a total of about $15 for X-rays, doctor consultation, physical therapy and medication for my leg. Wow! Why can't healthcare be this cheap in the US?

*Konglish means English words that Koreans use, which are actually not correct expressions in English, despite the fact that they are using English words. Another example is the word "Fighting", which is a Konglish expression for "You can do it!" as well as other things.